//------------------------------//
// Blending In 
// Story: Split Personality 
// by Darravan 
//------------------------------//



 
This is so boring, Cozy thought to herself as she scanned Ponyville's small houses far off in the distance. She hadn't had anything to do for a good hour now since she had decided to stay far away from town and huddle beneath a small tree so she could keep a low profile. Still ever since she'd left Harmony's cave she had felt this creeping sensation, like a sort of shadow looming over her at just how close she was to the ponies who probably wanted her locked away. Was that fear... or anxiety? she wondered. After all when she had been in the other Cozy's head she would have registered her master's feelings and tried to be a as rational with her as possible but now... now it wasn't the original Cozy anymore, no now she was feeling this. 

Cozy shook her head, now wasn't the time to have an emotional meltdown. No despite her iching to act she had to stay one step ahead of everypony else and hunkering down and getting a good vantage point of the city would be the most rational thing for her to do while she waited for Mr. and Mrs. Sway to join her, still as time went by it was becoming quite clear to her just how long she was probably going to have to be waiting for the pair. Cozy lamented the fact she hadn't exactly asked how long they intended to be in Ponyville, for all she knew they would be going by several market places before they were ready to depart the small humble little town. To late now...

Cozy sighed and resigned herself to bidding her time as she laid down gently on the soft grass beneath her. It was quite soul moving as she just stared up into the tree's canopy with rays of sunlight slipping between the leaves above her, quite a majestic display of life in Cozy's book. Wish I could get up there, She thought looking towards the branches above her but of course she knew she wasn't a good enough climber to get up on one of those tree branches without getting hurt along the way,  I can't get hurt now... at a time like this that would be checkmate. Tender and Victor wouldn't travel with a wounded filly, they'd probably want to get her some medical attention and by then she'd have to either leave them both behind or be captured and sent to Tartarus or perhaps even worse... getting turned to stone. Cozy definitely didn't want any of those scenarios to happen she was so close to getting her happily ever after and her current companions had been nothing but kind to her so far, despite Cozy not saying it aloud they definitely made her feel safer on the road, at least so long as they never actually realized who she was. 

Cozy tried to push the bad thoughts away, she was already torn up emotionally after realizing what had happened to the original Cozy Glow, ugh feelings are... weird. Tirek... Cozy... Chrysalis... Luster.... and even Rosie... all of them just... gone, she wondered if getting close to somepony was a curse, it seemed like she was destined to lose everypony she ever cared for no matter how hard she tried to get them back. Stop it, she told herself this was no time to start crying, she had to stay focused and relax somehow. 

Cozy closed her eyes and tried a relaxing technique Rainbow Dash had taught her in class by concentrating on her steady breathing and clearing her mind, what was it she called it... chilling out. Cozy shrugged her hooves in the grass and after a few soft breaths her worry gradually slipped from her, it was nice just laying beneath a tree like this she had never really experienced the sensation herself, she'd always registered the feeling of course but actually controlling her own body felt liberating, like she'd spent all her life in a deep dark cave but now all of a sudden she was free to see an open sunrise.

Cozy smiled and drew in a large deep breath before letting it out slowly, enjoying the feeling of her chest slowly rising and falling in a steady rhythm. You know Professor Dash might be onto something, what I wouldn't give for this to be an everyday thing... No worry... no pain, Cozy thought before she heard a loud crashing sound land right down next to her, making her jump up from her relaxing position a good foot off of the ground with her wings spread out wide in surprise.

"hva i helvete!?" Cozy cursed to the heavens in Old Ponish, before her eyes locked onto her unforeseen visitor. 

Cozy expected somepony who'd want to hurt her, especially since the pony had landed out of nowhere like that but instead the mare that greeted her was calm and looked as peaceful as could be. Her new guest was a light grey pegasus pony in a brown mail pony uniform with a brown hat on top of her creamy yellow hair, and with uncontrollable yellow eyes. Derpy... Cozy recognized from her memory at Twilight's school, in fact this had been the very mare who had taken her letters to Tirek for her, I probably shouldn't thank her for that. she thought and gulped hard while taking a step back, I have to be careful this mare knows me, drat what do I do. Cozy tried to decide between running away or begging for her life.

"Ohhhh my... I didn't mean to startle you little filly but I was hoping you could help me with something." Derpy said without a trace of disdain in her sweet voice while she gazed down at Cozy with a warm smile.

Cozy hung her mouth open in absolute shock, Is she dense? doesn't she know what happened at Twilight's school? Wait what am I even doing I need to roll with this, Cozy decided as she shook her head clear and played along. "Gol-... Um I mean what exactly do you need help with um... ma'am?" she asked unsure if she was either the luckiest wanted criminal in history or if Derpy was just toying with her for some odd sadistic reason.

"Oh well um... I've actually been looking for Headmare Twilight but I can't seem to find her anywhere, I've checked at her castle and even at the School of Friendship but I can't find her anywhere..." Derpy explained while putting a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "you wouldn't happen to know where Twilight is do you?" Derpy asked as she put her face right up in front of Cozy's while she waited for an answer. 

"Um I'm sorry but I don't know where she is exactly..." Cozy replied with a shake of her head which caused Derpy's smile to slowly vanished.

"Oh... well that's okay I'll just keep looking then... bye-bye." Derpy said sadly as she turned away from Cozy and spread her gray feathered wings for take off.

"Wait!" Cozy said aloud before Derpy took off. She really did want Derpy to leave but the confused pony would probably be out looking for a long time if Twilight was at the Crystal Empire or on another one of her adventures. 

Hearing Cozy stop her Derpy closed her wings and swiveled her head around to put one of her yellow eyes on Cozy. "Huh?" Derpy asked unsure of why she'd been stopped from her search for Headmare Twilight.

Cozy paced around Derpy until she was in front of her then she pointed a hoof back at Ponyville which got Derpy to turn back around towards the small town. "I may not know where Headmare Twilight is but I'm sure one of her friends could help you." she explained as she counted them all off on her hoof, " There's Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Starlight oh and Spike I'm sure at least one of them should know where Twilight is." Cozy told the confused mare who tried to stare back at Cozy with a look of deep contemplation.

"Oooooh..." Derpy said after a pause with realization before her open mouth turned into a large smile and she patted Cozy on the top of her head between her ears. "You're smart... Thanks little filly." 

And with that Derpy departed from Cozy as she took off into the blue sky towards Ponyville and hopefully to find Princess Twilight. Cozy smiled as she watched Derpy fly away and celebrated her luck. Phew that's probably only going to work once I have to be more careful, Cozy decided as she went to the tree she was under and scooped up her bag of bits with her disguise in it, opting to put the fake mane and tail on until she had eyesight of Tender and Victor. 

Cozy wasted no time as she opened the small brown sack and got out her bedraggled fake green hair with her tail attachment, I hope this works, Cozy thought to herself as she undid the ribbons from her hair and pulled them out. Then she undid her pony tail, causing her artic blue mane to fall down on her shoulders. After that was done she pulled the green ruffled wig over her hair and tucked any stray hairs under the green mess to keep it out of sight. Then she bunded up her tail and pulled her new fake green tail around it before clipping it on tight, there all done, I bet I look like a completely different pony.

Cozy inspected her handiwork before her eyes landed on her red chess piece cutie mark, Well almost, I'm going to have to hide that somehow otherwise the fake mane and tail are pretty much useless. She grimaced as a messy idea entered her mind, but it was the best shot she had, she didn't exactly have pink makeup or anything. Cozy gathered her resolve then dug her hoof into the ground and scooped up some dirt. Afterwards she smeared it all over her rum to hide her cutie mark and then on her cheeks to hide her freckles, I'm going to need a bath after this, Cozy thought before she tucked her ribbons into her brown sack of bits and sat beneath the tree in her new dirty disguise.

Cozy waited patiently for a few more minutes before her stomach rumbled at her and her resolve to stay in one place faltered as she stood up on all fours, Oh what am I thinking they're probably going to be gone for hours, Cozy concluded. She didn't want to just sit around suspiciously and wait to be seen, for all she knew she'd run into Rainbow Dash next or maybe even Counselor Starlight. She's always flying kites out here...

But no I decided to stay put but well... what if somepony wonders why I'm just sitting out here all alone for no reason, Cozy thought fearfully before she glanced over at Ponyville again and weighed the risk of the townsfolk seeing through her disguise, not that she expected ponies to be looking for her but that was beside the point. I could just go get some food for the road and see if I can find Mr. and Mrs. Sway then I can just follow them out of town at a safe distance or something, Cozy decided as she picked her bag of bits up in her mouth and started trotting towards Ponyville in the distance. 





