Investigations: The Chess Master's Turnabouts

by Rosestory

Memories, Trauma, Secrets and the turnabout to reveal them (2-5)

Sebastian was hoping this wouldn't happen, he really hoped so.

After the whole ordeal at Mikado mansion, he and Cozy were extremely tired and were hoping to get some well needed rest. For Sebastian, it meant hoping that Bishop would spare him at lease one dreamless night as in one of the books his mentor/ kind-of-adopted father , Miles Edgeworth, had gave him, it said sleeping peacefully gives you more rest than a sleep with a dream. So after having a small mental and emotional breakdown from what Mari said and almost dying, followed by giving his testimony to the police, he would think the bishop would be kind enough to let him have tonight just for once.

Apparently not, and making things worst, rather than the usual castle throne room, or "the castle of the two sisters" as she always put it, the prosecutor found himself floating in the middle of space... well, floating might be the wrong words since he was lying down and now standing on an invisible floor underneath him , and all around him is the endless void of the night sky, a lilac tinted void with stars shining around him. Also around him, seemingly standing on the same invisible floor are doors.

"Where am I?" He murmured, no response. He seriously wondered where the Bishop would be, wondered why the change of scenery from the castle to an endless void of doors in the night sky, and most importantly, what he was supposed to do. He really was hoping it wouldn't be anything confusing or complicated.

...

...

...

After no response for what he felt was a good minute or two, he decided the best thing to do was explore the new space he was in, which isn't saying a lot when said space was just an endless void of night sky . He would describe it as being in a glass box floating in space, and the glass was so clean and see-through that he might as well be standing on an invisible floor.

The only other interesting thing of note were the doors everywhere, once again appearing like they were standing on an invisible floor, and even more interesting was how some of them appeared and disappeared seeming at random. With nothing better to do, he began to examine each and every door.

After examining enough door, he began to pick up on a few pattern. Every single door was unique, no one door was exactly the same as the other. Sure, there were doors that were similar, whether in having the same color , design or anything else, but every door was at lease noticeably different from the others. The only difference being each door having the same design pattern to them.

Said design pattern being a large icon located at the center of a square on the top half of the door, and smaller icons surrounding it. Sebastian looked at all the doors, and put together that each door belongs to someone, and the icons reflect who that person is. The large icon sometimes being the person's face or a logo they are connected to while the smaller icons showing things reflecting their past or personality.

Some of the doors were clearly of people who Sebastian had never met before, one had a face of a girl long purple hair and pink stripes, surrounded by socks, swords and angel and evil motifs, while another had a pickaxe as the main symbol with different types of rocks and gems engraved onto the door.

Then there were the doors Sebastian instantly knew who they belonged to. He came across a door with Klavier's gavineer logo surrounded by guitars and music motifs, he swore he heard Klavier's voice and some guitar music behind it. One of the doors straight up had Edgeworth's face ( or at lease a simplified cartoon version of it, Sebastian still recognizes that hairstyle and cravat anywhere) surrounded by smaller faces. Sebastian recognizes his own face along side Kay , Justine, Gumshoe and Franziska, though he's unsure about the others... Who was that spiky haired blue suit person?

The more he though about it, the more confused he became. Why were there doors representing a different person that were appearing and disappearing randomly, and why in an endless void. More importantly, what was he suppose to do here. The fact that he couldn't open any of the doors wasn't really helping at all.

Suddenly , he spots something shining just off his Peripheral vision, turning to look, he sees a glowing star flying around him. The star then flies away. Sebastian doesn't know why, but he has a feeling he needs to follow the star, so he gets up and runs after it, as he runs, he passes by more and more doors, all placed across an endless void of stars and skies, all of them hiding some kind of mystery behind them, but Sebastian payed them no mind, he continues to follow the star, until it stops at a door .

This door was peachy pink in color, with feathers lining the door frame, and a big chess rook engrave in the middle upper part of the door, several other , smaller thing engrave into the door surrounding the rook, these include a bell, a centaur, some bug-horse looking thing, a goat/ ram creature, and also at the base of the door are some small cyan crystals .

Suddenly, without warning, the door swung open really fast, Sebastian saw Cozy glow fly out the door , before it closed back and slammed shut with a loud bang. Sebastian immediately looked over to cozy glow, who looked panicked and distress, she was breathing heavily as if she ran/ galloped/ flew for her life, behind her, he could here what sounded like screaming and yelling and banging on the door. As if someone on the other side was screaming at her. Sebastian could barely make out a few words. But those few words immediately cause Sebastian to be shocked beyond belief.

"Yeah, that right, run and cry !"

"None of us want to be friends with a worthless loser like you!"

"Get out of my sight you worthless brat!"

" No one loves you, you hear!"

Sebastian immediately turned his attention to Cozy glow, who's curled up crying in fear and panic, Sebastian immediately ran over to comfort her.

"Cozy Glow, a-are you okay!?"

"Why... just why..." She cried

"Cozy glow?"

" I don't understand, why..."

"Cozy glow, is everything alright?"

" Everypony just wants to hurt me, or yell at me, or just ignore me..."

"Cozy," Sebastian honestly tried his best to comfort Cozy and see why she was crying, but she kept on ignoring him...

" it doesn't matter whatever I do, good, bad or even nothing at all... Nopony cares..."

"Why are you crying?"

"Why do they always do this, I thought they loved me, but my friends and family, they all..."

Sebastian decided to do something more than try to call cozy glow's name, he did what always calms him down when he's having an emotional breakdown. He precedes to hug her.

"EEP!" As soon as he hug her, she immediately pushed him away. "Pl-please don't hit me!" She became even more panicked and proceeded to back up against one of the doors and looks as if she's getting ready to be hit, only to momentarily calm down and put her hooves down , and then calms down completely when she saw Sebastian there...

It felt like a moment where you were jump scared by a monster, only to see it's just someone in a costume, because as soon as she realize the only thing in front of her was Sebastian, she slowly calmed down .

"O-oh, it's just you Sebastian... I - um.. Good morning" She forced a happy smile, but Sebastian could tell some of that panic is still there, albeit slowly fading away.

"Um, hey there Cozy, is, um everything okay?"

"Um... Yup, everything's perfectly fine." She smiled again, before she took a look at her surroundings and realise where she was. "Golly, where are we..."

"That's what I wanted to know too, I just kind of woke up here and then found you..."

"Golly, looks like were in quite a peculiar situation, aren't we Sebby?"

Before any one of them could continue, a small noise directed their attention back to the floating star, which immediately flew to an opening among the doors , and drew in size until it became a large glowing star , causing both Sebastian and Cozy to cover their eyes . When the light faded away, they looked back to see a large golden gate where the star once was in the opening.

Sebastian and Cozy turn to look at each other, knowing well what they should do, before they both walked through the gates.

-------------------------------------------------

As soon as they stepped through the gates, they are greeted by a pleasant surprise and a beautiful change of scenery, the endless void of space and door were no longer there, instead they saw a beautiful garden with some kind of castle off to the side. As the gates close quitely behind them, Sebastian stood there in awe of the beautiful garden he was now in. Cozy glow had a different reaction.

"Golly, back here, huh..."

"Cozy glow," Sebastian asked "What do you mean, back here?"

"This... " Cozy glow hesitated a bit "...Is the Canterlot Gardens, I've been here before, it's the personal gardens of the princess, right behind their castle..."

"So that's what the castle over there is..."

"Yes," She explained "That is the canterlot castle where princess celestia and luna rule all of Equestria, or at lease where they used to rule before they retire, the castle is twilight's now."

"Twilight, as in the headmare of the school of friendship you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes, and also the princess of friendship and celestia's personal student..."

"Woah..." Sebastian took a moment to process the new information he learned about this other world, and to say he's interested would be an understatement, then again, if his interest in what Cozy told him during their conversations were anything to go by...

"Anyways, we got nothing else to go, so why don't we explore this place." Sebastian suggested "I mean, I know you already been here before but I am furious as to what your world looks like."

"Um, I think you meant to say curious as to what my world looks like..."

"Ah! Yes, curious, yeah..."

"Anyways, sure, I'll show you around..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

As Sebastian walked and Cozy flew through the garden, their eyes dazed apon the statues placed all around the area. The trees and bushes were placed in such a way that it looked like an artistic landscape. The beautiful flowers all around the garden, of all colors and sizes. It was a magnificent garden you expect to see as part of a palace. Which is exactly what it was. And it was completely empty except for them.

The whole place had a deep-rooted silence to it, broken only by the faint sounds of hustle and bustle from the city. It unnerved Sebastian and Cozy, the duo simply walking around the garden , striking a conversation whenever possible, but mostly it was silence between the two.

