An avalanche of information hits Sunset. The entirety of a life faces her, it's depth threatening to send her into unconsciousness. It comes so fast that she's almost entirely unable to comprehend it all.
Emotional highs and lows fly past each other, the intensity of them giving her whiplash. Thousands of moments of anger, fear, agitation, disgust, joy, satisfaction, and apathy hit her at once. Yet, all of these feelings struggling to upend her mind into the ether are overshadowed by an incredible wave of longing that permeates it all. A single, common thread that links nearly every disconnected emotion to a small handful of intense thoughts.
I wish that was me.
Wouldn't it be nice if I could have that?
Why can't they see what I'm doing for them?
Maybe I'm not supposed to understand.
It's not enough.
There's nothing wrong with doing things this way.
What if it's all true? It can't be.
I need more than this.
These strings of thought repeat, over and over, casting a shadow over all the others. Nearly every other feeling is overshadowed, destined to fall into the ever-present want for something. It's impossible to tell what. There's not enough time to contemplate it before the feelings pass, immediately subsumed by memories.
They flash by at incredible speeds, hopping from one to the next without pause. Edges from the previous memory bleed into the current which blurs into the next, forming a whirlwind of sights and sounds. They play in no particular order, chronology totally absent from the jumbled mess she's experiencing. Bits and pieces from years ago jump straight into events that can't have happened more than a few months ago. There is no throughline, nothing to latch onto to make sense of it all.
Without warning, the ocean of memories comes crashing to a halt, slamming against a mental wall. A single event, bursting with color, forms the only gateway into something unlike everything else Sunset has experienced up to this point.
A single day begins and ends in just a few moments. The clearest visions of it stick to her, like they're begging to be remembered. The elation of victory and triumph overcomes the desperate longing just long enough to become normal. It falls away to despair as the satisfaction and completion is taken away, leaving a terrible hole in reality.
Something so incredibly important was gained, and in half a day, it was gone. The hole it left leads through a crack in that impassable wall, through which no color peeks through.
Everything is calm beyond the wall. There is nothing to feel, save for that one lingering sensation. Time stops moving there, for there is nothing to differentiate the days. There is nothing here.
Unbidden, she exits the storm that makes an entire life and enters something different.
A void surrounds her. Total, complete darkness, with not even a single speck of light. No land, no objects, no creatures, not a single thing in this world to view. A vast, all consuming nothingness is all that can be seen. There is no more.
She doesn't know how long it's been since this started. A day or two, possibly. Perhaps a week, perhaps a month, perhaps just a single hour. It's impossible to tell.
There are no markers to anything, nothing to gauge the passage of time. No stops and starts, no pauses, no brief moments of return to normalcy before descent back into the void. Only the all consuming dread of a single thing distracts her from this.
It's the pressure.
Her senses do not work here. Her eyes do not see, her nose does not smell, her ears do not hear, and her tongue does not taste. More than all of these, though, her body cannot feel. No sensations are able to pierce the infinite blackness that extends in every direction. None but the pressure.
Every part of her immobile body experiences it. Every strand of hair, every lash on her unblinking eyes, every tooth in her mouth, even the organs in her gut feel the pressure. It comes from every angle, attacking from every direction. Up, down, left, right, in front, behind; it comes from everywhere. Everywhere but inside her.
This force pushes into her, but not physically. Her body is as inert as ever, unable to move despite her attempts. Even as she tells them, they do not respond, like the nerves connecting her brain to the rest of her body have been severed. No, this sensation is immaterial.
It overpowers almost every other thought she has, dominating her mind with its constant, uninterrupted presence. It never gets weaker or stronger, but it never gets easier either. It simply is; an inviolable rule that must always be enforced by the nature of the universe itself.
It never stops, and it never ends. It goes on, and on, and on, with nothing to break the silence. No one else is here but her, and there will never be anyone else. There is only her, and the black, empty eternity that stretches out before her.
Cozy Glow thinks this is what being dead must feel like.
She can't think of much more than that.