Cozy walked at a steady pace among the beautiful flower dotted fields with her bag swaying and jingling under her chin. She hoped her slow trot would divert attention away from her as she crossed the green plains and walked towards the tan buildings of Ponyville which got bigger and bigger with each little step her tiny pink hooves took. Eventually Cozy started down a dirt road while trotting past the ponies furthest out of town who were enjoying the nice warm summer day by doing various common activities like having a picnic or playing ball together. Thank Celestia, Cozy thought as most of them either didn't care about her or smiled when they saw her pass bye, that was until some green unicorn mare sitting on a bench asked, "Giggle* Did you have enough fun?" 

Cozy took her bits out of her mouth with her wings and almost used her sweet voice to answer with but remembered she had to act like a completely different pony to avoid being noticed, so Cozy deepened her tone and gave the mare her best gruff tomboyish accent that she could muster.

"Yeah I'm pretty worn out." Cozy explained while rubbing her hoof nervously.

"You should probably go get cleaned up." the mare suggested with a grin and wait!? how was she sitting like that? Cozy had never seen a mare sit on her rump with her backhooves crossed like that before.

Cozy went with it and checked herself over as if she'd just noticed how much of a dirty mess she was before she answered, "Yeah I could really use a good bath hehe*, um I should probably go... have a nice day Ma'am."

"It's Lyra and have a nice day to you too." Lyra said with a friendly wave of her hoof, getting Cozy to smile. Darn these ponies are nice.

Cozy continued past the sitting mare down the dirt road and into Ponyville's large marketplace. There she saw bustling ponies buying and selling all sorts of fruits and items such as flowers, jewelry, and even to her surprise comic books. Wow this town has everything, Cozy thought to herself mesmerized by the selection the town could offer as she tried to find a food stand that didn't have such a long line. 

Hmm... not carrots let see... maybe pairs no to long of a line... wait apples, Cozy decided as she spotted the shortest line in sight, after all if the disguise worked so far she was betting Professor Applejack wouldn't be able to see through it either as she got in line behind a tall blue stallion. While she was waiting patiently Cozy hummed a happy tune to herself and looked around at all the happy faces to see if she noticed anypony she knew. While searching around her eyes spotted her old classmate Sandbar who was happily playing with a small scraggly haired filly, Wow that must be his sister he was always going on about.

Cozy watched the pair play with Sandbar showing his sister a magic trick as he made a shinny gold bit disappear out of his hooves, eliciting a chorus of claps from the small filly. I bet Trixie taught him that, Cozy thought to herself before she turned back to the line she was in only to notice it had moved up considerably while she had been distracted. It's okay just focus Cozy, she thought and advanced to the second place in line where she could just make out a young filly's voice from beyond the stallion she was standing behind.

"How much ya need?", Cozy heard as she recognized the voice of Applebloom, she had expected Professor Applejack to be the one selling all the family apples but felt relieved that it was the younger of the apple sisters, it was far more likely Applebloom wouldn't recognize her, not with the disguise she had on and not with the original Cozy Glow being turned to stone. 

"I'd say about fourteen." the stallion said.

"Alright let's see... here, that'll be ten bits" Applebloom stated in her country accent. 

The stallion ahead of Cozy hoofed over Applebloom's price and departed the line with his apples, leaving Cozy to trot forward and face the young yellow country filly. As soon as Applebloom saw Cozy her face lit up at the prospect of meeting to her knowledge anyway a brand new filly in town, "Oh high there I haven't seen you 'round here before." 

Cozy gave her clueless former friend a smile and answered with, "Yeah you could say I'm kind of new here. Um can I have about seven apples please?"

Applebloom nodded, "Sure thing that'll be five bits."

"Okay." Cozy said and pulled the bits out of her tiny brown bag and hoofed them over.

Applebloom slid the apples Cozy's way on the apple stand and Cozy searched for a way to carry the food she'd just purchased.  Maybe I can put three in each wing and well the other...hmm how do I do this?

"Um, do'ya need a bag?" Applebloom asked.

Cozy felt relieved, that was Applebloom alright she always did things for others without anything in return, I'm actually envious. "Yeah that would probably help a lot." Cozy answered gratefully as she accepted the help from the pink bowed filly. At her confirmation Applebloom pulled a plastic bag out from under her apple stand and yanked it open before she put Cozy's apples inside and tied it. 

"There ya go." Applebloom cheered as she gave the bag to Cozy who held her bag of bits in one wing and took the much heavier bag of apples in the other. Cozy's wing strained with the added weight, she wished she was as strong as an earth pony they could carry a heavy bag of apples with no problem. It just wasn't fair Pegasie were naturally weaker than other ponies and Cozy couldn't even fly, curse not having Pegasus magic. Cozy was about to leave before Applebloom stopped her.

"Wait you wouldn't happin to have a cutie mark under all that dirt would you?" Applebloom asked eyeing her flank.

Cozy didn't want to lie to Applebloom so she mentally searched for another way until a loophole occurred to her, "Nope there's no special talent under there." Cozy answered and was being truthful to at some degree, her cutie mark couldn't be used for much other than strategy and manipulating others which didn't seem at all that special to her anymore.

Applebloom grinned, "Well yer in luck me and my friends help blank flanks all the time to find their cutie marks, you should come by our club house later. I'd be happy to make ya an appointment."

"I'm awfully sorry but... I won't be in town much longer I'm just passing through." Cozy said trying to get out of the situation without being rude in any way.

Appleblooms smile vanished and she slumped down at her stand, "Oh well darn. If yer in town again look me up I'm usually at the apple farm."

Cozy gave Applebloom a friendly smiled and waved goodbye at her, "Thanks I'll do that, bye Applebloom."

"Bye... wait you know me?" Applebloom asked with raised eye brows.

Cozy mentally screamed at her stupidity, Curse me, "Um yeah you're um... well you're the Element of Honesty's sister." Cozy explained with a quick deception to throw the other filly off.

Upon hearing Cozy's explanation Applebloom pouted and she crossed her front hooves, "Oh so I'm only recognizable cause of my sister huh... should'a figured."

Now Cozy felt worse about getting her hopes of fame up only to crush them into dust but sadly this was her out, "Hey I bet you're probably awesome too but well I've got to go so um... see ya." Cozy said with a wave.

"Yeah see ya." Applebloom echoed while she slumped down at her apple stand with all of her current hopes dashed. 

"Wow that was both nice and frightening all at the same time," Cozy thought as she trotted away from the farm pony and headed deeper into the town of Ponyville far away from the market place. It's too bad I can't just be me here otherwise maybe things would have gone better than they did last time, Cozy thought with sadness at her ruined friendship with the apple farmer, though it didn't much matter in the end anymore as she searched around for anything else she might need on her trip despite not having any more wings to carry anything else with. Oh well I'll improvise...

While trotting Cozy dodged a group of running foals and came to a building with a sign out front that read Flint's Camping store, thank Celestia's wavy mane, Cozy thought to herself and pushed the front door open, hearing a bell ring to signify her entrance.

"Oh high there how do you do?" asked a tall orange stallion with short brown hair and a goatee at his register.

Cozy responded immediately to the polite greeting by instinct and nearly curtsied, "Very good thankyo- I mean um I'm doing fine." Cozy cursed herself when she realized she'd let her cover slip for the second time now and she'd used her normal sweet voice, she shouldn't have been so formal she wasn't in Canterlot anymore. 

The clerk raised an eyebrow at her shift of tones and said, "We'll I hope you find what you're looking for."

Cozy gave him a nervous smile and trotted past him down the aisles. Where she saw all manner of different colored flashlights and outdoor chairs, while super useful these she could live without, finally she made it to what she needed the most, the tents. Despite knowing she needed one she actually felt a pang of regret, last night had made her feel so safe, she'd never slept next to anypony other than her sister before. Cozy shook the feelings away, what was she thinking she needed her own tent in case something bad happened and she needed to head down the road by herself again.

Cozy scanned the various sizes and spotted the smallest tent available on the top rack a good six feet of the ground, ugh of course it would be up there. Cozy felt crippled without the use of her wings, what was this? did the world enjoy torturing her or something. Giving up Cozy pouted and went back up to the cashier who watched her approach with curiosity.

"um could you help me get something down please?" Cozy asked.

The older stallion just smirked down at her helplessness, "Sure thing little missy." 

Don't call me little. Why was everypony dotting on her she looked awful with mud all over her body from head to flank and they still found her cute somehow, Ugh. Cozy followed the clerk pony as he pulled a step stool out of a closet in the back of the store and followed her lead over to the tents. 

"Which one?" he asked.

Cozy pointed her hoof to a little red one at the very top. Eyeing her chosen item the stallion climbed up on his stool and with a small tug pulled the tiny tent down. Then he held it out in front of her for inspection, the tiny case it was in wasn't even longer than his hoof if she was lucky she would be able to lay down flat in it. 

"Are you sure you want this one, I know these are a bit a dozen but you'd probably feel a little more relaxed in a bigger one." he sugested.

"No thank you I just need to be able to fit in it." Cozy said as she lead the way back up to the cash register with her kind helper in tow. 

