Never Alone

by SoloBrony

Pile Up

Okay, okay, don't freak out, get your bearings—

Cozy looked at me, clearly distraught. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to mess up the portal!"

I held up my hands placatingly. "Cozy, it's not your fault! Let's just try to get home."

She grimaced. "It is, though! I felt something weird as we were passing through, and I... I think I reached out for it. It was just a reflex!"

I rubbed my forehead as I surveyed our surroundings. "Well, that's not important right now. Wait... why am I still a human if you're a pony?"

Cozy shrugged helplessly. "Because... I think I tried to reach out for what I felt with one of my wings? Maybe that triggered the portal's automatic pony-human-change-thing?"

I sighed and rubbed a temple. "Okay, okay. We can figure out the magic theory later, but for now, we should try to... uhh..." I looked at the wasteland around us, but there wasn't anything of note aside from some mountains and hills in the distance. "... Actually, I'm not sure what we should do."

Cozy shook her head and took off one of her saddlebags, rooting through it. "It'll be okay! I have my stuff with me, and I think I might know where a portal is. I can... sorta feel it." She pointed with one hoof while rummaging in her bag, and I glanced in that direction to see a solitary mountain on the horizon.

She can feel portals, now, too? How much has been changing for her that she hasn't bothered to talk about?

I looked back at the nervous filly to see her downing a potion of some kind, and then she pulled a small crossbow out of the bag as well. "Hey, Sunset. You know how to shoot one of these things, right?"

I threw my hands up. "I guess? A little? Why do you even have that?!"

Cozy shrugged. "Mom insisted I take it with me. It can be hoof-operated, but it also has a trigger so I can use it in human form, and it's a lot better that way. It shoots magic bolts, so it shouldn't run out here, at least!" She gave a demonstrative flick of the hoof-lever, causing the crossbow to fire a spectral deep-blue bolt into the dirt.

I laughed despite myself. "Good thing Luna's so paranoid, I guess. I will feel safer if I can defend myself, but, Cozy... I don't think anyone else is even here."

Cozy fixed me with a worried look, and shook her head slowly. "No, they're definitely here. And they're moving towards the portal."

I sighed. "Ooooof course they are. And I guess you can feel that too?"

Cozy nodded with a grimace. "Sorry, I don't know why my wings are so sensitive all of a sudden, but I've been getting buried in feelings from them ever since we got here."

I shrugged and took the crossbow, giving an experimental shot of my own. It seemed very accurate, and judging by the kick, it would hit hard enough to put most things down. I rolled my eyes. "Cozy, how were you even going to use this in the human world?"

"Oh! It's got this mana-battery-crystal thing on it that Aunt Celestia and I made it together! It can store ten shots even in the human world."

I groaned. "Greeeaaat, bringing more Equestrian magic into the human world. Well, I can't exactly say it was a bad idea, right now—hey, what are you doing?"

Cozy stopped in the middle of guzzling a small jar of liquid, and then finished it off before tossing the container aside and wiping her mouth with the back of her hoof. "Stamina potion. Want one? I was worn out after the sparring session."

I considered it, but shook my head. "Save it in case we need it later. I didn't push myself as hard as you did, and I'll probably be wiped out if we have to hike all the way up that mountain."

Cozy nodded, slinging her bag over her back and looking around skittishly. "Then, umm... we should go. I don't know what's out there, but it feels bad. Like, that-day-in-the-forest bad."

I stiffened. "Yeah, let's get moving."

It took us the better part of two hours to reach the mountain and begin ascending; to my surprise, there was a smooth stone path leading up into it, making the hike much easier than I had expected. The reason for the path became obvious once we had rounded the corner of one of the smaller peaks; a fortress was nestled into the mountain, obviously worn down by many years of disuse. I realized the walls were actually merged into the mountainside itself – the same technique used to make Canterlot Castle, in fact. I shook my head as we kept walking.

"Let me guess, that's where the portal is?"

Something about this seems familiar...

Cozy nodded, chewing her lip. "I think we're the first ones here, but be careful, okay?"

I nodded, hefting the crossbow she'd given me and considering what I'd seen. The clouds blocking out the sky never seemed to move, and I hadn't noticed any shift in the level of daylight since we had arrived. Now there was apparently a portal inside of some kind of fortress that had obviously been made with magic...

"Cozy, I think I might have an idea of where we are. This place... I think we're on the edge of Limbo."

Cozy glanced at me in concern. "Wait, where the Pony of Shadows was banished to?"

I nodded. "But don't worry, the Pony of Shadows was banished into Limbo itself. Limbo is the space between worlds, but this 'edge' dimension is like a... a hub. Starswirl the Bearded wrote about visiting it and studying it while he was researching the banishment spells he used against the Sirens and the Pony of Shadows. Magic is... a lot stronger here. That's how he was able to make this fortress, though he needed a lot of help from other unicorns."

Cozy started. "You know how this fortress got here? What's it called?"

"Well, it's just a theory, but..." I strode up to the front gate – the portcullis had long since rotted away – and looked at the old, decayed banner in front of it. Sure enough, Starswirl's cutie mark could just barely be made out against the faded, dark-grey cloth. "A-ha! Yep, this is the Fortress at the End of the World, just like he wrote about."

Cozy shuddered at that. "The end of the world?" She glanced around at the barren landscape and grimaced. "I've seen that once already..."

"Hey, cheer up! You were right, this fortress was built to protect the portal to Equestria, so we should be in the right place! Only... World's End Fortress was abandoned because the portal was failing. It might not be as easy as just walking home."

Cozy perked up, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Well, I'm sure we can figure out! I mean, you're really smart, and know all about portals, and I've studied a lot of alchemy and magic too."

I nodded and scratched her behind the ear, prompting her to lean into my hand. "Yeah, we'll figure it out and get home before you know it!"

I hope...

With that, we set into the fortress, exploring it. Several rooms had caved in where wooden support beams had decayed and fallen apart, but most of the place was solid stone, and had held up to the centuries just fine. The eastern hall was completely inaccessible, but the central and western halls were still intact, as was the central courtyard.

"I know it's not the time, but this place is... I mean, wow."

Cozy nodded, staring up at the imposing crenelation that surrounded the central courtyard. "Yeah. I mean, it's nowhere near as big as Canterlot Castle, but still... I wouldn't want to be invading this place." I watched her carefully scan the walls and towers and take in every detail, and I snickered.

"I wasn't talking about strategy, I just meant it's a beautiful place."

Cozy started and sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Eheh, sorry, it's just... I can still feel those things approaching. If we can't get the portal open, we might have to fight them here."

I cringed at that and felt an icy shard of panic in my spine. "Oh, right... that had actually slipped my mind."

Cozy shuddered slightly and pressed into me. "Let's just try to get out of here. I don't want to know what's behind us."

We pressed through the central courtyard and down the main hall to the back to the fortress. Before we even entered the final chamber, I could feel the magic streaming through the air, like gentle wind currents running along the floor, walls, and ceiling – and as we rounded the final corner, I could actually see them. Blue-white streams of energy, slowly pulling in towards a glowing nexus in the center of the chamber; four crystal pillars surrounding a white orb of magic that gently pulsed like a heart.

I sucked my breath in as we approached, nervous to get too close to the portal. "Well... this is it."

Cozy looked it over with a frown. "So this is the portal? Do we... just walk in?"

I shook my head firmly. "No, not yet. It's not open yet, but... something is recharging it. It'll be open soon."

Cozy looked at me, back at the portal, and back at me, and her face paled. "Wait, something is charging it from the outside? A portal to Equestria, here, on the edge of Limbo?"

It took me a moment to understand the implication of what she was saying, and I shuddered. "Whatever you feel coming... I guess this is what it's heading for, and they're getting it ready."

Cozy chewed her lip over for a moment, then stood tall and firm. "Alright. In that case, we need to get this place ready to greet them. Whatever they are, they're not getting into Equestria."

I nodded uneasily. "I guess so, but... can we really handle that by ourselves?"

Cozy sucked in a breath and nodded sternly. "It won't be the first time I've faced off against a bunch of idiots at once before, don't worry."

"But you had your magic before, right? How are we going to defend this place with just the two of us? I mean, I'll do what I can with this—" I hefted the crossbow "—but I don't think my geode magic is going to be much help here."

Cozy chewed her cheek for a few moments. "You said magic is stronger here, right? Well... maybe we can use that to our advantage."

With that, she set off, and I quickly followed her back out to the courtyard. I was about to ask what she meant when she started groaning and straining, to my alarm.

