The train zoomed down the tracks to the Crystal Empire with Flurry and Spike inside. Spike had finished sending a letter to Cadance and Shining Armor to let them know they were on their way. He hadn’t gotten a response yet, which had Flurry anxious. Flurry sat nervously in her seat, looking out the window at the snowy weather, as they drew closer to the empire. Spike kept his eyes on the little princess and did his best to comfort her.
“It’s going to be alright, Flurry,” he said with his arm around her. “The Crystal Empire has more security than Ponyville. I’m sure they’re prepared for anything to happen.”
“I don’t know, Spike. It’s been able to take all the parents from Ponyville so far. This creature can obviously work very fast; not to mention it’s capable enough with magic to make them disappear. That’s a very advanced pocket-dimension spell. Starswirl can use it for a few small objects, but the only other being capable of doing it on this level is Discord.”
“What about the shield from the Crystal Heart?”
“Well if this thing is as powerful as we think, it won’t be enough. Its main purpose is to protect against the weather. Anyone powerful enough could still get through.”
“Well the Elements of Harmony can handle this thing I’m sure. The teachers have them back in Ponyville and thankfully all six of them are there this time.”
“Yes. If anything can stop this creature, it would be the Elements. I’m just wondering why this thing is so interested in parents.”
The train hissed and began to slow down. Flurry and Spike looked outside to see the snow was gone and they were inside the protective canopy. They got out of their seats, rushed to the door, and leapt onto the platform to see several pegasus guards already waiting for them.
“Flurry!” called one of the guards. “We’ve been expecting you!”
“Sirs, are my parents both alright?” Flurry asked.
“They’re fine. Everyone in the Empire knows about this ‘Sorceress’ that has been abducting parents everywhere.”
“Sorceress? Is that what this thing is called?” Spike asked.
“We’ve gotten word that it’s started calling itself that, or herself rather. She’s been described as a dark female alicorn similar to Nightmare Moon that can take on a black cloudlike form.”
“Nightmare Moon? Oh no. That’s not good,” Flurry said, panicking.
“There’s no time to waste. We have to get you to the castle right now. Your parents are waiting inside”
Flurry, Spike and the guards all took off flying to the castle. As they went over the town, there were barely any ponies outside. Several other guards walked through the town, calling to the other ponies to stay in their homes and keep themselves well hidden. Ponies were running inside, shutting their windows, and closing down their shops. They finally reached the castle and headed inside. When they made it to the throne room, the guards swung the doors open for Spike and Flurry to enter. Flurry was very worried that she wouldn’t see her parents in there, but to her surprise, they were both inside, waiting for her with a dozen guards.
“FLURRY!” shouted Shining Armor.
“Mom! Dad! I was so worried!” Flurry said as she flew in to hug them both.
“We feared for our lives when we heard this thing was going after the parents of young ponies, but we were also afraid for you!” Cadance told her daughter.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“We’ll be fine,” Shining Armor proudly assured her. “The catacombs should be safe. All this thing’s been doing is using its magic to abduct ponies. Hopefully that’s all it’s capable of aside from morphing into a cloud of black magic. If we catch it, Starswirl might know a spell to retrieve the parents from wherever they’ve been sent.”
“It’s using a really powerful pocket-dimension spell though. Are we sure Starswirl can do it?”
“Well it’s either Starswirl or Discord. I’m sure the latter can handle it.”
“Let’s all just be glad we’re together,” Cadance said, patting her daughter on the head. “I’ve missed you so much, Flurry. We’re sorry we had to reunite under these circumstances. Oh, and Spike, congratulations on finding your family the other day!”
“Thanks, Cadance,” Spike said, bashfully.
“Your highness, I don’t mean to interrupt, but we really need to get you all to the catacombs,” said one of the guards.
“Yes, you’re right,” Shining Armor replied. “Come on, everyone. We’ll wait down there until we have word that this Sorceress is taken care of.”
They all turned to head out of the throne room, but the doors suddenly slammed shut and all the crystal lamps in the room stopped glowing. Since it was a cloudy day in the Crystal Empire, the sunlight was not there to keep the room lit. They all stood still and trembled. Flurry knew right away this must be the Sorceress.
“Oh no…” she said as she hid behind Spike.
The guards drew their spears and surrounded Shining Armor and Cadance.
“SHOW YOURSELF!” barked one of them.
For a few moments, there was nothing but silence until they could all hear laughter echoing throughout the room. Its voice sounded somewhat youthful with a tin-like vocal effect, as if a deeper, demonic version was talking at the same time. Suddenly, Shining Armor and Cadance were lifted in the air and surrounded by black smoke.
