One Thousand Years Ago

by Scroll

Chapter 2: My Counterpart

Sunset opens a door leading into a smaller room with a whole bunch of chairs in it. There are a few windows in the back, but they are shut by shutters. There is also another window within this room but it leads to another room within this building. In that room, there is a bunch of humans in there dressed in white, apparently the uniforms for those who work here.

There are others within the room they step into. Cozy grows startled to realize she recognizes every single one of them in two different ways. Not only has she met their Equestrian counterparts, but she has some of her human counterpart's memories of interacting with most of them. Along with those memories are rich emotions that made Cozy feel all too familiar with them.

She especially has some intense feelings for the human version of Diamond Tiara sitting in this room. Cozy recalls that that older teenager has become her human counterpart's sort-of adopted sister after Diamond's mother abused and disowned her. Cozy recalls that her counterpart used to have intense but hidden feelings of hostility towards Diamond for a grave slight in the past, but it turns out Diamond was more innocent than human Cozy realized. Ever since then, their relationship proceeded far more positively.

Aside from Diamond, Cozy also recognized Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Silver Spoon in here.

Cozy blinks for a moment when it dawns on her that absolutely everyone in the waiting room is female.

Also, where is Pinkie Pie? If all the others are gathered here like this, why is Pinkie the only exception that is missing?

When they look back at Cozy, many are taken aback for a moment, probably because they thought their Cozy suddenly recovered, but then they notice that this Cozy is noticeably younger . . . for now.

“Oh,” Sweetie Belle speaks up with a crestfallen expression. “For a second there, I thought . . .” she trails off sadly, then shakes her head as she focuses on Cozy while a bright smile spreads across her face. “You must be our Cozy's Equestrian counterpart. Hi! My name is-”

“-Sweetie Belle,” Cozy interrupts her with a bit of a narrow stare at the human girl. “Yes. I recognize you.” She looks across the others. “All of you, in fact.”

“Yes. I'm quite sure that you do,” Rarity agrees from her seat as she fluffs her hair with one hand while holding a compact makeup kit in front of her face with the other hand. “Your Twilight has told us about some of your escapades as well. You've had quite the colorful little history, my dear.”

“You haven't told me,” Sweetie reminds her sister with a probing and prompting expression in her voice.

“It's nothing you need to know, My Sweet,” Rarity replies to her younger sister while carefully examining her face in her compact mirror from side to side. “Although,” Rarity gives Cozy a firm warning look, “if it does become necessary to inform you,” she says to Sweetie Belle while looking at Cozy, “then I shall do as I must.”

“I'm guessing that your past is pretty checkered and complicated as well?” Diamond guesses as she looks at Cozy. “Well, regardless of that, it's still great to finally meet you. I heard, back in Equestria, that you are a pegasus, right?”

“Yeah,” Cozy says as she crosses her arms and gives Diamond a bit of a narrow-eyed look. “What of it?”

“Oh, nothing personal,” Diamond assures as she waves Cozy off. “I actually think it sounds pretty cool. What is it like to fly up there in Equestria?”

Cozy's expression softens as she considers how to respond, then she answers, “Liberating.”

“That makes sense,” Scootaloo figures. “I heard my Equestrian counterpart is a pegasus too, but she can't fly? What gives?”

In response, Cozy just shrugs. She does not know the answer to that question, and she could care less.

“Well, regardless of all of that, we're all here,” Sunset says somewhat tiredly with an announcing tone.

“Pinkie isn't here,” Cozy observes. “I thought all of you were inseparable, especially over an issue this serious.”

“Ah yes. About that,” Applejack spoke up as she used her left thumb to push up the edge of her cowboy hat, “Pinkie stepped out for a bit ta grab us all a bite ta eat. She'll be back pronto after that.”

Looking from her older sister to Cozy, Apple Bloom adds, “We've been waitin’n in here fer like . . . forever, it feels like, and we can use ah bite ta eat ever once in a while.” She shrugs. “We humans do that on oh’casion.”

“You don't say,” Cozy replies with a slightly snide expression.

“Do you want to wait till she gets back then explain this to everyone?” human Twilight asks Sunset.

Sunset shakes her head as she says, “Nah. Most of you are here, and any one of you can pass on what I'm about to say to Pinkie whenever she shows up, but this situation is urgent so I feel I can't afford to wait too long.”