She doesn't know how long she's been here. She doesn't believe she ever has. Maybe it's supposed to be like that. If she could understand time, it might be too much. Too much to think about. It might break through the pressure, and where would she be then?
Something is different. She can barely even recognize it, but something is different. Something about the pressure that pushes into her. Something about the depth of the void before her. Something about the disconnect between her mind and her body.
Something is changing.
The pressure does not lessen, but it shifts. It bends, folds just slightly away from her. Something is regained, but it's impossible to tell what.
A pulse flows through her. Where it starts and where it ends, she can't tell, but it happened. For the briefest of moments, she felt something. Something real, and not imagined. Like she was always able to tell the difference between the two.
Ahead of her, now, is something familiar but yet still so completely strange. A light, out there in the distance. Just a pinprick, really, barely able to be seen. But there is nothing else to see, and so it is the only thing that can be seen. It's mere existence draws her attention.
Just barely is she able to identify what comes from it. She knew what this feeling was, at some indeterminate time in the past. Some part of her recognizes it as a good thing. A certain sense she knows she wants now, craves more than anything.
Warmth.
The light grows, and so does the warmth chasing away the foul emptiness around her. What was nothing is now something. The pressure begins to leave, like its being removed from the universe itself.
Her body comes back. Hooves, ears, mane, tail, legs, chest, head, eyes, ears, mouth. They all return, and blood flows through her veins once again. The warmth is inside her now, all around her, flooding all that there is.
Cozy Glow exists once more.
The stone cracks.
Everything changes.
She can feel again. She can feel her body and everything attached to it, feel the ground beneath her hooves, feel her lungs breathing fresh air in and out. Bountiful relief floods her mind as the ever-present burden of pressure no longer blockades her very mind from thought. She was free, and nothing could be better than that.
And yet…
Nothing makes sense. The world is a blinding collage of colors and shapes, movement and lights, but they're all nonsense. It all shifts this way and that, blurring together into one intangible rainbow colored slurry. Greens stretch out and are countered by yellows, which are overturned by reds, which are subsumed and eaten by blues. It is a singular amalgamation of indecipherable information that she is completely unable to parse.
She moves her head from side to side, the slight movement feeling intensely strenuous. The world in front of her bends and tilts, shapes caving in on themselves and lights flickering in and out of existence. The sight in front of her is a puzzle that exists in a dimension higher than she can perceive. Completely inscrutable, ever-changing, and painful to look at. That is what Cozy Glow sees.
And the noise.
A cacophony of sound swirls around her head. Her ears swim in an ocean of noise, unable to tell one rancorous blast of thunder from another. The volume is deafening, and yet still too quiet to make out what anything means. Whether it's words, explosions, hoofsteps, or shouting, everything collides with everything else, turning the very air around her into mayhem. All of it is simultaneously thumping right against her eardrums and still so far away she can barely hear it.
She can tell things are happening around her. It's impossible to tell what exactly, but the kaleidoscope of shapes changing and subtle vibrations in the ground betray the activity of others. A single gray blob amidst the mess seems to grow larger and larger, overtaking the colors around it. It barely registers as some kind of creature before she realizes it's doing something.
The tip of a spear thrusts past her head, cutting through the ocean of colors. The metal edge glints in the sun, it's glare close enough that Cozy Glow could taste it if she tried. It's not scary. Something in the back of her mind says she should feel scared. Terrified, even. For some reason, she isn't.
The pole that makes up the rest of the spear comes into focus. Detailed, carved wood goes past the metal tip and extends to its base. Something gray and gold holds the bottom of the spear, it's form still indistinct. Her eyes can't seem to make sense of whatever is trying to hurt her. She knows that logically, someone must be holding the spear, but the shape just can't register as a pony in her mind.
It doesn't make any sense, but of course, nothing makes sense.
Time moves in slow motion as the spear is retracted, the jumbled up mess of colors preparing to thrust it at her again. The instinct to dodge out of the way, to evade, to move even a single inch in any direction is absent. She barely feels like she's even here. She still isn't scared.
