Second Chances

by Mediocre Morsov

11

Cozy Glow fell before the figure before her, panting in exhaustion. Her Wonderbolt uniform was tattered, burning at frayed edges. Her wings were broken, her feathers and fur singed. Black flames guttered along the fabric, stabbing into her with a pain that was colder than the Crystal Empire's darkest winter, yet hotter than the lava pits of Tartarus. The filly struggled to continue resisting, looking around for help. It was fruitless.

Everyone was gone. She'd failed them all.

"Cozy Glow," the figure cooed, a demon of shadow with two voices. One was slick and vile, raw with primordial power; the other was a filly's voice, cruel and vainglorious, and painfully familiar. The figure materialized fully, her form no longer obscured by the flames of the School of Friendship. It was a mare, an alicorn. Suddenly it was obvious why the voice was familiar.

The alicorn was her.

"Why do you continue to resist?" the evil Cozy asked, smirking at her smaller self. "I mean, come on! You used to be so ambitious, so ruthless! You're still filled with all those desires, still filled with your lust for power, but you suppress it. You deny yourself, bottling it up, and with it all the negative emotions you've accrued."

"What are you?" Cozy asked, actively ignoring her doppelganger's biting comments.

"I'm you, silly!" the alicorn gave one of Cozy's old, sickly-sweet smiles. "Gosh, don't you recognize yourself? Your true self, I mean."

"I'm not that pony anymore," Cozy challenged, standing up on uneasy legs. "How... how is this possible? I don't understand."

The alicorn opened her mouth, but she faltered, looking towards the sky. Her expression shifted from one of condescension to one of fear. Cozy looked up, but could only see the night sky filled with stars and the full moon. A part of her wondered if it had been night a moment ago or not. When she returned her attention to the alicorn, Cozy was shocked to see the creature was far more twisted, eyes like slits, fangs bared, black fire seeping from her horn like bubbling magma defying natural laws.

"I can make you powerful, Cozy," it promised, "I've done it before. I've always helped the disenfranchised, the dispossessed, the outcasts. Take what I offer, and you can be whatever you wish, be beloved by whomever you wished. No more fear of others turning you to stone, of being locked away, of being forgotten. Accept me, and I can give you the power to undo all your past wrongs. You can be a ruler, beloved by all creatures."

"No," Cozy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. The pain in her body was gone, and the fires were out. Her uniform was intact. The night air was cool and refreshing, like a balm for her soul. "I... I've seen you before. This isn't the first time we've done this."

The demon was almost entirely shadow when she saw it again.

"You think you're the only one?" it asked. "Do you think there are not others who seek power? You'd be surprised how close they are..."

"LEAVE THIS PLACE!" a booming voice like a thunderclap turned the figure into wisps of darkness. Cozy Glow watched as a figure she had not seen in nearly a decade descended from the night sky, a radiant mare of midnight blue with a mane like the night sky. The demon hissed at her. "BEGONE, WRETCH!"

Princess Luna fired a bolt of magic at the entity, banishing it from the school grounds. Cozy blinked in astonishment, stepping backwards as the new alicorn approached her. The mare bowed, then kowtowed, unable to bring herself to look up at her jailor and face the complex emotions the princess wrought in her.

"Rise, Cozy Glow," Luna commanded simply. She waited for the mare to do so before continuing. "You resisted the Nightmare."

"Was this... some kind of test?" the Wonderbolt asked before she noticed her uniform was gone. "I'm dreaming..."

"It was no test, I'm afraid," Luna explained, gravely serious. She paused to offer a half-smile. "Though, if it were, you have certainly passed. Few can resist the temptations of my oldest enemy."

"So... that thing was... what turned you into Nightmare Moon?" Cozy's eyes widened. She felt a chill crawl up her spine. "What did it want with me?"

"To make you its new vessel, evidently," Luna's lip curled in distaste. "I blame myself. I have become lax in my duties since retirement; I had hoped with the final defeat of all the major villains, the lasting peace Twilight and her friends had wrought would starve that demon. It appears it has simply been hiding... waiting..."

"For me?" the pegasus was disbelieving. "I'm nothing special, I'm just..."

"A mare with powerful negative emotions and desires," Luna gave a sympathetic look, "I know the feeling, believe me. How many times has it been visiting you?"

"A week, I think," Cozy answered as her waking memories came to her. She'd been suffering nightmares since fall break had started. Even returning to her usual routine and saying farewell to her sister, Luster Dawn, the pegasus still struggled with the nightmares.