Sunset takes a moment to take a deep breath, holds it, then releases it.

“Okay,” Sunset begins. “I think I have some idea what's going on with our Cozy, but it's not something I wanted to admit earlier because, well . . .” she places a hand to her face for a moment, then drops it to the level of her neck as she goes on while looking across everyone in the room. “. . . it was kind of private, but our Cozy has come across Equestrian magic not just once, but twice. The second time, as you know, is her magic little geode crystal like this one.” Sunset pulls a necklace from under her shirt which reveals a small red crystal tied to it. “As most of you are aware, these geodes house magic from Equestria. We,” she gestures across the adults in the room, “got ours from Camp Everfree some years back, but Cozy got hers from Discord on her birthday last year.”

“Discord?” Cozy echoed with recognition. “What's that little troll up to this time?”

“Delivering on a promise, or so he claimed,” Sunset answers as she looks at Cozy. “He said that the crystal was not created by himself, but someone else from a long time ago. Someone who apparently came into contact with another crystal just like it, only that crystal housed another soul within it. A soul who came from King Sombra.” As Sunset adds that last part, she gives a meaningful look to Princess Twilight.

Princess Twilight's eyes do light up in recognition. “Oh, so you know about that,” Twilight realizes. “But that crystal housed his original soul. The one he used to have before he got corrupted by dark magic. His mind split in two, and the bad one devastated Equestrian history, but the good one . . . he was sealed in a small crystal for almost a thousand years, waiting for a chance to make amends for all that his counterpart had done.”

Sunset nods in agreement towards Princess Twilight, then goes on to say, “Exactly. Somepony from his family got a hold of that crystal then proceeded to make a duplicate of it using the magic within the gem and what Sombra taught her about crystal science.”

“I got a letter about this a few years back,” Princess Twilight informs the group, but mostly directs her attention at Sunset. “The letter claims, among many other things, that he called himself Crystal Sage by then out of shame for what his counterpart did. I've also been informed that Crystal Sage's efforts, along with everypony that wielded the crystal since then, were working to accumulate enough positive energy to help bring back the Crystal Empire, which they eventually succeeded in doing.”

Sunset nods again, then adds, “One of those wielders created another crystal for our Cozy in particular because, apparently, she had the means to travel throughout time and space. During that journey, she apparently met either a future version of our Cozy, or some splintered reality, or Celestia knows what else. She created a crystal for that Cozy then either made another or sent that one into the past to be delivered to our Cozy via Discord.”

“But what does any of this have to do with what is going on with Cozy now?” Rainbow askes with impatience.

Sunset’s eyes shift to her left sharply as she says, “I'm not sure. Maybe nothing, but I can't help but suspect that what is going through Cozy's mind right now has something to do with King Sombra.”

“The good one or the bad one?” Princess Twilight asks in sudden alarm.

“I'm not sure,” Sunset replies to the transformed alicorn. “Maybe both.

“I have a few other things I need to lay out on the table. I told you all that Cozy came into contact with Equestrian magic twice, right?” In response, most of those in the room nod at her. “Well, the first time she came into contact with it was when she stole this crystal,” she shook the one on her neck, “but our Cozy didn't know that at the time because it was hidden in a flash drive, which was needed to access my magical laptop computer, which was linked to another machine in Equestria.” She nods to Princess Twilight. “Both Twilights built that for me as a means to communicate with my Equestrian friends.”

“Which is better than creating another magical book over and over again,” human Twilight adds proudly as she adjusts her glasses. “With computers, we can transfer a lot more data back and forth as well as store a whole lot more.”

Sunset nods in agreement, then says, “Which is why you both set up that system. It's worked wonders ever since until our Cozy wrecked the portal and planted a virus on my computer which framed me for a crime that later got me arrested.” She pauses a moment to release an irritated breath, then goes on. “Anyway, moving on, Cozy unwittingly got enchanted by Equestrian magic twice during this process. Best I can figure, it allowed her to access the unconscious minds of all of Equestria. This included the past and the present. Maybe even the future.” She pauses another moment to take another deep breath, then goes on. “Well, anyway, long story short, she unwittingly pulled in the mind of a certain Dark King named King Sombra. From there, he hounded her mind for several months.”