The quiet and stillness only grew deeper as they approached the back corner of the garden, deep under the shadows of the willowy trees that guarded it. They came to sudden stop in front of the final statue, one they stared at for a long time.

There technically was nothing special about it. It was white, like all the others, and made of what looked like the same type of stone, but unlike the others, which generally only had one subject, this one had three.

The first was what appear to be some kind of hybrid between a horse and a bug , with a queen motive to her. Sebastian reconized her as one of the faces on the door Cozy came out of, and Cozy knew who she was, the queen of changeling, Queen Chrysalis, who refused to reform when given the chance. Her face was frozen in an ugly snarl as she seemingly tried to leap at her adversary.

The second was a centar . Once again, the prosecutor reconized him from Cozy's door, while the pegasus filly knew who she was looking at. It was Tirek, her pen pal. His figure flinching back and face turned away as it was, he looked almost...afraid.

The third, dwarfed by the other two and almost unnoticeable, was a small pegasus filly.

With curly hair.

And a rook cutie mark.

And an expression of sheer horror on the face clutched in her forelegs.

The filly may have been made of stone, but Cozy knew her own face when she saw it.

And Debeste knew as well.

The same statue that was in Sakurai park, the same statue that Cozy glow was freed from. He knew it when he saw it.

And this triggered a lot of emotions inside both of them

"Um, hey..." Sebastian was a bit nervous all things considered "Cozy, i'm sorry to ask, but is that you?"

"..." She gave no response, instead the pink pony slowly lowered herself to the ground and sat down, staring into her own statue, her own eyes.

"Cozy glow?"

"I- Sebastian, I..."

"Cozy, I ... have a lot of questions about this," He gestured to the statue of the trio " I know you were a pony that was once trapped in stone, but why were you here in the gardens, and who are those two, and why are you 3 together , when I found you, it was just you..."

...

"Golly, so that what's going on..."

"Cozy glow?"

"Oh, sorry, just lost in thought, " She gave a simple smile towards him "What did you ask, again?"

"I- nevermind " Sebastian decided not to push her about this.

"Hey Sebby," Cozy asked "Are you okay? You seem nervous for some reason"

"Oh, that, um well..." Sebastian was nervous because of the fact that this was a dream but, there was something else bothering him. He decided now would be a bad time to say what it was thou "It's nothing..."

"Golly , you sound hesitant," Cozy made a cute face towards him "Come one , Sebby, You can trust me with anything, after all, I'm just a sweet little filly trying to help."

"That's actually what bothering me, Cozy" Sebastian did have a question, and decide now would be just about as good a time as any to ask.

"Golly, what do you mean..." She sounded confused

"You keep saying your an innocent little filly, and you even look and sound the part, but there were many things that gave me an uneasy feeling about you..."

"Oh? Golly, that sounds odd, what could those "Things " be?"

" Well, " Sebastian trailed off "There were many things, but the one that really stuck with me was what Mari said..."

"Golly, you're really worried about that?" Cozy Glow said "That shouldn't bother you at all! I mean , come on, she called you an idiot yet you're the smartest prosecutor I know..."

"Heh, thanks Cozy," Sebastian really was flattered that someone was saying nice things about him, in a way he knew that those nice things were legitimate and not bribed by his "Father"

"But ," Sebastian didn't allow the conversation to go off topic "That's not the only thing she said, she also said some things she shouldn't have known..."

"What, about your father?" Cozy asked

"Y-yeah..." Sebastian was always uncomfortable whenever the subject of Blaise was brought up, but nonetheless, he kept steady "And about you, why did she call you a manipulator?"

"Golly, that's what your worried about, " Cozy put on an innocent smile, "well then guess what, Sebby, your fears are unfounded, what she said about me isn't true at all!"

*BANG* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK* *Raddle* *CLANK*

"As much as I would love to believe you, the five locks around your heart say otherwise"

"Well, Cozy, there were some other things that I noticed as well, and there are a few things I want to talk about, if you don't mind , of course..."

"Um... Why not" She seemed a bit warry of the situation. Sebastian was hesitant to approach the topic, but he really didn't have any other choice...

"TAKE THAT!"

---------------------------------------------

Cozy glow keeps on the appearance that she's a sweet little girl who would never hurt anyone, and as convincing as she appears, appearances can be deceiving

... Learned that the hard way...

There are several red flags with her, and I need to confront her about them, a part of me hopes this leads no where...

but I need to confront her about these things... and I can't let her change the topic...

LOGIC LOCKS-BEGIN

> Suspicious behavior

"Cozy glow , I don't mean to sound rude, but these past few days, you have been acting suspicious lately."

"S-suspicious? Golly! I have no idea what you're talking about. what could I have done that is considered suspicious?"

> [Queen] Well...

> Wait and See

(Like with Aubrey, you can present multiple evidence leading to multiple paths)

Path 1: Present Gold dust

"Remember back when we were at the closet at the mansion... "

"Hey Cozy, why is the jacket dirty?"

"What in Celestia could you be talking about?"

"There some gold dust on the normally completely red jacket and I sure know it wasn't there before..."

" ... I took notice of gold dust on the jacket, and when I asked you about them, you were acting very suspicious . You basically tried to reflect the question by-"

"I think you meant to say deflect ... "

"Deflect, huh, yeah! that's what you did, you tried to deflect the question by exploring it and-"

"Exploring?"

"Ack, um, wait, I think the right word would be ignoring... Yeah, ignoring the question and instead reverting attention to the ladders..."

"Um... Sebastian, I think it's diverting attention to the step-ladders"

> [Pawn] There's ladders ,not step-ladders

> [Pawn] Ack, sorry!

> [Pawn] Regardless...

> Wait and See

"Ok, my habit of mixing up words aside, as I'm not going to let it derail the conversation, why were you so nervous about the gold dust?"

"Darn it! Thought I can avoid talking about this..." Cozy cursed under her breath , she took a deep breath before saying "Golly, me nervous? It was just gold dust after all, I'm not even sure where it came from!"

"Not sure where it came from? I doubt it. You know as well as I do that the gold dust most likely came from this"

Present Hibana Ruby

"It came from the Hibana Ruby, didn't it?"

"!!! A-and what makes you say that!? Do you have anything to prove that the gold dust was from the Ruby ?"

Present Window Frame

" Simple, the gold surrounding the Ruby flaked of and the dust ended up stuck to other things as well, not just your coat. There were gold dust on the same window frame, and as we know , with Mari being the true thief, it's not hard to see the dust on the fame coming from her... also remember that a small amount gold dust ended up on Emiko and Paul Light's gloves after taking back the Ruby..."

"W-well what about the inside of the box, there was no gold dust there!"

"It's simple, really, the inside of the box where the Ruby was usually kept is yellow on the inside, not hard for gold dust to be left unnoticed there, we never got a good look inside the box anyways."

"W-well, what to say I got that gold dust from the Ruby anyways!? I could have gotten the dust from other golden things in the mansion..."

>[Pawn] Not likely

>[Pawn] I suppose that's possible

> Wait and See

"There weren't that much golden items in the mansion anyways... Are you sure the gold dust could have come from them?"

"I mean, there's nothing that proves it must have come from the Ruby , right?"

"I'm sorry Cozy, but there is something that at lease suggest that the gold dust is from the Hibana Ruby..."

Present Pedestal Info

"Next to the pedestal in the spirit room were a few pink feathers, which were covered in gold dust. Your feathers..."

"!!! Um , well..."

Also, remember that little problem I mentioned earlier..."

"Cozy glow, why is your feather here, next to the pedestal, with more gold dust on it?"

"Oh, w-well, like I said, I ended up here after taking the secret passageway and I guess my feather just fell out while I was exploring, this is an interesting room after all."

"That kinda explains it... , But there still something wrong with what you said..."

"I never got around what that something was because of Emiko, Paul and Connor being there in the room, but I been wanting to ask, how exactly did your feathers come off."

"Well, they just do, ok. Sometimes a few feather fall off my wings , no issue at all."

"I don't believe you..." Sebastian stated " You yourself said this a few days ago... "

"Ok, Cozy, I going to clean you with a bath, but if I'm being honest, I don't really know how to bathe a pony, or how to properly clean the feathers of a wing. So... yeah"

"It's ok, you'll just need to help remove any cereal stuck on me and clean me up in places I can't reach. Just be careful. Wings are the most sensitive part of a Pegasus and are really important to us."

"Remember you said how wings are the most sensitive part of a Pegasus, I doubt that a few feather falling off of you would be "no issue at all" ."