Luna had seen the traits of the dream, the destruction that was caused, the helplessness of the mare. Even with the dream mended, the Princess of the Night could see the underlying damage from the nightmare, like scars just beneath the skin of the un-reality of the dream realm.

"It takes all you hold dear and forces you to try and save it?" she asked.

"Y-yes..." Cozy shuddered as the full weight of her memories came back to her. "I feel so powerless... I'm just a pegasus, and... and..."

"...and a former criminal," Luna finished for the other mare. "Your past actions do not define you."

"That's easy for your to say," Cozy grimaced. "You were possessed by a demon when you were a villain. No one holds you at fault. There was no excuse for me..."

"Clinging to guilt for so long is not healthy or productive, young one," Luna chided. "And you are wrong."

"Wrong?"

"I hold myself at fault," the alicorn explained, "for there is something that every creature forgets about my fall: I chose it. I was not taken over by the Nightmare by overt force, or outright deception; I was promised power in exchange for betrayal, and I accepted the terms. I embraced the darkness. I lived with the consequences for a thousand years, with only that demon as company, and for nearly my entire reign afterwards, I have done battle with that foul creature. Until Twilight's ascension to the throne." Luna paused, considering. She turned her attention back to Cozy. "You have paid for your mistakes, as I have, but more importantly, you rejected the Nightmare. All of its promises, all of its threats, all of its obfuscation and manipulation of your memories, and you have continuously rejected it for an entire week, without assistance. That takes great strength."

"I..." the mare blushed. "I... had good mentors."

"Your parents raised you well," Luna agreed with a smile. "They would be immensely proud of you, if they knew. Why didn't you tell them?"

"That I'm having nightmares?" Cozy deadpanned. "I'm an adult, I can handle it." She waited a moment before confessing. "The dreams also... the creature also talks a lot about my sister. It shows me horrible things about her, about her... potential..."

"Luster Dawn?" Luna asked, a grave expression on her face. "Why does it use her against you?"

"I don't know," Cozy shuddered, "but whenever I wake up, the same words ring through my head... 'what would you sacrifice?'"

"Sacrifice? For what?"

"I don't know," the pegasus repeated. "It scares me. Do you think it will hurt my sister?"

"No," Luna assured her. "I have returned to my duties as guardian of dreams. The demon must face me before it tries to steal into others' minds. I have also noticed that Luster's mind is closed to me, that her dreams are hidden. She has found some magical means to isolate herself. If I cannot enter her dreams, then neither can the Nightmare."

"That's a relief, I guess," Cozy sighed. "I guess her self-isolation thing actually paid off, for once."

"And you were a social butterfly at her age?" Luna smirked.

"Alright, alright, fair..." Cozy chuckled, then remembered who she was dealing with. She blanched and fell to her knees. "Princess Luna, I never formally apologized-"

"Please, Cozy, do not debase yourself before me," Luna sighed. "I have watched over your progress for years, stealing glimpses into your psyche and helping alleviate stresses in your life, though you would not remember my influence in your dreams."

"Y-you have?"

"It's my duty, even if I am no longer a princess," Luna explained, "which reminds me: quit bowing!"

"Why keep watching me?" Cozy asked. "I mean, it's obvious I haven't... relapsed. Are you still worried...?"

"Fear not, Cozy Glow," Luna giggled. "I didn't watch your progress in order to pass judgment. I watched because... because I wanted you to get better."

"What?"

"I rather enjoy seeing villains reform," the alicorn explained, demonstrating as she brushed her wing over a fray in the fabric of Cozy's dream, mending it. "To see the scars heal, and the self become stronger. To repair the weave of one's character. It is a balm for my soul to see others healthy in more than just the physical sense."

"I always thought Apple Bloom and the others were blowing smoke up my flank when they said you visited their dreams," Cozy snorted before realizing how vulgar her wording had been. She blushed. "Uh, what I mean is-"

"Be at ease, Cozy," Luna giggled. "I found the euphemism quite amusing."

"Are... are the other princesses watching me, too?"

"My sister has taken to retirement with gusto," Luna gave a tiny laugh, "but she knows that I check in on all the creatures of Equestria from time to time, so occasionally she has asked after you. Increasingly, as late, considering the news of your Wonderbolt training."

"Oh... she knows about that, huh?"

"Don't be embarrassed," the Princess of the Night gave a warm smile, "it's quite an achievement. You will make an excellent addition to the team."

"You honor me, Princess," Cozy half-bowed, unsure what the proper decorum was.

"Please, call me Luna," the alicorn smiled, "and there is no need to bow, anymore. My sister and I are retired."