“What?!” human Twilight asks in alarm. “Why didn't you tell me any of this if you knew?”

Sunset's right hand that was held at her neck area made a flicking motion to her right as she says, “Well, while I was in jail, I did not have much of a chance to tell you.” Her balled up hand settled on her neck area again. “Then, later on, when I did find out, the issue had already settled. That consciousness of Sombra is the real reason she went into a coma last time aside from her stroke, but a part of me that was . . . Um.” She looks down for a second, then looks across the group again. “That one is complicated to explain, but when I found out, our Cozy's consciousness had already merged with Sombra. However, he was not fueled by any emotion whatsoever. He seemed to be, but there was no true drive behind him. That was why, when his consciousness merged with her, his personality did not overwrite her despite being so, so much older than her.

“Then, as the weeks went by, Cozy's memories of Sombra's life began to deteriorate. She admitted to getting occasional flashes of his memories here and there. Every once in a while she'd see something, hear something, taste or smell something that reminded her of one of his memories. Whenever that happens, it flashes in her mind with almost perfect clarity for a moment before fading away again.”

Sunset looks at human Twilight squarely as she says, “Cozy asked me to keep this to myself. She made me promise, and I did not want to lie to her. She asked me to promise this because she felt she was going through enough complications as it was without adding this little detail, and she also didn't want to worry her friends and family.” Sunset gestures across them all. “I had to respect her wishes as long as the situation matched one condition; it had to be settled. I swore to her that I would keep this to myself as long as it did not seem to be a danger. That is why I kept my silence until now, because now it does seem like it has become a danger to her.”

“You can read minds with your magic crystal, right?” Sweetie Belle asks. “Couldn't you use it to verify your claims on Cozy?”

“I already did,” informs Sunset to Sweetie Belle before looking at Princess Twilight. “That is why I called you here. I have absolutely confirmed that Sombra's consciousness is once again responsible for her current condition, but there is a difference this time.”

“Which is?” Princess Twilight prompts.

Sunset shakes her head a bit as she says, “I don't think he's doing this on purpose, and I don't think he means to hurt Cozy. The reason why I say this is because his thoughts seem very unfocused. There is no plan or agenda whatsoever. I don't even think he's aware of his current predicament, or Cozy's for that matter. His thoughts are very disjointed. I sensed anger, sadness, duty, honor, betrayal, hope. Above all, it seems like he's searching for something, but I don't think even he knows what he's searching for.”

Leaning on the wall with her arms crossed, Applejack says, “Well, I'll certainly say this for our lil' ol' Cozy; when the courts pleaded for the insanity defense, they weren't kidding. That girl just ain't right in the head.”

“Not all of it is her fault,” Sunset insists. “Some of it had to do with the time she got touched by Equestrian magic. When that happened, that allowed her mind to contact foreign entities.”

“Why would Cozy's mind reach out to Sombra, of all ponies?” Princess Twilight wonders.

Sunset looks at pony Twilight as she shrugs and says, “I'm not totally sure, but they did have some similarities in their goals, ambitions, and tactics at one time. However, when Sombra's consciousness drew into this world, it wasn't complete, and it also got mixed with some of Cozy's memories which, in turn, modified his behavior without him even realizing it.”

“Oh my god!” human Twilight gasps as she covers her mouth with a start.

“What?” Twilight's pony self asks her in alarm.

Human Twilight hangs her head for a moment, shakes it, then looks forward as she admits, “Long ago, sometime last year, my daughter once confessed to me about having recurring nightmares about some dark entity that called himself, 'The Dark King'. She asked me if I had any knowledge about him, and I honestly replied to her no. I don't think it really occurred to me that she may have been talking about an actual entity that was hounding her.” She starts to cry which fogs up her glasses. “Oh, my darling Cozy! Please forgive me!”

“No, don't blame yourself,” pony Twilight begs her human counterpart. “You had no way of knowing what was going on with her at the time, and you certainly had no idea who Sombra was.” She looks at Sunset. “Right? He has no presence here in this world as his human counterpart?”

Sunset shakes her head. “I haven't heard of him before. Even if I did, his human self should lack magic.”

“Well, there is that, and the fact that he was born over a thousand years ago in my world,” Princess Twilight adds. “But Celestia is here, and she couldn’t have lived for over a thousand years in this world, could she?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Sunset says with a little uncertainty. “Seems a little rude, too, to just walk up and ask her how old she is.”