There she watched as the pony rang up her tent and checked the price on the machine, hmm... just ten bits that should work, I can give the rest to Tender and Victor. Cozy decided and stood on her back hooves to put the bits on the counter.

Ching*, "Alright then do you want a receipt for that?" he asked.

"No thank you." she said, she usually would want a receipt but with her plan to get in a foster home or an orphanage down the road it didn't make much sense, it's not like she would need to return the tent for food later or anything since she hopefully getting off the streets as soon as possible.

The clerk pony was kind enough to balance the small tent on Cozy's back for her but Cozy shook her head and pointed to her mane instead. The Clerk pony gave her an odd look but shrugged and laid the tent on her head where he soon learned of Cozy's ability to balance the item perfectly on her head. With that Cozy carefully balancing her way out of the store with another ring from the door's bell, all the while being careful not to knock the tent off of her head as she went out into the streets of Ponyville. Now all I have to do is find Tender and Victor, Cozy thought as she slowly trotted her way past ponies going about their day to day lives.

 Starlight put a hoof over her eyes to shield them from the summer sun as she sat next to Applejack beside Trixie's wagon while they waited for the one and only magician, who despite wanting to get a move on earlier had insisted they stop for some nuts at Bulk Bicep's nut cart to satisfy her nut craving. Seriously how many jobs does that tall muscled pony have? 

"Hurry up Trixie." Starlight shouted over to her blue magician friend who was standing quietly in line.

"Starlight relax the line isn't that long." Trixie stated with a glare while she moved up as the line gradually got smaller.

Yeah but this is sooooo boring, Starlight thought and sighed before she glanced over at Applejack who was waiting patiently in the summer sun with a smirk on her face. What's she finding so funny? Applejack glanced over at her and apparently noticed Starlight's curiosity, "So is this how you were plan'in on spend'in yer summer?"

Starlight gave the orange farm pony an eyeroll, "Waiting on Trixie? No it isn't but at least she has a charming personality to make up for it... well at least most of the time." Starlight replied in Trixie's defense even though she knew Trixie was hard to deal with and most of the time Starlight felt like Trixie's babysitter. but she's my big baby.

Applejack just raised her eyebrow at Starlight and put a hoof up to her mouth as she whispered, "A charm'in personality? I bet that pony has you do'in laps for her behind everpony's back." Starlight just sat quietly and let Applejack's words sink in, she knew Trixie felt entitled but at the same time Trixie was still way better than Discord who had his own level of self privilege. 

Starlight put her own hoof to her mouth as she got invested in the secrecy of their whisper game which seemed to be unnoticed by everypony trotting around them, "She's not that bad she just has problems with well... being humble... and then there's her ego... and the Teacup thing."





"Sometimes I wonder how she reacted to Twilight taking over for Celestia I bet that must've driven her crazy." Applejack whispered with a smile much to the amusement of Starlight.

"Giggle* I bet she's still in denial." Starlight said as they both started giggling uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Trixie said casting her dark shadow over both of them with her purchased bag of nuts floating beside her in her magic, much to the shock of both Starlight and Applejack. Wow I hadn't even noticed Trixie getting done... how much did she hear?

"Wow you were right that was fast, I thought you were going to take way longer." Starlight said with a sheepish smile as she tried to play it off to avoid Trixie's question, which got her blue magician friend to narrow her pink eyes in suspicion. She's on to me crap.

"Ugh, whatever let's just go best friend... and you to farm pony." Trixie said with an eyeroll. Whew...

hearing the good news Starlight and Applejack hopped off the ground and climbed up on top of the wagon as Trixie buckled herself into the wagon's front harness.  Deciding to keep things safe her and Applejack both laid down on their tummies at the head of the wagon with a nice view as their caravan started heading down the streets of Ponyville. As an added measure Trixie pulled their wagon at a slow speed so they didn't accidentally bump into anything in the market place by accident, especially with all of the ponies in the street who were trotting by. 

"So Trixie ya think you could get us to Appaloosa by tomorrow morn'in?" Applejack asked down at their driver. 

"Don't worry Trixie will get you where you're going." Trixie answered in an unamused tone as she swerved by Bon Bon and entered the center of town where the buildings seemed to have been built closer together which made it harder to see everypony at once while they tried to leave town.

After a few minutes of ridding down the road Applejack turned over on her back atop the wagon and tilt her hat down to cover her eyes from the summer sun, "Tell me when we're out'a town sugarcube."

"Sure thing I suppose I'll just supervise, I guess." Starlight said with a shrug and almost jumped when she heard a crunch from beneath her until she realized it was just Trixie eating some of her fresh nuts. Sighing Starlight surveyed the area from above Trixie's head and found the sight strangly uplifting, after all It was a nice day out and the ponies of Equestria were bustling away while they enjoyed the nice quiet summer afternoon. I almost feel bad for leaving, Starlight thought but shook the thought away, she didn't want to sit and do nothing all summer like an old pony, this was her chance to see more of Equestria and she was so taking it. I wonder what we'll see...

Starlight envisioned the winding streets of Saddle Arabia with every horse there wearing a cloth turban or something like that and all the sights she and Trixie were definitely going to go visit, yep it's a good thing I packed my camera... and the board games... and the water raft like I did last time... Starlight thought with a smirk before the wagon shook as it hit something while they were passing by two houses really close together.

Applejack lifted her hat and peeked her green eyes around wondering what it was. Ugh let me guess a it's probably just a barrel or... Sweet Celestia! Starlight thought as she glanced over the side of the wagon and saw a small green haired filly rubbing her head. 

"What is it?" Trixie asked in an unamused voice while probably wondering if she owed somepony for a vase or something, but Starlight didn't answer her instead she leapt off the side of the wagon and trotted over to the pink filly who appeared to be a mess with dirt clinging to her fur. 

"What in tarnation! Trixie you ott'a watch where yer go'in." Applejack said from above Starlight who had apparently taken notice of the girl on the ground.

"Oh what is it?" Trixie asked as she came into view beside Starlight with a gasp.

"Are you okay?" Starlight asked making eye contact with the foal only to find fear in her scarlet red eyes. Wow... Starlight thought as she levitated the filly's belongings up into the air with her blue magic. 

"I... I'm okay" the filly said nervously in a definite tomboyish tone and froze when Starlight put a hoof on her head to look for a bump. It felt weird like her mane was more tangled than it actually was but Starlight withdrew her hoof satisfied that the filly hadn't suffered any damage.

"Here." Starlight said and levitated what appeared to be a bag of apples and a small brown bag of bits back to the filly who took them in her wings, then Starlight placed the tiny red tent the girl had on her back.

"Well you seem okay do you feel Dizzy?" Starlight asked with the girl seemingly taken aback with shock before she took a deep breath and composed herself, "No I feel fine miss, um... may I go now?" Starlight suddenly realized they were blocking the way the filly was trying to go and turned to Trixie.

"She's fine Trixie let's get going." Starlight said with a wave of her hoof as she registered the concern in Trixie's purple eyes. Awww she does have a heart, Starlight thought to herself as she led Trixie back to the front of the wagon and strapped herself in instead of her blue magician friend which earned a glare from Trixie.

"Oh so you don't trust Trixie now just because I hit one pony?" Trixie huffed, clearly offended.

Starlight sighed, "One it was a filly Trixie that's a big difference and no it's just so you can eat you're snack peacefully without running somepony over."

"Yeah Trixie I don't think yer good at multitask'in." Applejack said from above them and patted the top of the wagon next to her for Trixie to come join her up top.

"Listen here mud pony, Trixie will have you know that she is the best at Multitasking." Trixie said with a sneer as she stomped her hoof on the dirt road for further emphasis, which got Applejack to let out a snort.

Starlight stayed out of the conversation and waited until she felt the vibrations of Trixie reaching the top of the wagon before she started trotting along the road with the wagon trailing after her. Starlight would occasionally smile or wave goodbye to a passing friendly face or two until she passed by the market where she heard Applejack say, "See ya later sis!" down to Applebloom.

Starlight smiled and glanced over at the apple stand to see it packed with customers, Wow just a filly and Applebloom's already running the family business. Starlight had to give her little friendship tutor some praise when she returned after the summer break before classes. Then out of nowhere and much to Starlight's surprise the former night princess Luna majestically flew down in front of their wagon.

"Greeting's Starlight, where are you off to?" Luna asked down at Starlight who shook her head so she could focus past her surprise. What is Luna doing here shouldn't she be at Shady shores?

"Uh... we were just going on a magic tour." Starlight explained to the younger of the retired royal sisters. Luna didn't immediately respond as she seemed deep in thought which made the fur on Starlight's neck stand up. 

"Anything wrong yer highness?" Applejack asked Luna from on top of the wagon and yet again Luna hesitated with a look of deep contemplation.

"No, have a good... whatever it is all of you are all doing together." Luna said before she trotted past Starlight and back toward Ponyville. 

