Glow in the Dark

by Shadow Spector

Excerpt 6

Excerpt 6:

“Where Rookie and Troth?” Droll asked.

“They probably ditched because they were too scared,” speculated Candid.

“Well, it was her idea to be here,” Opul said.

“Yes,” Lenia chimed in. “We should wait a little bit longer. I’m sure they’ll be here any moment.”

As if on cue, Cozy and Troth ran onto the scene.

“Sorry we’re late,” Troth began.

Lenia straightened up, beaming at the white pegasus. “Troth, you made it!”

The three non-ponies immediately shushed the poor earth pony, causing Lenia to look away in shame.

Cozy and Troth exchanged disapproving looks, but remained silent on the matter.

Cozy scanned the castle-looking building. “Where exactly is here-.”

Lenia raised her eyebrows and smiled as if struck with an answer but froze, her uncomfortable look returning to leave her in silence.

Candid rolled his eyes, opening his mouth before getting cut off by the pink pony.

“-Lenia?” Cozy finished.

For a brief moment, the light-green pony was surprised, but her expression immediately turned into an appreciative smile. “This is Emperor Contume’s palace. He had it built for him by non-ponies when this community was first established, which my parents still won’t admit is kind of wrong. This is where I see random items taken from time to time. If there’s any place where the belongings will be, it’s here.”

From behind, Droll was messing with some black costume, catching Troth’s eye. “What - what is that?”

“Those are the suits we’re going to wear,” answered Candid.

“Why do we need suits?”

“Haven’t you ever done espionage before?” Candid rolled his eyes in a condescending manner. “If we’re going to be sneaking through this place, we can’t afford to be caught. Bad things happen to those who get caught. So to make sure that doesn’t happen, we each brought dark suits. Even some for you and the infant.”

Cozy widened her eyes before frowning, holding her tongue.

“Besides,” Candid continued, “you can’t expect someone like Opul being able to sneak around looking brighter than Celestia.”

“Blasphemy,” Droll said in a playful tone.

“Har-har,” Opul faked laughed as a subtle smile spread across her face. “Can I have my suit now?”

“Can you?” Candid asked as he held the suit up high over Opul’s head. “Can you reach it?”

Opul stared up at the out-of-reach suit before smirking and narrowing her eyes in determination. She reached up, her claws barely touching the suit but still not able to get a grip on it.

Candid gave an amused smile to the dragon’s attempts before his eyes landed on Cozy’s judgmental stare. Immediately, his face returned to its serious tone as he handed Opul her suit, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Cozy leaned over to whisper to Troth. “Gross.”

Candid passed the suits to Lenia and Troth as Cozy waited patiently for hers. After a long pause of no suits being dished out, Cozy finally asked.

“Didn’t you say there was a suit for me?”

Candid regarded Cozy doubtfully. “Well, I just figured you’re probably too young for something like this.”

Cozy was unamused. “I’ve been through way worse.”

“Yes, but you haven’t had to deal with a bloodthirsty unicorn yet, have you?”

Cozy widened her eyes in anger, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by Lenia handing her the black suit.

“It’s a perfect fit for your size.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cozy asked Lenia while suiting up.

“Oh, um, it’s - it’s nothing. I’m sorry.”

Cozy regarded Lenia in regret, feeling bad that she might have offended the earth pony. Before she could say anything, Opul spoke.

“Are we ready?”

Candid stared coldly into Cozy’s eyes. “I don’t know. Are we ready? Since this was your idea, Cozy.”

Cozy took a deep breath before thinking of what to say. “Oh, don’t worry, Candid.” Cozy began moving to the front of the group. “I know you’re terrified and that’s why you’re looking to me.”

“What? No-.”

“Come on, everypony,” Cozy said, completely disregarding the fact that there were more than just ponies present. “The night won’t last forever.”

The six of them stopped at the walls of the palace.

Candid smirked. “Well, Cozy. Show us what’s in that little brain of yours by telling us how we’re supposed to get in.”

Cozy’s eyes met Candid’s. She recalled the second rule for interacting with others which was to stand up for herself, yet she still didn’t know exactly how she was supposed to do this.