"I suppose you'll be leaving soon, huh?" the pegasus sighed.

"You did want to get back to sleep, didn't you?"

"Would it be... too presumptuous of me to ask if we can be friends?" Cozy blushed at how silly her question sounded. "If you wanted to, of course. I imagine you're probably too busy-"

"I rather like the idea," Luna beamed. "You know, it is rather difficult for alicorns to make friends."

"So I've been told," Cozy gave a smile at her own little joke.

The pair bid farewell and Cozy drifted into deeper sleep, forgetting herself in more pleasant dreams.

...

Luster Dawn enjoyed her dreamscape. She was always in control within the confines of her mind, having studied dream magic and lucid dreaming. She'd even learned to shield her dreams from others, a skill necessary to keep the prying eyes of the Princess of the Night from stumbling upon her research. She didn't need Luna meddling in something the alicorn would easily misunderstand.

She didn't need the rulers of Equestria trying to shut her down before she could even get started.

"Why are you hiding?" the unicorn asked. "You know I'm in control here."

"Yes," the demon hissed as it materialized from the too-dark shadows of her laboratory. It coalesced into the silhouette of an alicorn of black flame and purple eyes. "Luna is aware of my presence."

"You're a parasite," Luster chided, disgust evident in her tone, "and you have very little to offer me anymore. You're free to hide out in my dreamscape at nights. It's the least I can do for your tutelage, I suppose."

"You are an ungrateful whelp," the Nightmare hissed. "To be talked down to by a filly... I drove fear into the hearts of ponies for a thousand years!"

"Nightmare Moon did," Luster corrected with a smirk, finally looking at the creature, "not you. And she did it while banished on the moon. She did it as a legend and a fable. Without a host, you're nothing but a depository of forgotten dark magic."

"Dark magic you have a keen interest in," the Nightmare grunted. "There are still secrets left to learn."

"Which reminds me," Luster's horn glowed for a moment and the demon was entombed in stone, only its head exposed, "if you're going to be hiding here, I do expect a payment. That's how the magic works, yes? Bargaining?"

"You think this will hold me?!"

"In my mind, I am Queen!" the unicorn filly snapped, her will forcing down upon the stranger with such force the demon quailed. "Now, let's get down to brass tacks. You're nothing but a sliver of a greater whole, the manifestation of dark magic to counter the alicorns - the manifestation of harmonious magic. Correct?"

"I see you're still reading that book..." the Nightmare struggled to speak but showed no fear. "You already know this."

"I do, but it's good to start with review, isn't it?" Luster returned to her dream research, conducting experiments in the safety of her dreamscape she couldn't safely conduct in the waking world. "Now, the Alicorn Amulet is an artifact that more or less focuses the natural laws of dark magic, correct? The wearer is granted continuous great power in exchange for continuous personal sacrifice?"

"Indeed, and like all dark magic, such sacrifice is acceptable with great willpower," the Nightmare gave an ugly smirk, "which you are in no short supply of."

"Exactly. Herein lies my dilemma, however," Luster gave a sharp inhale of breath as she turned from her research to begin circling the trapped demon. "The Alicorn Amulet has been locked away in the Canterlot Vaults, which are... nigh-impregnable."

"Yes."

"So, I need to find a particularly powerful spell in order to infiltrate them without causing a lot of damage."

"Why?" the Nightmare seemed genuinely confused. "Why not simply use a host of powerful destructive spells in order to bypass the guards? Isn't your quest for power to establish dominance?"

"No!" the unicorn scowled. "I only want to master dark magic so I can show the fools around me that while, yes, there are risks, they're manageable risks. Dark magic isn't for everypony, but that doesn't mean I should be barred from it, or forced to practice some stupid friendship stuff!"

"I can see you're really working on that bitterness."

"Shut up!" Luster snapped. "I've read this book cover to cover, and I can't find any sort of infiltration spell capable of bypassing their security. I need that spell, Nightmare."

"...and in exchange, you'll let me stay here? In your mind?"

"You and I both know you're no threat to me," the filly's smirk was pure hubris. "Do you have a spell that can get me into the Vaults undetected? And out of the Vaults, too; don't monkey's paw me!"

"If the Alicorn Amulet is your wish, then yes, I can teach you a spell to attain it," the Nightmare's grin was malicious and foreboding. "Using it will cost you, however."

"The cost for such a spell?" Luster asked, impartial, unemotional, detached as a scientist.

"You will fade out of existence as you use it, moving through a shadow realm," the demon explained, "which naturally carries many risks, not least of which is that staying too long in the shadow realm is liable to make such an arrangement permanent."