Starlight wanted to pretend that everything was fine but she knew a problem when she saw one and she had a bad feeling that whatever it was had to be big, otherwise Luna wouldn't bother trying to get involved. While Starlight was debating if she should turn around or not Trixie said, "Come on Starlight you wanted an adventure so lets just go, Trixie is sure everything back there will be just fine without us."

Yeah I guess so, Starlight thought to herself before she continued down the road and passed by what little houses remained before they were out of the small town entirely.

Whew... Starlight thought and let out a relieving sigh as she eventually reached the lush green fields that would lead them to Appaloosa. Thank Celestia, I'm glad that's over, Starlight inwardly celebrated despite not entirely believing Luna about there not being a problem. Shrugging it off she rolled her way down towards the waiting horizon intent on letting Luna handle whatever problem there was in Ponyville.

 Twilight soared next to the armored Flash Magnus and Spike as they led a herd of Pegasus guards over the clouds between Canterlot and Ponyville. Glanced over at the shinning gold Pegasus guards flying behind her she silently lamented the fact that she couldn't wait for some more unicorns, after all a unicorn had a much better chance against a magical creature like the mimic they were hunting.

"So you think we'll make it in time?" Spike asked as they soared above the vast countryside.

"I hope so Spike." Twilight said as a picture of all of her friends came to the forefront in her mind.

"You know this isn't exactly how I wanted to visit Ponyville." Twilight vented as she tried to come to grips with the fact that she had left Ponyville not even a week ago and here she was going back with a small army.

"Well you know since we canceled everything except for that thing you're doing tonight, we have a lot of free time. Maybe we could even go visit SugarCube Corner. " Spike suggested. What I wouldn't give for a relaxing day at Sugarcube Corner.

"Sigh* as much as I want to Spike I'd still have to do something with the Cozy.... Mimic thing." Twilight explained with a frown, she'd probably just be in Ponyville for business and then she'd have to deal with this entirely new creature back in Canterlot.

"Um yeah about that, what are we going to do with it exactly?" Spike asked. Twilight was asking herself that same thing, what was she going to do with it? If the creature was evil like Celestia suggested it would have to be dealt with... but if it wasn't then...

"I'm not actually sure yet. What do you think we should do?" Twilight asked while biting her lip to see if Spike had any suggestions.

Spike cupped his chin as he flew and considered for a moment before quickly shrugging, "Beats me I mean we can't actually believe anything it says right, I mean it's like half Cozy Glow? I'm not really sure what we should do." Twilight nodded, he was right there was little chance they could trust the creature at best they could contain it somehow and find a way to interrogate it with a truth serum or something back at the palace.

"We're nearly there Princess." Flash Magnus said catching both Twilight and Spike's attention as Ponyville appeared beneath them through the clouds.


Twilight took the lead and descended as the town came up to meet her, at the last second she beat her wings to soften her landing before she settled down right in front of Mayor Mares office with her guards, Spike, and Flash all landing around her in the market place (much to the surprise of everypony there). Hmm... Twilight glanced around but didn't see any filly that resembled Cozy Glow, as Mayor Mare suddenly came out of her office to greet them.

"Princess Twilight... what's all this?" Mayor Mare asked as she scanned the guards and adjusted her round glasses. 

Twilight rubbed the back of her head and quickly thought of an excuse, "Oh well now that you mention it... I was actually just in the neighborhood and all of these royal body guards well... their just here to make sure we have a peaceful day." Twilight explained nervously not wanting to cause a panic. 

Instead Mayor Mare narrowed her eyes and trotted closer to Twilight, eventually getting within hoofs reach of her. "Princess with all do respect I've lived in this town long enough to know when dangers afoot." 

Of course it wouldn't be that simple, Twilight sighed, "Alright we're here to find something."

"I beg you're pardon?" Mayor Mare asked as she became more and more worried.

"All I can say is it's something small and probably not immediately dangerous." Twilight explained as she noticed even more ponies stopping their daily routines to stare in curiosity at the scene playing out before them.

Mayor Mare seemed to notice Twilight's wandering eyes as she sighed and started trotting back to her building, "Just please try and keep the damage to a minimum your highness." Mayor Mare said somberly before she entered her office and pulled the door closed with a click*, locking it in place. Twilight turned around to find Fluttershy approach out of the rapidly growing crowd and trot past the guards as she made her way right up to Twilight with Spike giving her a quick hug, "Awww I missed you too." Fluttershy said with a smile before her face turned to one of concern.

"Um.. Twilight what's this all about?" Fluttershy asked in her quiet voice as she pointed a hoof towards the gathered guards. 

Before she could respond however Twilight tilted her head to the left and saw Celestia and Luna making their way past the crowd of worried ponies.

"Hold that thought Fluttershy I'll explain everything in a minute." Twilight told her yellow Pegasus friend as she announced to the crowd of guards, "Alright everypony spread out in pairs and bring back all the Pegasus fillies you can find, if you see anything suspicious one of you double back to me, Celestia, or Luna understood!" Twilight said loud enough for all the guards to hear and watched them give her a bow with their gold helmets before they broke off and headed down Ponyville's dirt roads. After they broke off she addressed Flash Magnus personally, "Flash I want you to find Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinki-" Twilight was cut off as she heard a very familiar high pitched voice.

"Already here!" Pinkie Pie said with a smile as she bounced her way into the clearing beside Fluttershy.

"Sooooo what's the occasion, oh is it like a super unexpected royal surprise? If so I want in."  Pinkie said with a large cartoonish smile while getting more and more excited.

"No Pinkie, there may be a situation... in Ponyville." Twilight stated which got Pinkie's to stop bouncing up and down while Fluttershy whispered, "Oh deer... it's not another invasion is it?"

"No it's not... well um not exactly." Twilight said with a sheepish grin.

Fluttershy's voice slightly grew as she said aloud, "Oooooh why can't we catch a break?" Twilight put a reassuring hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder as Luna and Celestia approached the five of them.

"Twilight Luna tells me you've decide to try and capture the creature." Celestia said bitterly.

Twilight hesitated when she sensed the disapproval in her former mentor's serine voice, "If at all possible but well I am open for suggestions."

"Wait what creature? oh is it like a flying squid or no an underwater dragon? It is isn't it?" Pinkie asked hopping in between them with Twilight and Celestia turning to stare at her.

Twilight sighed and put a hoof to her brow, "Pinkie please not now alright." Pinkie apparently got the hint because the party pony looked between Twilight and Celestia before adopting a nervous grin while she slid herself right back next to Fluttershy and whispered, "I bet it's important." to the yellow Pegasus.

"Twilight lets just say Mimics have a long history with a pretty decent body count." Celestia explained much to Fluttershy and Pinkie's shock as Twilight heard them both gasp from behind her.

"But this one has a mind sister, and if Twilight wants it captured then I believe containment is possible." Luna interjected.

Celestia gave Luna an unamused glance, "Oh well, I guess there's nothing to worry about then, unless it decides to put pony back on the menu." Celestia deadpanned. This was it for Fluttershy and Pinkie who shouted "What!?" in unition.

"Yep that was my reaction too." Spike said.

Twilight turned to her two frightened looking friends, "It's okay as far as we know it hasn't actually done anything." Twilight explained with a wave of her hoof. Then to Twilight's surprise she spotted Rainbow Dash trotting towards all of them with two guards hoofing a worried Scootaloo in tow.

"Twilight what gives?" Rainbow Dash said pointing to the guards surrounding the nervous looking orange Pegasus filly. Twilight sighed and trotted past both Celestia and Luna to speak with the scared girl. 

"Scootaloo you're not in any trouble okay we just need you to stay here for now." Twilight explained with Scootaloo nodding up at her in understanding.

"You two go see what else you can find." Twilight told the guards on either side of Scootaloo.

"At once you're highness." they both said in unison before they trotted away to look for more fillies. Twilight took a deep breath and turned around to face her group of friends before she brought her magic to life and created a small sound proof purple shield around her and her companions. Most of the ponies that needed to be told were already here so it was probably best to just go ahead and fill everypony in.

"Okay for those of you who haven't heard yet Luna has found out that for some reason Cozy Glow created a copy of herself before she was turned to stone." Twilight explained with various outbursts of "Wha-wha-what!?" "Oh deer!?" and "you've gott'a be kidding me, every time we win something else happens." from her friends with Flash, Spike, Celestia, and Luna remaining silent. 

After it quieted down Twilight addressed her now dull struck group of friends, "It's true from what I've heard it's very dangerous, and it could be lose somewhere here in Ponyville right now." Twilight stated and with that she dissipated the shield around them.

"Well what are we all waiting around here for?" Rainbow Dash said before she took to the air to begin their search only to be stopped by Discord who appeared right in front of her whilst laying on a tiny poofy pink cloud.


