Glow in the Dark

by Shadow Spector

Excerpt 13

Excerpt 13:

Cozy picked up the last piece to her sculpture and put it into place. She smiled at her newly built piece of art made entirely of rock souvenirs she had gotten from the sculpting class. She didn't think that the souvenir rocks from the gray earth pony would come in handy, but from the year and a half she had been learning the skill, she figured that she wouldn't mind trying her hoof at rock sculpting every once in a while. From the days that she didn't have the class, she would rock sculpt to pass the time, getting more and more proficient at it as the days progressed.

In front of her stood an exact replica of her cutiemark, scaled to match her size. Cozy giggled before turning to the now skinless skull of her former friend. “Look, Troth. Look what I made. Are you proud of-.”

Before Cozy could finish her sentence, the sculpture she had spent the day on crumbled before her.

“ . . . me?” Cozy finished. She sighed before averting her eyes from the disappointment, focusing on the other features of her makeshift tent.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted.” Cozy glanced towards the fragmented skull again. Over the time she was at the town, it acquired an undesirable scent, but Cozy was able to fix that by cleaning it over multiple times, washing off all the blood from it until it was just a white arc of calcium.

“I’ll see you again soon,” Cozy assured while putting Troth’s head back in her bag.

“See who again soon?” sounded a familiar voice from outside her tent.

Cozy widened her eyes and sped to fully restock Troth’s head before turning to greet the gray pegasus once more. “What? Oh, I was just talking to my friend.”

“Oh, is there someone else here?”

“No, no there isn’t. She’s my imaginary friend. I just think of her at times since I don’t have anyone else at the moment.”

The woll-eyed mared nodded before continuing. “I have good news, but first, do you have the letter you want to send?”

Cozy reached into her bag, passed the skull head, and retrieved the letter to Tirek.

The mare reached out to take it before putting it in her mail saddle bag. “Okay, now the good news. The changeling invasion is over, and I can send your messages from Canterlot now.”

“Thank Celestia,” Cozy said. “What happened? Why did it take so long?”

“Well, a changeling was assumed to be spotted at Canterlot, and it made the princesses worried so they issued their mail ban on anyone other than the princesses on Canterlot for fear that it would give outsiders information for invasions. Then it got to the point where there were sightings in the Crystal Empire. Finally, I sent a message to one of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s friends, and that evening, everypony was kidnapped except for Twilight’s friend. But don't worry. She and a group of her friend’s teamed up to defeat Queen Chrysalis and reformed all the other changelings.”

Cozy kept a straight face despite the thoughts racing through her head. Friendship won her battles, didn't it? The thought reinforced her plan and encouraged her to continue. Without another thought, she made up her mind.

“Let's go to Canterlot and get you some fresh muffins from the big city,” Cozy said with a smile.

The gray mail mare tilted her head in confusion. “Well, it's a long fly from Appleloosa to Canterlot, and I still have my rounds to make around here before I request permission to deliver mail from a new official location.”

Cozy gritted her teeth. “Fine. Then I'm sure you can meet me at Canterlot then.”

“Oh yes. I can do that. But how are you going to get there?”

Cozy glanced away in realization. She was so caught up with how her plan would go when she finally reached her end goal that she hadn’t even planned her transportation to get to Canterlot in the first place. What could she have done to make the trip?

“I could just fly there, couldn’t I?” Cozy suggested.

“Well, that’s about a 2-week fly,” the mail mare informed. “Maybe you can do it. But if not, you can just take the train. There’s one that leaves soon, and Canterlot is one of its destinations.”

Cozy’s head slid forward slightly in annoyance, her eyes momentarily falling in disbelief before meeting the gray pegasus again. She had kept the train as a possibility in mind ever since she arrived at the city, but she tried to avoid situations where she had to make things up on the spot. But if the woll-eyed pegasus insisted that this was the best way to reach her destination, she knew she had to take it.

“Well, I guess that’s a good idea,” Cozy finally said.