Finally, Troth spoke up, pointing upwards in the direction of a window that was isolated from the rest. “Up there. Last time I was here, I was able to leave a window open in case I ever wanted to try and get back my camera.”

Cozy’s face lit up slightly. “Perfect. We’ll enter through there.”

“Yeah, problem,” Droll began. “Earth pony and yak no have wings.”

“See?” Candid said. “You’re not even smart enough to think things through fully.”

How can I stand up for myself? Cozy thought. By being rude back.

“Troth, you can carry Lenia up there,” Cozy planned. “Eagle face over here and Oppai-.”

“Opul,” the white dragon corrected.

“That’s what I said. You two can carry Droll.”

“Good idea, Cozy,” Troth praised.

Cozy smiled and gave Troth a nod before flying up to the window that Troth had designated. Upon arriving, she opened it up slowly, maneuvering her way through the frame as to cause as little noise as possible.

Her efforts were soon thwarted when Candid and Opul brought Droll up. Immediately after he arrived at the window sill, he tripped, crashing through and thudding on the floor.

Cozy glared at the yak.

“Hehe,” Droll blushed. “Yak sorry.”

Cozy closed her eyes to listen for movement within and beyond the dark room.

“It’s okay,” Lenia reassured. “This is one of the abandoned rooms reserved for newcomers. It hasn’t been used in years. Nopony should have heard.”

Cozy approached the door of the room, beckoning for the others to come closer. She slowly pried the door open, peeking around for potential dangers, but the only thing she saw was an empty corridor filled with doors.

“This is going to be harder than I thought,” Cozy whispered.

“What’s the matter?” Candid said. “Don’t know what to do?”

“You’re not helping. Does anyone know where to find the room?”

“Lenia does,” Opul said. “She comes here on a daily basis. She should have a general sense of where everything is.”

“It’s true,” Lenia confirmed. “I have a good idea on where we’re going. The first place we should go to should be at the 4th door in this corridor on the right. ”

Cozy nodded before returning to look through the door, trying to think of how things were going to happen. She knew Lenia had to go first to lead the way, but she was worried that all of them together would be too risky and one at a time would be too slow.

“Okay, we go by twos to the designated door,” Cozy schemed. “First Lenia and me. Then Opul and Droll. And then Troth and Candid.”

Candid rolled his eyes, but Lenia nodded, leading the way down the hallway as Cozy followed. The two ponies walked quietly down the hallway, being as careful as they could be.

Okay, by the time we get to the door, the next two should begin.

Cozy’s thoughts were contradicted when she looked back halfway to her destination to see Droll and Opul already out in the hallway. Cozy widened her eyes in concern, vigorously pointing back towards the starting room.

From across the hallway, Cozy could see Droll trembling in fear, but immediately when Droll caught sight of Cozy’s signals, he turned back with tremendous speed, knocking into Opul and causing her to collapse on the floor.

The collision sent an echo down the hall, causing Troth to cover her mouth from fear. Immediately when the echo stopped, the sound of multiple doors opening up filled the silence. Instinctively, Cozy grabbed Lenia and rushed into the nearest door that was not opening up.

The pink filly stared out of the door slightly to catch sight of a dozen guards with firefly lanterns marching down the corridor. Cozy held her breath as she watched Opul and Droll hopelessly get surrounded by the stallions. The two non-ponies’ breath became short as they held eachother close for dear life until the stallions separated the two creatures, tugging on Opul’s left wing and grasping Droll left horn to forcefully move them down the corridor.

The guards began marching down the hallway once more, getting closer to Cozy’s room, causing her to close the door, but the sound of the door becoming shut alarmed Cozy that her hiding place was soon to be discovered.

“What happened?” Lenia asked in extreme concern.

“We’re about to have company,” Cozy whispered.

The sound of hoofsteps grew louder and louder from the hallway, and Cozy tilted her head to another door at the other side of the room. Lenia fearfully nodded as she followed Cozy out the other door as the guards entered the room.

The two ponies continued moving, going through doors that Lenia nervously gave the okay to enter through. With speed matched with stealth, the two ponies were able to lose the guards that were on the verge of spotting them.