"Oh hold you're horses Dashie, am I the only one here who's going to point out that this thing may not even be in Ponyville." Discord said while rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean Discord have you found anything yet?" Twilight asked up to the draconiques to see if by some miracle the clone had at least been spotted by the chaos lord.

Discord gave her an unamused side glance from his perch and yawned, "Honestly does it look like I have a demon filly with me your worshipfulness?" Discord asked rhetorically with half opened eyes.

"Well then why are you here instead of out there searching for it?" Twilight asked narrowing her eyes and getting slightly anoyed with the lord of chaos. Now is not the time for him to be slacking...

Discord put a claw to his chest and stated down to her in his defense, "Well I'll have you know I just wanted to see if dear Fluttershy would round up all of her little animals friends so she could keep them out of harms way."

Fluttershy gasped and shook her head in realization, "Oooooh you're right I need to get all of them back at my cottage before something bad happens." then she took flight and gave Discord a hug on his pink cloud, "Thank you Discord." Afterwards the yellow Pegasus flew off to round up her animals, with Discord snapping his claws and flying through a portal in midair with the pink cloud left to wander aimlessly.  

Huh I bet that big softy just wanted Fluttershy out of harms way, Twilight thought to herself with a smirk before she turned to Flash Magnus and said, "Okay Flash that just leaves Applejack and Starlight, see if you can-"

"Actually they were leaving Ponyville earlier so I sent them on their way." Luna explained while cutting her off. 

"Wait what... What do you mean you mean they were leaving?" Twilight asked.

"They said something about a Magic Tour or something, I decided to let them leave for their own safety." Luna explained.

"A Magic Tour?" Twilight thought aloud with a raised eyebrow. Okay so no Starlight or Applejack...

Twilight put a hoof to her crowned head in contemplation, she needed to think of a game plan, only three of her friend were here since Applejack, Starlight, and Rarity were out of town. Well at least that's fewer ponies in danger...

Twilight turned around to their party pony, "Pinkie I want you to help round up all the Pegasus fillies in town."

Pinkie's face went from smiling to puzzled, "Huh why?"

"Because we're looking for a Pegasus filly look alike and we don't need a dozen real fillies catching our attention instead. Just have them come to where Scootaloo is and tell them to stay here." Twilight explained while pointing a hoof at Scootaloo.

"Oooooh okay I get it *giggle* okie dokki I'll go catch some fillies." Pinkie said with a salute before she bounced her way out of the town square and down the road.

"What about me?" Rainbow Dash asked still in mid air after being stopped by Discord.

"I want you to search the roof tops for anything suspicious." Twilight told her rainbow maned friend.

"Eye-eye." Rainbow said before she whizzed over the roof tops. Hmm... that takes care of that now to see about what we do with it when we capture it, Twilight thought as she turned back towards the two royal sisters.

"So um... any suggestions for how to deal with this Mimic thing?" Twilight asked.

"You could always feed it to a fully grown dragon." Celestia stated bluntly with unamused eyes and a casual wave of her hoof.

Upon hearing this Luna shot her sister a glare, "Sister that mimic is the only one who knows if it's hurt somepony, it can't tell us anything if it's dead." Twilight just listened with wide eyes to the two sisters bicker in silence, Wow I've never seen Celestia this aggressive before.

"What about that spell you told me about, do you think there's any way you could use it to locate the creature?" Twilight asked catching both of the sisters attentions and causing them to pause their quarl. 

"Sigh* I suppose me and Luna could start covering Ponyville in the spell but eyeing the creature from the sky may prove difficult with everypony wandering about." Celestia explained with Luna nodding in agreement.

"Well it's worth a shot. If you find the Mimic try and subdue it and well... if it attacks then do what you have to do to keep Equestria safe." Twilight said with both sisters giving her a nod and flying off into the sky with their horns ignited.

Twilight let out a sigh and told her remaining two companions, "Come on Spike, Flash, we'll go have a look around and see if we can find anything."

"At once your highness." Flash said and trotted next to her with Spike flying over her shoulder as they walked past the worried faces of Ponyville's residents.

 Cozy rubbed her head as she trotted down the street, that scared me to death. Cozy had been in literal inches from Starlight and had still managed to get away, that wasn't luck that must have been the tides of fate or something. Cozy didn't reminisce about her encounter for too long as she spotted Tender and Victor's brown wagon parked outside of a small establishment called Knickle Knacks General Store. I should've gotten food from there...

Cozy looked down and sighed, she didn't care anymore she just wanted this day to be over, with her far away from Ponyville. I'm never coming back here, Cozy thought to herself as she went to the back of the wagon and tossed her bag of bits in before she heaved her bag of apples in afterwards. Wow it's a lot fuller than last time, Cozy concluded as she saw various bags and even a bushel of apples in the wagon that hadn't been there that morning. Tender and Victor must be going a long way on their trip...

Cozy pulled her red tent off of her back and while she tucked it into the back of the wagon she spotted a pair of Gold armored royal guards out of the corner of her eye, both of them looking around as they made their way down the road towards her. Oh no, Cozy thought before quickly ducking beneath the wagon and laid down flat underneath it. There she watched as the guard's armored hoofs passed by her as they made their way through town. They must be here for me, Cozy lamented with a hoof to her chin in fear while she lay on the ground, she couldn't think of any other reason for the guards from Canterlot to be patrolling Ponyville, Harmony warned about Luna...

Cozy had to find someplace safe to hide since she doubted staying under the wagon would work for to much longer. Scanning the buildings surrounding her she spotted Sugarcube Corner down the street on the opposite side of the road. That should work, Cozy decided as she pulled herself out from under the wagon and trotted casually over to the candy store before opening the door to find a familiar face stsaring at her from inside.

"Well high'a dearie- oh... well don't you look like you need a bath." Missis Cake said from behind her counter as she studied Cozy with an amused look on her face.

"Um yeah... I'm um waiting for somepony, do you mind if I have a seat in here?" Cozy asked the large mare.

"Go right ahead there's a table and chairs by the window there." Missis Cake said while pointing towards a table. Cozy relaxed, there was little chance the guards would upend every house in Ponyville just to find her. They already have one Cozy Glow anyway...

The second she trotted in she was immediately hit with a barrage of sweet smells. Hmmm... it's good just smelling this place, Cozy thought as she hopped up on a chair and sat at a blue table beside a tented window facing the street. This place didn't change at all, she thought as she scanned the small inviting establishment. It's like a ginger bread house, Cozy concluded and took a quick experimental whiff, Let's see cupcakes.. doughnuts.. and wait... was that baby powder? Cozy wondered scrunching up her nose before she heard some small talk from behind her at a different table. Cozy slowly turned just enough to see behind her and found her eyes locking on to a pair of fillies who were whispering to each other and staring at her. Cozy glanced away wondering if the two girls in question had recognized her before she turned her eyes back on the wagon parked outside. Please hurry guys...

Cozy sat perfectly still as she heard tiny hoof steps coming up from behind her and turned when she saw the two fillies had come up right next to her table.

"Hello there I haven't seen you around here before." a pink earth pony said with blue eyes and a purple mane with a white streak in it. Wait is that a tiara on top of her head, Cozy wondered in amazement as the ringleader of the pair wore a cute little silver tiara on top of her mane.

"Yeah we thought you were a colt for a second there." the other gray filly said with big blue glasses and silver hair that hung down in a pony tail larger than Cozy's had been earlier that day with purple eyes.

"Oh well I'm just passing through." Cozy whispered shyly unsure if the fillies were going to cause her trouble or not. Please go away...

Instead the two fillies hopped into the two vacant seats across from Cozy at her table and started sizeing her up.

"Let's start with introductions I'm Diamond Tiara." the pink filly said while pointing to the silver tiara on top of her head.

"And I'm Silver Spoon, It's nice to meet you misssss..." Silver Spoon said waiting for Cozy to give her a name.

"My um... well I go by Dizanna." Cozy answered not wanting to say Dizy for fear that they would match it up with her first name of Cozy unlike Tender and Victor. 

"Wow that sounds pretty classy for such a dirty filly... no offense." Diamond tiara said with Silver Spoon agreeing with a nod.

"Well I was just... playing pretend ya'know having fun." Cozy explained with a normal volume to her voice after she realized the two were clueless as to who she actually was. The two fillies shared a glance before Diamond Tiara nodded towards Cozy while keeping her eyes on Silver Spoon. 

"So where are you from Dizanna?" Silver Spoon asked.

Cozy hesitated at the question as she fidgeted her hooves beneath the table she was at, "Well I'm actually from Canterlot." Cozy explained with both of the fillies eyes going wide.

"You're from Canterlot?" Diamond Tiara asked while looking Cozy's dirt covered self up and down all over again.

"No way." Silver Spoon said with a smile, "Prove it every Canterlot filly can do a curtsy right, that's like manners step one there." 