The mail mare smiled. “Oh good. Well, I’ll send your message, but first, I have to go get the town’s letters as well. Then I’ll go. The drop-off box for mail is right next to the train station so maybe I’ll see you off as you go.” With that, the adult pegasus flew towards the town, leaving Cozy in solitude again.

She prepared herself, gathering all her belongings that she could take with her, before she finally left her hideout.

Cozy walked up to the train station but was immediately halted before she could board.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing, little filly?” the train worker asked. “This train’s about to leave. No boarding unless you have a ticket.”

Cozy took a breath. “Yes, my mom has my ticket. She should be coming any second if I could just get on-.”

“No,” the train worker interrupted. “No boarding until I see proof of a ticket. And since this train’s about to leave, your mom won’t get here in time, and you’ll stay behind. I’m very sorry.”

“But wait,” Cozy panicked, hearing the sound of the train start up. She looked around to her surprise to see the mailmare again, digging into a mailbox to retrieve the letters. “There she is! That’s my mom.”

The conductor looked to where Cozy was pointing. “The mail pony? That’s not your mother.”

“Oh, but she is. Look.” Cozy turned to the woll-eyed mare who was just a building away into the town. She gave a silent, shaky breath before calling out to the pegasus. “Hey, mom! You ready?”

To the detriment of Cozy, the mail pony didn’t respond. “Mother!” Cozy called out again, desperate to get her attention, but the woll-eyed pony just kept filling her saddlebag with the letters, appearing to finish up. Finally, Cozy took a different approach. “Muffins!” she called out.

The adult pegasus turned to Cozy, smiling gleefully before beginning to fly over. Cozy instantly turned to the train conductor and smiled nervously. “Her name is Muffins. She has the tickets.”

The pegasus finally arrived next to Cozy. “Why, hi there.”

“Hey,” Cozy smiled, trying to steady her breath. “I think you have something for this stallion right here. Something made of paper.”

The mail mare knit her eyebrows before they widened in realization. “Oh, right. Here you go.”

The woll-eyed mared began digging in her saddle bag as Cozy slipped passed the train guard.

“Here it is,” the mail mare said, pulling out a letter and giving it to the train worker.

“What’s this?” the train worker asked. “No, I need your train tickets.”

“Train tickets? Oh, no I’m not riding the train. I’m just here to deliver the town’s messages before I go.”

“What??” the train worker asked before the locomotive came into motion.

The woll-eyed pony waved to the worker as he started getting carried away by the train. “Thank you for choosing me as your delivery pony.”

The train worker immediately turned to the crowd of passengers in the train, but there was no sign of Cozy anywhere.

“We have successfully arrived at Canterlot. Thank you for riding the Friendship Express.”

Cozy heard the voice through the floorboards below her. She was too afraid of being thrown off as a stowaway so she hid, finding a small place in the ceiling of the train for her to hide for the duration of the trip. Finally, the train stopped, and she nearly slid across ceiling with nothing to anchor herself down.

She steadied herself and listened as the passengers got off. She knew she had to leave the train before it took off, but she was worried that if she would be caught, the punishments in Equestria’s capital city would be far more severe than anyplace else she’s been. After a deep breath, she exited from the roof of the train, landing on the main floor before casually walking out.

Before she could make it very far, a hoof landed on her arm, yanking her in one direction. “Stowaway,” the train worker said, glaring at her with his eyes just a couple inches away from her. “We’ll see what the princesses have to say about thi-.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Cozy kicked him in the gut, causing him to lose his grip on her. Now free, she took this opportunity to flee into the crowd of ponies.

“Stop her!” the train worker yelled.

Several ponies glanced in Cozy’s direction for two seconds, stopping their movements altogether before going back to their activities without another hint of interest.

Cozy didn’t stop running, knowing that at any moment, the royal guard would be on her tail. She tried to maneuver her way through the crowd of ponies, but eventually her curiosity piqued and she looked back to see if anypony was still following her. She was still running at full speed when she crashed into a random civilian.

Cozy immediately got up, feeling dazed and putting her hoof to her head to steady it. She waited for her eyes to come into focus again before glancing at what appeared to be a pony she recognized.

