//------------------------------// // Imprisoned in the Mind // Story: Legends Never Die: The Search For Sunny // by bookhorse125 //------------------------------// Darkness seemed to come earlier that day - or maybe Sunny was just more preoccupied. She was no longer lying there pitifully, waiting to be rescued but not wanting to be rescued. Of course, that was what all the Legion of Doom saw - they had no idea what she was really up to. It was very exhausting work, trying to decipher what the villains’ evil plans were and how they managed to make it into her mind while also trying to be completely secret about her own presence. She feared that, if they realized she was there, they would also realize she was up to something, and send her whole plan down the drain. After completey fortifying herself against Tirek (she hoped) and discovering his motivations (he wanted to feel worthy of himself and prove himself to his father), she tried reaching out to Chrysalis next. But the changeling former queen had a very hard mind to gain access to, so Sunny scrapped that plan and instead tried to see if she could wiggle her way into Cozy Glow’s mind - the pony behind most of her strange behavior. It was always the same at first - being dragged from one memory to another and getting a brief glance at what made the villain who they were - but for Cozy Glow, it was different. She didn’t know how - maybe, by using it more, Cozy had a stronger link with Sunny, and she with Cozy. But whenever Sunny was pulled through a memory of a young Cozy Glow, she really felt it. She felt the raw anguish, the blinding fury, the smothering hatred, the horrible glee whenever she devised a plan and it seemed to be working all right. Of course, whenever Sunny entered a memory she felt whatever the pony - or centaur - or changeling - was feeling, but never this strongly before. It was… strange. And a bit unsettling. Chrysalis and Cozy Glow had returned from their quest to some of the “other tribes” to report to Tirek and make sure that everything here was fine and dandy. They’d held a meeting the day before - and now Sunny wanted to know what had happened. She could see it through Tirek’s eyes… but she’d seen a lot of things from the centaur’s perspective lately. She wanted to see what it was like from a fellow pony. Come on, she whispered to herself, her eyes shut in concentration. Cozy Glow. Let me in. She was zooming up a long tunnel and was met with prickly barriers and mental walls that were not as strong as they could be. She probably doesn’t think that anypony would dare try and enter her mind, Sunny thought with satisfaction, wriggling around them. Whenever a pony was farther away, it was harder for Sunny to form a connection with them than if they were right, say, in the same evil headquarters. But she still managed. She just had to hope that the connection wouldn’t get shaky and suddenly quit all of a sudden right before she found out something important. That seemed like the kind of cruel joke that life would decide to play on her next. And suddenly she was in; she resisted the flood of memories and the blind rage that came with them, instead focusing on a specific memory - one of yesterday. We’ve managed to convince the changelings and the dragons to stay out of it and potentially join in on our side later, Chrysalis reported gleefully. She lit up her horn and lifted one of the cupcakes in front of her, dropping it into her mouth and licking her lips to get the last of the icing. I say we should go North before Flurry Heart and her troublesome friends discover that something’s wrong up there. Once they do, they’ll be swarming the place. Cozy Glow shrugged. Fine with me. What’s next? Yakyakistan and Griffonstone? Across from her, Tirek grunted and pulled out a rolled-up map and set it on the table, unrolling it and pointing at the two kingdoms above Equestria. Even if there were any Crystal ponies left, the Crystal Empire will be taken care of, he said, slashing his sharp claw through that part of the map. Sunny shuddered. What did that mean? We’ll leave in the morning, Chrysalis decided after wolfing down another cupcake - the changeling was in a surprisingly good mood. She noticed Cozy hovering next to her, silent, and said dryly, You certainly look excited. Huh? You’ve been acting off for days, Chrysalis pointed out, ever since we came back from the Dragon Lands. What’s up? Cozy Glow shifted uncomfortably. I’m fine. Just… thinking. Thinking about what? Tirek questioned suspiciously, lifting his hands off the map so that it sprang back into its original state. About… now, Cozy Glow confessed. Just how different things are… are we really trying to take over a world that we have no idea what it is anymore? And what do you suggest we do about THAT? Tirek snapped, rolling his eyes and groaning at the fact that this was what was making his partner-in-evil act so strange. He stopped as he was struck with an idea. We could ask Sunny Starscout… Cozy Glow winced. Yes. Um. About that… I’ve been having a bit of… trouble with her. Trouble? Chrysalis interjected sharply, glaring at the filly. What kind of ‘trouble’? And why did you just decide to tell us now? Not a lot of trouble, Cozy Glow said hurriedly. Just… a little resistance is all. And not even that. She’s… getting stronger, I’d guess? I can still control her, but… I don’t know. It’s like there’s a slight push when I try to get into her mind. Just a polite and firm NO. She noticed the looks on her companions' faces and added, It’s nothing I can’t handle. Likely just getting a bit of a break, so she thinks she can beat me now. I’ll deal with her. When we get