//------------------------------// // Chapter 25: Remnants of the Legion of Doom, Part 1, Cozy's Resolve // Story: One Thousand Years Ago // by Scroll //------------------------------//     “Finally we arrive here!” Cheese Pie exclaims as she droops over the pegasus chariot. “I . . . am . . . starving! I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!”     Cheese's adjacent companion, Cozy Glow, gives her friend an alarmed look. She's not the only one, either. Two of the pegasus guards look back at her in the hopes that she is kidding.     “A horse’s weight in vegetables and pastries,” Cheese clarifies. “Duh! You all didn't let me finish.”     Cozy's alarmed look calms to suspicion as she asks, “We had a feast this morning before we took off from the Crystal Empire. Why are you so hungry already?”     “Exactly! I had a feast in the Crystal Empire this morning. That was like . . . several hours ago.”     Cozy slaps her face with a hoof and pulls it down as she asks, “How in the world can you remain so thin?”     Cheese rolls her eyes as she says, “Duh! My family can literally digest rocks for breakfast. Does that answer your question?”     Cozy sighs as she looks over the rail of the chariot, then her ears perk up when she notices them pass her mother and Sunset Shimmer on one of the balconies of the Castle. Cozy locks eyes on them for a moment as they wave at her while they pass them.     “Riding with you in an airship is sure going to be interesting,” Cozy theorizes. “Maybe we'll actually make it from Canterlot to the borders of Ponyville before we run out of food in the entire vessel.”     Cheese bursts out in merry laughter, then wipes a tear from her eyes as she says, “Yeah! That would be pretty funny!”     “Hey, listen . . . Gallus,” Cozy calls to him as he continues to pull the chariot along with the other pegasus guards.     “Yeah?” he asks back in his typical nasally way.     “After you all land, I order you to escort my friend to the dining hall. Be sure she gets all she can eat. Is that understood?” Cozy commands.     “Well, yeah. Sure, but . . . what are you going to do?” Gallus checks.     “I'm going to go fly over to my mother and Sunset now,” Cozy informs. “I need to update them on my current situation.” She looks down. “And there's something else I'll need to do. Part of me kind of dreads this, but . . . this is important.”     “Sure thing,” Cheese acknowledges. “You go on. I'll be fine. Do what you need to do.”     “Thanks, my friend,” Cozy says to Cheese with a smile. “I'll see you later, alright?”     “Of course you will, silly!” Cheese agrees happily as she gives Cozy a big hug. Doing so causes Cozy to inadvertently squeak again.     “Okay, okay! That's enough,” Cozy bids as she pats her friend to encourage Cheese to let her go.     Before she lets go, Cheese squeezes Cozy one more time, which once again makes her produce a squeaking sound, then she suddenly let go as she declares, “Okay. I'm done. You can go now.”     Cozy blinks, then mocks with a lopsided grin and a bow, “Thank you for your permission, Your Majesty.”     “Indubitably, my good mare,” Cheese returns with mock politeness which does little to diminish the amused twinkle in her eye.     Cozy decides to take off before her friend, or anypony else for that matter, changes their minds and delays her further. In accordance with that, she falls backwards off the back end of the chariot which is open. She falls for about fifteen feet before twisting around in mid-air then curves up to fly back to the balcony where she saw her mother and Sunset standing. When Cozy arrives, she sees that they are still there, but talking to each other and did not seem to expect to see Cozy so soon. However, when they did notice her, their conversation halts. They regard Cozy with moderate surprise.     “Welcome home, Cozy!” Princess Twilight cheers. “It's good to see you again. Thank you so much for keeping Sunset compony during her difficult trial.”     Cozy waves her “mother” off as she rolls her eyes and says, “Yeah, yeah! Blah-de-blah. Friendship is magic and stuff.     “Look, I came here to report on what happened since I left. More specifically, I've come for a mind-reading.” She looks at Sunset. “We agreed to do this as soon as we meet each other back in Canterlot, remember?”     “Yeah, that's true,” Sunset recalls a little sheepishly. “Strange considering that suggestion came from you.”     “Let's get this over with,” Cozy prods with a slight sigh of annoyance.     Twilight lifts and wipes a hoof back and forth between them while shaking her head as she says, “There is no need for that, my daughter. Sunset is only a temporary resource we have to work with, and you're living with me permanently. I want our relationship to be built on a foundation of trust.” She returns her hoof to the ground. “Just look me in the eyes and tell me that you haven't been up to any mischief, and I'll believe you.”     “Are you serious?” Cozy asks her mother with doubt.     Twilight places a hoof on her golden chest guard as she says, “If I am to be your mother and friend, I have to learn to give you the benefit of the doubt.” She gives a fond grin as she adds, “Fluttershy taught me that.”     Cozy sighs in irritation as she slaps her face with a hoof. She pulls it down and passes her mother a droll look as she complains, “Then you are a fool, 'mother'.”     “Excuse me?” Twilight asks while taken aback.     