"Cozy?! Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, just... trying to get my wings open..."

She was visibly struggling, and biting her lower lip as she kept arching her back and trying to flare her wings. I set the crossbow down and rushed to her side.

"Cozy, Cozy, stop." I set a hand on her back and she looked up at me plaintively, and I gently brushed her hair. "Here, let me help." I gently slid a hand under one of her wings, and slowly lifted it up and away from her body. I'd expected a lot of resistance, but it was just heavy, not stiff.

Cozy breathed a deep sigh of relief and wobbled on her feet. "That feels a lot better... umm... could you help me stretch both of them?"

She blushed heavily as she asked that, but I just nodded and carefully extended both wings to full extension. She shuddered as I did so, and tentatively flexed both slightly. It took a few tries, but she was eventually able to slowly open and close them on her own. I brushed her hair gently as she experimented with them a bit.

"Does that feel better?"

She nodded gratefully. "Thanks again, Sunset. I think I may be able to try them out, now. It feels a bit easier here than it did in Equestria, at least."

That doesn't sound good...

"What are you trying out, anyway?"

"Well—" She trotted a short distance from me and slowly opened her wings to full span, "—I was able to make these weird black lightning things when I flapped them hard enough before. Like arcs of magic or whatever."

I leaned back and frowned. "Cozy, you mean you're going to try to use dark magic? You know how dangerous that is."

Cozy just huffed in response. "It's not like I really try to use it! It's just what happens when I use my wings now! I'm not sure it really even is dark magic... oh, just watch!"

With that, and with a serious visible strain, she forced her wings into one powerful beat. A huge blast of air went out – enough to send my hair trailing behind me, even though it was aimed in the other direction – and black arcs of lightning lanced from her wings and into the air and ground in front of her. She turned triumphantly towards me and raised a hoof.

"See?! We could use this—"

We were both distracted by the sudden rumbling and cracking sound that came from the area Cozy had just blasted, followed by a black crystal emerging from the ground. Cozy just stared at it bug-eyed for a few seconds, and then sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"... Ooookay, so maybe it is dark magic, but—"

I shook my head, crossing my arms and putting on my most stern expression. "No! Cozy, absolutely not! You remember what you went through the last time you were exposed to dark magic – it's why your wings are like to that to begin with!"

Cozy just frowned at me while I spoke, and shrugged after I finished. "There's something coming, Sunset. Something bad. I don't see any other way we can protect ourselves – this is the only magic we've got right now!"

I opened my mouth to object, but then snapped it shut, grimacing and looking away.

"I can't let you do that to yourself, Cozy... and what about me, anyway? If I touch one of those crystals, it could make me sick, or even kill me!"

Cozy frowned at that, rubbing her chin in thought, and then trotted up to me. She slightly reached around behind her neck, and I heard a light popping sound. Her hoof came forward with the small crystal-heart necklace she always wore, which had been hidden in her fur until then.

"Here, Sunset. Take this. It should help protect you a little, as long as the magic in it holds out."

I worked my jaw and rubbed my forehead. "Cozy, you can't give me that!"

Cozy just smiled at me – a deep, resigned expression that just made me worry more. "Why not? You're the reason it has power in the first place – you and Mom, anyway. If I can't use it to protect you, what good is it?"

I scoffed. "What will protect you?!"

Cozy shoved the necklace into my hand and turned on her hooves, trotting towards the black crystal. "I don't think I need protection from this anyway."

"Cozy, don't touch it—!"

But she had already extended a wing to the crystal, and just like that, the crystal evaporated into black and purple motes that fed back into her wing. Cozy just glanced back at me with that same tired expression and shrugged.

"See? It may be horrible, but it's still just a part of me. You don't need to worry about me, so keep that necklace on, okay?"

Reckless little...! And don't think I missed that comment about a part of you being horrible!

I groaned and glanced down at the glowing crystal heart in my palm. Hesitantly, I clasped it around my neck.

This doesn't even make sense – how could she even use dark magic while wearing this? Or, how could she charge the necklace while she was covered in dark magic crystals? There's so much here we don't know...

"Cozy, just because it didn't hurt you when you touched it doesn't mean it's not dangerous. If you start using dark magic to solve your problems, it's going to bring the worst out in you. It's exactly what you're trying to avoid... you get that, right?"

Cozy nodded. "It's a... umm.." She twirled a hoof around for a moment. "It's a managed risk. I'll only do it if I have to, but if we're about to be in a fight, we need to know what our options are."

I rubbed my face and grumbled in frustration.

Dark magic should never be an option!

I knew from experience how corrosive it could be, but I also couldn't argue her point, so I settled for just throwing my hands down by my sides and taking a stiff breath. Cozy was busy analyzing the layout of the fortifications.

"Fine, Cozy. We can consider it as a last resort, but right now, we aren't even sure those creatures or whatever are coming."

Cozy, who was busy eying the side passages in the gatehouse that led up to the northern wall, just shrugged and waved a hoof over to the tower on the corner of the courtyard. "Go see for yourself. They're so close, I think you should be able to spot them on the plains."

I stiffened, and ran to the tower – right, this type of tower is called a turret in a castle – and bounded up the uneven steps until I reached the top.

Sure enough, there was a roiling black mass making its way across the plains towards us, following the same path we had. I watched them for several seconds, and I estimated that they were moving at a brisk walking pace – they wouldn't make it here for at least another hour.

One hour before we have to deal with... whatever those creatures are.

Not only that, I spotted more on the horizon, even farther away. The first mass didn't look like it could be more than twenty creatures if they were pony-sized, but the others farther out were far, far larger. I felt my heart sink.

We're going to die here. Oh stars and moon, we're going to die here.

I numbly made my way down the tower to find that Cozy was taking measurements of the gatehouse doorways with a seamstress' tape. My voice came out so shaky and squeaky I almost sounded like Fluttershy.

"Cozy...?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

Cozy didn't bother dropping the tape in her mouth as she read off measurements and made small marks in the doorway with her carpenter's pencil. Despite myself, I gave a low, defeated chuckle.

She really prepared for everything, I guess. Except... this.

"Cozy, it's not just a group. It's an army. And the first ones will be here in an hour."

Cozy, to my surprise, just nodded and gently set the tools back in her bag. "Well, that was the worst-case scenario, but it's basically what I figured."

Her cool demeanor finally pushed me over the edge, and I threw my hands up as I shouted. "COZY! There's an ARMY HEADED RIGHT FOR US! The portal won't be open in time for us to get away!"

Cozy fixed me with a stern look that froze me in place before I could continue my rant.

"Yeah, I get that, Sunset." She gestured forcefully in the direction of the creatures I'd seen. "ARMY?" She flung her hoof towards the rest of the fortress. "MEET CASTLE. We'll be fine!"

I sucked in a breath, desperately trying to force down the panic in my guts. "This castle was meant to be defended by a dozen of the strongest unicorn magi of Starswirl's era, Cozy! And they only put it up because they expected there might be roving bands of monsters – how are the two of us supposed to hold it against an army of... of whatever dark-magic creatures are headed straight for us?!"

Cozy grinned at me – the same kind of manic grin I'd seen on her when she was playing a strategy game with me.

"Like this!"

And with that, she beat her wings, causing a line of large black crystals to erupt from the ground, cutting diagonally across the gatehouse between one of the staircases and the front gate.

I just stared. "How... Cozy, that might slow them down, but—!"

"No, it will funnel them! See, when they get inside, they'll have to head up this staircase—" she gestured towards the left-hand staircase in the gatehouse, now blocked on this side by crystals, "—go all the way around the top wall—" her hoof trailed the path as she spoke, looping around to the right side staircase that I could still see clearly, "—and come out over here. And they'll be exposed to the southern wall the whole time!"

I blinked as I processed what she was saying, and it slowly started to click into place.

"I'll... go get the crossbow!"

"Great! I'll see about blocking off the west hall so they're stuck in the courtyard if they get past this."

As I walked across the courtyard, my mind whirling as I tried to come to grips with how we'd ended up in this situation, I found myself laughing.

I guess if I had to get stuck fighting an army of freaky shadow monsters, there's nopony I'd rather do it with than Cozy.

I slowly made my way to the portal room, and up the staircase access there that led to the south wall. Once I was there, I gave the crossbow several more test shots to make sure I could hit targets on the opposing wall; it seemed easy enough. Recoil aside, the crossbow could fire remarkably fast, and each bolt seemed to strike home with remarkable force. Cozy made her way up behind me after a few minutes, audibly panting.