“FLURRY!” they both shouted as everyone else turned around.
“MOM, DAD, NOOOO!” Flurry cried.
She tried using her magic to pull them both back down to the ground, but it didn’t work. As they were both swallowed up whole by the smoke, the laughing continued, growing louder and louder.
“BRING THE KING AND QUEEN BACK!” shouted another guard.
They all looked up at the black smoke as it moved itself down in front of them on the ground. It landed and the shape of a tall pony appeared as a silhouette. It walked out to meet them and the smoke dissipated. The creature before them was a very dark maroon female alicorn with purple, wavy hair and a red horn that was curved like a scimitar. She had wings that looked like a bat’s but with some pegasus feathers along the ridge. She wore a silver crown, anklets and armor adorned with red jewels. The armor wrapped around and covered her flank so that her cutie mark was not visible. Her eyes had red sclera and orange irises with slit pupils. Along the underside of her eyes were glistening blue streaks that resembled tears, but they were frozen in place as if they were tribal markings. She smiled wickedly and laughed.
“Hehehe. Thanks for showing me the way in, Princess,” she said.
“What did you do to my parents?!” Flurry asked.
“Your parents belong to me now, Flurry Heart. You’ll never see them again.”
The guards all began to throw their spears at the Sorceress, but they deflected as if she was made of metal. A magenta aura shone around her horn and she lifted all the guards with her magic and threw them aside, knocking them out in the process. Spike ran in front of Flurry to protect her.
“Stay away from her! You hear?!” he snapped.
“HA! I’m not here for the girl, silly dragon. I’m here for one thing and one thing only: to strip all young children in Equestria of their parents. All parents belong to the Sorceress now!”
“Why? What is it you have against all our parents? And who are you?” Flurry asked.
The Sorceress then transformed into her smoke form and slithered around them both. Her eyes and mouth could be seen floating in the smoke.
“So you want to know who I am, eh? Let’s play a little game. What happens when a child has their parents taken away from them?”
“Um…I…I don’t understand,” Flurry said.
“Like, what would the child do? What do they go through if they have no parents? Surely you don’t understand because you can’t relate to that sort of thing.”
“I can,” Spike replied. “I lived without biological parents all my life. I got through it just fine, but that’s because I had a surrogate family and I didn’t know them or where I came from up until recently. You, on the other hand, are stealing parents from children. I don’t think a lot of ponies can relate to that.”
“Ah, so you did find your parents after all.”
“Uh…yeah. Have we met before?”
“Never mind that. Let’s change things up a bit: what if your parents abandoned you instead? How would you like it if you were dropped on the steps of an orphanage when you were just a baby? To never know what it’s like to have parents? TO NEVER BE LOVED BY ANYONE?!”
“Wait…no. No, it can’t be…” Flurry said, trembling.
“Hehehehe! Oh Golly. Looks like you’ve finally figured it out!”
“Co…Cozy Glow?!”
Flurry stared in horror at the frightening set of eyes before her. She now noticed the freckles on the Sorceress’s cheeks just beneath the ‘tears’. The eyes blinked once and looked like Cozy Glow’s eyes. Flurry could do nothing except shake her head back and forth in disbelief.
“Cozy, is it really you?” asked Spike.
The Sorceress’s eyes turned back to their demonic look. She transformed into her physical form and circled around them.
“Let’s just get one thing straight: Cozy Glow is gone. You’ll never see that little brat again. There is no Cozy Glow. There is only Sorceress!”
“Are things really this bad?”
“Really that bad?! Of course things were bad! You’ve seen all the things I’ve done: how I nearly rid all of Equestria of its magic, how I joined up with that psychotic changeling queen and that power-hungry centaur, how I took over all of Ponyville with my fake parents when I put on the alicorn amulet!”
As the Sorceress hollered to Spike, her voice started sounding more like Cozy Glow’s, almost as if she was the one talking right now. She then calmed herself down and the Sorceress voice returned.
“That was Cozy before, but I, the Sorceress, have been building up in her for years now. After what happened with the amulet, her anger and her envy only fed me more. I guided her around in the forest and gained more power day by day until I was able to take over her body. She listened to me and allowed me to manifest until it was too late for her. What you see before you is her inner demon taking physical form the same way all nightmares do. I destroyed Cozy Glow.”
“Cozy…” Flurry began to say but just could not finish.