Cozy stomps her left foreleg on the ground as she says in a hard tone, “A wise princess would utilize every resource she has to the best of her ability, especially if the effort is so cost-efficient. That includes temporary opportunities. Many times such things can secure permanent and truly important objectives.     “You want to trust me? Well fine! I want that too. In that case, do what is necessary to help secure that trust. Don't just take things on blind faith anymore. That is how I got every bucking pony in this thick-headed and dangerously gullible nation fighting with each other during your coronation. Instead of that, prove you actually have an active brain cell left in that giant empty space you call your head by doing whatever is necessary to actually verify my claims, or any claim from any other pony, for that matter.” Cozy waves to indicate Sunset while still locking her eyes on Twilight. “She's standing right there, ‘Mother’. Waiting. So, let's not continue to argue about this. Let's just do what we came here to do.”     Now she looks at Sunset as she orders in an insistent tone, “Do it!”     Sunset Shimmer has her lips open, revealing her teeth. She looks so uncomfortable getting in the middle of an argument between mother and daughter. She looks at Twilight for a second, hoping to get some sign of confirmation from her too before committing to the task.     Twilight, for her part, purses her lips a bit as she keeps her face into a carefully neutral mask, probably in a concerted effort avoid being baited into yet another argument with her hot-tempered daughter.     When Twilight's eyes meet with Sunset, she just gives a quiet nod of confirmation.     Feeling relieved to have that order verified, Sunset steps forward and touches Cozy. As she does so, Cozy closes her eyes as her face sinks to a calmer look of neutral acceptance. Sunset initiates her power which only takes a few seconds.     When the usage of the power is done, Cozy opens her eyes just in time to notice Sunset grow momentarily dizzy. When she sees this, she recalls the fact that that particular reaction isn't the first time she's observed this. Cozy reasons that receiving so much extra information crashing into her brain in the space of a few seconds causes Sunset to be momentarily disconnected from her senses because, for a brief moment, her brain is literally thinking many times faster. Sunset gets dizzy because her mind and senses need a moment to reorient themselves back in sync.     Cozy finds this information noteworthy because it is a weakness with Sunset's power, however brief it may be. That information could later prove to be an opportunity for her or a dangerous opening in Sunset's defenses that any other potential enemy of her ally could exploit.     Either way, it bears careful watching.     “Are you serious?!” Sunset exclaims in amazement after she recovers from her dizziness. “You actually met your counterpart consciously?”     “Sort of,” Cozy replies. “That only occurred with Princess Luna's assistance, and it only happened in my dream.”     “Really? She actually met her counterpart recently?” Twilight checks with rising excitement.     “Apparently so,” Sunset verifies to Twilight.     “I knew she got my letter!” Twilight cheers. “In fact, Luna's reply is awfully late. I sent her a letter about your situation the day after you arrived in Equestria because I hoped she might have ideas to awakening your counterpart. Apparently she came through . . . eventually.”     Cozy shakes her head at her mother as she announces, “She did, but the process wasn't permanent. Apparently the force that holds her down and keeps Sombra reluctantly in her place still holds true. We'll still have to solve his core problem before she can come back permanently.”     Twilight smiles at her daughter a bit as she says, “At least you got to meet her. Did she manage to speak with you this time? She was mute the last time you visited her in her world, and that was years ago.”     Cozy nods. “Yes. She got to speak with me this time because we were in a dream state. I guess that allowed her to bypass some mortal limitations. That was also why she was able to stand on clouds within the dream.”     “Regarding your other goal,” Sunset brings up with a troubled expression to Cozy, “are you sure that's wise? That seems a bit dangerous, and your visit might not help them anyway.”     Cozy's eyes looks down as she says, “I'm not sure if I can really call them friends, but we once worked together . . . and I feel like I owe them something.” She looks back at Sunset. “I'm about to leave Canterlot soon and go on a journey to Celestia knows where. Maybe I'll never return from this journey. So, before I leave, I want at least a little bit of closure on this issue. If I leave without putting in any effort to help them, then I may get stuck wondering how much I could have helped during the journey when it's too late.” Cozy shakes her head. “And the journey is too important, perhaps even dangerous, to afford such distractions. I want my mind completely devoted to the trip while I am on it. In order to do that, I need to settle a debt with them as much as I possibly can.”     As they spoke, Twilight patiently waited to be filled in.     Shortly after Cozy spoke, Sunset looks down and shakes her head while sighing, then she looks at Twilight as she says to her, “Twilight, we need to talk. Preferably in privacy.”     A large and very broad gray earth pony stallion by the name of Rock Steady escorts Sunset Shimmer and Cozy Glow into the depths of the Canterlot dungeon. A dungeon which would have been quite dark were it not for the intermittent torches hanging diagonally up from the walls.     “This way, Your Highness,” Rock Steady's deep, baritone voice vibrates through the air. “Watch your step.”     “I know my way through the dungeon,” Cozy announces in annoyance as she puffs her left cheek. “I've been down here before.”     “That may be so,” Rock Steady agrees, “but the doctor assigned to monitor them has set up a new office down here. I'm fairly certain you aren't as familiar with that.”     “I would certainly like to meet her,” Sunset puts in. “I think we'll need as much information about them before attempting to engage them personally.”     “I couldn't agree more,” Rock Steady returns. “Aside from that, I have my orders.”     “Can anything be done about this dank smell?” Cozy asks with a wince of disgust. “It smells like mildew down here. It's revolting.”     “Forgive me, Your Majesty,” Rock Steady requests calmly. “I don't know how this could have happened. The maids and butlers are supposed to clean these luxury suites on a regular basis. Nothing but our finest work for our incarcerated guests.”     Cozy rolls her eyes as she says with dry sarcasm, “Oh, ha-ha!”     “It suits our purposes,” Rock Steady said more seriously with a shrug. “And . . . we're here.”     Rock Steady knocks on a thick wooden door ahead of him. Seconds later, a soothing voice calls from the other side, “You may enter.” Once he hears that, the guard nods to himself then proceeds to open the door. After he opens the door, however, he steps aside and gives a sweeping gesture into the room.     “Go ahead, you two,” Rock Steady bids. “I'll wait outside and keep watch. I'll make sure nopony else eavesdrops on your private conversation.”     “Thank you for the escort, my good sir,” Sunset says gratefully to him before stepping into the next room. Cozy follows suit with a single curt nod to the guard along her way in. He returns the gesture before closing the door behind them after they enter.     What a world of difference the two mares encounter! Outside of this room seems like a classic dungeon with hemispherical gray stone tunnels, dripping water, and torches regularly lined up on the walls. Inside this new room, however, are calming white smooth walls and a carpet on the floor which has a mix of rainbow colors set in a circle. The air smells of calming incense. There is a tiny artificial water fountain towards the back corner that is spilling rainbow light into a small pool below. Along the right walls are a pair of rounded couches facing each other. On them are several piles of comfortable looking pillows. Several file cabinets are towards the back where another mare in a white lab coat is standing. From there, she is levitating a few documents out of the file cabinets within a soft white glow. She proceeds to read them and has yet to turn around and directly address her new guests.     “Greetings,” the doctor says in an almost hypnotically smooth, calming voice. “My name is Doctor Patience, and I shall attend to you in a short while. Until then, please make yourselves comfortable. Have a seat wherever you like. If you care for some, there is a table in the corner where several sets of tea are available.”     “Nice place you’ve got here,” Sunset commends as she scans about the place. “I can really feel that dungeon-y aesthetic.”     “My office is a sanctuary from all stress for those who choose to dwell here,” Doctor Patience calmly explains as the sheet of paper she's looking at flips about the top left corner and folds behind the next sheet of paper she is studying. “Please have a seat . . . and make yourselves comfortable.”     Sunset looks at Cozy, shrugs, then proceeds to the corner table in order to investigate what kind of tea is being served here, to which she finds several kinds. Cozy, on the other hoof, simply proceeds to the couch furthest along the right wall from the exit and sits upon it. Despite the doctor's request, she sits rather stiffly since she is trying to hold a dignified and indifferent pose.     “Care for some tea?” Sunset offers Cozy from the table.     “No thanks,” Cozy rejects. “I've only come here for one thing.”     Sunset shrugs and pours herself a cup of ginseng tea. Once this is done, she levitates the cup ahead of her in her teal magical aura as she moves to sit beside Cozy on the half-circular couch. Once there, she blows on the cup to help it cool down then eventually sips the tea carefully.     A few minutes later, Doctor Patience floats her files away back into her cabinets then finally turns to address her new guests. When she does, they can see that the white hide, exceptionally long-legged mare has a jet black mane tied in a neat bun. Her tail is cut short. She has rounded glasses on her face that is further secured by a tiny silver chain attached to the end of the glasses stem which is looped around her neck. For jewelry, she has a white pearl necklace and teardrop-shaped earrings which hang from her ears. Beneath her white lab coat, she wears a black turtle-neck sweater.     “Thank you for your patience,” the doctor expresses with her ever calm and soothing voice. “Now then . . . what can I do for you two?”     “We're here to visit your two other patients, Queen Chrysalis and Lord Tirek,” Sunset explains to the doctor.     “I see,” the doctor says in understanding as she gives a discerning look to Cozy. “I gathered as much.”     “But before we go see them,” Sunset goes on, “I'd like to review your notes on the patients.”     