"I did all I can for now... magic may be stronger here, but there's still only so much I can use before I feel like I ran a marathon." She settled in next to where I was kneeling and shooting, pressing into my hip and resting her chin on one of the crenels. I smiled down at her, trying to bury my fears, and scratched the back of her neck.

"Thanks, Cozy. I wish I could help, but unless I pony up, I can't do magic as a human. Well, aside from my geode."

Cozy nodded idly. "I know. I think the safest thing to do now is to rest and save our strength for the fight. Did you see how many were in the nearest group?"

I shrugged as I set the crossbow aside and turned around to rest my back against the merlon I had been aiming over. "I think maybe twenty or so? That's assuming they're sized like ponies, anyway."

Cozy yawned, carefully stretching out, and mumbled, "They're probably shades. Y'know, dark-magic summons."

I perked up slightly at that. "Really? I've read about those! They're dangerous if they touch you, but they're supposed to be pretty slow."

Cozy nodded, keeping her eyes closed and pressing into my hip a bit more. "Yeah... dumb, too. Aunt Celestia made me read a lot about dark magic after the whole... thing." She gave another yawn.

I started slightly. "Hey, now, don't go falling asleep! I get that you're confident in your strategy—" I left out 'heavens know why' "—but we're still looking at an actual battle coming our way."

Cozy smirked, keeping her eyes closed. "I know. I just need to rest a little – magic exhaustion. And anyway, it's not like this is our first battle, right?"

I rolled my eyes and let out a breath at that. "I guess not. But I've never had one where it was so... I don't know, military? A fortress, a crossbow...? I've never used a weapon in an actual fight before, unless you count threatening to smash a statue with a sledgehammer."

Cozy snickered at that. "Don't worry, Sunset. You'll do great. If we've got to fight a bunch of shades, there's nopony I'd rather have by my side... well, actually, there's Discord. He'd probably make the shades dance the macarena until they exploded into confetti or something. But you're a close second!"

I snorted and swatted her playfully, catching a WHAP from her tail across my knees for my trouble. We stayed there in companionable silence for a few minutes, and I just idly stroked her mane while we waited for the inevitable. Eventually, I spoke up.

"Y'know... I saw the memories of the other me. I remember fighting Grogar – at least for a few moments – with you, but... I guess it didn't really sink in that this sort of situation isn't that new to you, is it?" I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "I was absolutely freaked out when I realized how many of them were coming, that we would actually need to fight to keep them out of here... but I guess for you, this is just like old times, huh?"

Cozy's eyes opened slowly and she stared out at the courtyard absently as she replied. "Actually, I'm terrified. But that's just not really helpful right now."

My heart sank on hearing that – I'd really hoped at least one of us had a handle on this – but I tried not to let it show as I kept brushing her mane. "Well, you're doing a good job of not showing it. And who knows, maybe the portal will open sooner than we expect, and we'll be able to get out of here before things get too bad."

For her part, Cozy's eyes narrowed. "I guess. Either way, though... I'll keep you safe."

For a moment, I almost objected that she should keep both of us safe. Instead, I settled on, "Likewise."

Once the army was ten minutes out, Cozy and I both went out to the courtyard to stretch and warm up, and perform a final check of our defenses. She ran through her plans with me – signals to do various things, places to fall back to, contingency plans in case something went wrong – and soon enough, I was up on the northern wall, watching the mountain pass leading up to our fortress, crossbow trained on the corner they'd have to come around. Cozy stood right beside me, watching carefully.

"Remember, as soon as I'm sure they're just shades, start shooting. We don't want to hurt anypony, but shades are just spells."

I nodded slightly, keeping my eye trained on my crossbow sight. Honestly, how did we end up here...? And how would I ever get through this without her?

"Cozy, thank you so much—"

"There they are!"

Cozy pointed, but I had already started tracking the first shade to come around the corner. It was hard to keep an aim fixed at this range, but I was doing my best. After a few seconds, Cozy said, "Yeah, they're definitely shades!"

And with that, I started firing. The first shade staggered as the crossbow bolt hit it square, and my followup shot nailed it right in the head, causing it and the spectral bolt to explode in a cloud of magic, which was promptly sucked towards the portal room. Cozy hoofpumped next to me – something I heard more than saw as I lined up my next shot.

"Headshot! YEAH!"

I desperately tried not to think about how disturbing it was to shoot what almost looked like a pony silhouette in the head as I locked another target and fired. The shades began running towards the fortress as the second one disappeared, and I almost picked up to run before I remembered Cozy's barricade at the gate.

Keep calm, Sunset. It's just like sniping in games. Calm, just line up the shots...

Three more shades went down before they started getting uncomfortably close to the gate, which was reaffirmed by Cozy saying, "Okay, fall back to the southern wall! I'll stall them for you!"

I hefted my crossbow and dashed down the right-side gate staircase as fast as I could. I heard the first shade rush into the gatehouse, and for a split second I almost panicked and turned around before I remembered it couldn't reach me through the crystal barricade. The only sounds it made were hoofbeats on the ground, and a horrible, quiet rasping noise from it distorting the air around it – a sound I knew I'd be hearing in my nightmares if I made it through the day.

Oh Luna, I can't leave Cozy to fight these things up close! I need to—

I whipped my head around as I was a quarter of the way across the courtyard, just in time to see Cozy, on top of the northern wall, cry triumphantly as she cut two shades down with a single hit from her wings. The look of sheer joy on her face was downright disturbing, but I just turned back to the southern wall and kept running to the fallback position.

Okay, okay, so maybe the shades are the ones who are screwed here. That's good, right? It's a good thing!

Don't focus on the fact that your cousin is kind of a battle-crazed maniac!

I hoofed it (Well, in a manner of speaking, since I was in human form) to the top of the southern wall and set into my firing position. Cozy was still dispatching shades on the northern wall, putting those martial arts lessons to good use; I noted with some alarm that she wasn't only attacking them with her wings, but her hooves as well, yet the dark magic exposure didn't seem to be harming her. The random, errant thought that I had to turn into an actual demon to enjoy fighting that much entered my head as I lined up a shot.

Stop! Cozy enjoys fighting, there's nothing inherently WRONG with that! Ugh! Now's so not the time for this!

I began firing bolt after bolt straight at the corner to the gatehouse stairway, regardless of whether I saw a shade there or not. Between my suppressive fire and Cozy dispatching the last few shades who had gotten past the corner, the north wall was soon clear, and Cozy stood over there visibly panting while I kept up my fire, occasionally taking the head off of a shade that rushed up the stairs.

Seeing that I had the situation in hand, Cozy headed down the staircase to the gatehouse, and took up her position in the courtyard as we'd discussed. At first, I wasn't even sure she would need to fight any more, but the last six shades all came around the corner at once. I managed to hit two of them and destroy one, and I picked another off just before they rounded the second corner and emerged from the gatehouse, but the four survivors all rushed Cozy.

For a second, my blood ran cold as I debated whether it was safe to take another shot so close to Cozy. Before I could even sight in one of them, though, Cozy just gave a beat of her wings, and black lightning arced through the shades, ripping them apart. I blinked a few times, and then set my sights back on the northern wall before I heard Cozy's voice echo up to me from the courtyard.

"Sunset! That's the last of them! We're clear for now!"

I heaved a sigh of relief, and the sudden pain in my chest alerted me that I'd been holding my breath for the last who-knows-how-long. I put my back to the merlon and slid down to the ground, exhausted by adrenaline, and spent a minute simply heaving and trying to stop the shakes.

I can't believe that just happened. I can't believe we just—

Cozy bounded out of the staircase door in front of me, pronking and yelling "WE JUST WON! haHA! Take that, mindless monsters!"

She hoofpumped and smiled at me with a wild glint in her eye. I just raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"Yeah, I think you're going to have to be enthusiastic for both of us, Cozy. I just want to get out of here."

Cozy blew a raspberry at me as I stared in disbelief at her antics. "Spoilsport!"

I shook my head with a bemused expression. "Cozy, you realize we could actually die here, right?"

Cozy nodded with a big, dumb grin. "Yeah, I know. But why would we decide to do that?" She drew herself up on her hind legs and made a very goofy-looking salute as she said, in a voice that could not be taken seriously with her natural squeakiness, "Make them die for their country instead!"

I groaned. "Cozy, they're shades, they don't have a country. We aren't even fighting for our country!"

Cozy snickered and went back on all fours. "We really are, though! Do you want those things in Equestria?"

I paused to think about that, blinking a few times as it processed. "Well, no, but I'd rather fight them there, with all of our friends, rather than out here."