At the end of her gaze on the ground was a silver pegasus with pink hair and pink eyes that appeared to be 10 years old. Cozy could not contain her mesmerization with the familiar looking pony and was unable to resist the urge to ask her the inevitable one-word question.

“Troth?” Cozy asked.

The pegasus regarded Cozy in a mix of frustration and confusion. “Who?”

Clozy blinked her eyes twice, stunned at the similarities she saw. She looked exactly like the pony she used to know, except that she had a cutiemark of some sort of electronic item.

The pegasus continued. “Watch where you’re going next time.”

“I’m sorry. I was just running away from the potential guards.”

The pegasus opened her eyes in slight surprise. “Guards? Are you some kind of criminal?”

Cozy tensed. “No, no I’m not.”

“Yeah, tell it to the judge.” The pegasus turned to the direction of the train station before calling out “hey, guards!”

Cozy flinched before she quickly scanned her surroundings for a hiding place. Her eyes fell on an outdoor garbage bin, and she immediately dove into it without hesitation. She stayed there, remaining motionless as she heard several ponies march closer with metal clinging together on every step.

“We’ve heard disturbances of a pink filly that stowed away on the Friendship Express. Do you know anything about this?” one voice said.

The pegasus blinked in realization before she smirked at the guards. “Yeah, I saw her. She sneaked inside the music store over there. You’ll find her.”

“Greatly appreciated, citizen.”

Cozy listened as the hoofsteps of the guards got quieter and quieter in the distance.

“You can come out now,” the pegasus assured.

Slowly but surely, Cozy revealed herself again, staring in confusion at the stranger. “Why did you help me?”

The silver pegasus lightly chuckled. “Because I’ve been waiting for someone to pull something like that around here.”

Cozy lightly smiled. “And, what’s your name?”

The stranger knit her eyebrows before relaxing her face and shrugging. “They call me Proxy.”

“Who’s ‘they?’”

“Me.”

Cozy stared in fascination before uttering “You want to be friends?”

Proxy regarded her in perplexity. “Why would I want to be your friend?”

“Oh, well, I just thought after what you did for me-.”

“I did that because I liked that something finally happened that security wasn’t planned for. It wasn’t for you. For all I know, you could have done things that are worse than simply sneaking on a train. I don’t know you, and I have no desire to know you.”

Cozy lowered her face in sadness. She didn’t want to stop talking to Proxy, especially since she felt a warm presence with her despite her unwelcoming nature. “Are you usually by yourself?”

Proxy regarded Cozy in annoyance. “Yeah, ever since I was 6.”

“You don’t have to live your life without anypony else, you know,” said Cozy.

“Where are your parents?”

Cozy stiffened. “I don’t need them.”

“Yeah, well, goodluck with that. I’m gonna go.”

“No, please don’t go!” Cozy cried.

“What do you want from me?”

“I just want to be your friend.”

“You’re bad at friendship.”

“I know!” Cozy yelled back.

“Please leave me alone,” Proxy said.

“Wait,” Cozy pleaded. “Okay. I will, but before I do, could you, just, help me with one thing?”

Proxy rolled her eyes short-temperedly.

Cozy gulped before continuing. “Could you just take me to the Canterlot Archives? I don’t know where they are.”

“You’ve just got to follow the train tracks. It’s simple.”

“But I’m wanted by the train ponies. I can’t follow the tracks without getting noticed.” Cozy saw Proxy’s irritated face again. “Just help me with this and I won’t bother you anymore.”

Proxy pondered the final request for a moment before finally sighing in submission. She began walking towards the back alleys while beckoning for Cozy to follow her.

Cozy’s face lit up. It was the brightest expression she had made in a long time. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, let’s just go.”

The two pegasi started walking together, taking a path that would allow them to travel to their destination without being noticed too easily.

“Why are you so interested in going to the Archives in the first place?” asked Proxy.

“Oh, well I wanted to find a book that I can only find here,” Cozy said.

“What kind of book would Canterlot have that other libraries don’t?”

“Oh, you know, books about Tartarus.”

Proxy stopped. “Tartarus?”