A fond look creeps into pony Twilight's eyes as she asks, “Oh, how is she doing here in this world? All I know about her is the fact she stepped down as principal of Canterlot.”

“I paid her a visit a little over six months ago,” Fluttershy quietly says. “Last I checked, she was enjoying her retirement along with her sister, Luna.” Fluttershy brushes a lock of pink hair off of her face and tucks it behind her left ear, then adds, “At the time, she was learning how to crochet.”

“Celestia and Luna are retired in my world as well,” Princess Twilight muses. “It's funny how closely our two worlds are different yet so substantially mirror each other at the same time.”

“In that case,” Scootaloo begins to say then looks at Cozy as she goes on, “any psychopathic demon stallions messing with your head lately?”

“What makes you think I'd need one to cause trouble?” Cozy replies darkly. Noticing some alarm pick up in the room, Cozy amends, “No. Nothing like that has happened to me.” She looks at her mother. “That said, I have met King Sombra once before.”

“You have?!” Princess Twilight asks her daughter with surprise. “When was this?”

Cozy opens her mouth in an attempt to reply until she feels this weird pulsing sensation ripple through her body. A second later all the lights in the room start flickering.

“What the . . .” Scootaloo gasps in shock as she leans forward while looking at everyone.

“What's going on?!” Sweetie Belle asks in fright. As soon as she asks, Diamond Tiara, to her left, reaches a hand to grasp Sweetie Belle's right hand with Diamond's left to comfort the other girl, and perhaps herself as well.

Blaring noise starts in the upper corner of the room. Cozy looks to that corner and notices, for the first time, some weird flat rectangular thing hanging up on the wall that displays moving pictures. Sound seems to be coming from whatever that thing is as well. In it, it issues a cacophony of noises. It sounds like many voices speaking at once. Various texts also scroll across the flat thing. What is especially curious about it is the text is in Equestrian script. Too many words are scrolling across the flat thing to read them all, and the text is also scrolling across in weird angles. Some of them are backwards. Others scroll across from down to up, up to down, or diagonally across. Some words scroll behind other words as if further in the background.

Some of the words she did happen to catch were, “I cannot forget,” “I swear I'll have my revenge!” “I need to rescue her as soon as possible,” and “She is our final hope.”

“Oh my gosh!” Silver Spoon exclaims while widening her eyes at the small rectangular thing in her hands that Cozy could not identify, but it is projecting some kind of light on Silver’s face. “Guys, whatever is wreaking havoc with all the electricity in the building is also doing something to our phones!”

“Really?” human Twilight asks, then touches the side of her glasses for a moment. She widens her eyes a moment later, then scrambles to pull out her own flat rectangular thing from her purse. She fiddles with it for a moment before popping off the back case and taking something out of it. She looks back at the light side of the flat thing, widens her eyes even further, then says, “Pulling out the batteries to our phones does not shut them off!”

“This is Cozy Glow's magic!” Sunset realizes. “Her crystal allows her to control and empower electronic devices.”

“If things keep up like this, something awful is going to happen here in the hospital!” Fluttershy declares with fright. “Like someone's life support being turned off or something.”

“We have to find that crystal, now!” human Twilight exclaims then looks at Sunset. “Do you know where it is?”

Sunset replies, “I don't.” She looks at Cozy. “But I think she does.”

“Me?!” Cozy asks in surprise. “How would I know where it is? I just got into your world, which is something I hope to keep as brief as possible.”

“You reacted to something just before all of this happened,” Sunset observes. “Admit it, you felt a magical pulse back then.”

“Is that true, Honey?” Princess Twilight asks her daughter.

“I . . . I don't know what I felt!” Cozy responds honestly. “I don't have much experience with magic.”

“You were an alicorn once before!” Princess Twilight reminds her daughter. “Did it feel anything like it did back then?”

The sound of explosions starts to emanate beyond the room. Seconds later, some of the lights above start bursting with a shower of sparks. Not only does that cause some startled screams from within this room, but several screams of panic start to pick up out of this room.

During that time, the strange noises from the flat rectangle pick up. Even more voices project from it. Some of them are screaming as well.