Cozy made a sturgeon expression and mimed stroking a beard with her hoof. "Mmmyeessss, that would be more tactically sound. You make a strong argument. But, counterpoint: Here, I can fry them with lightning, and drop giant crystals on them!"

I fixed Cozy with a stern look. "I told you, dark magic needs to be a last resort,, Cozy."

She just rolled her eyes. Rolled her eyes! About that! "Sunset, you've just gotta see the negative in everything, y'know that?"

I threw my hands up and grinned despite myself. "Okay, you got me! The lightning thing is pretty cool. And I guess it's nice to know I'm not a half-bad shot in real life, either. But how are we going to handle the larger groups?"

Cozy nodded and sat down next to me, pressing into me again. For all the tough talk, she's still shaking from the adrenaline... or maybe just fear.

"I was thinking about that, and I checked them out from the tower. It looks like about three hundred more are headed our way."

I gasped and felt my skin tighten as I got a fresh shot of panic-fueled adrenaline. "Three hundred?! We barely handled twenty just now!"

Cozy snickered. "It was actually twenty three. I took out a lot of them while you were falling back. But... yeah, we need more than this."

"Cozy, you can't burn through any more magic right now. You won't be able to defend yourself!"

Cozy took a sharp breath in as she considered, and then she tilted her head. She rummaged through her bag. I thought she was going to pull out a potion, but instead she produced a small business card, and looked expectantly at a blank wall.

"I sure could use a drink now!"

We both waited for a few tense moments as nothing happened. Cozy Glow cleared her throat.

"I said, 'I sure could use a drink right now!' "

And again, nothing.

Cozy sighed. "Well, that was worth a shot. Okay, guess we're going with 'Plan B.' "

"... Cozy, what was that all about?"

Cozy just shook her head and laughed. "That would take too long to explain, but, uhh... sometimes I can summon a portal with that, is all. I was hoping it could get us out of here, but I guess not."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an imitation of something I'd seen Princess Twilight do. "Okay. I have a lot of questions, but now's not the time. What's Plan B?"

"You saw how all of the magic from those shades got sucked towards the portal, right? Well, let's go see if we can't put some of that to use."

I followed her down the stairs into the portal room. The portal continued to pulse, low and strong, but now there were black streaks swirling around it that had not been there before.

Cozy rubbed her hooves together in an entirely villainous-looking – but actually heroic (I hoped) – fashion. "Alright! Looks like we've got ourselves some spare magic to fortify this place with!"

I coughed. "I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's spare dark magic."

Cozy raised a hoof and proudly declared, "And I am desperately trying not to think about that!"

And with that uninspiring sentiment, she marched up to the portal and carefully extended one wing towards it. The black streaks began to distort in their orbit around the portal, as if magnetically pulled towards her wing; eventually, they tore free of the portal and slipped into her wing, disappearing as they merged with the dark crystal.

Cozy stepped back and strained her wings closed with visible effort. I shuffled uneasily where I stood.

"Are you... alright?"

Cozy took a deep breath and nodded. "Actually, yeah. I thought there would be more to it, but it just made my wings feel heavier." She looked at me and gave a somewhat-amused shrug. "I've given up on figuring this out, but hey, since it works, let's use it!"

And with that cheery thought we set off to review our defenses. After a quick walk around and a check at the tower to see how much longer we had, Cozy and I settled in the courtyard to talk. She shook her head and said, "We're only going to get so far by just putting up these crystal barriers. If we're going to take on bigger numbers, we need to slow them down somehow... and some kind of weapon or trap to use against them would be good."

I nodded, desperately trying to shove down my misgivings about plans that involved intentionally using dark magic. "Right, makes sense." I glanced around the castle. "We have stone... I guess we could try putting some stones up over a passageway, and drop them on the shades as they come in."

Cozy considered that, tapping a hoof to her chin. "But we'd only get one shot at using it..." She stood up and walked over to the center of the courtyard, and began what looked like some sort of slow-dance while opening her wings and gently rotating her wingtips around, almost like she was massaging an invisible orb.

I giggled a bit at the sight. "Cozy, what are you doing?"

She stuck her tongue out to the side as she concentrated. "I'm trying to... see if I can make this weird magic cooperate long enough to do something with it..."

I stood up and walked over, and I spotted small tendrils of black electricity running down her wingtops and slowly weaving together like a spiderweb.

"I don't exactly want to encourage you to use dark magic, but... is there some way I can help?"

"You know Starswirl's translocational matrix, right?"

I leaned back to think. "The short-range portal spell? I never learned it myself – Cozy, that's really advanced magic."

Cozy kept slowly weaving the tendrils together and nodded absently as she did so. "Yeah... but it was a lot easier when I had all that magic from the bell, so I got the hang of it... Dangit, it just won't cooperate! Every time I get the foundation laid out and let go to start on the second layer, it falls apart!"

I blinked a couple of times. "Hey, how does that dark magic react to the crystals? Do the crystals absorb it?"

Cozy looked up at me quizzically. "Huh? No, it just runs around the outside of them."

I grinned down at her. "So, if you laid out the crystal matrix on one of the crystals, it might just stabilize long enough for you to finish the spell?"

Cozy stared at me for a few seconds, then laughed and began forming a crystal a few feet in diameter to work on. "Show-off."

I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow. "This from the little filly trying to build a short-range portal with dark magic?"

Cozy snickered slightly as she kept working, and her voice took on a false-sweet tone, "Oooh, I'm sooo sorry not all of us got the fancy unicorn horns and super nice happy friendship magic to work with, missus Celestia's-favorite-daughter!"

I leaned back in surprise and my grin grew wider. Oooh, she's got a lip on her, huh?

"Yeeaaah, that's true, some of us had to work with the magic we were born with rather than getting awesome magical power to experiment with because they happened to get their hooves on some ancient super-powered relic!"

"Well excuuuse me, wannabe-Princess, I didn't know us cloudponies had to just accept what we were born with and be happy with it! My baaaaad."

I folded my arms and suppressed a snicker. "That's right, you should know your place. Silly pegasus with your hand-me-down alicorn powers, I bet you'd just steal cutie marks rather than developing your own skills if you could."

Cozy grinned wildly and her eyes lit up. "Ooo, good idea!"

I just laughed and rolled my eyes at that, leaning forward on my knees. "Dangit, Cozy."

"You shouldn't go giving me ideas like that, Sunset!" She laughed as she finished laying out the groundwork for the spell on the crystal pedestal. "I'll probably end up doing that at some point, then how will you feel?"

I gave her mane a quick ruffle once I was sure the spell was done. "Proud of my heroic, maybe-slightly-evil cousin who doesn't take guff off of anypony."

Cozy blew a raspberry. "Aww, you ruined it." She snickered. "And what do you mean slightly evil? Come on, I nearly destroyed Equestria!"

"Get in line, sister."

"Twice!"

I threw my hands up in mock surrender while rolling my eyes. "Okay, okay, you win. You're officially the worst."

Cozy hoofpumped as she activated the spell, forming two shimmering portals that she slowly began to reposition with her wings. "And don't you forget it! These shades are about to find out, too!"

She giggled in a most-assuredly-not-sadistic fashion as she pronked across the courtyard and began setting up a rockfall trap that would trigger over and over again. "That'll teach Starlight, that showoff. Destroyed Equestria an infinite number of times, that's such a cheap trick!"

I huffed as I followed after her and began loading collapsed stones into the trap's starting point. "Right? Talk about breaking the leaderboards."

Cozy grunted as she hefted a stone. "Tell me about it! From now on time manipulation is off-limits for villains – it's just cheating!"

And with that kind of back-and-forth, we quickly set up our new trap. To add the finishing touch, Cozy added a field of jagged, rough-hewn crystal across the courtyard, forcing the shades to walk slowly across it as well.

"There! Just in time, too – they'll be here in a couple of minutes."

I sighed and wiped the sweat off of my brow with my hand. "You know what, Cozy? This is kind of fun, potential doom aside."

Cozy grinned as she surveyed our work. "Right? Of course, I'm just trying to keep you in a good mood. It wouldn't be fair to these shades if I let you go all Sunset-rage-mode on them."

I scoffed at that. "Hey! Come on, I'm not that bad."

Cozy looked at me with a neutral expression and slowly, skeptically raised an eyebrow. "Sunset?"

I turned my head up and to the side slowly while raising an eyebrow of my own. "Cozy?"

"FlatMan339."

I immediately growled before I could catch myself, and I saw a glint in Cozy's eye. "Hey! He was a total jerk, it's not like I—I just reacted like any normal person would!"