A familiar, horrible noise like hooves on a chalkboard tears through the sludge that is reality. Something bright comes from the jumble of gray and gold, and the spear is dropped. A new jumble of colors enters her vision. It's a mixture of red and black, but washed out, like the colors have lost their splendor. The bright light from the first blend of gray and gold is taken into the new blend of colors, and within seconds, it stops.
The red and black turns, and moves its head towards her. It speaks, and the world starts to make sense again.
"Well? Don't just sit there! Get up!"
With that, everything becomes clear. The grass under her hooves, the air she's breathing, the sun high above that bears down on her back. The face in front of her comes into absolute clarity. It can only be one creature.
Tirek.
His face looks almost like it did when the two of them were in Tartarus together. Sullen and gaunt, with the rest of his body lacking the muscle she had come to expect from him. All the power he had stolen was gone, but even so, he still towered over her.
It's clear now what's been happening around her. They're in a courtyard of some kind, with trimmed shrubbery and ornate decorations scattered around. All along the ground are ponies, mostly unicorns, with fancy armor, each of them collapsed. The colors of their coats are muted, showing the aftermath of Tirek's thievery. He's looking at her now, a scowl on his face.
Cozy Glow struggles to speak. "Where are we? What happened to us?"
The first words out of her mouth are rough and slow, like she's only remembering how to talk as she's doing it. Tirek snorts and gestures to the unicorn that's downed right next to her.
"Isn't it obvious? There's only one place this many royal guards would be protecting. Besides, I recognize this flimsy garden. We're in Canterlot, and the royal castle at that! Of all the places to be left to rot…"
Memories of Grogar's bell and the loss of the powers it granted bubble to the surface of her mind. All the missing pieces fall into place, and a realization is made.
We lost! After everything I tried, nothing was good enough to overcome their friendship! What could I have done differently? How were the three of us not enough?
Wait, there should be three of us. Where is…?
"Where's Chrysalis?"
Tirek laughs at her question. "Ha! As soon as she broke free, she changed form and ran with her tail between her legs. I bet she's already made it out of the castle by now."
Confusion clouds Cozy Glow's mind. "She just left us? But we're a team!"
He simply exhales in response, seemingly lacking the energy to give a retort. Even after absorbing the magic of a half dozen trained unicorns, he can't compare to his previous glory. What were once bulging muscles and towering horns are now skinny limbs and pointy nubs.
Cozy Glow huffs, irritated but not dismayed by her teammate's departure. She's sure she can convince her to be a part of their trio again. If she can ever find her, that is. A quick flutter of her wings shakes off the bad feelings that had started to rise since their stone prison fell apart.
"Well, it's sad that she left so soon, but the two of us are still together! I'm sure we can think of a way to turn things around." she states confidently.
Once we find Chrysalis and get her back on board, I'll whip up something that can get us back on track. We might not even have to wait long, actually; maybe she's just transformed into a bird or something, and she's waiting to get back to us when it's safe? Golly, will she be impressed with what we do next!
She lifts herself off the ground with a single flap of her wings, and quickly rises up to Tirek's eye level. Just as she had done in the past, she lands on his shoulder and settles in. He grumbles in response but does nothing to push her off. Despite his current level of strength, he supports all her weight with little effort.
A shout from across the courtyard draws their attention. Two new ponies stand next to each other, their faces hostile. The first is a tall, white coated stallion without a single armament, aside from his horn. The second is a mare with a pink coat, luxurious regalia, and the combination of wings and a horn. The identities of these two instantly click in Cozy Glow's mind, and a glance at Tirek tells her that he recognizes at least one of them.
Why are they in Canterlot? What's going on that would require them to be here?
It occurs to her that she has no idea just how long they were imprisoned for. It could have been days, weeks, months, or even more than a year.
Her thoughts are interrupted by noise from an enemy in front of her. The stallion - Twilight's brother, if I recall correctly - puts his hoof down and calls out to them. "Evildoers! We don't know how you escaped your confines, but it doesn't matter. We will turn you back to stone before the day is done, mark my words!