“Yeah, it fascinates me. I hear magic works differently down there. I’d also like to learn more about the centaur Tirek.”

Proxy appeared to be slightly stunned at the information. “ . . . What’s your name, little filly?”

“Oh, my name is-,” Cozy stopped herself and knit her eyebrows. What was the sudden change in tone of Proxy? “My name? My name is . . . Rookie.”

“Rookie?” Proxy processed.

“Yep, that’s my name.” Cozy smiled.

Proxy blinked hard before she proceeded walking. “Why did you decide to steal a ride on the train, Rookie?”

Cozy treaded carefully, worried about what would happen if she gave Proxy the exact answer. “I was just trying to escape my old way of life.”

“Why? Did your parents mistreat you?”

“No!” Cozy glared before realizing that she snapped. “I mean, no, not exactly. I was mistreated by someone and couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve been through a lot.”

“Sounds rough,” Proxy said in a plain, unsympathetic tone.

“Well, yes, it was rough. You don’t know all I’ve been through. I’ve been robbed, bullied, caged, underfed, mangled, broken, threatened, and nearly crushed by unicorn magic. And I’ve even seen ponies close to me die right in front of me. You couldn’t possibly know what that’s like.”

Proxy snapped her neck back at Cozy, glaring at her. “I don’t know? 4 years ago, I lost my mother. She went missing, and my dad wouldn’t tell me where. When he was away, I went searching and found a mound of dirt in the backyard. It was her, buried for 2 days. I was traumatized, and I told my dad that I would go to the police. I never did though. I was always afraid if I told anyone, he would come after me. But finally I made it here so he won’t ever find me. You don’t know what it’s like to discover that someone you thought you knew was secretly a monster.”

Cozy’s eyes widened in sympathy. “I-I’m sorry.”

Proxy wiped a tear from her eyes. “Yeah, well, that’s over now. Let’s just get you to the Archives so I don’t have to see you again.”

Cozy pouted while walking behind Proxy. She didn’t want to leave it at such a bad note so she decided to think of a light-hearted conversation to try. “Um, Proxy?”

Proxy sighed. “What?”

“What’s your cutiemark, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“They’re electric cables.”

Cozy opened her eyes wider in interest. “How did you get it?”

“I got it when I first came here. Somepony had trouble with their printer, and I was able to fix it. I expected to get a cutiemark that looked like that, but it was just wires. I didn’t know what it meant until I tried fixing something else electric. To my surprise, I knew exactly what I was doing. Now it’s my job around here to fix stuff like that.”

“That’s so cool!” Cozy smiled, trying to feel happy in the moment again. “So you can fix anything that has to do with machines?”

Proxy nodded her head before giving a soft smile.

Cozy smiled brightly back. “Wow, I wish that-.”

“Rookie, we’re here.”

Cozy halted, staring up at the back of the Canterlot Archives. “So here’s where you leave me?”

Proxy gave a blank expression. “Yeah.”

“But what if someone recognizes me as the stowaway and turns me in?”

“Relax, there are plenty of other crimes aside from not paying a train fee. As long as they don’t have a steady description of you, you should be okay. Just stay out of trouble, alright? I won’t look the other way if you break the rules again.”

Proxy turned to fly away as Cozy began slowly making her way to the front of the Archives. She was hesitant but remembered that she had to do this. With one deep breath, she marched inside the front door.

“Hello?” a voice from inside said. “You’re early. We weren’t expecting you to come get our systems online until tonight.”

Cozy tensed uncomfortably as the owner of the voice appeared. To her surprise, it was just the librarian with a disappointed look on her face as she looked down on Cozy.

Cozy trained her mindset to appear as though she had nothing to hide. “Hello there, miss. I was wondering if I could go and see if you have any books in stock.”

“Well, I’m sorry, sweetie, but we’re closed until we get our security cameras back up and running. Recent weather has caused them to shift dramatically, and now we basically have no form of security here. So to keep everything here safe, we aren’t going to open up this library until the cameras come back online.”