Cozy responded with a sturgeon expression and a slow, placating nod. "Riiiight, sure. And you're definitely not going to rage out on these shades whatsoever."

I rolled my eyes. "Cozy, I'm scared here. This is serious. I'm not going to fly off the handle at a bunch of terrifying dark-magic ghost-monster-things."

"DIE AND STAY DEAD! YOU... STUPID...!" I slammed my crossbow into the shade's face, and while it was reeling from that I shot it in the head, point-blank, three times. The smouldering ash-like cloud it left limped its way towards the portal. I heaved with adrenaline as I looked around, only to spot another shade making a run for the portal.

"Oh NO YOU DOOOON'T!" I sprinted ahead of it while blindly firing shots to stun it, skidding to a halt right in front of it and pelting it with bolts. I wasn't even remotely accurate, but eventually the sheer volume of fire was enough to make it slump over pitifully and burst into a cloud of magic.

I heard Cozy's maniacal laughter, and whirled around just in time to see Cozy pouncing on the last shade from this group and slamming a paving stone down on it, shattering the stone and the shade. "TELL'EM COZY SENT YA! HAhahahahahahaHAA!"

Unable to help myself at the sheer absurdity of the situation, and still shaking violently from adrenaline, I found myself joining her manic giggle-fit for a few moments before we both leaned over to catch our breath. She gave me side-eye and another of those wild grins before she went into a puppy-dog eyes routine and put on the worst possible impression of my voice.

"Oooh Cozy I'm so scawed, I'm not gonna wage-out—!"

"UUUUGH! Oh be quiet, it's not my fault your crossbow's sight is off! I nailed that headshot, there's no way it should have missed! Stupid shade nearly made it to the portal as a result."

Cozy snorted and waved her hoof dismissively. "Oh suuure, blame the magic crossbow with the self-correcting sight, that's, yep, that makes sense!"

I groaned and kept heaving breath for a few moments before responding. "Oh, whatever.. I get why you made me use this thing now!"

Cozy Glow just grinned at me. "Let's set up more traps!"

To my surprise, I found myself grinning right back. "This should be good..."

At least she seems to be in a good mood so far. The dark magic isn't taking the kind of toll I would expect... at least not yet.

We set off to gather the dark magic from the portal, and then review and improve our defenses. Cozy added more of that rough crystal floor to the north wall, so that the shades would move slowly across it and I could pick them off more easily, and then took down the crystals blocking the west hall. I followed her curiously to the rear of the west hall, where she erected two sets of crystal walls to seal off the portal room, and she giggled despite her obvious fatigue.

"Now, the shades will slip into this side hall only to find it's blocked when they get to the back! So they'll have to walk all the way back!"

I hummed as I thought about that, and frowned. "I guess that would buy me more time to pick off the ones left in the courtyard, but what if they somehow break the barrier? They'll be able to get to the portal immediately, and who knows what they'll do with it."

Cozy nodded, panting. "That's why I put two sets up. I should be able to feel it if they start to break one... and besides, I already thought of that...!"

I snickered as I followed her back to the courtyard, then down the main hall that led to the portal. "Of course you did. You're freakishly good at this, you know that?"

Cozy began forming more portals and just gave a shrug as she concentrated. Her voice came out strained. "Contingency plans... are the basis of any robust strategy!"

I watched as she set up a series of portals – she called them our 'emergency portals' – which would be triggered if one of the shades stepped on them, and would fling them the short distance through the crystal wall to the end of the west hall. I had to catch her after she was finished, as she staggered around from sheer exhaustion.

"Cozy, are you alright?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah... I think so. Just gotta rest for a bit."

I sighed as I lifted the filly up in my arms and took her to the top of the southern wall – the safest place in the fortress, at this point – and sat down with her in my lap, gently massaging her wings. Judging from the coos she gave in response, they must have been sore from all of the exertion.

She's pushing herself so hard... but what alternative is there? I sighed and said, "I guess it's a good thing the next group is still a little ways off. Do you think it's time to drink another stamina potion?"

Cozy shook her head gently. "No, not yet... I can still fight, but I should rest as much as I can between waves. It gives me time to think of how to improve our defenses, anyway."

I hummed at that, and began thinking on how we could take the shades down more quickly. I thought back to the history of this place I had read, and something occurred to me.

"You know, back when this place was first made, they defended the inner halls using the portal itself. It would release these pulses of magical energy that would run down the eastern and western halls, blasting whatever was in them. I've heard that once it was activated, the portal could even defend itself directly."

Cozy grunted in response. "But the portal's too weak for that now."

I nodded slowly. "True... but the general idea is still good, right? Those halls are a narrow space. If we could put any kind of trap into them that took advantage of that..."

Cozy's eyes opened and she looked at me quizzically. "Like what?"

"Well... have you ever seen Indiana Jones?"

The third wave was right at the gate by the time Cozy felt well enough to really fight again. I had urged her to take a stamina potion, but she kept saying the issue was mana, not physical exhaustion, and refused. I can tell she's just trying to save it in case I need it...

As the first shades rounded the corner to the northern wall and I began picking them off, I did everything I could to block out distractions and focus. I have to pick enough of them off that she can rest for this wave.

And resting was what she was doing, thank the stars. She was on the southern wall with me, watching the enemy's advance and waiting for them to get far enough to threaten the portal before taking action. I was hellbent on not letting that happen, and to my surprise, I was managing it – the rough crystal floor was slowing them down immensely, and I had become a much better shot.

Once the horde thickened and began pushing each other forward, though, I wasn't able to keep up. I became too fixated on trying to pick off whoever was in the front, which meant I stopped dropping nearly as many, and finally had to relent and trust our rock fall trap at the entrance to deal with the shades who got through. Still, there was a satisfaction in dropping dozens of the monsters as they tried to wade through the wall, and I found myself snickering before nudging Cozy as I took another shot.

"Is it wrong that I imagine a sick guitar riff in my head every time I nail a headshot?"

Cozy laughed softly, and took a sharp breath. I started, and glanced down at her to see her blinking her eyes rapidly to clear them.

"Cozy, were you sleeping?!"

She shook her head to clear it and rubbed her forehead. "Umm... not really. Dozing off a little, sorry."

"Cozy, the enemy is right there!"

"I know! I've been watching you mow them down! It's actually kind of relaxing."

I just growled in response as I dropped three more shades in rapid succession. We both watched the first gaggle of shades wade out into the rough crystal beyond the gatehouse stair access, and they slowly pushed together into the area just beyond the gatehouse, bunching up directly on top of the rockfall portal.

Once one of them had passed the centerpoint, a shimmering portal appeared directly above the group of shades, and dozens of flagstones and paving stones crashed down on their heads, smashing them and the rough crystal to bits. Then, a portal beneath them formed, sucking up all of the stones, and snapped shut. The black crystals quickly regrew over the area, and I began picking off the shades that had since poured out of the gatehouse.

"Cozy, how long did you say the reset time for those portals was?"

Cozy yawned and rubbed her right eye. "Should be about fifteen seconds, give or take."

I sucked in a breath and stopped even aiming for headshots – instead, I just kept up rapid fire at the shades to hold them back while the trap reset. I grimaced as some of them began to skirt out to the sides, but I felt Cozy's hoof press into my waist.

"Don't worry, they're headed for the western hall. That should take care of itself. Just keep the ones in the center and the eastern side back."

I nodded faintly as I kept up my fire. Sure enough, the ones on the left swerved into the western hall, and it wasn't long before I cracked a smile at the sound of a heavy boulder – made of black crystal – crushing them as it rolled down the hall. It bounced against the wall near the end of the hall and rolled out of the entrance before a portal opened beneath it and teleported it away. Right after, the rock fall trap went off again, smashing another dozen shades into nothing.

Cozy began giggling manically for a few seconds, and then caught herself. "See? Nothing to worry about! We've got this."

"Yeah," I said, desperately trying to pick off the shades that had immediately flooded into the rockfall area and now threatened to get past, "I guess so, but I can't stop all of them."

Cozy stretched, and I heard audible *POP* sounds from both of her wings and her back. She slowly tilted her neck left and right, eliciting more audible cracks, and sighed. "I know, you weren't supposed to. Don't go pushing yourself too much, Sunset."

I was about to object that she was the one with the over-exertion problem, but she immediately leapt off of the wall and glided down into the courtyard on her wings. That was insanely dangerous! What if her wings had locked up again?!

"Cozy, be more careful!"

"It's fine!"