"I-um..." Cozy was getting a bit nervous "Look, I'm from a different world with different rules and logic, ok. I know it seems weird to you , but you're looking into this too much, how does a few fallen feather prove I wore anything?"

> [Pawn ] Wore ?

> Wait and see

"I'm sorry Cozy Glow, but did you say, wore anything?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I never said anything about wearing anything. Why did you say I was trying to prove your wore something when I was really trying to prove the gold dust was from the Hibana Ruby, unless of course, you did wear the Hibana Ruby..."

"!!!" A shock expression "W-well, I um, well ... "

"Given the fact that the Hibana ruby was a medallion , I wouldn't be surprise you tried to wear it around your neck, which would be exactly where the gold dust was."

"Um... I - well-"

Sebastian pulled out and pointed his baton "You tried to wear the Hibana Ruby, that was when your feather fell and you got gold dust on you, didn't you!?"

"EEP!"

*CLANG* The left most lock broke

"So, I'll ask again, did you wear the Hibana Ruby?"

"I-" Cozy relented "Ok fine! Yes I wore the Ruby, but how exactly does this connect with what Mari said."

"Well it connect to what she said by..." Sebastian took a second to think "Um... Well..."

"Exactly," Cozy stated "Me taking the Ruby and wearing it means nothing at all, I was curious about the amulet and wanted to take a look about it and its so called magic abilities, being a magical creature in a world that supposedly had no magic in it, you can't really blame me for being a little curious, can you?" She made a cute, sweet little innocent filly face towards him, and he relented

"No, no I can't, " He sighed and admitted " you were just curious, and besides, you didn't actually stole the thing, just touched it..."

"Exactly," She proudly said "anything more suspicious about me you want to talk about?"

"Actually, yes, I have some other thing to ask you..."

"Golly, there's more " the charms giving Sebastian sharper senses caused him to noticed some small level of irritation " I mean, sure , whatever, go ahead, what else you want to talk about?"

Path 2: Present Cozy Glow's Observation

"I notice that you made some pretty ," He paused "odd choices , sometimes."

"Golly, what kind of odd choices ?"

"Well, " He trailed off " Back at the mansion, you made a few specular remarks..."

"Specular? I think you mean peculiar, and on that note, what could I possibly have done~ ?" Her cute voice trailed off.

"Well, when Emiko's twin children were trying to trick us to trap us in the closet, you said this:"

"Golly, they really think that's gonna work?"

"What do you mean , Cozy?"

"I know a manipulator when I see one, those two look like cute , harmless and naïve children, but I know for a fact they are using their cuteness to manipulate you, under that mask is a smart and devious mind..."

"-and after the whole ordeal, you said :"

"Let's just say the same tricks don't work twice..."

"Now what could you mean by that specifically?"

...

"Golly, you're really making a big deal out of that? I don't understand why?"

"Um, come again," Sebastian was confused

"Oh please~" She said "All you've shown that I know things when It comes to manipulators, that doesn't mean that I myself an one, I mean, the truth is, the only reason I know so much is because I'm a professional in psychology, of course." She gave him a cute smile.

>[ Pawn] You're a what?

> [ Pawn] What does that even mean?

> Wait and See

"Professional in psychology ..."

"Yup," She said " And that's cause I'm a prodigy of my field, of course. "

"I still don't follow," Sebastian was slightly wary. He had a feeling of uncertainty about what Cozy said .

"Aww," Her ears , once perked up, now flopped down, she look slightly disappointed "Come on Sebby, I used my skills in understanding the emotions and behavior of others to help you, and this is how you say thanks to a friend who help avoid being locked in a closet."

"W-well, I mean- I"

Cozy glow simply giggles, her cute, sweet demeanor offsetting Sebastian's train of thought " It's ok, Sebby, I guess I was a bit forward with my words, weren't I"

> [Pawn] You were too forward

> [Pawn] Don't derail the conversation...

> [Pawn] I didn't mean that...

> Wait and See

"Um," Now it was Sebastian sweating nervously " Look, Cozy, I think you have made the wrong presumption, I-"

"Presumptions?"

"Ah! sorry, I think the word was assumptions, yes , I didn't say you were forward , it was the way you worded it, you were-"

"Oh!' She made a cute smiled "I see~ , you were amazed, weren't you!"

Sebastian had a feeling she was doing this on purpose as some kind of clever chess strategy to throw the conversation off topic , he had a feeling she was cutting him off and saying these things just so he would somehow forget what the conversation was originally about, but he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Cozy , listen I-"

" You really shouldn't have, I mean , you were pretty amazing too, you know!"

"R-really!" Neverminded, looks like he really was going to let her derail this, "Y-you really mean that?"

"Golly, of course I mean that, I mean, come on, you were the one who caught Aubrey and Mari lying , not to mention that whole thing with the box of magnets was simply brilliant ."

"I- Thank you Cozy , I really appreciated hearing that " And he really did, after all the times he heard compliments and received praises and rewards thanks to Blaise influence, I was nice to hear a genuine compliment from a friend about something he actually did rather than it being a lie to his face because of whatever his father did behind the scenes.

"Hey, are you ok, you look like your about to cry..."

"Ack! Sorry, It's nothing you should be worried about..."

"Nothing to be worried about?" She looked confused , before she made a reassuring smile, " Sebby, "I'm a psychologist, go ahead , tell me what's wrong, I'll help." Her tone of voice was that of a sweet , kind girl...

> [ Pawn] That's nice of you , Cozy

> [ Pawn] Not so fast, Cozy

> Wait and See

... and if not for the fact that from his point of view , there was still an endless blue tinted chess void with chains and locks surrounding her, Sebastian would have fallen right into Cozy's plan to forget about the conversation and derail it. Cozy almost manipulated the pieces into her favor, but Sebastian caught himself at the last second.

"Not so fast, Cozy Glow!" He exclaimed, pointing his baton, which was so sudden that Cozy was slightly taken aback by it.

"I see what you're trying to pull here, but unfortunately, your attempt at reverting, Ah! I mean diverting !" the ahoge on his hair turned from a question mark to an exclamation mark, which has happened before , but this time it happened faster than usual that some of the gel flicked off.

"y-yes, diverting the conversation away from the original topic, and I won't let you!" He quickly regain his composure.

Cozy, on her part, once she recovered from the shock, huffed in annoyance, she really thought she could manipulate the conversation away from talking about her actions , but it looks like her excuse was not accepted

" Golly! Don't scream like that ever again." She sounded annoyed. " Also, I just wanted to help you . " She shoots him a cute smile, " I'm your friend, after all. Can't you trust me with all your personal problems?"

"not when there's still the problems concerning you and your actions to deal with..."

"My actions?" She perked up "Golly, what could I have possibly done, I mean , for the twins, little sweet me simply decided to help you avoid being trapped, using her skills in phycology, of course." She smiled.

"Cozy, remember , this was what you said to me back then , and I quote..."

"Let's just say the same tricks don't work twice..."

"From that line, I can only assume that you had experience with manipulators beforehand, and-"

"Beforehoof..."

"What?"

"It's beforehoof, you're trying to say that I had experience with manipulators beforehoof, which I don't"

"Ok, Cozy, first off, you're the one with hooves, I have hands, so it's different ... what's the word, thermology, yeah thermology. " Sebastian repeats, as if to properly file it in his memory. " And secondly, there's another moment I would like to talk about, remember back when we were accusing Aubrey of the crime, you said..."

"Golly , she's really good at holding back anger, but surprisingly bad at hiding it. She didn't over react , but She said that one mundane word with a spiteful tone . "

"Cozy glow, When were you this good at reading and observing other people's emotions ?"

"It's part of what I do "

" Golly, you really remember that? Now that's impressive," She paused "But I don't really see how that proves anything, I already said I'm a psychologist, all that shows is i have a knack to see what makes other people tick..."

"It's not what you said, but the way you said it... the vibes I got from you... I felt less like a psychologist evaluating a patient's condition, and more like someone who's .... playing chess against someone, who's reading their every move and their state of mind to try and strategize, manipulating the pieces on the board as they wish..."

"Wh-Where is this even coming from!?" She was ... shocked, annoyed, angry, she looked like she didn't want this conversation to continue, " "manipulating the pieces on the board" Is there anything that actually shows I'm going that!?"

> [ Bishop] Your reaction to Simon and Lucy Mikado

> [Bishop] Your reaction to Aubrey

> [Bishop] Your reaction now

"Yes, there is something, " He stated "And that's what you are doing now!"

"Wh-what!?" Cozy was taken aback. "What do you mean, "Doing now!?"

