//------------------------------// // Infamy // Story: Channels // by Buttery Biscuit //------------------------------// Cozy Glow laid on a stolen red blanket next to Tirek where they sat in the warm embrace of the summer sun, its radiance prickling their hides comfortably between slow gusts of calm, chilly wind.  Cozy reached into a brown picnic basket with her forehoof. It creaked and groaned as she rummaged through its contents to pull out a heart-shaped sandwich. Her brows furrowed as she glared at the sandwich, incredulous. “Ugh, did it have to be a romantic picnic?” “It has to have love in it, or else Chrysalis can't eat it. You and Sombra insisted that we are not supposed to kidnap anycreature for now, so this is ALL your fault!” Tirek exclaimed as he fished out another identically shaped sandwich for himself. Eyeing it, he wondered how ponies could survive on so little food. He needed to eat twice, or sometimes even three times the amount to satisfy himself. “But we need to lie low! We don’t need to capture anycreature if we have the power of friendship on our side!” Cozy retorted before taking a large bite out of her sandwich. “Ooo daisy! At least those losers have some good taste in food.” “Or just raw physical power!” Tirek flexed a red bicep as he tossed the daisy sandwich into his mouth. “But friendship is power! Just look at Twilight and her friends! That's why we have to be friends in order to beat them!” Cozy hissed as she crushed the rest of her sandwich between her hooves. “Oh woopsies...” “You better eat the rest of that; you aren't getting another. And don’t use that stupid face of yours. It won’t work,” Tirek huffed as he dug into the basket, pulling out a strawberry and vanilla cake. He smiled as he rummaged around the creaky basket for a knife. He hated sweet foods, but with their stocks of food running so low, he’d eat just about anything right now. “AHEM,” Chrysalis coughed as she stepped out of the dense woods. A small hum filled the air as her green magic took control of the last sandwich from the basket. “If you both are finally done with your bickering, I have a new and brilliant plan for the destruction of Twilight and her friends!” “Oh?!” Cozy and Tirek said with excitement, their attention refocused on Chrysalis with hopeful eyes. “There are rumors of a spell, a spell that an ex-villain used before her foolish descent into friendship. My mortal enemy... Starlight Glimmer,” she hissed with hatred. “She found a time travel spell from Starswirl the Bearded. Unfortunately, she was too stupid to harness its true power properly. And so we will take it and use it to our FULL advantage. I spied around and I believe that it is in a nearby town in a library.” “Ooh, I can already see where you're going with this. We will go at night, sneak in, sneak out, and bam. One time-traveling spell for us,” Cozy jumped up from her spot on the blanket, her wings fluttering in the air. “Just imagine, they’d have to give in with such a powerful spell on our side.” “We could be unstoppable!” Tirek said as he slammed his fists down on the blanket, resulting in a heavy but dull thud against the semi-dry dirt. Cozy rubbed a hoof on her chin as she flapped over to a particularly dark shadow. “The library closes in four hours. I could go in, ask for a book, and hide until the library closes. We can then work on stealing the spell together!” “Won’t they know who you are? Our faces are plastered everywhere, with bounties for our capture! We have stay undercover,” Tirek questioned as he briefly watched Cozy, his eyes settling back on the self-proclaimed changeling queen. “That’ll be easy, I'll just change my looks up a bit. Ponies are so stupid,” Cozy laughed. “Are you both idiots? I’m a changeling! I’ll just do it. I can even grab food for myself and Tirek!” Chrysalis snapped. “First of all, they have magic wards set up against you. You are the only real changeling left, the only one interested in taking the throne. The changelings have caved into Twilight and her friends’ stupid way of friendship, and I wouldn’t call it impossible if Thorax and Twilight come up with something to capture you.” “Second, those creatures would be on high alert, especially with the amount of food we just stole. Those ponies could have already reported that incident to Twilight and her stupid friends,” Cozy growled as she remembered how they had managed to escape from Chrysalis’s green cocoons. “We need to be stealthy for this to work, especially since we are outnumbered.” “Cozy is right,” a shadowy figure morphed into a dark pony behind them, causing the other two villains to jump in surprise. Not that they would want to admit it. “We have to be careful, we wouldn’t want to make any more noise than we have to. The elements have defeated us numerous times before. Our only chance is to be tactical and meticulous.” Chrysalis reared her head back and her fangs glistened in the sun as she hissed, “I am sick of living like this, we could have better-” "Don't you think I am sick of this?! I AM A KING! KINGS DON’T LIVE LIKE THIS!" Sombra yelled, stamping so hard on the ground the earth shook, his eyes glowing a deep purple. “Why can't we just use Discord again? He’s just an idiot. We can just whisper in his ear like last time,” Tirek shrugged and rolled his eyes. “It's not