“Oh dear Celestia,” Lenia panicked quietly. “My friends are going to get caught.”

Cozy regarded Lenia in a confused manner. “What about you?”

“I don’t matter as much as them. Emperor Contume will probably be easy on me, but if my other friends get caught, things won’t turn out well at all.”

Cozy pursed her lips slightly, deciding to keep what she knew secret from the frightened filly. “Why would you be treated any differently than the others?”

Lenia looked away in disappointment “Emperor Contume seems to be much more forgiving of ponies than non-ponies. My parents tell me it isn’t like that, but it’s not what I see. Now it seems that the guards are aware that we are here, and none of us are going to make it out undetected. Droll won’t get his picture. Opul won’t get her pet back. Candid won’t get his paddleball back. Instead, they’re going to be brutally punished.”

Lenia started to shake in fear, worried what horrible fate awaited her friends.

“Lenia, it’s going to be okay. Think about something else.”

Lenia stopped shaking to look Cozy in her scarlet eyes. “Like what?”

“Well, you said that Candid had some sort of paddle. What’s that all about?”

“Well, when he arrived at this community, the item that he had confiscated was his paddleball game. It’s what kept him company before he got here, but he doesn’t tell anyone because of its pink handle.”

Cozy covered her amused mouth to stifle the involuntary laughter.

“He said I was the only one he trusted to tell . . .” Lenia stopped herself. “Please don’t tell him I told you.”

Cozy affectionately placed her hoof on Lenia’s back. “You’re safe with me.”

Lenia smiled up at Cozy, slightly renewed of her confidence.

Cozy continued. “I don’t like staying in here either. If we hurry up, we can make it to the room and get out quickly. And maybe we can find your friends’ belongings as well and give it to them when we see them again.”

Lenia’s smile faded back into her apprehensive look, but she was able to manage a brave nod before continuing through another door. The two fillies traveled stealthily as to not wake any guards or alert any active ones. Throughout their travels, Lenia’s breath reached a disturbing volume, causing Cozy to stop again to calmly shush her.

Lenia took a deep breath to steady her breathing. “It’s just . . . what if we don’t see them again?”

Cozy looked into Lenia’s eyes and gave her a reassuring smile. “We will, but worrying about them isn’t going to do any of them much good. Without you to lead the way, they probably are just waiting outside for us which is why we need to find this room soon. Where is it?”

“Uh,” Lenia began thinking. “It’s passed this door at the end of the hallway on the left. On some days when I’m here, I see items being transported to that room, and I could tell they used to belong to someone.”

Cozy looked at Lenia in fascination. “You say that as if you live here.”

“I basically do. It’s kind of my parents’ job. Although my parents do have a house, whenever both of them are called to work, they take me with them since they don’t trust anyone else here to supervise me. Today was different though because both of them have their work shifts tomorrow and not today, but I still had to sneak out of the house after night to make it here. And I thought that would be the scariest thing I’d have to do.”

Cozy nodded in approval before going through the door that Lenia had designated, starting her way down the long, dark hallway. The lighting was a result of the lack of windows in the hallway, causing little to no moonlight to come in except for one window closeby to them and one towards the end of the hallway.

Cozy tried straining her eyes to see better, but couldn’t in time to avoid knocking into a table-like object, causing a crashing sound to reverberate throughout the corridor.

Buck! Cozy thought.

As if waiting for an invitation, a door opened immediately after the sound disturbance, causing Cozy to immediately scan the hallway for doors she could hide in. After finding one, the pink filly jumped through turning around just in time to see the door close with Lenia still on the other side.

From the outside, an older stallion’s voice was heard. “Lenia? What are you doing here?”

The small, timid voice responded. “. . . hi.”

“You’re not supposed to be here today.”

“I got lost . . .”

“Come on. Let's bring you home.”

The two sets of hoofsteps sounded, getting quieter and quieter as they regressed in the direction Cozy came from. Cozy began growling in despair at letting her friend down until a familiar voice sounded from the shadows of the room.

“Cozy?”

Cozy turned towards the direction of the sound, seeing a faint silhouette of a pony in a blacksuit. “Troth?”