"Just a few minutes ago," He reminded her "you tried to manipulate the conversation away from talking about your actions," He pointed his baton " Remember all the times you dodge the question, tried to sway me with comfort and complements-"

" Compliments "

" Sorry, *Ahem* anyways, my point, you yourself have just tried everything in your power to avoid the topic , It's clear that what you're doing is a little bit suspicious , isn't it?"

...

...

*CLANG* The right most lock broke

"Golly, that's really good observation." Cozy remarked " But the question was, what does it even mean?"

"What do you mean, "What does it even mean?""

"I mean, what does this prove exactly ? So I have experience with manipulation, it doesn't mean I'm actually a manipulator..."

"What!? What do you mean by that!?"

"I'll put it a different way, just because I know how to emotionally and phycological manipulate doesn't mean I'm a manipulator. If anything, it just proves more that I am just a sweet filly who wants to help you out, I help out others with their problems through knowing about psychology. that's how I have my experience."

"... B-but, you-"

"Sebby, we won't talk about this anymore, I just wanna help, and you should know better that to look a gift pony in the mouth..." She shot her a cute face "please~"

Sebastian sighed "Fine, I won't talk about it, " Cozy sighed in relief "instead I'll talk about something else that has been bothering me " She tensed up again, slight hints of general anger shown as she slightly grid her teeth, while still trying to keep her cute innocent filly look to her. "Golly, there's more" She said "What could possible be there to talk about?"

"Well..."

Path 3: Present Mari's Profile

"It has something to do with what Mari said earlier..."

"Golly, this again? Look, Mari didn't know what she was talking about, she called you an idiot yet your really competent, and she called me a manipulator when I'm just an innocent filly, she has no evidence that proves what she's saying is beyond nonsense."

"I'm sorry Cozy, but there is proof what she said isn't random ramblings."

"Oh really? What is this 'proof' exactly?"

(Note: You have to break the two psychic lock first before you can pursue this path.)

>[Rook] What you claim to do here...

> Wait and See

" It's what you did literally a few minutes ago . At first, there was no reason for me to believe that what Mari said was true, but now, you confused that you have experience with manipulation, and-"

"Confused that i what?"

"Wait, no , not confused, confessed, yeah! You confessed that you had experience with manipulation, and the way you tried to avoid talking about what you did has put into question your reaction when I question you about this."

Present Pedestal info or Gold dust or Hibana Ruby.

"When I ask you about the gold dust back at the mansion closet. If you really were just an innocent filly, then there would be no reason for you to act so nervous when confronted about it. " Sebastian remarked.

He emphasized "You could have just said you were curious and took a look at it right then and there, instead you felt the need to hide the fact you wore the Ruby. " He pulled out and pointed his baton "If you were just curious and wanted to have a look, I wouldn't have minded all that much, but with what I know now, it is clear why you tried to hide the fact you wore the Hibana Ruby."

Sebastian couldn't tell what Cozy glow was feeling, her facial expression was hard to read, but Sebastian had a feeling she was either angry or panicking.

"Cozy Glow, you were planning on stealing the Ruby as well, weren't you?"

"!!! What!?" She suddenly cried out, which actually startled Sebastian a bit, but he quickly stood back up.

" You wanted to steal the ruby and uses its magic for yourself, but when you put it on, you found out there was no magical abilities that actually existed there... So you placed it back. That's what happen, right? "

"H-How can you know all this!?" Cozy immediately put her hooves to her mouth "I mean... Golly!" She forced a smile "Is that really true? I mean, what reason would I have to steal it?"

"Your reason for stealing the ruby is the same reason why we're even having this conversation, what Mari said, and going by that, you planned on using the Ruby for your own benefit, weren't you?"

"H-how in the world did you even find out about- I mean, Golly, that's um... quite the tale you have there~"

"Cozy glow," Sebastian said, " You can drop the act now, it's clear what happened that day. You went through the secret passage, saw the ruby, tried to use it, but when you saw there were no magic inside, you left it and came back to the library. "

"C-conjecture!"

"Then why did you take an unusually long amount of time to check out the passage, if anything, it sound only take a few seconds to inspect the passage and the room it leads to, especially since you're a pegasus with wings."

...

Cozy glow stayed silent. It comes out to Sebastian as creepy and off putting, the silence was deafening , the air around them was tense and heavy, until finally, after a whole minute, the tension was cut by a noise.

"Hehe..." It was Cozy glow, she was slowly giggling to herself , but soon, it turned to chuckles and then outright laughter. "hehe... Ha... HaHahahaha Ha Ha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Cozy Glow," Sebastian was beyond shocked "Wh-What are you-"

"Heh," She stopped laughing " So, this is what is comes down to... Honestly, given the reason why I'm here, it shouldn't be that surprising... "

"Wha- What shouldn't be that surprising?" Sebastian was nervous about the whole situation.

"You taking a few loose treats and piecing together the truth thru assumptions and theories backed by only a few pieces of barely relevant evidence," She laughed " Honestly, I guess my secret was going to be revealed sooner or later, after all, if anything, this is just another prison . "

"Secret! P-prison!? Cozy glow, what are you talking about?" He screamed in confusion.

"Golly, you're really curious about this, aren't you? " She chuckled, her voice sounded like that of a cute , sweet girl but tainted with a sinister and cruel tone "Well, guess there no turning back now, if you gotten this far then i guess it was only a matter of time before you find out the whole truth, I might as well tell you ."

*CLANG**CLANG**CLANG* The rest of the locks broke .

----------------------------------------------

"Cozy glow," Sebastian asked "I'm confused, why are you laughing!? What do you mean secret and prison!? What's going on!?"

"Heh, you're the one in the dark? Well, I guess I'll just tell you now," She stated " I mean, golly, you really live up to your name sake as the best if you manage to get this far, it's clear it's only a matter of time before you find out the whole truth, I might as well tell you everything..."

"Ok, first off, what do you mean 'Secret', "

"Golly, really?" She sounded unamused "that's what you're gonna ask me? It should be obvious given you were the one who found out about it."

"I-I'm sorry" Sebastian shuddered "I'm still confused, it's hard to wrap my mind around this, I mean , just looking at you , it's hard to see you as someone with a secret and a motive to steal something"

"Oh really? " She asked, and when Sebastian nodded, she had a look and a tone of voice that sounded genuinely surprise "Golly, I mean, I thought you would have already figure everything out by now, I mean, you gotten this far."

"There's still a lot of questions floating around, " Sebastian admitted

"Well, how about I answer your question with another question , do you remember how we first met?"

"I- um," He had no idea where this was going, but he felt like just going with it anyways, "Y-yeah, you were a stone statue , and somehow you were freed around the time I was there,"

"And remember when you asked why I was a stone statue?"

(Ah, that's right, the very same question that made me see your locks the first time around) "Yeah, and then you said a group of wizard unicorns turned you into stone. You also said you had no idea why."

"And do you believe me?"

"Um, not really," He said, " No offence, but honestly, I can't help but feel doubts and uncertainty in your story, maybe it's because of my prosecutor's witz, but I doubt that in a world that has 'the magic of friendship' An 'innocent filly' would be turned to stone like this, if anything, being turned into stone sounds like a punishment for someone who- !!!!"

It finally hit him. It's a habit he still has to focus and get lost in his own thoughts he sometimes forgets important things, like what had started this conversation in the first place...

"the Pegasus filly next to you isn't as cute and innocent as she claims to be. She looks like a cheerful, sweet little filly , but she's really just a manipulator who controls others for her own benefit."

"... So Mari was telling the truth, wasn't she?"

"Golly, I mean, is that even a question, I mean, why else would I have wanted to steal the Ruby, before realizing there was no magic and leaving it there."

"Why... I don't understand..." Sebastian was at a loss for words , he really had no idea what to ask, so many thoughts were spinning wildly in his mind. So he said the first thing that crossed his mind once he regain posture . " I still don't understand why did you do all this?"

"Golly, you still don't get it, what is there to not understand?" Cozy asked

Sebastian had a lot of questions, but amidst the confusion, he voices the most concerning " I just don't understand , you're a young filly, a CHILD basically! Not only that, but a child from another world, a world that might as well be a stereoscopical children's cartoon, with-

"Stereoscopical? I think you meant stereotypical ..."

"Y-yeah! that the word," He paused before he continued " A stereotypical children's cartoon, with all kinds of magical creatures living in harmony and magic, a princess and even a whole school dedicated to friendship. " He voices his confusion "I just can't wrap my mind around the idea that in such a world of happiness, someone, let alone a child, would end up being this manipulator who would steal magical artifacts for her own benefit!"