like it is difficult to do.” “You don’t know him as I do; Discord has a lot of power. Now that he's on the other side, that power would be against us. He turned you three into stone with that harmony spell. You underestimate him, the elements of harmony, and his magic. Cozy is right, we need to tap into the power of friendship without submitting to it. Work together, get what we want, then go our separate ways,” Sombra said as he glanced over the many eye rolls. “Ugh.” “Thank you. Let me break it down for them,” Cozy coughed. “Discord is useless now, he has already given into friendship. Discord had used a harmony spell, and not his chaos magic to lock you up. Think of all the possibilities of the magic of chaotic harmony. Who knows what sort of things the lord of chaos could do with that much power?” With a sudden swipe of the camera, a room appeared that showed something drastically different. Sombra was sitting in a plush purple chair in front of an egg-white wall. A small black box scrolled over the image with the text ‘Sombra’s Confessions’ displayed. He looked into the camera with tired sunken eyes, grimacing as he spoke. “In the past, if you were to tell me that I was working with a child, I'd think you would be crazy, even if it were true. I would have killed you on the spot," Sombra said as purple smoke danced around his muzzle. "If you said two grown-[beep] adults couldn’t [beep] get along and a [censored] child had more sense than the both of them, I’d run the other way, for you must be out of your mind.” “Here I am, working with a [censored] child and one of her brain cells could make more sense than one entire [beep] adult brain. The concept isn’t hard to understand, and even an old being such as myself can understand such a simple concept. How much of a [beep] fool do you have to be to not see the obvious? I’m either going to go insane, or kill them in the process.” “No problem. Now let's change your looks. And the two of you, act like adults!” Sombra snapped at Tirek and Chrysalis as he took Cozy off to start phase one of their plan. He looked at Cozy slowly forming a plan. It wasn't long before Sombra was looking around the forest of green and brown. His eyes widened, a bone-chilling smile dawning on his muzzle as he spotted some vibrant red flowers. A sharp ripping sound filled the air as he plucked the flowers out of the ground, with huge chunks of grass dangling off of them. “What are you hey-” Cozy said as she tried to stop Sombra from rubbing that stuff into her mane and coat. Not that she could, as her fight quickly ended up just being small, useless flails against his purple magic. “Go look,” Sombra said as he pointed to a nearby lake. Cozy took to her wings, the surrounding grass blasting sideways in her wake. She turned her head over the edge of the lake, before slowly opening her eyes to stare at herself in shock. With a greenish-blond mane, she could barely recognize her own reflection from the serene waters of the lake. “I...look different,” she looked back at Sombra with interest. “How?” Sombra rubbed his hoof on the wet grass, cringing at the feel of his muddy hoof. He then held up his now dark green hoof. “I get stains all the time.” “You are a genius! I'm glad we are friends. Those other two can shove it. So me, me and meeee! When I get my immense power, I will definitely keep our alliance!” Cozy chirped as she flew by Sombra's side. “Yes...alliance, but I am not your friend,” Sombra spoke, turning his muzzle so quickly you would think that his neck would snap. He growled at Cozy, glaring at her with his flickering purple eyes. Cozy’s muzzle wrinkled briefly as she lifted her hoof up in the air. But before she could say anything, she saw Tirek and Chrysalis huddling together and whispering to each other. “HEY, what are you two up to?” Cozy yelled. There was another sudden swipe of the camera that showed that same plush purple chair in front of an egg-white wall. This time, Tirek and Chrysalis were sitting on it, smiling at each other, with fangs glinting, and eyes narrowing. It was time to explore the inner workings of Tirek’s and Chrysalis’ thoughts. “Oh, we’ll do the plan alright, and get something for us too,” Tirek punctuated with a boisterous laugh. “Yes, while we make Sombra and Cozy do all the work. We will hunt down what we deserve. Love to feast on!” Chrysalis said as she once more bore her fangs, drool leaving the corner of her muzzle as she licked her lips. “Power to absorb!” “New pillows!” “New sheets!” “New towels!” “Oh new towels, that's a must. I don't know why those two fools can't see what is important. We deserve the best of the best,” Tirek said as he slammed a clenched fist into his open right palm. “Fools. They’re all acting as though we're no better than those petty ponies. wE sHoULd SaVE thAt MonEY fOr ImPorTAnT THinGS!” Chrysalis said as she pitched her voice to be higher, tilting her muzzle rapidly as she did so. “Ha! You sound just like Sombra,” Tirek laughed, his hearty vibrations echoing off the small confines of the room. Chrysalis covered her ears with her hooves, the constant ringing of the microphone threatening to start a similar ring in her ears. “It was supposed to be Cozy,” she hissed. “Oh.” Cozy sat atop of a dusty bookshelf, her shadow much bigger than what a small child should cast and outlined in a dark purple hue. “How long?” it asked her in a deep familiar voice. “I hope soon. I’m soooo booooored,” she whispered back as she lay on the uncomfortable wooden shelves.  