Troth advanced closer to Cozy, stepping into a section of the room that was dimly lit by a nightlight, then revealing her big smile. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you. I thought you also got caught.”

“No,” Cozy began, “it was just Lenia."

Troth’s smile faded. “Lenia’s caught?”

Cozy sighed in exasperation, letting her head fall. “I’m sorry. I tried.” Cozy lifted her head back up, scanning the darkness for unwanted company. “Where’s Candid?”

“We got separated. After Droll and Opul got caught, the guards kept on looking for us, saying that they knew we were here. Candid said that it would be safer if we split up until we lost the guards.”

“So he’s caught too?” Cozy asked hopefully.

“I wouldn’t count on it. Stealth is one of his strong suits.”

Cozy turned away, trying to hide her disappointment.

“Cozy? You barely know any of us. Why is it that you’re willing to trust all of us to go on such a risky mission?”

“I only trust you and Lenia. But the others seem to want their stuff back almost as much as I want mine. They can be a good help to me and still get what they want.”

Cozy broke eye contact with Troth, allowing for her glance to fall on a certain item in Troth’s hoof.

“What’s that?”

Troth lifted up her camera for Cozy to see. “Yeah, when I was wandering the rooms, I was able to find it. I recognized it immediately as the one I lost.”

Cozy smiled brightly at Troth’s fortunes before she fully realized what she said. “Wait, lost?”

“Well, yeah. When I first got here, I had to visit Emperor Contume’s chamber room. He meets with every new member here. He’s such a good leader. Anyway, I had taken my camera out to take a picture of the event but when I left, I realized I misplaced my camera somewhere inside. But somebody requesting permission to revisit the emperor’s most secure location, especially with the excuse of leaving something there, doesn’t fly too well.

“Troth, did you see any of the others’ belongings where you found your camera?”

“Well, no. I looked for Droll’s picture but couldn’t find it. I can’t remember what Candid wanted though. I couldn’t even find your item.”

Cozy put a hoof to her head, stunned at the revelation she just made. “Oh my Celestia.”

“What?”

“The emperor here. He’s not taking items from newcomers. He’s only taking things from nonponies. That’s why Lenia didn’t lose anything when she got here. And neither did you since you simply misplaced it instead of having it taken from you.”

“But you haven’t had your meeting with the leader and your rook was already taken.”

“It was taken from me before I even woke up.” Cozy looked up at Troth. “But you were there before I woke up. What happened to it?”

Troth searched her mind. “When you got here, your condition was so bad that we needed to work on you immediately, but after you were successfully fixed up . . . Emperor Contume came by.”

“It’s still here. I know it is. I’m staying to find out for sure.”

Cozy didn’t waste time, opening the door slowly to make sure the coast was clear. She listened for a moment, the empty silence informing her whether or not it was safe. Finally, she beckoned for Troth to come closer and the two pegasi left the barely lit room to submerge into the darkness.

“Travel slowly,” whispered Cozy. “It’s difficult to see if you’re going to crash into something like a desk.”

“Or a big flower pot,” Troth whispered back. “These kinds of hallways are filled with them.”

Cozy took note of that as she traveled slowly through the hallway. According to Lenia, the room they were looking for was just at the end of this hallway, probably right in front of the visible window in the distance. Although their destination was close, the speed the two ponies were traveling at was making the walk feel like forever, causing Cozy to subconsciously move faster in the darkness. Her impatience proved to be her demise when she knocked into another table-like object, knocking it over at an angle.

The sound of a small but heavy object sliding down the table set Cozy in a panic. Immediately, she dove down to catch it in her arms to prevent it from hitting the floor, using her ears to guide her in the darkness.

She felt around the cold object in her hoof, trying to identify what it was, but ultimately coming to the conclusion that it was a mini flower pot.

The guards here sure love their scenery, Cozy thought to herself.

“Phew,” Troth sighed. “That was close.”

As if on cue, the sound of a door in the hallway opened in the distance, startling Cozy. The salmon-colored filly held onto the flowerpot, worried that it would give away her position if she clunked it against the ground. She looked around desperately, trying to look for a door, but through the lack of light throughout the hallway, she was unsuccessful in her attempts. Down to her last resort, she hugged the floor, hoping her blacksuit would camouflage her.