A burst of anxiety spreads through Cozy's body before she settles herself. One look at Princess Cadence makes it clear that she isn't quite as confident as her husband. The look on her face is one of shock, hesitation, and dismay, which contrasts with her companions boastful claims. Upon further inspection, the stallion, Shining Armor, doesn't seem to be much of a threat, given what Tirek has already done to six well-armored unicorns of similar strength. How much damage can he possibly do when Tirek can just take his magic away?
Mental assurances that all he's doing is a bluff works wonders to cool the mental fires that came from his claims. Tirek being completely unfazed helps, too. More productive thoughts are already beginning to fill Cozy Glow's head, pushing out the ones related to fear of further imprisonment.
Looks like they don't know how we broke free, either. Not a big deal! I bet I can play these two like a fiddle. I just have to make sure Tirek doesn't blow it before I get the chance.
She leans close to Tirek's ear and whispers, "Let me handle this."
He eyes her suspiciously but says nothing. He crosses his arms and Cozy bounces off his shoulder into the air, her wings easily keeping her aloft. Looking over their adversaries, a scheme begins to form.
A smile, disquieting in its insincerity, springs up on Cozy Glow's face. A distraction would be all she needed to make them vulnerable, and her absent teammate had given her the perfect opportunity to do just that.
With the sweetness of a jar full of honey, she greets them. "Hey Chryssy! I know you don't like it when I call you that, but I just can't resist!"
The rulers of the Crystal Empire, clearly alarmed, whip their heads around. When they don't see the fearsome changeling queen behind them, they turn back to face Cozy Glow, confused but on their guard.
"Looks like you got one of them! We've only been free for a few hours, but you already managed to snag somepony important. How'd you pull that off so fast?"
We can't have been free for more than ten minutes, but they don't need to know that.
Shining Armor scoffs, though his confident stature isn't quite as pronounced as it was a minute ago. "Nice try, but neither of us can be Chrysalis. I've been with Cadence almost all day! Is it really possible that one of us got snatched in this castle full of guards in the past couple hours?"
Cozy Glow's smile grows wider. "That's what I was gonna ask! But, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is which one of you is her!"
Princess Cadence narrows her eyes. "What do you mean, which one of us?
Cozy laughs. "Just what I said, silly! I can't tell when she looks like somepony else anymore than you can. All I know is that she said she would come back here when she…what was it she said again? Right, when she had 'caught her prey!'"
Lying through her teeth was nothing new to Cozy Glow, but she was making this up as she went. The smoothness of her delivery was due only to her experience, not the preparedness or complexity of her lies. That the ponies who found them had past experiences with the currently absent Chrysalis was a brilliant stroke of luck.
That luck would mean nothing if other variables were to arrive before the current ones were dealt with.
This has to end before somepony else shows up. They need to question themselves and each other so they forget about Tirek and I. They'll never let him get close enough to take their magic otherwise.
"So!" she exclaims, "Which one are you?"
They look at each other, suspicion already showing on their faces.
They need a push in the right direction. They've never met me, so I can play up the playful filly angle to get them started.
Flapping around in mock excitement, Cozy puts on the face of an excited child that's just been given a mystery to solve.
"Ooh, is this some kind of game? I thought you didn't like those, Chryssy! Gosh, how exciting! Now, don't tell me yet! I wanna figure it out myself!"
Tirek groans in agitation. The royalty in front of Cozy Glow give her glares that betray their befuddlement before turning to each other. She keeps the act up, her mouth in a static smile that, at a distance, seems perfectly genuine.
Shining Armor waves his hoof, like he's moving the accusations aside. "Cadence, don't listen to her. This is all a distraction to prevent us from capturing them! All we have to do is deal with them before they can regain their strength, and-"
Princess Cadence cuts him off. "I just remembered something. A minute ago, you said that we've been with each other all day, right?"
Shining glances at Cozy Glow, like he's making sure she's still there, before answering his wife. "Right, so there's no way either of us could be Chrysalis."
She looks him in the eye and says, "But, there was one moment when we were apart. An hour ago, I left to use the restroom, and came back after. We didn't see each other for five minutes."