Right on cue, the huge, ornate wooden doors leading to this section of the library slammed shut with a heavy thud. Cozy and Sombra didn’t so much as breathe as a pony made their way past heavy doors that thudding as they quickly left.  “Phew,” Cozy sighed as she descended onto the floor. “Alright let's make this quick.” “Agreed,” Sombra said as a swirl of black magic pulled him from Cozy’s shadow. He shook himself off and headed toward the walls, using his long black tendrils to feel over the coarse, dry, wooden walls. “Aha,” he stated as he felt over one particular spot. “There is a large divot there, which means that the secret bookshelf should be behind this case.” His horn glowed a deep purple, as did his eyes as he flung every book off of that shelf, leaving only two attached to the secret lever. The bookshelf opened with a loud creak, and Sombra smiled smugly as he stepped through the passage.  “It’s just so easy to work with you, we barely even have to think about it,” Cozy laughed as she followed closely behind.  “Agreed, not like those buffoons. Why, if I didn't have to work with them to get what I wanted, they’d be dead by now.”  Cozy just laughed which made Sombra turn back to her, shock on his face. He would have asked her why, were it not for the huge blast as the side of the secret passage collapsed. The old, dried-out wood lit instantly in huge green flames. In a matter of seconds, the flames spread over a fourth of the library. Sombra and Cozy knew that magic anywhere — Chrysalis. But there wasn’t much time; they had to cover their tracks and fast.  “I’ll get the spell; you get the rest,” Sombra said as he transformed into a shadow and slipped through the fallen beam.  “Don’t die!” Cozy yelled back as she ran towards the other two, using her wings to propel herself forward. Careful not to touch the flames, she slipped out of the hole. There, laying limp in the street was a pile of pale, cutie mark-less ponies, drained.  Cozy bit her lip, she knew she didn’t even have to look. It was those two bozos again, draining every creature that moved. “IDIOTS! Go, NOW!” Cozy screamed, before pointing towards a nearby hill, taking care to not explicitly point to their hideout. The villains opened their mouths to protest, but Cozy cut them off. “Quick! Before the elements get here! I’ll leave with Sombra and the spell. NOW GO!” Cozy exclaimed as the library’s flames illuminating her eyes. With a small zap and a green glow, they disappeared, leaving utter pandemonium in their wake. A small zap, a green glow, and they were gone. Cozy sighed with relief before looking back at the burning building. “Come on we need that spell,” she whispered as she frowned her brows creasing. Her eyes scanned over every corner, fallen beam and lick of green flames. "What are you doing?" “Sombra!? How...I thought you might be trapped! You can't just leave me to parent those two idiots! I’m like, twelve!” Cozy huffed as she yelled at the wide-eyed dark stallion behind her. “You saw me do it before, how could you be so-" Sombra stopped for a moment, his angry gaze softening as he looked at the stressed-out filly before him. "Cozy, I won't leave you with those too. It’s a fate worse than giving up to Twilight and her friends. Not let's go scream at, what did you call them, so totally losers.”  Cozy giggled. “Slang doesn't really suit you but I'm glad you don't sound old anymore. It was so hard to understand you! That sounds like a great idea! I know what just to say to them-” Cozy stopped mid-sentence, dazed and confused as Sombra picked her up the scruff on her neck and teleported them back to the cave they called home. Cozy was going to protest but, before she could, they were back at the cave in a flash. He put her down and he trotted off to the depths of their cave.  “IDIOTS, WHAT WERE YOU BOTH THINKING?!”  Cozy quickly ate the rest of her ice cream, smiling as she followed Sombra's lead. "ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? WAS IT WORTH IT?" “Will they ever learn?” the deep gravelly voice of the narrator kicked up once more, talking over the bickering villains before that image faded out and into black and green smoke. “Next time on Infamy!”  “How did you get tricked by Discord again?!” Chrysalis spat at Cozy Glow. She paced around an old dead tree trunk so furiously that her hooves dug into the ground. Lush green grass gave way to a muddy dirt circle.  “This is ALL YOUR FAULT!” Chrysalis yelled as she continued pacing. “How was I supposed to know it was him? I thought he was YOU! He’s convincing!” Cozy screamed back out in defense as she crossed her hooves.  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S CONVINCING?! ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!”  “OH SCREW YOU!” “REEEEEEEEEEEEE,” Chrysalis screamed as she activated her magic, shooting it at a nearby tree. That tree immediately exploded into thousands of bits as soon as the magic made even the briefest of contact.  Then the picture turned black one final time, green smoke flowing through as the narrator spoke. “Stay tuned to find out what happens next on Infamy.”