Doctor Patience gives a slight eyebrow raise at Sunset as she asks her, “You're a trained clinical psychologist?”     “In training,” Sunset answers honestly. “With some focus in criminal psychology. I was hoping to use those skills to help redeem and rehabilitate them.”     The Doctor nods calmly as she says, “I am in the practice of that as well. It's good to finally meet another student of the healing arts.     “However,” she pauses as she floats her glasses off of her face then uses another white cloth to clean them. She huffs at each lens once, wipes it one more time, then returns the glasses back on her face before resuming to speak. “I shall need to see official credentials before I am allowed to share any personal information about my patients. Doctor/patient confidentiality. You understand.”     Sunset nods. “I do understand, and while I must admit that I haven't graduated from my classes yet, what I do have instead is a note from the princess which expresses her permission to share any pertinent information on these two patients with the express intention to assist them towards recovery and rehabilitation.”     “I see,” the doctor replies without even the slightest break in her calm temperament. “May I see this note?”     “Certainly,” Sunset accepts as she floats the scroll over to the doctor. Once it arrives, the magical aura around the scroll changes from light teal to soft white.     The Doctor unrolls the scroll and starts reading. Her eyes rapidly scan each line one by one. About nine seconds later, despite there being an entire page worth of information, she is already done reading. She rolls up the scroll and returns it to Sunset as she acquiesces, “Very well, then. The authority of the princess trumps any standard patient privilege. I'll trust her judgment on these matters. Besides,” her look shifts to Cozy, “I already suspect why she has chosen to involve you two. She,” she nods to Cozy, “already has a history with them, and you,” she looks back at Sunset, “have some professional training in this matter, thus can give Cozy here some professional advice.” The Doctor nods to them both. “While you two are here, that is what I will require. I must request the two of you keep things calm and professional.”     “Let's get started, then,” Sunset decides as she rises from the couch. “Show me your notes.”     “Okay, while you two nerd over a bunch of clinical notes,” Cozy says as she rises from the couch, “I'm going to go talk to them.”     “Alone?” Sunset reflects with objection. “I don't think so.”     “They know me,” Cozy counters. “To a point, they also trust me. That credibility is somewhat shot, though, as soon as they see I have an escort.     “Let me talk to them privately, at least at first,” Cozy requests. “I may be able to get more out of them alone rather than sharing the compony of either of you two.”     The other two mares in the room are silent for a moment, then the Doctor speaks.     “She might be right,” Doctor Patience decides cautiously. “She does have a previous association with the patients.” She looks from Cozy to Sunset. “I haven't made much progress on my own so far. A change in our approach might yield some promising results.”     Sunset looks from the Doctor to Cozy with discomfort and uncertainty.     “Don't worry, Sunset,” Cozy urges. “I'm not going to be plotting to take over the world with them anytime soon. Why should I risk that when I already have a good thing going here? No motive means no risk.”     “The patients are locked behind bars anyway,” Doctor Patience puts in. “Plus, security measures are in place to keep them from casting spells. The only danger to her from them is purely psychological.”     “Which is what we're here to solve,” Cozy says as she looks from the doctor to Sunset. “Please trust me, Sunset. I won't let you down. You've scanned my mind and my feelings before, so you should know that I'm loyal to you.”     “Scanned her mind?” Doctor Patience inquires as she lifts her left eyebrow slightly which is the only hint of an emotional impact on her. “This sounds intriguing. I would care to learn more about this ability.”     Sunset sighs, then cuts a hoof across the air ahead of her as she says, “Alright, Cozy. You can have a few minutes alone with each of them. Just stay in earshot of the guard so you can yell for help if you need it.     “Meanwhile,” she looks at the doctor, “I'll review your clinical notes with the doctor while I also explain a little bit about my magical abilities. That might come in handy soon.”     “Handy?” Doctor Patience reflects. “A most curious expression.”     “Oh!” Sunset slaps a hoof just below her horn. “I mean hoofy.”     “You're a very interesting mare, Miss Sunset Shimmer,” the doctor expresses to Sunset. “I shall be most interested to get to know you indeed.”     “Wait!” Cozy looks at the doctor with suspicion and alarm. “How did you know her name? We haven't announced that yet.”     “Simple,” the doctor expresses calmly as her look shifts to Cozy. “It was written in the note that the princess wrote for me.”     “Oh!” Cozy blinks in realization. “Okay. That makes sense.”     “Go on,” Sunset bids to Cozy. “Do what you can . . . and good luck.”     May the force be with you, Cozy thinks in amusement. The quote that pops into her mind is derived from her knowledge of her counterpart's world. She isn't completely certain where the quote comes from, but she knows its general meaning is along the lines of, “May the odds ever be in your favor.”