He stares blankly at her for a second before his eyes widen, remembering the moment. "I…forgot about that. Still! It doesn't mean anything. Before our wedding, I wouldn't have been sure, but now? I'm positive that you are exactly the same person I've been in love with for years. No changeling is ever going to fool me again."
He speaks with certainty. His tone conveys his confidence, and the affection towards her is clear. Yet, Cadence doesn't seem convinced.
"I believe you. I don't think you'd ever be tricked by something like that again. But, how do I know that you're you? How do I know that you're my Shining Armor?"
Cozy's smile widens.
Shining, taken aback, stumbles over his words. "I - you - what are you saying? You don't seriously think that I could be Chrysalis in disguise, do you?"
"I don't want to believe that either of us are fakes!" she says, desperation in her voice. "But I can't be certain. I need to be sure before we deal with them!"
"Hold on a second!" Shining exclaims, already clearly exasperated. "Why in Equestria would Chrysalis go for me instead of you? She's already acted like you once, and she had everypony fooled! Wouldn't it be much easier for her to act like you instead of me?"
Cadence nods her head, but doesn't look convinced in the slightest. "Maybe so, but who was the pony she was around most before the wedding? Who was the one she got the most firsthoof experience with out of everyone?"
Shining opens his mouth to answer before he realizes the answer. He looks away for a moment, thinking of what to say next. Eyes narrowed, he turns back to Cadence, newfound suspicion in his gaze.
"Well, what about you? Just because I might have been an option for her, that doesn't mean I can rule you out just yet. You said you were certain I wouldn't be fooled again, but how do I know the purpose of that wasn't to, I don't know, make me lower my guard? How can I be sure that she didn't get you instead of me?" Shining asks, pointing a hoof at her.
Cadence gasps and brings a hoof to her chest. She retorts, and his eyebrows furrow. Their back and forth continues, getting louder and louder as it goes on. Cozy puts a hoof to her chin, contemplating their behavior.
How is this working so well? All I did was ask a few questions! Aren't they supposed to be madly in love with each other? Why isn't Cadence just talking about how much she loves him? Wouldn't that be enough to-
Something clicks, and Cozy's internal questioning stops. She has to hold a hoof over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.
She can't prove anything to him! If Shining Armor really is Chrysalis, then as soon as she shows her love for him, Chrysalis would just consume it all, leaving her helpless and weak! She can't even rely on him proving himself to her, as it might all be an act! Best of all, he's too much of an idiot to realize any of this! This is too good!
Tirek mumbles something under his breath, his boredom beginning to show. The amusement of the situation takes a backseat as Cozy remembers the purpose of the whole ruse. Unable to wipe the smirk off her face, she slowly backs up and speaks to him. The volume is barely below normal, as the bickering of the royalty ahead of them becomes akin to a shouting match.
"This is your chance! Get up close and eat all their magic while they're distracted!"
He snorts in annoyance at her order, but complies regardless. "Don't have to tell me twice…" he mutters, beginning to march forward.
Despite his distaste for her methods, the hunger in his eyes shines through, and his irritation is forgotten for the magic treasure trove in front of him. He walks past Cozy Glow, his steps overtaken by the sound of the argument. The prince and princess only notice his presence as he leans down and places a hand on each of their shoulders.
They face him in anger, but that quickly turns to horror as realization sets in. His mouth opens, and the sound of a whirlwind cuts through the air. Two orange beams come from them, their magic condensed into something unnaturally consumable. Waves of color are torn off their coats, and the magic is pulled directly from their horns. A mixture of exhaustion and pain touches their faces before they collapse in a heap, defeated.
The deep blacks and vibrant reds return to Tirek's coat as he grows in stature and strength. He looks like what Cozy Glow remembers him being: physically strong, intimidating, and confident. He laughs, almost giddy at the surge of power he just attained. He flexes his newfound muscles, clearly excited to be back in a powerful body.
Cozy glides to the ground, triumphant. Some nagging voice at the back of her head says that this victory was too easy, but she smothers it with thoughts of relief. The two of them stand a fighting chance now that Tirek was back to his normal strength, and once Chrysalis was back in the fold, they could get back to finding some other way to rule Equestria.