She gave a beat of her wings, which sent her catapulting down into the lead shade so hard it exploded in a smoke-cloud of dark magic, and immediately cut two more down with swipes from her wings. Whereas the shades moved slowly over the crystal field, Cozy sprang through them with alarming speed, almost as though the crystals were giving her a boost. She reached the enemies crossing the rockfall zone and pounced on the first of them, slamming it into the ground and stomping on it until it popped into a cloud of magic, and then gave a beat of her wings to shove the entire group back just in time for the rocks to crush them all.

Whoa. She was fighting well before, but this is crazy.

I smirked to myself in relief. I guess she knows her own limits. At least she's having... fun?

I looked over at Cozy, but I didn't hear the whoops and shouts she had been giving before. Instead, she looked enraged, and the way she slammed the shades around became increasingly violent and forceful. I watched her tackle a shade in a full-body lock with her back on the ground, tear it in half, and then open her wings to spring her off of the ground and into a flying kick at another one, slamming it into the rough crystal ground and destroying it – and the ground.

Oh, this can NOT be good.

As the crystals regrew, Cozy turned around, saw a group I was preparing to open fire on as they were almost halfway across the courtyard, and gave a chilling howl of rage as she beat her wings; the resulting airblast slammed all of them into the far wall hard enough to destroy all of them. My worries started to get the better of me, and I shouted towards her.

"Cozy! Are you alright?!"

"Sunset, above us! They've got fliers!"

I looked up in a panic, and saw several pegasus silhouettes slowly descending. At first, I thought they were headed for me, but then I realized they were aiming right in front of me – for the entrance to the final hall. My panic immediately twisted into frustration at myself for not noticing them, and then rage that they had pulled such a dirty trick just as we had started to win.

"Oh hell NO YOU DON'T!"

I began picking them off as quickly as I could, but they were both fast and erratic in their movements. Headshots were out of the question unless I stunned them with a body shot first, and it was incredibly difficult to pull off those double-taps faster than they could descend. A small group of them dove at me, and my heart leapt into my throat, only for them to break off as I was momentarily blinded by glare.

I glanced down to realize the crystal-heart necklace was shimmering brightly. Oh... so this wards them away from me. Well, that's some peace of mind, but—!

I shot as fast as I could, hosing the diving group with bolts, but they reached the ground beneath my wall. I almost called to Cozy, whom I'd lost track of, only for a loud eruption to shake the wall I was standing on. An air blast from inside the final hall blew the group back and out of it, and Cozy burst forward, rapidly taking them down.

I immediately returned my attention to the sky, dropping several more of the shades with my crossbow. At this point, I just started aiming for their backs and wings – large targets, and if I hit them, they would drop helplessly out of the sky and crash into the ground. That turned out to be much more effective than trying to hit them in the head or stun them, and after another minute of harsh, frantic combat, the fliers were all down. I scanned the courtyard, but I didn't see anyone.

"COZY?!"

I heard her voice echo up to me from the portal room. "RIGHT HERE, SUNSET! IT'S OVER, WE'RE CLEAR!"

As soon as I heard that, I leaned back off of the merlon, and pain erupted from my chest and arms where I had dug into the stone. I yelped and staggered to the side, then fell, just barely catching myself on my hands and butt without slamming the back of my head into the ground. I dropped my crossbow, and the hoof-crank went off when it hit the ground, sending a bolt into the wall in front of me.

I took a few seconds to just breathe heavily and try not to think of what would have happened if it had fallen a different way. Cozy came rushing up the stairs, eyes full of concern. "Sunset?! Are you alright?"

I shakily nodded, pulling myself up against the walls and resting my back against a merlon. "Y-yeah, just... tired. That was a tough fight."

Cozy hoofed me one of her stamina potions. I was about to reject it, but she shoved it into my hand firmly and fixed me with a serious look. "You've been covering for me while I rested. Drink half of this now, and half later if you get wiped out again, okay? You're doing really well! I can't believe you went this long without one after the spars at the gym and that hike!"

I scoffed, drinking half of the potion as she suggested and capping it. "You know I was one of the best fencers at school, right? It's not like I'm new to working out, Cozy. Besides, I'm just shooting a—" I paused as I suddenly felt a warm sensation run through my body. My exhausted muscles stopped aching, and my mind cleared up like I had just had a long rest followed by gentle calisthenics. I moaned in relief as I rested my head against the merlon, and I heard Cozy giggle as I closed my eyes.

"It's good stuff, right?"

"YeEeEss... Oh, I need some of these for when I'm studying for finals..."

Cozy snorted at that and I felt her press up next to me.

"So... we've got lots of magic to work with after all of that. Got any more crazy trap ideas?"

I cleared my throat, eyes still closed, and considered. "We need something to stop the flying shades—" I am NOT calling those THINGS pegasi, "—and something to catch the ground shades who leak through the rock fall trap and go for the main hall. The emergency portals near the final room should be a last resort – they take too long to reset to stop any large group."

Cozy hummed in agreement. "I'm not sure how to use crystals or portals to stop flying enemies, though."

I chewed my tongue as I thought that over, visualizing all kinds of weird crystal spires and even webs to try to catch the things.

"Well... what if you made sort of an awning? They all head for the main entrance, so if you made some kind of, like... spiderweb awning of crystals there, they couldn't fit through it and would have to land closer to the center of the courtyard. And I could shoot through it if I was careful.

Cozy hummed again. "I guess that would help, but we don't have any good traps when they get back that far. And they might try to fly instead of walk through the last hallway – that would mean even our emergency portals won't catch them."

"Well... what if we had some kind of trap attached to the ceiling instead of the floor? We could use another rock fall... or something..."

Cozy shuffled next to me, and I felt her lift a hoof to her chin. "I guess we could set something up... the rock fall is good for stopping big groups, but we want something reliable for taking out everything that gets that far, or at least most of it. Hmm... like the boulder, but, without the long delay between... hey, I think I have an idea!"

I cracked an eye open at her and smiled. "I knew you would. You're really scary-good at this."

She rolled her eyes. "You're the one who's come up with most of the actual trap ideas, Sunset. I mean, you've even taken out more of the shades than I have. I feel like an over-rated carpenter at this point!" She giggled and I just rolled my eyes before closing them again.

"Stop trying to make me feel better and just tell me what you have in mind, smart-aleck."

Cozy shrugged and glanced back out at the courtyard. "Well, what if I had like, a little boulder on a stick, and it swings back and forth? Like a clock pendulum? It could give anything that passes under a good whack, and trying to fly through it would probably be even more dangerous than trying to walk past!"

My face screwed up as I tried to imagine it, then I laughed. "Cozy, you're describing a mace. Boulder-on-a-stick, pffft."

Cozy stiffened slightly, and giggled nervously. "Oh, yeah. I guess you're right. But yeah! A big mace! If I make it right, it shouldn't lose much speed with each swing, and I can rig up a portal that resets it every once in a while to make sure it keeps going!"

I hummed in thought. "I'm not sure I can visualize that, but if you're confident you can make it work, give it a try."

Cozy left me to rest while she set off to build up our defenses. I hadn't even realized I had dozed off when she shook me awake. I took in a sharp breath and cracked my eyes open, wiping them off. She looked tired, but happy, but that wasn't what caught my attention.

"Cozy! Your right eye, it's turned black again!"

Cozy reeled back at that. "Wait, what?" She rummaged through her saddlebag and pulled out a small mirror. "Oooh, that can't be good."

I reached out to her, placing a hand on the back of her neck and rubbing it softly. "Are you okay?! What happened?!"

Last time this happened, she started seeing hallucinations...

Cozy nodded, her expression perplexed more than anything. "I actually feel fine! I'm not sure what the deal is, but... yeah. Nothing weird has been going on, it's just... Huh. But hey, our defenses are ready! Check it out!"

I hesitantly took my eyes off of her to lean over one of the crenels and look down at the mouth of the final hallway. Just like we had discussed, there was now a web-pattern awning of black crystal over it, with a black-crystal mace swinging back and forth. After a few swings, the mace teleported back up into ready position and began swinging afresh. To my surprise, there were also walls in front of and behind the mace, with gaps on the left and then right sides.

"Did you... build those extra walls to force the shades to weave around under the mace?"

Cozy nodded, still checking out her eye in the mirror. "Uh-huh! And I put that crystal ground there, too, so they're stuck under it for as long as possible. I even put a little extra crystal in the way so fliers will be forced to land."

I giggled despite myself, still trying to handle the stress of seeing Cozy with black crystal around her right eye again. "You really are an evil genius, Cozy."