The sound of feathers flapped through the air. Cozy held her breath in hopes that whoever was there would pass right on by, but the sound of the feathers stopped right in front of her.

“What are you doing?” a familiar male voice asked. “Finally reduced to making friends with plants?”

“Candid!” Troth cheered quietly. “You’re still not caught.”

Cozy looked up to meet the griffon’s eyes. Although still difficult to see completely, there was just enough light for her to recognize him. No matter how rude he was, she was happy to see him instead of a guard ready to ruin her night.

Candid lightly smiled for a moment at Troth until his eyes returned to Cozy in an angered tone. “Did you even think this mission through before you came here?”

Cozy looked back at Candid slightly ashamed, but Candid continued.

“Because of you, Opul and Droll got caught.”

“Lenia was also caught,” Troth added.

Candid furiously widened his eyes further. “You got everyone captured? Are you kidding me?”

“I-I tried my best . . .” Cozy began.

“Well you’re best wasn’t good enough if it meant that not everyone was going to be safe.”

“Hey!” Cozy exclaimed, sick of the griffon’s attacks. “I’m not just doing this for me. I’m doing this for everyone here who’s lost something. So maybe a little gratitude!”

Candid widened his eyes and looked around. “Cozy, shutup.”

Too late. Another door sounded.

“Now look what you’ve done.” Candid quickly flew to the ceiling to hide.

The two ponies, in a panic, looked for their hiding places. Cozy flew over to the table she knocked over, hiding under the angled side to shield her from any guard’s eyes. Troth examined her surroundings, finding one of the big flowerpots to hide behind. Under different circumstances, there would have been no way it would have disguised her, but in a dark hallway, there was a slight chance it would work.

Cozy raised her head slightly over the table, looking into the distance to where the window was. Through the moonlight that shone into the hallway, Candid’s tailed from above flicked in the beam.

From ahead of her, the sight of a nightguard fully covered in armor appeared brightly in the hallway. He turned towards the direction of Troth and Cozy, knowing fully well that he heard something. From the flowerpot close to Cozy, Troth’s breathing grew louder as she became more nervous. The sound made the guard focus his attention specifically at Troth’s hiding place, baring his spear in his hooves as he got closer.

Cozy covered her mouth to ensure that none of her panic became audible. Her blood rushed throughout her body, heating up her arms and making the flowerpot in her hooves grow warmer. She watched in fear as the guard inched closer and closer to Troth’s hiding place.

She recalled the guilt she had upon not being able to save Lenia from being caught. She was fully aware that the guilt would be even worse if Troth was taken from her as well.

Through her brainstorm of thinking what to do, her eyes landed back on the small flowerpot in her hooves. No, I couldn’t. Cozy looked back to the guard who was almost at the flowerpot, tilting his head at the sound of Troth’s short breaths.

Cozy glanced back at the window where Candid’s tail was still hanging in the moonlight, motionless and practically invisible. The filly’s eyes returned to the guard who was now readying his spear for attack.

She was beginning to think she wasn’t capable of doing this and that it wasn’t right until the third rule echoed in her head. Put your own safety above others. Cozy just knew that this applied to Troth as well.

Finally, Cozy steadied her breath for accuracy before launching the flowerpot through the air in the direction of the window. It hit the wall next to the window with a loud CRASH, immediately alerting the guard’s attention to it.

“Hey!” the guard exclaimed, rushing over to the place of the crash.

Candid’s tail elevated out of the beam of light to be replaced by Candid himself, flying proudly in the sight of the guard. “Catch me if you can.”

With that note, he rushed down the hallway with speed so immense that its wind knocked the guard off balance for a moment before he regained his composure to chase Candid down.

Troth and Cozy waited for a long period of time, expecting more guards to arrive, but the two were completely left alone. Finally, Cozy took a deep breath and the two pegasi emerged from their hiding places.

“Oh no. Candid is caught,” Troth worried, staring down the hallway to where Candid flew through.

“Who hides with their tail in plain view?” Cozy said.