Just as it should be.
She walks up to Tirek, a spring in her step. "So!" she exclaims, genuine excitement in her voice, "Now that that's done, what's next? Are we gonna go take the other princesses' magic? Maybe beat up the Elements of Harmony? Oh! How about ransacking the castle for magical artifacts? That sounds like so much fun!"
She pauses, eyeing Cadence and Shining armor on the ground. "Actually, maybe we should catch Chrysalis before she leaves Canterlot. Let's go do that first, then we can get to the fun stuff!"
A deep grumble emerges from Tirek. He turns and looks down at Cozy Glow, his aggravation as clear as day despite his newly reclaimed power. "We aren't going to do any of that." he says through grinding teeth. "We won't be doing anything together. I'll be off to do whatever I like; I could care less what you do."
Cozy huffs in indignation. "Golly, you're confident! What makes you think you're not going to need me out there? You
"Oh, please," he drawls, "what could you possibly give me now that I'm back to normal? Cheerful advice? A massage? Hah! There's simply nothing worthwhile enough to keep you around for."
Her eyes widen in surprise, and her face quickly turns to a scowl. "But, why?! I helped you, now you should help me! We're supposed to do things for each other because it's better for both of us in the long run! That's what fr-"
She cuts herself off. She knows she shouldn't say that about the two of them, even if it's true.
"That's what teammates do!"
He chuckles, no joy in his laughter. "Oh yes, you gave me some assistance just then. But I didn't need it. I don't need you, or her, or anyone else to get what I want! The only thing that's ever proven to be useful to me is power. Power that you have none of!"
He returns to his full height, his form blocking out the sun above her. "The idea that I could ever make use of the two of you as something more than bodies that hold my future magic is a ruse. A lie, one that I no longer believe!"
Cozy stares at him, speechless. He continues on, fully cognizant of the way she's looking at him. "The amount of magic in that bell was glorious, and I was deluded into thinking it was best divided in three. If I had taken all of its magic, all its power for myself, I would have been unstoppable! We were weak as a team, not strong, and you are just as much a fool as I was to believe it."
I can't believe it. He's throwing me away.
"The bug was right when she made herself scarce. Putting my faith in a narcissistic, delusional roach and a deceitful, weakling pony was a mistake, one I won't be making again! I should have taken matters into my own hands as soon as I had the chance!"
His words send shockwaves through her heart, though she doesn't know why. Her lip trembles from a mixture of anger and something else that she can't quite identify.
"You'll regret leaving me behind!" she spits out, fury dripping off her words. "This will be the worst mistake you've ever made!"
His eyebrow raises. "Oh? And what are you going to do to make me regret it?" he asks mockingly. "Do you really think you can do anything to me? The only reason I haven't taken your magic as well is because you have so little that it wouldn't be worth my time. Time that you're now wasting!"
He leans in close, his face mere inches away from hers. "Get out of my sight, or I'll leave you laying here like the rest of them!"
Fear clouds her mind, and she steps back. She opens her mouth to speak, but any further protest dies in her throat. Without anything else to convince or trick Tirek to keep her around, the only choice she has left is to accept his ultimatum.
Her teeth gnashing, she turns and lifts off of the ground, flying away with her back to Tirek. Only a small part of her consciousness pays any heed to the walls of the castle she's flying over, despite all the dangers that march below. Her mind is already fixated on her next goal, the fears of capture and loss fading away to determination.
I'm going to find Chrysalis, convince her to get back with me, and when Tirek sees the two of us working together, he'll forget all about this solo act stuff! I can still pull this together, it's not too late! Everything can still go back to normal. Everything will be fine.
And if it can't, then I'll make it fine.
Time skips ahead. The scenes blur together, hours turning to seconds. Something cracks over all of it, throwing the memories aside. It all catches up to Sunset, her consciousness slamming back into her body. A lingering sense of panic is all that's left as she finally disconnects from the pegasus she had been holding so close for what felt like so long.