Cozy was shocked by the challenge but leapt from her chair anyway and did the best curtsy she could for the two fillies interrogating her, which caused their eyes to widen even further in astonishment.

"Oh she's good." Diamond Tiara whispered over in Silver Spoon's ear. Satisfied that she'd been cleared of lying Cozy jumped back into her seat across from the two. Then Silver Spoon whispered something to inaudible for Cozy to hear into Dimond's ear, causing the pink filly to smile over at Cozy and clear her throat.

"So did you know this place has the best milkshakes in town?" Dimond asked.

"Um no I didn't... but well I don't exactly have that many bits right now..." Cozy explained with Diamond Tiara rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry about it what flavor do you want?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Wait you'd just get me a Milkshake?" Cozy asked unsure if this was some sort of prank.

"Mhh-hhm." ,both fillies agreed with a nod. There's got to be a catch to this but if not then that's actually pretty nice of them, Cozy thought as she mentally debated which flavor she'd been craving for the most.

"Hmm... I'd say Strawberry." Cozy decided with Silver Spoon nodding to her.

"Good choice I was worried you'd say something crazy like coconut or something." Silver said with a eyeroll as Diamond Tiara leapt from her chair and trotted to the counter Misses Cake was at.

"Um can I get a two Strawberry shakes with Three straws please? You can put it on my tab." Cozy heard Diamond Tiara say from across the room.

"Sure can Dearie just go have a seat and I'll bring it over for you." Misses Cake said while Diamond pranced back to their table.

"Why just two?" Cozy asked at the uneven math of two milkshakes for three filies.

Diamond put her hoof around Silver Spoon and said, "Oh me and Silvy here always share."

Silvy, a nickname between the two they must be close. Cozy smiled at the comradery between the two fillies as she glanced out the window to see that the wagon hadn't moved yet with Tender and Victor nowhere in sight. Then unexpectedly a flood of sparkling rainbow colored magical dust enveloped the entire street, sending a sparkling mess over half of the window.

"Whoa..." Cozy said as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon glanced out the window and their jaws dropped.

"What's that... rainbow snow or something?" Silver Spoon asked with Dimond Tiara shaking her head in bewilderment as the magical sparkling dust started fading and then vanished completely off of the street without a trace as if nothing had just happened.

"Oh my... you fillies stay inside okay." Misses Cake said from behind them as she laid their pink milkshakes down on the table and hurried toward the the front exit.

Cozy, Diamond, and Silver Spoon all shared a worried glance at each other as Misses Cake opened the front door to Sugar Cube Corner and went outside to find out what was happening. Suddenly and without warning Cozy felt something soft grab ahold of her backhoof, causing her to let out a gasp of surprise, with Silver Spoon raising an eyebrow and casually checking beneath the table. 

"Oh don't worry it's just Pumpkin cake." Silver Spoon said as Cozy checked beneath the table to see an orange unicorn foal snuggling against her hoof causing Cozy to sigh in relief. Awww she's so cute... even if she almost gave me a heart attack, Cozy thought as she lightly moved her hoof for pumpkin to play with. Satisfied that she'd made a new friend Cozy returned her attention back to the two fillies at the table, with Silver Spoon pushing a large pink milkshake Cozy's way with whip cream and a red cherry on top.

Cozy didn't need to be told to dig in as she, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon opened their respective straws and plunged them into the two milkshakes. Finally, Cozy thought as she began to suck away with her mouth filling with a sweet strawberry goodness as her mind rocketed with pleasure at the taste. The milkshake also had the added effect of causing her to blush beneath the dirt on her face, unfortunately for her if she liked something like really liked it she always wound up blushing while eating it for some reason. Diamond smirked as she took notice of Cozy's pleasure while she was silently drinking away, "So don't you think this is the best place for milkshakes, I mean it is cozy in here isn't it?"

Cozy stopped and almost gagged on her milkshake but soon came to the realization that Diamond wasn't referring to her name but the Bakery they were in instead. "Um-hm." Cozy agreed never taking her mouth off of her straw and half closed her eyelids as she let the world and her worry slip away from her for a moment. So good...

Cozy pulled her eyes open and saw the two girls across from her drinking together and eating their milkshake way faster than she was. They look really happy, Cozy thought with envy as she watched them eat away with a smile on their straws. It was weird all of a sudden her situation seemed less grim with other ponies around her. Cozy's smile intensified as her back hoof bobbed as Pumpkin bushed it back and forth with a giggle. This is nice...

Cozy continued sucking away as she turned her gaze back towards the window and studied the street outside. To her shock another pair of royal guards were trotting down the street with a tiny tan Pegasus filly following them. All at once Cozy went from being relaxed to nervous again and thanked Celestia for the tinted window she was looking through, otherwise that Pegasus they were escorting might've been her. Where are you two, Cozy thought as she spotted the wagon still in the same place out in the street.

 "Oh honey what do you think about this?" Tender asked wanting a different opinion as she pointed to a folded up chair on a rack whilst she was pushing a buggy down the aisles of Knickle Knacks General Store. 

Victor put a light gray hoof up to his chin in contemplation before shrugging, "I don't know, we have beach towels to lay on already. Get one if you want it."

Tender bit her lip and decided to leave it, after all if she'd wanted to sit around she could have stayed back in Manehatten and skipped their vacation all together or in Victor's words their Great Adventure all together. Tender pushed her buggy along as Victor added bags of vegetables and bread to their basket, At least he can make up his mind. Tender stopped her buggy as they came to the candy aisle and picked up a bag of Lollipops. 

"Hey what about this?" Tender asked with a smile at the idea of spoiling their little traveling companion. If there's one thing that'll make a foal happy it's candy.

Victor raised an eyebrow at the bag and asked, "What do you have a sweet tooth?" Tender closed her eyes and let out a sigh, Seriously does my stallion have to be that dense?

"No you knuckle head, do you think Dizy might want one?" Tender explained.

"Oh well um... sure I guess but just be aware I will totally steal from that thing if you get it." Victor said with a smirk as he continued trotting down the aisle ahead of her. 

"I'm actually surprised you wanted to bring her along with us by the way." Victor called back to her despite probably disturbing some more quieter shoppers. 

"Well I think she just made the road a little more interesting you know, besides I used to babysit all the time when I was younger remember." Tender explained.

"Yeah well usually now a days you're like Foals are just a hassle and all they do is mess things up and snore a lot." Victor said trying to imitate her with a more feminine voice.

"*Giggle* I don't sound like that and besides Dizy's been good she didn't snore at all last night." Tender defended and started to throw the bag of suckers on top of the rest of their food but hesitated and instead opened up the baby seat at the front of the buggy and put the suckers right there in front of her so there wouldn't be any chance of them getting crushed, no need to crush them before we eat them right. Afterwards Tender Continued down the aisles following Victor and just drifted though the store until they came to the clothing department, with various summer clothes now in stock. Tender immediately started pulling cute mare swimsuits of their lines and turned to Victor.

"Which one?" She asked as she put one bathing suit over her and then the next with Victor watching intently. 

"Hmm... I'd say the pink one." Victor answered with her pulling the one he selected from her stack of outfits and looking it over. It does look cute.

"Why this one?" She asked with Victor coming over and putting his cheek next to hers, "Because it matches your eyes." Oh he's playing the I'm more romantic than you thing.

Tender told the butterflies to quiet down deep in her gut as she put the outfit next to the suckers and returned the rest of the outfits back to their proper place. "Okay Romeo what do you want for your flank?" Tender asked with a smirk as she lightly slapped his rear, making him slightly jump in surprise.

After giving her a glare Victor just shrugged and said, "Go wild." before pointing to the stallions section of the store. Oh so it's my turn to chose huh...

Tender turning her buggy around and started making her way through the swim suits to go pick one out for Victor but stopped when she spotted something in the filly's section. "Wait victor come here." Tender said as she picked up a two piece white filly swimsuit. 

"What is it?" Victor asked with half closed eyes.

"Look." Tender said putting the small swimsuit right up in his face.

Victor looked it over and gave her a playful smile, "Honey don't take this the wrong way but it may be a little to small for you."

Tender's cheeks flushed and she playfully hit him in the shoulder, "No you dummy I meant for Dizy."

Victor raised an eyebrow, "Um... how do I explain how ridicules it is to get a girl we just met a swimsuit when she can't even swim."

Tender's smile grew and she clapped her hooves as vision of them all swimming together entered their mind, "We can teach her, come on it'll be fun. Besides she can't even fly the least she could do is learn how to swim."

Victor rolled his eyes and looked at the roof of the building, "May I remind you we're not taking her all the way to the beach with us we're just dropping her off in Dale's Wood or Heart's grove."

Tender could just ignore him and get it anyway, who knows maybe a hotel along the way would have a convient pool or something. Though she felt like sighing since she actually wanted him on board for the fun, gathering her resolve to not give up she imagined herself with an army helmet on while she was trying to win the conversation, he dosen't get it, it would be so cute to show her how to swim she'd be like don't let go and I did it and all that, "Honey I'm sure we can find a lake or something along the way."