She giggled and set the mirror away. "Yup! The only problem is that if the mace hits too many shades at once, it will slow down, might even stop. As long as it's just a few getting that far, though, it should take care of them."

I took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay. Alright, good. How's the portal to Equestria coming? We need to get you back to Luna and Celestia as soon as possible."

Cozy nodded slowly, chewing her lip. "It's getting there, but... it probably won't finish charging before the rest of the shades get here."

I sighed. "Cozy, being here and using this magic is clearly doing something bad to you. Is there any way we can speed it up? If we stopped using the shades' magic, would it... I don't know, help?"

Cozy shook her head firmly. "I was looking into it while you slept. I think I know what the shades are here for, now. I recognize the spell being used to charge the portal, too – it's the same one I used when I, uh... nearly destroyed Equestria. The first time. It's sucking in magic from everywhere and making a rift into another world, the same way I did."

I froze at that. "Oh... I'd forgotten about that. No wonder you're so familiar with portal magic..."

Cozy nodded, grimacing and flushing slightly. "Yeah, I was... pretty bad. And I learned a lot about it from Tirek, and the Canterlot Archives, and Starswirl's notes..."

I groaned. "So when you said I was the expert on portal-magic, you were just making me feel better?"

She waved her hooves frantically. "Nonono! You've studied the portal between the human world and Equestria more than anypony! I just assumed this would be that kind of portal! I didn't know somepony else was stupid enough to do what I'd done!"

I sighed, and I cupped her chin and brushed a few hairs that had gotten free of her ponytail out of her face. "Cozy, you're not stupid."

Cozy frowned, looking away and chewing her lip, then took a deep breath and said, "Well, um, the reason the shades are here is to change the portal into something else. They can't enter Equestria through a regular portal, because they're not really... alive? I guess? They can exist here, but trying to go to a, um, a real world like ours would destroy them. That's why they're not super-powerful here like my magic is – the power boost from this place is what keeps them functional at all."

I slowly nodded, thinking it over. "I'd suspected something like that, but it hadn't occurred to me that they couldn't use the portal."

Cozy nodded frantically in my hand. Probably just glad for the subject-change. Her words came out in a rush. "That's the thing, they're trying to gather enough energy in the portal so that something could cross over. Something that wouldn't be able to otherwise! Starswirl wrote about that a lot in his journal about something could potentially escape Limbo if there wasn't some kind of active prison on it!"

I sighed and shrugged, too tired to be surprised or panic. "Well, that sounds about right. So you think they're setting the portal up for whoever – or whatever – is behind this army, then? Do you think it will show up in person before we can get out of here?"

Cozy just shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I can't feel it out there, at least..."

I nodded stiffly, and stood up to stretch. "Well, there's nothing to do but get ready for the next wave. It's going to be bigger than the last one, right? So we've got a tough fight on our hands. We'll have to keep our wits about us."

"Uh... Wow."

Cozy nodded, her expression torn between amusement and confusion. "Yeah."

"I was expecting this to be a lot harder."

We watched as another hapless group of fliers and ground shades stumbled into the swinging mace and were promptly clobbered into smoke. Just as the mace threatened to slow down, it reset and instantly slammed another group into nothing.

This wave had been the first time we saw the giant shades, and at first we had both been terrified. One of them survived the rockfall, and it took several headshots to bring it down. When three showed up at once, we thought it was all over, but between managing to pick two off with my crossbow and the third getting finished off by the mace, things were actually looking up for us.

After fighting hard at first, we both retreated to the portal room to recover and stand against whatever got through our other defenses – except nothing did. Between the rockfall, the boulder, the mace, and the new erupting-crystal spike traps Cozy had hidden all over the field, the shades were dying in droves and we didn't have to lift a finger (or hoof in her case).

Cozy just giggled as the last of the shades just barely managed to stumble past the slowed-down mace, only to step on a spike trap and explode. She looked up at me with a mischievous grin. "And you said we couldn't stop an army with just the two of us!"

I held up my hands in mock surrender, smiling. "Yep, okay, you were right and I was wrong. I mean wow. This almost doesn't feel fair."

Cozy beamed as she watched the mace reset again. "Castle, meet traps! Army, meet castle! And there's just one wave left!"

I nodded, and took a deep breath. "But it will be the biggest by a longshot. We're facing the whole remainder of their army, and they've got a lot more of those giant shades with them. We shouldn't get too comfy, even if this was... uh, kind of a joke."

Cozy nodded and stretched out. "Mmmyep, I know! But don't worry, I've got—" She flicked her hair and gave me her best devious-villain glare, which fell well short of imposing "—plans."

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Okay, well—" "EVIL plans!" "I get it." "Dastardly, horrific plans that will make them cry out for their non-existent mothers!" "Cozy, stop." "Fiiiine."

As we went back to the top of the southern wall to survey our defenses, I glanced at the damaged crystal barricade at the gatehouse and frowned. "What are we going to do about the giant shades smashing up your walls?"

Cozy frowned as well, propping herself up on a crenel with her hooves. "I was thinking about that. I'm probably going to tear all of them down over there, along with the rough ground on the northern wall, and use that magic to build more traps in the gatehouse. I want you to focus on the fliers anyway."

I nodded along with her plan as I settled into my usual spot with my back against a merlon, sitting down. "Alright, that makes sense. Uhh... what if the fliers try coming in through here, though?" I thumbed over at the stairway access to the portal room.

"You said they avoid you, right? So they'll probably stick to the main entrance as long as you're up here, but if something bad does happen, I'll be close by to help cover for you. We can't really block off the staircase, or you would be trapped up here."

I nodded stiffly. "I don't like relying on this necklace so much, but... it has been a huge help. Thank you, Cozy."

Cozy just shrugged and smiled up at me, and went back to surveying the courtyard. I chewed my lip over.

I guess it's now or never...

I gently reached out to brush her hair, eliciting a coo of affection from her as she leaned into my hand and closed her eyes. I closed my eyes to focus, and I activated my geode.

Images of our battles against the shade flickered through my mind. Terror, that one of them will hurt Sunset. Hatred, for myself, for getting her into this situation. Rage, that some new monster was coming for Equestria.

Most of all, disgust and disdain for myself, for relying on dark magic to make up for my own weakness. My own inability to protect the ones I love.

I gasped and yanked my hand back, and I put it to my forehead to steady myself. Cozy looked over at me in concern.

"Sunset, are you alright?"

"Cozy, you've been deliberately feeding your negative feelings to fight?"

Cozy stiffened, and sighed, slouching onto her hooves on the crenel. "I guess you used your spell, huh? Yeah, I have... I figured out that the only way I could use my wings was if I was, like... angry. Or I wanted to hurt something."

I opened my mouth, then snapped it back shut. I leaned against the merlon behind me and rubbed my face, then flopped my hands in my lap.

"What am I supposed to say to that, Cozy? You and I both know it's the opposite of the direction you want to go in, feeding those feelings. But I know you're just going to say that there's no other way."

Cozy sighed heavily. "I don't know, maybe there was another way. Maybe if I'd had more, like, trust in love magic or whatever, we could have gotten through like that."

I closed my eyes as I rested my head against the smooth, cool stone. "Why didn't you try, then?"

Another sigh. "I don't know. A big part of it was just how finnicky that kind of magic has been for me... this was something I knew I could do, and... I could say as a strategist, that was why. Reliability."

"... But?"

"But I think I was just waiting for an excuse like this anyway," she said, miserably. "I'm so tired of trying to... stuff my feelings down all of the time. Block out all of the negative and pretend it doesn't exist. I wanted to just... I don't know, magically be better after what happened with Bree. What happened with you. I wanted to... I knew somepony loved me. Really knew it, really understood it, and it was so... I was so happy, I didn't want to ruin it by still being..."

She trailed off, and I looked over at her, with her head downcast and eyes closed.

"... By still being upset?"

"No, by still being me!" she shouted, suddenly stiffening. She grimaced and shied away. "Sorry... I've just felt like the world made a mistake ever since all of this started."

I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, keeping myself alert to any sounds of the approaching horde while we talked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... it feels like this is all wrong. Like I accidentally slipped and fell into a timeline, or a world, or whatever, meant for somepony else. Somepony better! Somepony who deserves to be loved by Mom, or by you, or by anypony. I just ended up here and I just felt like such a fake pretending that I'm the pony you all seem to think I am."

I gently reached over and nudged her until she looked at me. Tears were glistening in her eyes – I noted with some alarm that the ones in her right eye were purple, but pushed that aside. "Cozy, you know I can see your memories and feelings. I know who you are."