" Golly, that's what you think?" She sounded surprised , if only a little "Maybe it's because I never gave all the details, after all, any time we talked about my world I only gave a few small details, so let me give the full picture," She begins to explain. "The reason why I was a manipulator..." and her explanation shocked Sebastian to his core " was because it was what I was taught to do."

"W-What!?" Sebastian was even more confused " B-but from what you told me, y-you were learning all about friendship when you were in twilight's school! Are you saying that these 'friendship lessons' taught you how to manipulate!?"

"Golly, Sebby, took the exact world right out my mouth, " She smiled "Yes, that is what I learned."

"Oh, " Sebastian said, having his question answer, was satisfied with being given an explanation, until only a few seconds later his brain finally caught up on what she said "Wait, WHAT!? "

"What is it Sebby?"

"I- wha, you said it yourself you were learning all about friendship, FRIENDSHIP , at the school, isn't manipulation, like the complete oppression of that!?"

"Ok, first, it's opposite, not oppression, it was funny the first few time, but now your screwed up vocabulary is annoying me, please get that fixed," She bluntly said, her cutesy tone completely replaced with a cold , serious voice, "And secondly, I wasn't lying when I said I was learning about friendship, but the thing was, I don't know about your world, but in my world, friendship isn't magic at all, it is instead, power."

"P-power!?"

"Yes," Cozy said "Power over others, to bend their will to your own, to manipulated their actions and to control their emotions like pieces on a chess board, " She laughed "Which fun fact, is what my cutie mark actually is."

"Excuse me what!?"

"while it does show a chess rook, and I am really good at chess, it isn't the only talent I have represented here, ya know ..."

"I-wha, no this still doesn't make any sense, I'm still confused ! Wh-why did they turn you into stone in the first place! I mean, yes, manipulation is bad, but I don't think It's bad enough to warrant being turned into a stone statue , especially if it was what they were teaching you..."

"Heh, yeah," Cozy admitted, "the manipulation alone didn't warrant being petrified, it had more to do with me almost taking over all of Equestria and becoming it's empress."

...

"Excuse me Cozy, WHAT!?"

"Oh, guess I didn't mention that, oops," She gave a silly smile, which was like a mix of Golly Jolly cuteness mixed with the sinister smirk of a killer.

"Cozy, please tell me you're joking," it was hard to describe Sebastian current emotions beyond a blurry mix of different emotions, the most prominent being shock and fear.

"Do you really think now would be a time for jokes?" She stared him dead in the eyes with a glare of seriousness.

...

"Why, just... Why!?" That was all he could blurred out "Why did you want to take over all of Equestria ! From what you told me , there's just no reason, no motive for you to try to take over Equestria. You said it yourself, you were very close to Twilight herself and was happy with your current position in the school of Friendship. There's no reason for you to throw that all away like that."

"Why, Why!? You think I don't have a motive, well then, let me spell it out To you, power, that's what, I want more power, more control, that's why."

"B-but why!? Why do you -" he was interrupted

"Dear celestia," she sounded frustrated "Can you just shut up about this ! Why, why , why! Is that all your going to ask, stop asking about the why of the story, it's getting Annoying, I'll say it only once, and no more, I just want to rule Equestria, control the world as I please,"

"Wha- are you saying you basically have no motive !?"

"Well, when you put it that way, then yes!" She stated " I don't have a motive for wanting power, there's no real reason behind what I did, I just wanting to be Equestria's Empress, I just want to rule Equestria , that's it, the end!"

*BANG* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK* *Raddle* *CLANK* *Raddle* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK* *Raddle* *Raddle* *CLANK* *CLANK*

Sebastian went wide eye with what he saw, complete shock was what the next few seconds were for him. He honestly had no idea why, when he was absolutely confused, when his mind basically went blank with all the emotions and information mixing wildly inside him, did his default question to ask amidst his shock was just why, over and over he kept asking Cozy why did she do this, or do that, but he never knew why , when he didn't know how to process the situation or what to say next, did his mind drew up the why question over and over again, but now he remembered.

"There is always a motive behind the mask of manipulation..."

The bishop's advice to him, he kept it within his subconscious, close to his heart, like how he promises her, and he kept asking why because he kept wanting to know, about her motive behind her manipulation, and as soon as he recovered from the shock of what he saw he knew what he had to do, but then he realized something.

The 7 lock around Cozy glow...

... Were black.

Not the usual red locks he saw before, but instead black locks instead. And now that he was focusing on the black lock, He realized. it isn't just a change of color either. These locks—they FEEL different from the other one he seen before. Filled with anger and hate, despair and sadness.

Sebastian wasn't sure what to make of these locks, a different color and giving off a different feeling to him. Not of someone who's lying to hide a secret , but of a tragic event hiding deep within the shadow, so hidden that not even the person in question knows that their hiding something.

Still, Sebastian realise that he really doesn't have a choice. Once he took a few deep breaths, he composes himself, and readies to break these mysterious black locks.

"Cozy Glow, " He asked "I hope it wouldn't bother you, but I would like to ask some other questions, if that doesn't bother you?"

"Heh, I guess why not. I mean, it doesn't really matter, anyways..."

"TAKE THAT!"

--------------------------------------------------------

Alright, let's read this situation carefully...

I clearly need to break those lock and uncover her true motives, but the dread these new black locks give me tells me that a direct attack would not be the best option.

Besides, Cozy glow basically stopped the motive conversation topic dead in its tracks, so pressing her on that wouldn't be an option.

Not to mention I only been asking the why, not the who, where, what and when.

I'll ask her to tell me everything about what she did to get trapped in stone, and move from there.

let's to this!

LOGIC LOCKS-BEGIN

> Further details...

"Is it ok if you can tell me more about your whole 'taking over Equestria ' thing?

"Sure, I mean, you'll find out eventually, so there's no reason not to tell you...

> [Queen] What do you mean by that?

> Wait and See.

Path 1: What do you mean by that?

"What do you mean by 'I'll find out eventually' ? Actually, as a matter of fact, why did you just tell everything to me. " He said , confused "I don't really understand why you decide to just confess the truth to me about who you were back at Equestria. "

"Heh, that should be obvious, you know..." Cozy glow explained "Why do you think this is here?"

Because of the magic charms effect, from Sebastian's point of view Cozy glow was pointing her hooves towards empty space in the void of endless blue tinted chess board floor, but Sebastian also knew that Cozy couldn't see what he saw, the conductor immediately remember where they were, and pieced together that the cute manipulator was directing towards the statue of her and the two other creatures...

"I modesty don't know, " He answered. "Why is there a statue of you here with whoever those 2 are?"

"um, modesty? "

"AH! Um, sorry, i think it was honesty, yes, honestly I don't know ."

"Heh, maybe you don't know now, but I imagine it would be soon ."

"What are you talking about?"

" You know exactly what I'm talking about," The filly takes a step forward " you're a smart one, even when you keep mixing up your words, you were able to find the truth behind something even when there very few evidence. It's clear that as soon as you found enough loose strings, you would have piece things together yourself, so I figured, if it was only a matter of time before you found my secret, then I'll let my secret be revealed, but on my own terms." She pointed back to the statue " It's clear whoever send us here is giving you all the clues to find out about all I did back at Equestria, and as soon as you found out about what I did back there, then that's when it really begins... "

"Um... what begins?"

"My punishment, of course, I mean Golly, that should be obvious, I mean, I'm a villain, and golly geez was I a feared villain at that, got locked in tautarus , then turned to a stoned statue , but clearly for me specifically that wasn't enough of a punishment, so whoever is behind this clearly wants to make me specifically suffer something far worse, and is making sure you know exactly what I've done, after all, what kind of jailer doesn't even know what their prisoner did?"

> [Pawn] Prisoner?

> [Pawn] Tautarus?

> [ Pawn] Punishment?

> Wait and See

"I'm sorry, but you think that this is a punishment? That you were brought here to be given a fate more worse that being trapped in stone?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's a world without magic, filled with strange creatures and technology far ahead of Equestria , just getting lost in a whole new world is terrible enough, imagine being faced with the dangers of this unfamiliar world."

"Yes, this world is full of dangerous things, but so is your world, and I don't know about you, but from what you told me, criminals on the streets are nothing compared to wolves made of wood or poison flowers that play some kind of platonic joke on you."

"Um, I think you meant an ironic joke, you're talking about the poison joke flowers I told you about , right?" Sebastian nodded, to which Cozy continued "And Well, both of them can be avoided by just not going to the Everfree forest, meanwhile I remember you saying you don't know when someone might attack you."