"Do you know how dangerous a lake could be, there could be snakes or worse alligators, no way."  Victor said shaking his head and crossing his front hooves. 

Tender got an idea that might just work and cozied up to him in the middle of the store, "Well that's why I brought my big strong stallion with me." she said while blushing her eyes at him.

Victor just closed his eyes with her leaning on him, "No."

"Please..." Tender playfully pleaded as Victor cracked an eye open and she made her pupils dilate in a show of absolute cuteness.

After a few moments of her torture Victor's resolve faltered and he sighed, "Fine, but if we get eaten because you wanted to pretend to be a duck out in the middle of a lake I'm going to haunt you." 

Tender nodded and put the cute little swimsuit over her much larger pink one. Yay I win, Tender mentally cheered and pranced her buggy all the way onward to the Stallion's swimsuits. There she saw a multitude of colors in different patterns but she was looking of artsy designs those were the best. After looking threw the majority of trousers in stock Tender selected a dark blue pair with tiny little hungry sharks on them. Wait, Tender picked up different pair to mess with Victor and trotted back up to her bored looking husband.

"Here you go." Tender playfully said while holding up a pink pair of swim shorts with pink little hearts all over them with the real pair she'd selected behind her back. Victor took one look and gagged, "Honey I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." Tender laughed and gave him the real outfit she'd chosen with him giving her a firm nod and throwing it in the basket.

"Well I think that's everything, time to get out of here and back out on the open road." Victor said enthusiastically and took the now much heavier buggy from Tender as they trotted to the front of the store with her following right behind him in tow. When they got up to the cashier there was a quiet young blue mare with green hair in front of both her and Victor so unfortunately they had to wait.

After a while Tender saw Victor pull out a picture from somewhere, probably his mane and turned it about in his hoof, catching her attention. Probably that murderous squirrel from earlier.

"Which one is that?" Tender asked while trying to organize their mess of a buggy by moving things in it into nice little lines for easier bagging.

Victor gave her a smile, "Oh this? It's only the most dangerous creature in the whole forest, I took a picture of it before you woke up."

Dangerous... Tender was curious and moved to sneak a peak of the photo only for Victor to pull it away and get her to glare at him. "Well what is it, wait was it a bear?" Tender asked with Victor's smile growing.

"Sort of actually, just don't lose you're head over it." he explained and hoofed the picture over.



"Awwww.", Tender could feel her heart melting as she waved her hoof at her face, that is so adorable.

"I'm actually surprised you didn't stuff her and keep her around as a plushie." Victor joked and winced when he earned another soft punch in the shoulder.

"Don't you dare kid me like that... that would be so awesome." Tender whispered while hugging the picture.

"Careful Lovebear you're blushing so hard you might just faint." Victor said in her ear before he pushed their buggy forward towards the cashier when the blue mare in front of them departed after finishing her business.

"Good afternoon." the cashier pony said politely with Victor reciprocating with, "Oh good afternoon to you too." before he started pulling things out of the buggy to be rung up with Tender helping with her free hoof while the other held onto the picture.

After everything was rung up and paid for they exited the building only to find two golden royal guards searching their wagon.

"Hey!?" Victor said and approached the two guard ponies with Tender following with the buggy.

"Sorry sir we've been instructed to look for a wanted fugitive." one of the guards said down to them.

"I don't care, get out of our wagon before you mess something up, it's just camping supplies." Victor demanded.

What kind of blockheads were these guys, like we'd be smuggling dangerous criminals in our wagon, Tender thought as she opened her mouth to shout at them when they didn't immediately leave their wagon, but before she could bother a pink pony with cotton candy like pink hair bounced up next to her.

"Oh hey what's the problem?" the strange pink pony asked. Tender didn't want to drag another pony into this but if it meant getting the guards to leave them alone then it was worth a shot. 

"Apparently these bozzos think it's alright to tear through somepony's things without even informing them first." Tender said pointing an accusing hoof towards the guards.

"Oh don't worry I've got this. hey you two! As the element of laughter and the royal ambassador to Yak Yakastan I'm ordering you two to go buzz off and look somewhere else." the pink pony said with a satisfied smile and in a way to cheerful tone. What was more surprising to Tender is the guards shared a look of discomfort and actually scurried off the wagon before heading down the road away from them.

"Wooo... Thank you." Tender said offering the pink pony a smile before the bouncer took her hoof and shook it vigorously, making Tender's whole body rock as she drop the picture of her and Dizy on the road.

"Oh!" the pink pony said before she snatched up the picture and hoofed it back to Tender.

"Sorry about that, gotta go have a nice time camping." the bouncing pony cheered and headed down the street whilst glancing in every direction. 

Tender just sat there in the middle of the road completely dull struck as Victor came up next to her and said, "Weird."  "Mh-hm." Tender agreed before they both shrugged and started unloading their buggy into the wagon. As she was hauling bags of supplies in Tender saw a small tent and a tiny bag of apples that hadn't been there earlier when she and Victor had gone into the store.

"Dizy must have been here." Tender said as Victor pulled the buggy back up in front of the store. Then he trotted to the head of the wagon and strapping himself into the wagon's harness.

"Don't worry we'll get her on the way out of town, remember." Victor said as he started pulling the wagon down the road with Tender sitting in the back with all of their new stuff as she looked around the street for their lost filly.

"Oh are you going to add that photo to the animal scrapbook?" Victor called back to her as they passed by more guards searching the street.

"Heck no I'm keeping this." Tender said with a shake of her head as she claimed the photo for herself and tucked it away for later. After that she continued looking at the street for Dizy as they both headed out of the small town.

Cozy's adrenalin was really pumping now as she saw two guards trot down the street and start to search their wagon, It's a good thing I didn't stay under it. Cozy had to find a way out of the city before they actually did start going through buildings, but I can't leave everything behind. Cozy's eyes wandered over to her belongings at the back of the wagon and hoped the guards wouldn't go through it. Then her heart leapt as Tender and Victor exited the store and started conversing with the guards. Yes!

Then to add to her shock Professor Pinkie Pie herself bounced her way right up next to Tender and started chatting with her. Cozy gulped a decent amount of milkshake down to comfort herself as she watched the scene play out with the guards hopping off of the wagon and Professor Pinkie pie bouncing her way down the street. 

"Hey you still there?" Silver Spoon asked trying to get her attention. That was foolish Cozy shouldn't have stayed glued to the window, she was starting to look suspicious.

"Yeah I was just zoning out, sorry." Cozy said tearing her mouth away from her straw and swerving her eyes back to the two fillies at the other end of the table only to find that they were already done with their milkshake and Cozy's was almost empty too. Huh time flies...

"Don't worry about it." Diamond Tiara said before she glanced over at Silver Spoon with the gray filly throwing Diamond a nod. What is this telepathy? Cozy wondered as she took another sip from her almost depleted milkshake.

"So I was wondering...", Diamond said with a smile as Silver Spoon finished her sentence, "... would you let us give you a makeover and comb you're hair? I bet we could make you really pretty with the right makeup."

"Yeah and we could probably get some of that dirt off of you too." Diamond added as she glanced at the dirt on Cozy's face.

Oh no, Cozy was cornered, they had been just buttering her up so she'd feel obliged to hang out with them... not that that was a bad thing in fact in another life Cozy would be ecstatic for something like that, this was just bad timing. Cozy glanced between the two nervously, if she said no then she would be rude after they'd just bought her a milkshake but if she said yes they would find out who she was and she'd probably be done for. Cozy looked around while she pretended to consider their offer, that's when she spotted Tender and Victor taking their wagon down the road. Yes there's my out.

"Oh I'm sorry but the ponies I'm with are leaving so I've gott'a hurry if I'm going to catch up with them." Cozy explained as she pointed to the leaving wagon and put on a frown for extra effect as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's smile vanished.

"Oh, well that's okay... but if you stick around you should come find us. We'll have a lot of fun I promise." Silver Spoon said hitting Cozy right in the feels. Golly they actually wanna be friends...

Cozy gave them both a soft smile and said, "I'll definitely do that you two are great." before she hopped down from her chair, being careful all the while as she separated her hoof from Pumpkin.

"Bye-bye and thanks for the milkshake." Cozy said with a wave to the two before she went through the front door of Sugarcube Corner and out into the street. Cozy darted her eye back and forth as she checked to make sure the coast was clear and after spotting no guards she sprinted across the street and hid in a small ally way between two houses close together. 