Cozy gritted her teeth silently. She didn’t take into consideration that there could be plenty of security and with the thought of security cameras, there would be a clear way of getting a description on her. Normally, she would just be patient and wait until it’s easier to come in and read, but she had no time, and now, it seemed to be the perfect chance to get the information she needed without being discovered.

“Okay,” Cozy said with a smile. “When can I come back?”

“We should be open tomorrow.”

Cozy nodded before turning towards the door. Before she walked out, she glanced back to see the librarian retreating to her work area. Cozy pushed the door open fully but stayed inside the Archives, letting the door swing back closed to create an audible sound of somepony leaving. After the door was successfully shut, she ducked down to not be seen as easily if the librarian returned.

Cozy looked around. There were library bookshelves in multiple rows, packing the room like neat, vertical shelves. The first floor alone was overwhelming, but above Cozy was a second floor with just as many bookshelves.

Cozy squeezed her head with both of her hooves, trying not to be discouraged. She was on a mission and wanted to make sure that nothing got in her way. With the numerous bookshelves ahead of her, she decided to get started.

She trotted around slowly and quietly, worried that flying too much would cause a draft and ruin her position. She saved flying only for when her hoofsteps were audible or when the floorboards below her would begin to creak. What am I looking for? Cozy asked herself while trying to think of names to look for. The Non-Pony Artifacts. Tartarus. Tirek. Lord Tirek. There were multiple names that the things she was looking for could’ve been listed under. In fear that Cozy would’ve missed something important, she decided to look through as much as she could.

Starting with A’s, Cozy started searching. Applejack’s Family Farm. The ones that Cozy was obviously not looking for were easy to pass. Cozy then stumbled across the E’s. The first book she noticed was titled Elements of Harmony 101, with a picture of the familiar looking purple star on the side. The main Element of Harmony, this is what the Princess of Friendship uses to have control. Cozy thought to herself. Still looks like a cheese grater. Cozy regained focus and kept trying to look for relevant books, reading each of the titles in her head. Equestria’s Founding. No. Equestria’s Original Emperor. No. Every Record of Princess Twilight Sparkle Freaking Out. Interesting, but still no.

The sun was setting when Cozy finally got to the end of the first floor’s bookshelves. She was only able to get to the M’s before the books just stopped. The frustration of Cozy was almost audible, but she held her tongue, getting ready to find the stairs to the second floor.

Normally, she would just fly, but her fear of getting seen made her take the safer route. Carefully, she peeked around the bookshelves to not come face to face with the librarian, or worse, a Canterlot guard. After not seeing the stairway anywhere in the open room, she moved deeper into the Archives.

She carefully made her way down the dark hallway. She recalled her previous times doing something like this, but this time there was nopony she could place the blame on if she failed.

Cozy squinted her eyes in the dark. From a distance down the hallway, she saw the outline of an open door with what looked like a light source coming from it. With each step carefully placed, Cozy traveled over to it, stopping just before she got to the door to listen in. After she heard no sounds for a couple of seconds, she peeked her head slowly in the doorway. Inside the room was an empty desk with nothing but a firefly lantern on it. Cozy waited to see if anypony would come entering the room but nothing happened, offering Cozy the chance to claim the lantern as her light source. Finally, she could see the places she needed to in the hallway, shining the firefly lantern at the wall to see the door that led to the stairs.

Cozy gave a shaky breath as she went through the door, closing it slowly behind her as to not make any noise. At the staircase, Cozy felt safe enough to fly above to the second floor. The firefly lantern provided just enough light to see and not be noticeable by anyone else, perfect for her situation.

When she finally reached the second floor, she peeked around carefully as to not walk right into some unsuspecting ponies. When the coast was clear, Cozy walked to the second floor, ready to finally get her answers.

It was even darker on the second floor due to its distance from the front door. Light only shined onto the balcony from where the second floor was visible from the main level. To her left was a window at the end of the hallway, only illuminating a partial amount of moonlight to show Cozy that it was a deadend, allowing her to make the decision to go to her right instead. Cozy lifted up her firefly lantern higher to get more ground illuminated, and the light reached another door on the left wall of the hallway. Out of curiosity, Cozy pulled the handle to check inside the room, but it was just a supply closet. Her eyes scanned the room for anything helpful that she might need, but it was all dull inside with only empty shelves and stuffed bags in the corner. The only thing that stuck out to her was the fact that the door didn’t have a handle on the inside.