"Well, the dangers of both worlds aren't the only flaw with your treasoning as to why-"

"My treasoning? You meant reasoning as to me being a prisoner here, right?"

"Yes! That's what I meant, and that flaw is...

Present either Sebastian's profile or Cozy Glow's profile

TAKE THAT!

"Now I'll just ask one simple question, if this was truly was a punishment for you, then why can you still fly?"

"Well, that- !!!" Cozy's ears perked up as she realize she didn't have an answer. "I.. um.. well-"

"Exactly, the fact that you still have the ability to fly means you still have your pegasus magic, including your weather manipulation, if this really was punishment, why let you have the ability to essentially flood the whole city in a few days?"

"W-well, m-maybe I can't control the weather here, I mean, in my world the clouds have to be moved by the pegasus , maybe my magic only works on those clouds in my world. Who knows?"

"Even if your weather magic doesn't work, your flying magic clearly does, and your ability to fly away really fast is potentially something you could use to escape , if you want to imprison someone, wouldn't you make sure that they don't have a chance to escape?"

"W-well that exactly what you did, made sure i couldn't escape, right?"

...

"Right?" Cozy repeated

"Um, actually, no , I didn't even know about this , which brings me to my point, just like you said before 'what kind of jailer doesn't even know what their prisoner did?' If someone wanted to imprison you in another world, they would tell the jailer all about who you are, yet I wasn't even informed about Equestria, everything I know is actually from what you told me. In fact, if you remember when I found you, you were still a stone statue in a park, and it was only when i touch you that you were free, and the fact of the matter was you could have easily flew away at that moment, and there was nothing stopping you from flying away at any other time either."

"Wh- WHAT!? You're serious, you didn't have anything that stopped me from just leaving you, all this time, I could just up and leave !?"

"I mean, think about it, if someone, er... somepony wanted to trap you in another world as punishment, they would do everything to make sure they didn't escape punishment, wouldn't you? "

"Well, Golly, you're right..."

"So far, there was at least 10 opportunities for you to avoid your 'punishment' , you were freed from stone in an open area of a park, and so far I never did anything to even hurt you in any way. If this really was punishment, then the per- er pony who did this to you should have freed you in a place where you can't escape, or even remove your magic altogether, and told me what's going on exactly, yet that wasn't what happen."

"Wait, so all this time, I wasn't banished from Equestria, Twilight or whoever send me here , didn't send me here as punishment."

As the thought sunk into Cozy, she stood silent.

"... Don't be ashamed, " The prosecutor reassured "Sometimes, I also jumped to illusion without thinking , and present theories that have no logic or even evidence to back them up."

"It's conclusion, not illusion and no, that's not what I'm thinking about, kind of..."

Well, looks like a good idea to end this path right here.

At lease I found out that she had assume that she was here as a punishment.

It seems like making random guesses and convinces herself it's the truth without any logic put into it.

So, in other words, she's like a young child who, like me before, let's their childish naivety and kid logic to make conclusions that don't really make sense.

I should take note of this.

"Hey, um Cozy, is it ok if I ask something else?"

"Huh, Oh, sure, what is it?"

"Well..."

Path 2: Wait and See

"..."

"So, what do you want to know more about?"

> [ Pawn] what was your plan exactly ?

> [ Pawn] Who did you manipulated?

> [ Pawn] How exactly did it happen?

"I'm interested in what exactly what happened with your plan to 'taking over Equestria' ?"

"Golly, getting right to the heart of this, aren't you, well, my plan was really simple, I would seal away all the magic from Equestria and then rule it."

"And, Um... how did that go?"

...

...

...

As Cozy Glow explained the details of her plan, Sebastian felt a sense of shock and fear, to hear the malicious details of her evil plan, his emotional side was slowly causing him to cry as he hears the seemingly innocent filly describe everything terrible she did in a joyful tone, that part of him would have asked Cozy to stopped right then and there. That is, until, he remember the earlier situation with cozy glow assuming she was here as punishment. That made him see her plans less emotionally and more logically, and that's when a few questions popped up.

"Wow. " Sebastian murmured " Cozy glow, that sounds like..."

"A genius plan?" She proudly asked

"No ,it sounds like something that just makes no sense at all! " He said "Cozy glow, can I ask, what exactly was your goal with this."

Cozy Glow frowned in thought, and folded her front hooves. "Shouldn't it be obvious? It's to be powerful, of course "

"Yeah, but for what?"

"So that everypony would listen to me and love me, of course "

"Creating fights between others doesn't make everyone love you, though! think about it, people can't really spare time for love if they're panicking or worried about each other, anyway! And it sounds like you have things backwards; you made friends, who are by definition ponies who listen to you and love you, and then used them to get power so you could make strife and get more power, just to get more friends?"

Cozy glow was taken back by Sebastian's logic , she actually took a moment to think for a moment "Golly, when you lay it out like that, it does sound kinda silly! But let me tell you, there's more to it."

"But ," Sebastian is still confused, and states his next point " What is there to expand on, you started out with friends, then lost them by being a jerk. Then when you had power, and from what you're saying you just used it caused even more trouble with that, and then lost anyway! " He made his point "and what makes less sense is how you create strife between people, to throw away all of Equestria's magic and seal it away, wouldn't it also include you own pegasus magic?"

"Golly, of course not, I specifically made sure that I was the only pony with magic, of course."

"Yeah, the only one with your Pegasus magic, but you yourself taught me about all the different types of magic, if your plan succeeded , then what of the earth pony magic, who will grow the crops, and who will move the sun and moon if the princesses can't do it."

"I-" Cozy glow couldn't really think of a good response, she hadn't actually thought that far. "Um... well..."

"Exactly, and to make it even more strange, this whole plan was completely unnecessary , you were already in a powerful position , you were close to twilight, and everyone already loved you, you had as much power as a little filly could achieve, all you had to do was keep being nice to everyone, yet you decided to throw that away for the sake of more power?"

"..." Cozy glow was left speechless, she realize she hadn't though that far with her first plan...

No answer came as Cozy lowered her gaze. She really hadn't considered any of those things.

"This is what I mean. For all your planning and scheming, none of that ever occurred to you. You always assumed everything would go exactly how you imagined it."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Cozy growled.

Sebastian shook his head. "It's not about being stupid," he replied. "You're a very smart child, Cozy. No other filly could have done what you did. But that's the thing, you're still a child."

Child...

"Wh-what does that mean!?"

"It means you have the skills to excommunicate ( he meant execute) your plan, but the plan itself doesn't make sense, to me anyways. " He explained "At lease, it doesn't make sense if we are to assume that your only goal with the plan was to make more friends and get more power..."

"Wh-what !?"

"Cozy glow, earning friends and gaining power is only a fraction of your true goal , the only way your plan with the school of friendship would make any sense is if there was another reason behind all of this, and I'll find out what that reason is!"

"I - Golly, you really are persistent with this idea that I have some ulterior motive, aren't you..."

( The locks around you tell me there definitely still more to this...) "Yes, I am, now you're gonna tell me a bit about yourself, if you don't mind."

"well I mean, i don't really have much of a choice, do I."

"No, cozy, no you don't"

"Golly, well, what do you want to know?"

Ok, Sebastian, think this through, Cozy glow has done some partible (terrible) things back at Equestria, and insist her only motive for committing these crimes was for the sake of power, yet these locks and the bishops words tell me there's actually another reason beyond wanting to rule Equestria, I need to understand her true intentions, but she's being defensive about it. I been given a chance to ask her a single thing about her past that she hasn't told me yet, what would have the most chance of revealing some other motivation for her crimes?

> [Queen] Ask about where she lived

> [Queen] Ask about family

> [Queen] Ask about her life back then

> [Queen] Ask directly about her motives

Path 1: Ask about where she lived

"Let's start with where you live, if that's ok with you?"

"Golly, sure, " Cozy screwed up her face, thinking. "Let's see... I was born in a small town called Dialass"

Dialass... So that's where she lived, I feel like I should take note of this

"And how was life back there?"

"It was..." She hesitated a bit "Alright, I guess. It's a small portside city near Emerger , and I lived in a simple small house..."

"And what can you say about the house?"

"Well, we have a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, and ... yeah that's it."

> [Pawn] Ask about living room

> [Pawn] Ask about dining room

> [Pawn] Ask about kitchen

> [Pawn] Ask about bedrooms

> [Pawn] Ask about other rooms

"Is that really all the rooms, or are there other rooms you left out."

"Golly, nope, not a single room at all, those are the only rooms we have, hehe... " She chuckled nervously.

"Really, then why are you so nervous all of a sudden?"