"Cool, so stay too long, I'm trapped forever," Luster deadpanned. "Anything else?"

"The damned souls of those who were trapped there."

"And?"

"Possibly other shades like me, likely more powerful since you will be in their realm."

"No long-term negative effects, though?"

"Well," the Nightmare tried to shrug, "the longer you stay, the more... faded your soul becomes. It slowly eats away at your sanity and morality."

"See? Isn't this so much easier when we skip the idiotic doubletalk and nuance?" the unicorn smiled. "Just tell me what I want to know. I'll release you now. Play nice and quietly in my head, or I'll put you in a corner."

"In all the countless centuries I've existed, I've never met a filly so singularly arrogant."

"It's called self-confidence," Luster smirked. "I'm leaving now; I need to make sure my roommate wakes up on time."

"Ah yes... the filly alicorn..."

"She's off-limits," Luster's attitude became serious.

"And your sister?" the demon licked its lips.

"Is that who you've been bothering?" the unicorn narrowed her eyes. "Why? She's not a magic-user. What use does she have to you?"

"It doesn't matter now, does it? I'm grounded, apparently."

"Hey, if you want to go out and get vaporized by Princess Luna, that's your business," Luster gave a dry laugh, "but I'm waking up now."

The filly departed her dreamscape without another word, waking up refreshed and focused. She felt some trepidation at the last thing the demon had said, about her sister Cozy Glow. Why in Equestria would the Nightmare entity be bothering with a pegasus? The demon was aware that Cozy Glow wasn't an alicorn anymore, wasn't it?

None of it mattered. The demon was contained and Cozy Glow wasn't any worse off for wear - at least, not that Luster was aware of yet. If something happened to her sister, she'd make sure the demon suffered greatly for it, but until then, it was time for school and research.

Luster Dawn arose with her namesake, enjoying the sunrise for a brief moment before setting about her usual morning routine. Much later, with the help of an alarm (and a magical shock from the unicorn), Flurry Heart awoke to begin her own morning routine.

"Are you ready for another fun day of studies?" Luster asked, chipper.

"Tone it down," Flurry yawned. "Did you have good dreams, or something? I don't understand how you can wake up so refreshed each morning."

"Something like that," the unicorn smirked. "Come on, lazy bones; we're going to be late for class."

"Tragic," Flurry grumbled, groaning as Luster sped up. "Ugh! Wait up!"

The pair giggled as they went as quickly through the halls as they could without galloping. Luster felt young and lively for the first time in her short life, doing something as silly as trying not to get caught running through the halls. It was absurd. A small part of her wondered if this sort of feeling, this inexplicable joy she felt, was the price she'd have to pay one day for a greater understanding of magic. Her entire academic career, she'd assumed she'd pay the price if it was something feeble like giddy, illogical emotions, but now that she was experiencing them...

...she hoped she wouldn't have to.

Comments

[asdtroi8895]

So NMM has been targetting Cozy? Worrying, but Luster's attitude is even more so. Hopefully she can be taken down a peg before it is too late.

[Comickook]

All I can say is - wow. That was a quite-appropriately nerve-wracking chapter. But the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all wonderfully done. So Nightmare Moon is targeting Cozy? Yikes. Though I DO really appreciate Luna having Cozy's back here. And Luna and Cozy's chat was beautifully bittersweet. As for Luster, yeah, something tells me Luster will be getting in over her head sooner rather than later and will definitely need both real friends and a major humility lesson. And, I said it before and I'll say it again, she definitely reminds me way too much of how a younger Twilight WOULD be if she didn't even have Spike to keep her grounded. Maybe Twi could invite Sunset Shimmer to visit Equestria and have a chat with Luster. After all, Sunset has been there (or similar places, at least) herself.

But, anyway, very certainly looking forward to more of this.

[Wild Stallion]

Interesting. I don't know what I expected but this definitely wasn't it. I can safely say I am curious to see what comes next.

[Sephocolys]

Another beautiful chapter. Can't wait to see more! I still don't understand how people can write this good.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

Luster is setting herself up to disappoint everyone.

[ekp96pke]

This story is really well written! Amazing how the chapters flow into each other but each are separate. So easy to follow, really good pacing. Looking forward to more great work!

[Starlight Glimmer1]

10357305
Now that I think about it:

Everyone except Flurry.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

*checks metaphorical watch*

.....Wait where did this thing come from? I don’t even own one of these. *tosses metaphorical watch somewhere off-screen then leaves to get my watch*

There we go. *checks my watch*