I just need to reach the plains, Cozy concluded as she judged the closest way towards Ponyville's green fields, which involved her making it across at least two more streets. That's fine I'll just have to be fast about it, Cozy decided as she checked the next road only for her to spot princess Celestia herself of all ponies with her tapestry of multicolored flowing hair as she flew over the buildings and rained down more of that sparkling dust from earlier. Cozy ducked away and hid successfully from the princess but to her misfortune the ally way she was huddled in was soon flooded with all of that wierd sparkling dust she'd seen. After her rainbow shower Cozy found she was covered in rainbow sparkles and although she tried to contain herself she sneezed a tiny, "Acho." which blew some of the dust into the air all around her.

Ugh what is this stuff, Cozy wondered as it clung to her pink coat and then to her absolute shock the dust started glowing a bright green all over her. "*Gasp* what the?" Cozy said aloud as she tried to shove the green mess off of her only for it to stay stuck to fur even as the rest of the dust in the ally way faded from sight around her. All at once it clicked for Cozy the spell they were using must be able to affect her specifically somehow like some kind of locator. Cozy tried again to rub it off but to her horror the green sparkling mess stayed stuck to her. Cozy put her head in her hooves in despair she couldn't just wait around here this dust was obviously supposed to give her away, she had to get out of Ponyville fast.

Regaining her composure despite literally glowing Cozy peeked around the corner of the ally and even scanned the sky but to her relief she only noticed normal ponies going about their day to day lives. Good now's my chance, Cozy thought as she ran to the next set of houses and crossed another ally way, with only some ponies catching a glimpse of her tiny glowing arura. Cozy hugged the wall of the house she was next too and spotted her salvation of green fields past the houses on the opposite side of the next street. Almost there.

Cozy checked one more time and saw a pair of guards walking away from her with their backs turned. Then to her astonishment they actually started chatting with each other.

"Ugh why didn't we bring spears? I mean isn't this like a danger zone now or something?" Guard one asked with his buddy shaking his head.

"It's textbook we can't bring weapons to a fight unless the enemy has already engaged." Guard two explained.

"But why? We could be armed to the teeth right now, I mean if we actually found the you know what, what do we use huh? harsh language?" Guard one asked as he moved out of the way of a pony couple walking bye.

"Wo... dude that would upset the humble lifestyle of Equestria! You have to respect the process." Guard two stated and nudged his dull struck compatriot down the road away from her.

Wow I've never seen them talk before, Cozy thought while still tucked away in the ally. Despite her urgency she waited a bit longer and when she was sure they were far enough down the road she booked it across the final road and ran behind the first large grass covered hill that she came too.

Made it, Cozy inwardly cheered as she sat down on her rear and looked her glowing green form over before she noticed it lit up the grass all around her. I have to get this off, Cozy thought with a wince as she realized Tender and Victor would be quite surprised to see her glowing. Huh Cozy Glow, that was too funny she was actually glowing oh the irony, Cozy let out a chuckle despite herself as she celebrated her victory. After a moment of recuperating Cozy got up and scanned the country side for any water to rinse the glowing mess off with. To her luck she spotted a pond not to far away in the distance and started running her way there over the flower dotted fields.

As she reached the pond Cozy snapped her head around to make sure that she hadn't been seen and after finding out she wasn't being followed she let out a sigh of relief. Nothing's gonna stop me now, Cozy thought as she unclipped her fake tail and pulled off her wig before dropping them both onto the ground, Not going to need those anymore. Having freed her actual mane Cozy ruffled her hair out some since it had been packed for so long and trotted to the waters edge on the tiny bank. Then she plunged her front hooves into the water. Wow... Cold, she realized but knew she didn't have much choice as she started splashing water all over her pink coat. Eventually Cozy worked out the green glowing menace and the dirt clinging to her, with her cutie mark now showing and her face becoming clean again. after the tiny bath Cozy stood up completely soaked and shivering but free as she shook her whole body like a dog to shake off what little water she could from herself. 

Taking a deep breath Cozy glanced back at Ponyville and spotted several dots flying over the city with glowing dust raining down to cover Ponyville block by block as they searched for her. Cozy even heard some ponies shouting angerly among the carnage, making her feel guilty. I didn't mean for that to happen, Cozy lamented before she spotted Tender and Victor's wagon off in the distance with both of her companions waiting for her outside of Ponyville like they'd planned. Cozy was so done with today as she smiled towards her salvation, The sooner I'm out of here the better.

Cozy started trotting over the green fields with a smile as she came closer and closer to leaving all of this craziness behind before she heard a pop* and she was immediately surrounded in a giant bubble of some kind. "Wait, what no no no no no." Cozy said in dismay as the bubble lifted itself several feet into the air as she heard a familiar voice, one that she'd only heard at school before.

"You know you've been quite hard to find." Discord said with Cozy stumbling in the bubble as she wheeled herself around to find the chaos lord's mismatched self standing right next to her in the green fields. No....

Cozy didn't say anything at first she was too shocked, she just hung her mouth open and tried to form words as she stared up into his giant round eyes until she finally managed to utter out, "Discord..."

"In the flesh." Discord said with a grin as he paced around her like a wolf and looked her over, making Cozy get gradually more nervous.

"Hmm... I know a certain grumpy princess that's just dying to meet you." Discord said making Cozy's pupils shrink to pinpricks and her blood run cold. This was actually it she'd be in Tartarus by dawn tommorow... if she was lucky.

"W-wait I..I'm good, I'm not evil!" Cozy shouted finally breaking through her terror and finding her words.

Discord stopped at her outburst and gave her an unamused glance, "Well... go on I'm listening." Cozy found drawing breath hard all of a sudden, she was panicking Tender and Victor were only a few green hills away, and she had been so close to freedom... 

Cozy's mind came up blank, she couldn't think of anything to say that would help her here, Discord was sure to hand her over with a big red bow onto of her head for good measure. She couldn't take it anymore her eyes breamed with tears. This wasn't right, it wasn't fair, she hadn't done anything to anypony, "Please..." Cozy whispered within her tiny suspended prison way up in the air, "Please just let me go."

Discord just shook his head, "Oh no I'm not falling for that I'm little and you should do what I say routine of yours."

"I'm not lying *sob* ...please I'll leave and I'll never come back." Cozy pleaded.

Cozy watched Discord pause and cross his arms, "Why, so you can try to take over the world again?"





Cozy maneuvered herself until she was on her knees in the bubble and openly begged him "No... I won't I promise." 

Discord seemed taken aback slightly at the show of desperation as he turned away from her and walked a bit down the green hill they we're on in contemplation. "Hmm..." Discord let out as he stood there with a claw cupping his chin in concentration all the while he gazed into the carnage of Ponyville, with shouts of distress and princesses raining magic down all over Ponyville's inhabitants. When he finally turned back to her he had the biggest grin she'd ever seen on him and gleefully michievious eyes.

"Oh alright." Discord said with an eyeroll and snapped his claws.

Cozy gasped as the bubble she was trapped in slowly lowered itself to the ground and extinguished itself with a another Pop*. Cozy didn't know what to think, she just sat there in the grass in complete shock before her mind caught up with her and she looked up at Discord wondering if he was really the Lord of Chaos or if he just liked playing with his food first.

"Really... y-your just letting me go?" Cozy asked getting up to her hooves and whipping the tears out of her eyes.

Discord just grinned harder and looked away, "Curious isn't it?"

Cozy couldn't believe it, Discord was always doing something nefarious but well... even if he was she didn't care. Cozy's joy returned, she couldn't help herself despite her small size she trotted up to the towering giant and gave his leg a soft hug, "Thank you Discord."

After a moment of embracing the now tense Draconiques Cozy glanced upward to see Discord staring down at her in surprise before he shook his head clear and leaned down. With a quick motion he easily pushed her away with an open claw, "Ugh... just go be a goody four hooves somewhere away from Ponyville and remember you promised to leave and not come back so I better not see you around here ever again."

"Okay I will." Cozy said getting to her hooves with a large smile. 

I thought you were the mean one, Cozy thought as she started trotting away from him towards Tender and Victor who were waiting for her over at their meet up spot. Cozy took in a deep breath and let it out, it was finally over, now after everything she'd been through she had a strait shot at freedom away from all this madness. After trotting over several green hills later she reached the end of her trip to Ponyville with Tender and Victor noticing her approach while they both sat at the back of their large brown wagon. 

"Dizy over here!" Tender shouted whilst waving her hoof in the air with both of them grinning at her arrival. Cozy wanted to call out to them but was at a loss for words and just to happy to speak, as she trotted up to Tender's dangling legs and held out her hooves for Tender who snatched her up off the ground to join them up on the wagon.





"So how was Ponyville?" Tender asked with Cozy sitting between her and Victor as they watched the small town below them and all the chaos ensuing there.

"It was... a doozie." Cozy nonchalantly stated causing both of them to share a glance and laugh before Victor hopped down from the back of the wagon and headed around to the front harness so they could all leave.

"So are you girls ready to head on over to Applelossa?" Victor called back to them. 

"Yeah." her and Tender said pulling themselves completely into the wagon next to their supplies and watched as Ponyville slowly vanish as Victor pulled their wagon away.