“What’s the matter, Princess? Still so shocked to see a little harmless girl take on this form? Please. You saw what I was capable of that day in Ponyville. You saw how possessed I already was. Now the possession is complete. Again, there is no Cozy Glow. There is only Sor-”
Suddenly, one of the windows in the throne room shattered and everyone looked to see Princess Luna jump through it with a force field around her. She stood tall and locked eyes with the Sorceress.
“COZY GLOW!” she shouted.
“Ah yes, Princess Luna. I remember you too well,” the Sorceress replied as she walked towards Luna.
“Cozy, you must fight it! I know what this feels like! I went through the same pain!”
“Oh shutup, you old crone!”
The smile on the Sorceress’s face dropped. She scowled while hollering at Luna. The blue streaks on her face suddenly started flowing like actual tears. They defied gravity as water droplets floated around her like she was in space.
“I know you had parents that loved you and treated you wonderfully! You had it easy! All you did was grow jealous of your sister and throw a temper tantrum because nobody liked your night! I was abandoned in an orphanage and treated like the lowest common denominator all my life! WE ARE NOT THE SAME!”
The Sorceress got closer to Luna and barked in her face. Luna closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She opened them and continued to glare at the Sorceress like a parent giving their child a firm talk.
“Cozy, I know you are in there and I will get to you. The possession is strong, but it is no different from what happened to me. I saw your dreams last night and I know this isn’t you. You can fight it.”
The Sorceress snapped and lunged for Luna, pushing her out of the hole in the window she came in. Spike and Flurry rushed over to the window to watch them fight. Luna kicked off the Sorceress and shot a powerful beam from her horn, but the Sorceress swung her head and used her blade-like horn to parry the attack. She then shot an even more impressive beam at Luna. The princess of the night put up a shield, but the Sorceress kept using the spell, causing Luna’s shield to crack like glass. Luna moved herself upwards and teleported away so that the blast would be sent up into the sky where it would pass through the canopy and not harm anyone below. The Sorceress tried firing another beam, but Luna teleported again. The Sorceress looked around for her and was met with a surprise attack from behind. The blast sent her hurdling down into a nearby house in the castle town. She smashed through the roof and landed in front of a family of ponies. She shook off the dust and saw a mother and father crystal pony protecting their three daughters.
“Ah, more parents! Come to your Sorceress!” she said as her horn glowed and the tears began to flow again.
“MOMMY, DADDY, NOOO!!” shouted one of their daughters.
Their parents hovered upwards into black clouds above them. Thankfully, Luna arrived just in time to pull them out with her magic and teleport them and their daughters away to safety.
“NO!” shouted the Sorceress as she flew up to tackle Luna.
They continued fighting in midair, blasting each other with magic and using shields. Luna noticed how the Sorceress was firing rather erratically and intentionally missing her sometimes. She looked behind her to see holes in several houses. When she turned back to the Sorceress, she was gone. The Sorceress had transformed into her smoke form and entered all of the houses simultaneously. Luna heard screaming from inside all the houses. She entered the nearest house first, but it was too late. The children inside were crying and begging the Sorceress to let their parents go. Luna could only see black smoke and hear the Sorceress laughing. She had split herself into too many fragments for Luna to keep track of.
“Princess Luna, please find our parents!” cried a little colt before her.
“Children, I promise you I will stop her!” Luna told them.
Luna flew out of the hole in the wall and watched as the smoke from the other houses emptied out into the open. Luna then cast a spell that stunned the Sorceress momentarily, causing her to take her physical form again and fall to the ground.
“Cozy, it ends now!” Luna said as she landed in front of her.
“STOP CALLING ME THAT!” screeched the Sorceress as she lunged for Luna.
Luna allowed the Sorceress to make contact with her and quickly teleported both of them high into the air. They continued fighting as Flurry and Spike watched from the throne room.
“Spike, we have to help! Those parents aren’t safe inside their houses! We need to get them to the catacombs!” Flurry said.
“Alright, here’s what we’ll do: I’ll go down there and try to round everyone up and lead them in. Can you show me where the catacombs are?”
“Follow me!”
Flurry and Spike flew out of the window. He followed her to a nearby building that had a secret entrance into an underground crystal cave.