“I hope he’s okay. Who knows what the guards will do to him when they catch him.”

“We’d better go before we end up the same way.”

Troth turned her attention to Cozy. “We can’t go without you getting your rook back.”

“I will get it back, but you should go before more guards show up.”

Troth shrunk back as if offended. “I’m not leaving you. I stayed to help you.”

“Troth, if you wanted to help me, you’d leave as to not risk us getting caught.”

The pale pegasus opened her mouth, but no words came out. She instead just stared in protest, not knowing what to say.

Cozy traveled to the window Candid had been hiding at, opening it up and gesturing for Troth to leave. “The room is right here anyway. I’ll be out soon. Don’t worry.”

Troth stared as Cozy, trying to make arguments as to why she couldn’t leave but only made incoherents forms of speech instead. Finally, she gave in, letting her head drop as she hopped onto the window sill. “Meet me back at the hospital when you’re done.” And with that, she flew off into the night.

Cozy sighed in relief before turning around at the door opposite the window. This is where Lenia told me to go. She marched through, opening the door carefully as to not make much noise.

When she finally caught sight of the room’s contents, her jaw dropped. The room, partially lit by nightlights around the space, had shelves of countless items stolen by non ponies with a massive overstock unit in the center. She didn’t have time to lament though. Basically all of the others had been caught except for Troth whom she saved from having the same fate.

She began looking, sorting through each of the items starting with the ones on the shelves. It wasn’t long before her eyes landed on something pink in the center of one shelf: the paddleball game. This must be the one Lenia was talking about, Cozy thought to herself. The one Candid didn’t want anypony to know about. For a brief moment, Cozy considered taking it to give to Candid, but one last check of her last conversation with him made her reject the thought. He does not deserve this back.

Cozy continued looking through the storage room, making her way to the back of it to where another entrance to the room was. After a while of searching, Cozy found it. Standing tall was the castle she had so dearly longed for, lit up over a light as if on display, lighting up Cozy’s eyes along with it. Cozy’s smile widened at the sight before her expression was replaced by fear from the door closest to her opening.

Instinctively, Cozy dove down close to the clutter quietly as to not be heard while the sound of heavy hoofsteps got closer and closer to her location. The fear of getting caught did not outweigh the pleasures of success though, tempting Cozy to look up to where her rook stood. It was right there, waiting for her, mocking her with its vulnerability.

Finally, Cozy could not take it anymore. She reached her hoof up to the rook to reclaim her trophy, but immediately as her hoof touched the rook, a yellow aura encircled it, causing Cozy to recoil her hoof back and cover her eyes from the sudden brightness. The chess piece left her sight as did her hope. When she heard the sound of hoosteps retreating, she peeked over the clutter to see the royally dressed unicorn exiting the room.

As Contume left, Cozy’s breath grew violently with more rage than fear. Being too powerless to get something that was right in her grasp was simply too much for her to just shrug off.

Cozy flew up out of the clutter to fly to the direction of the door she came from. Before she could exit, her eyes caught on the pink paddleball again, this time, letting it tempt her. Maybe his help would be good in the future. Cozy nodded at the thought, believing it to be true as she took the paddle off the shelf.

Cozy flew back to the window that she dismissed Troth from. I’m supposed to meet with this tyrant tomorrow, Cozy thought as she flew out the window, closing it behind her. I hope he’ll still have what’s mine.

Comments

[My Sister Tia]

I have not read it, but have added it to multiple suitable groups.

[Shadow Spector]

10083793
Thank you so much! This means a lot to me.

[My Sister Tia]

10083805
You're welcome!

[Mica]

I appreciate the clarity in your writing. Cozy Glow being an orphan is an interesting idea, although I do find the dialog a bit predictable and the plot a little cliche (at least in the first two chapters).

But you've piqued my interest. I'll read more of this when I have time.

[Shadow Spector]

10083902
Thank you so much for reading. Perhaps maybe the first excerpt might have a few predictable moments, but I am confident that the plot for the rest of the story is not so predictable based off the first two excerpts. Regardless, I do hope you enjoy reading and have Cozy Glow's character make a bit more sense to you.