Cozy just shook her head and sniffled, wiping her eyes. "All of that anger and hatred you're telling me to let go of is who I am, Sunset."

I winced. "T-that's... There's love in there too, Cozy."

Cozy nodded idly, playing with a pebble on the crenel. "Yeah. Go figure, the two aren't really as opposite as folks say. It's like they feed each other... at least for me.'

We sat there in silence as I contemplated what to say, until we heard the first rumbling of the approaching army. Cozy stood up straight.

"Time to set up our final traps."

I nodded, standing up and hefting my crossbow. "Cozy, I just want you to know... whatever happens, I'm not going to give up on you."

Cozy glanced at me as she turned to head downstairs. "I know, Sunset. Thanks."

And she still doesn't think she deserves it...

The wave started easily enough. Four giants made their way into the gatehouse with a huge press of regular shades, but the first mace and rockfall wiped them out. I had my hands full picking fliers out of the air, but thankfully they only came in groups of four or five at a time, and I had enough practice by then to pick them off with ease before they even reached the ground.

The problems started after that. Giant after giant poured in, stopping the mace cold and weathering the rockfall trap. Cozy dashed back and forth across the courtyard, and her vicious snarls and high-pitched cries were a constant backdrop to the sounds of chaos coming from below. I did my best not to get distracted and look, even when I heard the occasional thunderclap that told me she had used a dark magic burst to wipe out the invaders.

We each had our roles, and I tried to simply focus on the fact that this would be the end of it.

In the end, the press was too much, and we were both forced back into the portal room. Things were much easier, there – by the time the horde reached the second mace, they were thinned out significantly, and very few got through that and my crossbow shots. Cozy easily dispatched the weakened stragglers who managed to push all the way through, though at one point she was overwhelmed and two of them got to our emergency portals.

She staggered back to my side, breathing heavily, and I spared a glance down at her while I kept taking shots.

"Cozy, you're bleeding!"

"I know!"

I kept firing in a panic while she heaved another breath. "Sunset, can you hold them for a second? I have a healing potion in my bag!"

I shouted an affirmation and shot a giant in the head three times, causing it to stagger and fall back onto a spike trap that finished it off. Cozy rushed up the stairs, and I squared off, growling and loosing shots as fast as I could at the shades.

My stomach dropped when I saw a large push of them force their way through the second mace. I glanced at the emergency portals, but I knew that could only stop a couple of them at best. I rapidly shot all of the small shades in front, and I flinched as a giant charged at me, only to fall through the first emergency portal.

This isn't working! "COZY!"

I began spraying panic-fire shots into the crowd that was squeezing down the hallway, and it felt like the blood in my hands was turning to ice. Two more shades fell through the floor, and the remaining press got close enough for me to hear that hideous rasp they made. I cried out in rage and slammed my crossbow into one of them, sprawling it back into the crowd and tripping two more, before I desperately fired at the rest and backed up – right into the dais the portal was centered on.

I slipped and fell on my rear, just inches from the deadly mass of unformed magic, and kept panic-firing as the necklace Cozy had given me flashed dangerously – but not nearly as brightly as before. The shades took a step back, but were about to press back in when I heard a deafening thundercrack echo off of the walls around me, and black lightning tore through them.

Cozy rushed to me from the southern-wall access stairs, panic clear on her face. "Sunset, are you alright?!"

I nodded, pushing back up to my feet and breathing in short bursts. My voice came out airy and weak. "Are there any more?"

She shook her head. "That was the last of them. Phew... they almost got us right at the end, there, huh?"

I nodded shakily, wearily, and set my crossbow aside, sitting down with my back to one of the crystal spires on the corner of the dais. "Finally... it almost felt like that nightmare would never end."

Cozy was just smiling and nodding when she suddenly took on a worried expression and glanced out at the hallway. I groaned.

"Oh, for pony's sake. What is it now?"

Cozy growled slightly. "I think whoever was in charge of that army is headed our way. Whoever it is, they're packing a lot of dark magic."

I groaned, reaching over for my crossbow. "So, what, do we just let them run into all of the traps?"

Cozy shook her head. "That's not going to work. They're flying at us, fast, and I don't think dark-magic traps are going to do much to them..."

"What about the rockfall? That should still work, right?"

Cozy grumbled. "If we had time to set one up in here, maybe, but they're probably not going to walk through the front gate when they can just land in the courtyard. Come on!"

I watched Cozy rapidly absorb all of the black streaks from the portal, and then run around absorbing all of her traps and designs back up as quickly as possible. As tired as I was, I struggled to keep up with her, and eventually yelled out, "Cozy, what are you doing?!"

"We can't have them absorbing all of this stuff! They'd be unstoppable!"

I groaned as I followed her out into the courtyard, and in just a minute, all of the defenses we had worked so carefully on were gone without a trace. When Cozy came back from the northern wall, her symptoms had gotten worse – now there were black crystals on the tip of her left ear and the right side of her jaw, and several black streaks that looked like cuts or scabs on her back and flank.

... All of the places where she has scars and memories of being hurt. I sighed, and frowned at her as she walked up.

"It's gotten a lot worse, Cozy."

She just nodded sheepishly. "I know. I can feel it."

I shook myself to get a grip on things. "Okay, well, what's the plan?"

Cozy nodded stiffly. "I know who we're up against, it's—"

We were both interrupted as a figure slammed down into the courtyard. She was jet-black aside from two draconic, teal eyes, her starry blue mane, and dark-blue armor, and snarled at both of us.

Wait, is that Nightmare Moon?!

Nightmare Moon roared at us, "COZY GLOW! I can't say I'm SURPRISED to see you here, wielding dark magic and returning to your old ways. It was a mistake to EVER take you in—"

Cozy gave one heavy beat of her wings, sending Nightmare Moon skidding back towards the gatehouse, and rubbed her ear. "Good grief that was loud."

"Cozy! That's not really Luna, this must be—"

Cozy waved a hoof at me dismissively. "It's an illusion, I know. Here, watch."

Cozy gave another beat of her wings, and an inky black cloud spread out from them in all directions. The world looked like it was being twisted up in a blender for a moment, and then everything around us shattered. What was underneath was... the same, except Nightmare Moon wasn't there at all.

Cozy just gave an irritated snort. "Sombra sent his nightmares ahead of him, I guess."

I stiffened and felt my free hand dig into my hip. "Sombra? Is that who's behind all of this?"

Cozy shrugged. "Somepony must have brought him back, but it seems like he's the one who made the army. He's on his way."

"Cozy, we can't fight him!"

"I KNOW!" Cozy flinched from her own outburst, and scoffed, shaking her head. "I know. We need to get out of here now. I think I have enough dark magic from all of those shades to force the portal open early – let's go!"

We turned and ran for the portal room, and I quickly yelled to her, "Why didn't I get my own nightmare from Sombra? Twilight said it targets each person individually!"

Cozy grunted as she responded, "The crystal heart! It must have helped – is there any magic left in it?"

I frantically reached down and lifted it to see. The light inside had gone from a brilliant white and rainbow hue to a low, dim crimson. I paled. "Barely!"

We stopped in front of the portal, and Cozy immediately began weaving magic with her wings. Sweat poured down her face as she worked, but soon enough I saw the portal begin to take on a black border, and spread out to the edges of the nexus. A tiny pinhole appeared in the center where I could see Ponyville.

"Sunset, listen, you need to get out of here! Without that necklace, Sombra could mind control you or who-knows-what. I can't cover for you while fighting him!"

I looked up from the necklace, feeling a sudden spike of outrage. "Cozy, you are not staying here to fight him!"

Cozy grimaced hard as she forced the portal to widen. "This is exactly what he wants! If I open the portal this way – with dark magic – he can cross back over into Equestria, and he'll be a lot stronger this time! I have to close it from this side!" Her voice rose in volume until it started to crack and squeak, and she growled in response.

I stomped a foot down and hefted my crossbow. "Cozy, there is absolutely no way I am leaving you here!"

Cozy stopped what she was doing, panting heavily, and looked up at me. She slowly smiled – a warm, genuine smile.

"Thanks, Sunset."

I nodded, and lifted my crossbow as I looked back at the gatehouse, only to feel an impact against my hip as she swatted me in line with the portal with her wing.

"Cozy, NO—"

With a beat of her wings, a windblast sent me flying through the portal, down the all-too-familiar rainbow tunnel. My yells echoed off of the walls of Limbo as I watched the portal slam closed from her side.

DAMNIT!