Meanwhile, Luna and the Sorceress flew about, blasting each other until the Sorceress got tired and teleported away into the town, far away from where Luna was. She crept inside an alley in the shadows and waited a few moments until she noticed some ponies running through the streets. One of them was a mare with children behind her. Once she heard one of the children refer to the mare as their mother, the Sorceress grinned and teleported in front of them. She then used her powers to abduct the mother as the children screamed and cried. A spear was flung at her and deflected. She looked to the side to see a few royal guards beginning to attack. She fired low-power shots at each of them and knocked them out. A filly and colt came out of a nearby house with their mother behind them. They gathered around one of the guards and tried to wake him up, but their timing couldn’t have been worse.
“Daddy, are you alright?” asked the colt.
“Oh…so unwise,” giggled the Sorceress as her horn glowed.
“Kids, look out!” said the mother as she and her royal guard husband were both swallowed up by black smoke.
“MOMMY, NOOOO!” screamed the filly.
The Sorceress laughed menacingly and then noticed another pony in a window that had just pulled the shutters. The Sorceress teleported into the house she was in and saw one male and female pony together, but no children around them.
“So, do you two happen to have any children?” she asked.
“Mom? Dad? Is everything alright?” asked their son from an adjacent room.
“Well Golly, these little brats are helping me out with their loud mouths,” the Sorceress laughed as the smoke consumed the couple before her.
She then took on her smoke form to avoid detection and decided to start moving about more stealthily in the houses of the town where Luna could not find her.
Outside, Luna frantically searched for any signs of the Sorceress. She noticed some children in the streets crying and being attended by guards, but the Sorceress was nowhere to be found. Once she started to notice some kids were coming out of their houses without their parents, Luna knew she must be around. She landed on the roof of a building to rest her wings.
“LUNA!” shouted Spike a few hundred yards away.
“Spike?”
“Luna! Flurry’s found a way to-”
“SHHH! Come closer!”
Spike flew in next to Luna and whispered to her so the Sorceress would not hear what he was saying.
“Flurry’s starting to lead as many of the parents and their kids into the catacombs as she can. She knows this place better than I do so I’m just going around seeing who I can find to lead there. Can you keep the Sorceress distracted long enough?”
“Well I’ve lost her, but I know she’s still around. The children are losing their parents as we speak.”
“See what you can do. It’ll be easier if she’s distracted.”
“I will try my best, Spike, but she is very powerful and avoids detection easily.”
As they spoke, they did not notice the smoke behind them on the spire of a crystal house. The Sorceress had taken on this form to listen in on their conversation. Now that she knew some of the parents were hiding underground, she knew this would be a good opportunity to wait until they were all in one place and take them at the same time. She decided to keep looking for parents still inside their houses until she could find no more and then move for the catacombs. The smoke crept back down into the house to terrorize more families as stealthily as possible.
Spike flew away to start going door-to-door to let ponies know about the plan to hide all the parents and their kids away safely. Luna went back to her work, but she was getting discouraged about locating a being that could move so easily undetected. Then she had an idea.
“Cozy Glow, where are you?!” Luna shouted in her ‘royal Canterlot voice’. “Listen, I know why you are doing this. I saw your nightmares.”
The Sorceress was inside a nearby house in her physical form. She heard Luna speaking and began to scowl and grit her teeth as Luna continued.
“You are tormented over what happened to you at a young age. I know our stories are different, but I am familiar with how the nightmare works. It speaks to you in a comforting voice. It promises to be there for you. You believe it at first. Celestia and I were struggling with our co-leadership and I was being difficult. My envy had consumed me. We could not set aside our differences, so Nightmare Moon felt like the only friend I had. It told me it could make me more powerful than I could possibly imagine and make my night beautiful as ever. I had lost my mind and believed it all. One day I refused to lower the moon. My sister tried to reason with me, but Nightmare Moon already had full control. Once it takes over, there is nothing you can do to stop it. At that moment, I became a prisoner and Nightmare Moon took over. I immediately regretted everything once I began to transform, but it was too late. I know where the real Cozy Glow is right now, and it is not that frightening monster I see.”
Luna paused. The Sorceress shook her head back and forth violently as if to get rid of a bitter taste. She continued gritting her teeth and began to breath heavily.
“Please remember who you are,” Luna continued. “We can use the Elements of Harmony to exorcise you, but I want you to know that we still care about you. I did not know about your situation and I want to help. We have been looking for your parents all these years and we still cannot find them, but if you allow this demon to leave you, we will do all we can to- AAAGGGH!”
Suddenly a powerful magenta beam shot out of a nearby window and hit Luna in the back. She winced and lost all control of her body as it plummeted. A fruit stand below broke her fall, but it was still a rough landing. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was an image of a helpless and disheveled Cozy Glow in a cage, weeping.
“Cozy Glow…”