Finally, Cozy decided to stop wasting time, gliding over to the bookshelves to get the information that she needed. She didn’t like being there for so long, especially in the unpredictable darkness. She knew that patience was something that she had to practice for success, but she also knew what she was looking for, and she flew over to the T section.

Her eyes landed on the book titled Tartarus: the Ultimate Punishment. Her face lit up at finally finding something she was looking for, and she pulled the book out, setting her firefly lantern down on a table to read.

Quietly, she read out loud. “Tartarus is reserved for Equestria’s most wanted. The ones who have wronged Equestria in the most extreme ways. It is by Equestrian Law that whosoever is labeled a Monster of Equestria be sent here, regardless of species, age, or status.”

Cozy glanced away, envisioning herself in Tartarus. She had to admit that it scared her a little bit to know that if she failed, she would be imprisoned in Tartarus according to the legal establishment of Equestria. Before she could worry further, she realized something. If she was going to be sent to Tartarus, that would be completely fine with her. She’s been alone for a good chunk of her life so far so her options were plainly listed in front of her: she either succeeds and becomes ruler of Equestria, or she fails and she gets to go to Tartarus to make friends with any of its prisoners. Maybe she would get to meet Tirek in the flesh and dedicate a rock sculpture to him.

Reassured, Cozy continued reading. “Unlike normal prisons for creatures, Tartarus is eternal. It’s enchantments, casted by Starswirl The Bearded himself, has ensured it to be the ultimate form of torment, lasting forever. Because of the powerful unicorn’s spells, any and all aging will come to a complete stop upon entering the prison. This is to hold the prisoners there forever without any hope of death to finally release their torture.”

Cozy stiffened. Tartarus stopped all aging so the prisoners couldn’t escape by dying. The realization gave Cozy a newfound respect for the prison.

Cozy gathered her courage back before continuing to read. “Upon its enchantments, Tartarus also stops the hunger process, causing creatures never to need food. This is done so nopony from the outside world has to enter in the prison to feed the occupants. The lack of contact from the outside world of Equestria is psychologically breaking to keep the prisoners from getting comfortable inside their cell.”

Cozy drooped her eyes in sadness. She felt bad that Tirek had to experience this. She recalled in the letters that he told her if she were to fail, his enchantments on his cage would become more severe. She could not let that happen.

Before Cozy could continue reading, she heard a familiar voice from the main floor.

“Finally you’re here,” the librarian voice sounded from below. “We need these cameras back up so ponies can finally come in to read. I know that the more severe section of the Archives isn’t affected as much, but this portion is still important as well.”

Cozy got up quickly to put the book back. Her quietness allowed her to hear even more of the conversation going on below.

“Yeah, I’ve already put up the cameras on this level,” another familiar voice said. “I have to make sure that the second floor has its cameras as well though. I’ll be right back.”

Cozy panicked and flew behind some bookshelves, leaving the firefly lantern on the table. Immediately, the familiar silver pegasus flew up, struggling with her wings as she soared through the air before she landed on the second level. She halted there for a moment before calling back down to the librarian.

“Ms. Bookworm, you left your lantern up here,” Proxy alerted.

The librarian called back from the first floor. “Oh, I haven’t went up there yet.”

Proxy’s silhouette stiffened. Cozy bit her lip as she tried to walk slowly out of the room from where she came, using the darkness to camouflage her, but before she left, the lights turned on and she froze.

“Rookie?” Proxy called out.

Cozy turned to her and smiled innocently.

The silver pegasus continued. “I thought I told you no more breaking the rules.”

Cozy clenched her teeth nervously. “But you see, you brought me here, and I didn’t know it was closed and-.”

“All you asked me to do was bring you here. Ms. Bookworm told you that this place was closed, right?”