"N-nervous, me, golly, you make it sound like i have something to hide, I already told you everything "

"Cozy," It's just a boring house you used to live in, if there was nothing for you to hide then you should just tell me everything about your house, nothing wrong with that? Right?"

"I... Um... well, oh, i just remember, the basement, " She gave a goofy smile "Golly, guess I forgot, but really, it's just a boring old basement in the house, there's nothing special about that..."

"If there's nothing special about the basement then why did you not mentioned it the first time around..."

"I really don't know, guess it slipped my mind"

> [Knight] Present evidence

> wait and See

Sebastian shook his head "Maybe you don't know, but I do."

"Wh-what?"

Those black locks were shaking slightly just now, it's clear that some part of her is trying to hide something from everyone, including herself. Maybe something bad happened in the basement and her mind sub continuedly (subconsciously) is hiding that problematic (traumatic) memory from her to try and protect her emotionally, and i have something to show what that is...

Present Cozy Glow's Nyctophobia

TAKE THAT !

"You say you simply forgot about the basement, but that's not the reason you decided to hide the basement from me. There's a reason you were nervous before, and It's not the first time..."

"First time? Golly, what are you talking about?" She sounded genuinely surprised and curious.

" Remember back at Mikado Mansions, when you were inspecting the secret passageway, and the door automatically closed, locking you inside the dark passage. You suddenly screamed . When I got the door reopen, you were crying on the ground curled up."

"Ah!" She looked away from him, a look of mixed emotions of nervousness, worry and some hint of embarrassment there "W-well, you see, back there, i ... um- well..."

"Can I ask, why did you suddenly screamed out of nowhere? There was nothing inside the passage, so what made you so scared as to scream then curl up on the floor."

"Golly, you're asking some really difficulted questions, but-" she gave a forced smile, emphasis on forced "I don't know what your talking about."

You ... aren't really lying when you say that, your own mind is hiding something from even yourself, so of course you yourself wouldn't know. But I think I do.

"Cozy glow, the reason you panic wasn't because of something happening in the darkness of the secret passage, but what the darkness reminded you of." He emphasized his point "Something bad happened before, and it was so traumatic that anything that so much as slightly reminded you of it caused you to panic. You left out the basement because something bad happened there, and your mind blocked that detail out."

"I- Golly, t-that's a really interesting story, but that's all it is, a fake made up story, unless you have something to prove something bad really did happened, then-"

"If that's what you want" the prosecutor cut her off "then allow me to ask you a question about this..."

Present Cozy Glow's Mark

"Remember back when you accidentally spilled cereal onto yourself, and I was helping to clean you up, I had noticed a few marks on you, they were all over your body, on your wings, everywhere, they looked like scares and bruises." He gazed straight at her "Like i said before, there's no way that those scars could come from some small accidental scratch or bump. So, How did you get those?"

"Golly, that's obvious, I mean, I'm a villain, I tried to take over Equestria, of course the heroes were going to give some resistance. And trust me, when your in a fight against the magic of three princesses, and the elements of harmony themselves, you're gonna get some scars."

Is that really where the scars came from?

> [Pawn] Agree

> [Pawn] Doubt

> Wait and See

The prosecutor shook his head "Sorry Cozy , but I doubt that's where your marks came from." He pointed his baton "My classes at Themis told me about different types of wounds and the scares they leave, I'm not sure what kind of marking that magic would leave behind, but from what you told me, they wouldn't be any different looking from the bruise from being hit. And the marks you have look nothing like the wounds from a fight, from what I've see , their too focus and on specific locations. They don't look like the marks of a struggle or a fight, they look like the telltale signs of... physical abuse..."

"!!!" Cozy glow was left speechless , she paused as if to think about something, Sebastian didn't noticed and asked her...

"Cozy glow, is this the reason why you... huh?" Sebastian turned and saw cozy turned away from him, she looks genuinely sad, lost in thought for some reason...

"Um... Cozy glow?"

Cozy glow is just laying on the ground with her hooves covering her head, just there on the ground.

"Cozy?"

"n-no..." Cozy glow's breathing quickened as if something heavy emotionally had fallen on her, and tears began to show on her eyes.

"COZY GLOW!?" Sebastian screamed out of concern and worry for Cozy, and also partly out of confusion. Cozy glow's response was something he didn't expect.

"p-please don't hit me!" She seemed distressed and crying, the black locks shake violently, and Sebastian suddenly had a headache.

...

"Stupid brat,"

"P-pops"

"I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't think you'd be that much of a failure. I can't believe I thought you could do this."

"P-please..."

The clicks of a lighter can be heard as a flame came to view.

"Please don't hurt me!"

...

"AAHH!!" He snapped out of his nightmare in a cold sweat, gloved hands grasping helplessly at the air. Sebastian's arms dropped against the ground, soon wrapping around his knees as he brought them closer to his torso as he breathed heavily.

He was in complete panic, a brief memory like a nightmare that left him breathless. Slowly, he calmed down and regain his posture, He ran his fingers up his sides, his cheeks, and through his hair. They were shaky as they fell back to the floor , grasping what felt like grass as he slowly stood up.

"Golly, are you ok?" He turned to look at Cozy, a genuine hint of concern on her face as she stared at Sebastian.

"I-I'm fine, Cozy..."

Wh-what just happened...

Path 2: Ask about family

"What can you tell me about your family back at Equestria?"

"... W-well, t-there was me, and my mother and father..."

I-is that, hesitation in her voice. Now that I'm thinking about it... this isn't the first time I ask about her family, that time she gave complete silence, maybe somethings going on with her family?

"You... don't have any siblings?"

"N-no, I was an only child..."

"I see, as an only child myself, I understand how lonely it can be..."

"Yeah, It feels lonely without anyone around to play with you."

"So not even your parents play with you? Do they even love you?"

"I... O-of course they do! They love me , their love is just in their own special way! "

!!!

"Pops loves me, he just shows it in his own special way, it isn't abuse!"

...

Sebastian immediately snapped out of his memory, and return focus back to Cozy glow.

"Tell me, Cozy," He said calmly, "how are your parents now?"

Once again, Cozy hesitated, but she smiled and replied, "They're fine!"

Sebastian stared blankly at her and muttered, "Just...fine?" Cozy nodded. The prosecutor took a deep breath and softly said, "You don't have to hide anything from me, Cozy."

"Well..." Cozy hesitated a bit, looking suddenly sad. Sebastian listened carefully as Cozy took a deep breath and continued, "The truth is... My father ... disappeared a long time ago. "

"Oh, really?" Sebastian gave his sympathy, "I'm sorry for your loss, I understand how painful it could be to lose a parent..."

"y-yeah, I really miss him, somedays I wonder if he'll ever come back..."

...

My mother ... I miss her, pops said she just disappeared ...

"i-i... "

Sometimes I wonder when she'll come back...

...

The prosecutor took a deep breath to hold back some of his tears before he looked back to the Pegasus, " From what you told me before, you weren't actually from ponyvile, but you came from another city before you ended up at Twilight's school. Can I ask was there any reason in perpendicular you chose to go there?"

"what led me there? " She smirked "Golly, that should be obvious, it was where twilight's castle and her school was, everypony knew about twilight and her friends, it should be no surprise i chose to move there." She then tried to hold back a small laught " And also its particular not perpendicular, ya know."

"Ok, pre phase (rephrase ), Why did you felt the need to leave your home, did something happened there?"

"Nope." Cozy replied. "No reason in particular for me to leave"

The black locks shaking suddenly says otherwise, Cozy

Sebastian forced a smile and said, "Care to expand on that?"

A slight hint of uneasiness in her tone, almost perfectly disguise under a fake cheerful tone, as the pink pony said "Well, one day I decided to go to ponyvile, things back at Sunshiney was boring and i heard about Twilight's school, and I was really interested."

> [Bishop ] i guess that makes sense

> [Bishop ] Hold it

> Wait and See

"Hold it!" Sebastian noticed something wrong. "D-did you said Sunshiney ?"

"Y-yeah, i-is there a problem?"

"Cozy glow, If I recall correctly, you said that you were born in a small town called Dialass"

"!!!"

"So, why were you suddenly in some place called Sunshiney?"

The black locks raddles a bit as the pegasus surrounded by them seemed to be thinking hard, before she sighed and shrugged.

"Golly, i honestly don't know..." She said "All I remember is that I grew up in the town of Dialass with my family, and then I remember packing my bags and leaving some place. For some reason , I was sneaking out of there, passed a few ponies who were speaking some gibberish, all i remember was flying out a window and doing through a tunnel. I also remember a large stone sign with words ... "

The way the locks raddle, and the tone of her voice... She isn't hiding anything, at lease not on purpose, she seems confused and uncertain, and there's a clear answer to the contradiction. She's remembering two different memories she's confusing into one.