back, we’ll force her to tell us what happened. Why waste the time, though? Chrysalis said thoughtfully. Why not just grab any random pony while we’re out there and force them to tell us? She hissed as she realized the flaw in her plan. But Sunny Starscout knows more than all the other ponies combined. If we want to find out anything, it has to be her. She turned to Tirek. Make sure she doesn’t get too cocky while we’re gone. If you get even the slightest hint that she’s about to pull something on us, enter the mind link and put a stop to it. We can’t risk losing such a valuable bargaining tool. As if I’m nothing more than an empty smoothie cup, Sunny thought heatedly, not a pony with feelings and friends! Friends that, if they’re smart… should stay away. I can handle Sunny Starscout, Tirek hissed, glaring at the other two as if daring to say that he couldn’t. What if she’s getting help? Inside help that tells her how to get free? Chrysalis realized what the centaur was saying before Cozy did. You mean… those two ponies? Would they do that? Cozy asked, a bit suspicious. They seem to hate her. They’re ponies, Chrysalis snorted, of course they’ll help each other. Would they? Cozy thought. Would they really? Just because they’re ponies… Well, they didn’t help me. Why would they help her? You survive by caring for yourself. Still… it must be nice to have somepony to look after you. To care for you, to help you up when you fall. She shook herself. What am I thinking? This is exactly the kind of thing Chrysalis warned me about - friendship is a trap that will pull you in and destroy everything. Don’t fall into the trap, Cozy. Don’t fall into the trap. She took a deep breath. We should be leaving. Tirek, keep an eye on the ponies - all of them. But especially Sunny. The centaur nodded, and the pegasus and changeling turned to leave. Sunny sighed as she pulled herself out of the memory, Cozy Glow’s thoughts still ringing in her head. There’s more… there’s a lot more than I realized, Sunny thought to herself. Cozy Glow wanted freedom - she wanted ponies and creatures to get along and not be divided by magical capabilities. That was why she wanted all magic gone from Equestria and in her own hooves. She was tired of being shoved and pushed aside and looked down upon because she was an orphan - as far as Sunny could tell - and couldn’t do any magic other than flying. And now she was believing Chrysalis - friendship was a disease meant to tear down everything they loved, replacing it with far less worthy things. Despite all that, Cozy Glow was jealous - jealous of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, jealous of Sunny and hers. She was jealous that some ponies could have happiness and friendship and a good life, while she was left to rot. Which was why she wanted to be done with it all: if she couldn’t have it, nopony could have it. Or maybe she believed that she was the only pony that deserved it. Sunny sighed and stood up, walking in a circle before curling up again, giving her legs some exercise. She closed her eyes and reentered Cozy’s mind, but this time, searching for something specific - a memory of any friends that the filly might have had once. Perhaps, if she saw that there was good in friendship, she would believe that it wasn’t all bad, and that there was hope. There - a memory of Cozy Glow sitting on a picnic blanket in an apple orchard with three other fillies - a white unicorn with a curly pink and purple mane, an orange pegasus with a short magenta mane, and a yellow earth pony with a red mane and a huge pink bow. The unicorn picked up a flashcard with a picture of three diamonds on it and showed it to Cozy Glow. “Um… Intelligence?” Sunny carefully picked up that memory and nudged it towards Cozy Glow’s conscious mind, where she would see it. Almost immediately afterward, she felt a slight jolt of surprise, followed by something like… sadness? Guilt? Grief? Sunny wasn’t sure - but she did know that Cozy knew the memory existed, and she felt something from it. Upon further investigation, Sunny found that there were a lot of these memories hidden in the filly’s mind - one at a time, for now. She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t doing this for Tirek or for Chrysalis. Perhaps it was the fact that Cozy Glow was a pony like her and therefore easier, but she had a feeling it wasn’t that. Maybe it was that Sunny remembered what it felt like to have no hope - to feel like everything was wrong and untrue and she didn’t know what to do anymore. She knew what it felt like to feel all alone without anything to hold onto. But she also remembered her friends - six of the most amazing ponies in the world. Always there for her, always fighting for her, refusing to let her go even when she was being taken over by a group of evil creatures intent on world domination, risking being charged with treason and arrested just to go after her and try to find her, standing up for her, not leaving her heart no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that they had to go on without her. Her mind said that her friends were better off without her, that they had to go save the world, that she couldn’t stay with them, but her heart said, with every beat, They’re coming. They care about me enough that they’re coming. I have hope that they are my friends and they care about me. Cozy Glow didn’t have that hope - all she had was a longing for something she convinced herself that she could never have, something she thought was evil. And she had no idea what to do about it. It had never occurred to Sunny that some ponies were just as trapped in their own minds as she was in hers.