Cozy sighed before nodding her head.

“Then you should’ve left immediately. You broke the rules again, Rookie. And I can’t let this slide.”

“But wait,” Cozy stalled as she started backing up slowly. “Don’t you want to know what I’m doing?”

“I don’t care what you’re doing. You’re breaking the rules, and that’s all I need to know.”

“I was just wandering through a library.”

“You were trespassing.” Proxy noticed Cozy’s new distance, and she flew over to her, stopping her right in front of the supply closet.

Cozy sighed. “I wish you could’ve helped me, but I guess you’ll just have to be another one to bow to me one day.”

Proxy’s pupils dilated in shock. “What?”

“Don’t you know the reason I was here was to figure out more information on Tartarus? I want to trap Twilight and her ridiculous friends there.”

Proxy’s breath turned shallow. She slowly maneuvered her way to the wall and leaned on it, applying an unnecessary amount of pressure to it. “They’re not that ridiculous. What do you have against them?”

“Twilight found the perfect group of friends, and she’s never been lonely since. She was lucky enough to always have someone there for her while ponies like me were unlucky and left out on their own. And how did Karma balance out the luck that it gave Twilight? Fate had her become a princess just because the events were stacked in her favor. Well that’s not going to be how this ends. I will make sure she gets what’s coming to her, and she will bow to me instead.”

“What makes you think you can make Princess Twilight Sparkle bow to you? She’s the Princess of Friendship, one of the most powerful beings in Equestria. How can you stand a chance?”

“Because I’ve seen the Magic of Friendship. I’ve used it, and I’ve been successful with it. And all it took was two of my friends. Imagine how powerful I’ll be with more friends. I can become so much stronger than Twilight, and when I finally use the Magic of Friendship again, I can promise you that it’s gonna be big and loud.”

Proxy awkwardly coughed while still pushing her body against the wall. Finally, Cozy couldn’t look over her action. There was definitely something wrong with Proxy’s behavior until it finally hit her, but rather than letting her emotions capture her expressions, she decided to let her words solve the problem.

“All I need left is to get those artifacts to Ponyville. I’ve been hiding them in this closet here, and I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight.” Cozy slowly opened the door to the supply closet. “Come have a look. I bet you’ll love to see them.”

Proxy’s stern face shifted into curiosity, and she peeked her head inside the closet.

“No,” Cozy informed. “They’re right there at the corner. Go get a closer look.”

Slowly, Proxy walked to the corner to see the non-present artifacts. By the time she was fully inside, Cozy finally made her emotions visible and she slammed the door shut.

From the inside of the closet, Proxy tackled the door, but it didn’t budge.

“Did you think you could fool me?” Cozy angrily said.

Proxy hit the door. “Let me out!”

“Tell me what you were doing first.”

“There’s a panic button on the wall that calls Canterlot guards over. That’s all.”

Cozy leaned down to find the button, but before she could examine it to make it stop, the front door became flooded with guards.

Cozy growled. “You’ll remember me when I become Empress. I'll do some redecorating around this city that nopony will forget!”

Cozy turned down the hallway and flew as fast as her wings would carry her. She could hear the sound of the guards marching up the stairs. She looked around but didn’t find any escape routes, only the window at the end of the hall. Panicking, Cozy grabbed her rook out of her saddle bag and broke the window with it before putting the rook back in her bag. She broke out and flew west in the direction of a purple castle that stood tall in the distance.

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[Walrusesarecute]

Proxy snapped her neck back at Cozy, glaring at her. “I don’t know? 4 years ago, I lost my mother. She went missing, and my dad wouldn’t tell me where. When he was away, I went searching and found a mound of dirt in the backyard. It was her, buried for 2 days. I was traumatized, and I told my dad that I would go to the police. I never did though. I was always afraid if I told anyone, he would come after me. But finally I made it here so he won’t ever find me. You don’t know what it’s like to discover that someone you thought you knew was secretly a monster.”

I haven’t finished the story yet so I don’t know. I haven’t even finished the chapter yet, but Proxy is literally the child of the pony that kidnapped Cozy Glow.