At one point , she was in Dialass with her family, living in a simple house there.

And in another memory, she just packed her things and snuck out of what she thought was her house...

The confusion is surrounding the incorrections (inconsistencies) when she thinks of these two memories as one.

Maybe I should ask for further details...

>[Pawn] sneaking out of there?

>[Pawn] ponies who were speaking some gibberish?

>[Pawn] large stone sign with words?

"Can you tell me about the large stone sign with words?"

"W-well, I don't remember clearly, but I can remember what the sign said."

"And that was?"

"Am... di fat... Denas Howl when? I don't really remember..."

"!!!" Sebastian was shock at what he heard "C-can you repeat that , what did the sigh said?"

"I said, 'Amdifat Tinas Denas Howlwhen,' why , do you know what that means..."

"Cozy glow, " He hasn't fully processed what she said, or maybe he wasn't sure how he felt about it, but he decide to tell her.

Sebastian had never told anyone else about it, but because the fond memories he always have of his mother, which he remembers more strongly with love than the nightmares of Blaise, and because his mother was Welsh, his Welsh was actually more fluent than his English , and what Cozy glow said...

"Cozy, " Sebastian took a deep breath "Amddifad Dinas Heulwen means Sunshine City Orphanage in Welsh."

...

...

...

"Wh-WHAT!?" As soon as his words were processed, Cozy gave just about as expected of a response as anyone would. "Wh- No."

"Cozy Glow?'

"No, no, no, no, no, NO! An orphanage... but , that would mean... No, that's impossible"

"What's impossible?"

"Sebastian ,you clearly made a mistake, you can't just assume something from my world is a language from your world!"

"Cozy, " Sebastian rebuttal "It's clear that there are several things similar with our worlds, such as you knowing what an apple is and the both of us speaking the same language." He made his point " If we're speaking the same language, then maybe other languages are also the same between our worlds, " Sebastian pointed his baton "Is it really that far a stretch that you're world has at lease a language similar to Welsh?"

"I- Um well..." Cozy had nothing to counter his argument

"Is everything alright, you look like you're have a panic attack"

"No, why was I in an orphanage That doesn't make any sense, unless..." She looked like a realization just hit her, and her own world was crumbling down... "D-did they..."

"Cozy ?" The black locks slowly raddled, and the feeling of sadness increases.

" No," her breathing was quickening again, "There's no way they abandoned me... they loved me... right?"

Sebastian felt a small headache as the locks began shaking more and more.

...

The-there's no way pops hates me, he l-loves me

...

"Wh-what?"

" Y-yeah, I-I'm not worthless, and I-I can prove it... I -I can... show her I'm not an idiot...."

I-I'm not an idiot, a-and I can prove it

... and then maybe... I'll finally prove to pops I'm culpaple (Capable)

... maybe I... can get his approval...

"B-but then... why, why did she... I..."

Look at you... Useless, worthless and a complete idiot

No wonder your parents hated you

One ran away , and the other just couldn't care less...

"AAAHHH!"

Both Sebastian and Cozy felt an emotional pain on their heart, unknowing they both cried in sadness, as the black locks cracked.

The pain was too much, and Sebastian immediately lost focus. He now found himself back at the gardens, both of them stood back up and wiped the tears off their face , but then they realize that the gardens were fading away. Soon the statue , flowers, hedges and even the grass they were standing on faded away, and they founded themselves floating on a void once again...

-but this time they weren't alone...

"Well well look who it is..."

They both looked towards the source of the voice, and Cozy instantly froze up.

There, was a Pegasus with pink skin and a white main. She had a feeling of imposing, towering over you kind of aura with her, the only other time Sebastian felt that aura was with...

And that's when he notices, the mare's shadow formed a familiar shape.

"M-mom," Cozy was paralyzed.

"P-pops..." Sebastian could only murmured in response.

"Heh, you really are such a fool, y'know." the voice was distorted and demonic like " If I really did love you , then why did you even try to conquer all of Equestria..."

She took a step forward " You're worthless, you didn't deserve any love, you didn't even deserve to call yourself my daughter."

"Mom..." Cozy whimpered

"I left you at the orphanage because that's where you belong. But instead you keep telling yourself that you're worth something, that you can earn back my love if you become more powerful, and look where that led you. "

Silence

"......Hah. I really wonder... Why you're such an idiot, y'know? If you really wanna take over all of Equestria , you'll have to try a little bit harder, y'see... Gotta use your head, y'know? ...Honestly, you really are a useless idiot."

"N-no, stop..."

"You're first plan was completely and utterly flawed, and for your second plan , you were manipulated by that draconequus discord, maybe if you weren't such a worthless pony, you would have known he was disguising as Gordar, but instead you backstabbed him without even knowing who he really was, and the plan just left you even worst off, trapped in stone forever, since being decoration is all filly like you will even be able to achieve..."

"N-no!" She began to panic as tears formed in her eyes "I can't fail! I can't be forgotten! I can't! I can't! I ca—"

"Why even bother?"

The prosecutor and Pegasus turn to the source of the new noise. There were a few fillies and colts who looked about the same age as Cozy Glow. Their shadow make the outlines of the people who were Sebastian's friends , whether at the office or back at Themis...

"She has a point, you really are worthless..." One of them said "So why do you keep on trying?"

"Wh- Sunsword, wh-what's going on, why are you all..."

"It should be obvious," One of them responded " we're putting you in your place..."

"B-but we're friends, I-"

"Hah, we we're never your friends..."

"!!! What, b-but..." She began to cry.

"We never cared about you, we were just friends because of what you gave us, but now that you have nothing, we have nothing to gain from being around some idiot like you."

"Get out of here Cozy, we don't want a loser like you bothering us anymore."

"N-no... I'm not..."

"You are a complete failure ..." A new voice came from behind them, turning around to see a unicorn with a lilac coat, a purple and teal mane and tail, who's shadow made Ema Skye's outline.

" You're such an idiot," a pony with both wings and a horn, with a dark purple main and a purple coat , who's shadow made an outline of Edgeworth , said " looking at the achievement I made using the magic of friendship, yet you lack the basic knowledge to emulate them."

"T-Twilight..."

"You don't deserve a happy ending, fillies like you deserve to be sent back to tartarus," A rainbow mane blue pegasus stepped forward, her shadow making the line of Kay .

"Cozy glow," Everyone's distorted voice said.

"GET OUT!"

And then the ground beneath broke, and they found themselves falling further and further down...

...

...

...

"What just happened..."

"You unveiled her traumatic memories and darkness secrets, is what happened."

"..."

"You two aren't so different, you know..."

"..."

"All you wanted was your father's approval, all your life you looked up to him, you tried your hardest to prove your not an idiot , and all he ever did in return was manipulate you more and more. All your friends and your good grades, basically your happiness, were all because of his influence , and would have otherwise just ignore or even bully you..."

"..."

"Similarly, Cozy just wanted her mother's love, but she never loved her back, all her friends only bother with her because of her mother's influence, manipulating her for their own gain, and throwing her away when she's done..."

"..."

"The difference is you at lease have some people like Klavier who's friendship is real, while it was all of Cozy's friends who betrayed her at the last minute. Not only that, but when you were betrayed by your father, you had Edgeworth to pull you out the dark, while no one helped Cozy when she was abandoned."

"..."

"She grew up believing the only way she could have happiness is to manipulate other, since all her life she was manipulated by ponies who thought they loved her. she saw friendship as a tool to better herself, and arriving at Ponyvile and seeing all the thing Twilight and her friends did with the magic of friendship only hardened her resolve."

"..."

"After your father's arrest, you felt betrayed by everyone, and had shut yourself away from other people, then Edgeworth came and lent you a helping hand, gave you the resolve to face your father, the one who had truly betrayed you . He taught you how to rely on yourself rather than to try to gain approval from others. He showed you what being a prosecutor truly meant

Cozy glow had no one to show her real friendship. She only saw the fake façade of manipulation..."

"..."

"She might seem like an evil villain, and she certainly done some terrible things, but take a closer look and you can see she's just a lost child who needs the same light you were given."

"..."

" I'm giving you a choice... you know what to do..."

" ... Bishop..."

" I'll do it."

"I'll give Cozy what she deserves..."

Part 2 Completed : Motive behind the mask of manipulation

To be continued in Part 3: Echo of the Past, Endure the present, Envision a brighter Future