Princess Twilight grasps her daughter's shoulders and forces Cozy to look at her, then cries out, “Cozy, this is important! Do you think you can follow that magical pulse to its source?”

“Why would that help?” Scootaloo asks while trying to keep calm.

“Because that crystal was made to be attuned to Cozy,” Princess Twilight explains, “and this is Cozy Glow too! She might not only be able to find the crystal, but use it as well.”

Cozy's fists shake to her side as she closes her eyes and concentrates. It's so hard to concentrate with all that noise going on around her and a feeling of panic rising within her.

Until Sunset touches Cozy. Then, for some reason, the distracting noise grows far more distant. She opens her eyes and notices time seem to slow down. Colors are more muted, and so is the sound. Everything is slowed down except for herself and Sunset.

“I withdrew us partially within your mind,” Sunset explains. “From here, it's easier to focus. Now, do as your mother says and concentrate. Try to find out where the magical pulses are coming from.”

“Logic might be able to narrow it down, too,” Cozy realizes. “Take me to my other self's room. I think the crystal is in there.”

Sunset looks skeptical as she says, “I could, but Cozy is definitely not wearing the crystal within there. She is wearing a hospital gown at this moment. Her crystal can't be on her person right now.”

“Then where do these humans keep their stuff while they are in here?” Cozy asks Sunset.

A thoughtful look crosses over Sunset's face, then she says, “Follow me.”

The moment Sunset removes her hand from Cozy's shoulder, time resumes its normal pace. Colors and sounds also return to normal.

---

The journey across the hospital hallway is far more terrifying than it was earlier due to exploding devices, people running around in panic as well as scary and weird noises coming from various devices. Sometimes Cozy saw the image of a monstrous creature made of black smoke in the reflection of some of the devices. The shadows of other creatures mill about in the background. Their motion indicates an attitude of panic as well.

Cozy feels like she is in constant danger as she tries to roam across the hospital hallways. If it isn’t for the fact that Sunset currently leads Cozy by the hand, Sunset could have ended up swept up along with the others in their panic.

Doors open and shut by themselves. Lights flicker and sometimes explode. Scary images are in everything that can cause a reflection. People rush in panic. Someone is pushed over and falls to the floor from a wheelchair.

Not even Cozy can believe she is doing this, but she rips her hand away from Sunset's grasp to help that person back into the wheelchair.

“Thank you!” the elderly gentleman says to Cozy Glow in appreciation.

“Yer . . . you're welcome,” Cozy says back to the man as she blinks, feeling stunned at her own action as well as his reaction. For the life of her, she can't figure out why she did that, especially in this scary situation.

“Cozy, you've got to come with me!” Sunset urges as she pats Cozy on the shoulder. Looking up at her, Cozy notices a proud smile lighting Sunset's lips, but she also says, “If we can get to the source of all of these disturbances, we can save everyone! Now come on! Let's go!”

“This can't be happening!” a male voice crackles from a weird box thing on the upper corner of the hallway that has many tiny holes in it. The voice sounds like he's roaring in anger. “Those earth ponies will PAY for what they have done!”

“You were the only one who didn't panic when things got tough,” the same voice spoke from another device elsewhere in the hallway. Probably some portable device these humans tend to carry in their hands, Cozy figures. The voice seems far more calm during that declaration, but it is also filled with gratitude and awe. “I, meanwhile, was useless. Please . . . teach me what you know!” the voice pleaded.

Cozy can feel her heartbeat flutter with panic. So much is going around her. So much in this strange and alien world. It was bad enough when all of this was assaulting her while things worked normally, but seeing this world fall into chaos because of this magic made it feel so much worse!

Also, that voice feels strangely familiar to her. She does not know why.

“You've been more than just my loyal servant in all these years,” the same voice spoke from some other device. “You've been my loyal friend, and I can't well imagine my life without you. Wherever the sun, moon, and the stars take you . . . please be well, my friend.”

Cozy shudders. It feels like she's hearing a haunting ghost speak up from the grave.

“In here!” Sunset cries out urgently before opening up a door in the hallway. She drags Cozy into the new room right after her.

Cozy's attention lingers with all the panic in the hallway behind her, but time seems to stop again when she gazes forward and sees her counterpart lying on the hospital bed with a bunch of tubes sticking in her and a clear mask with a tube on it clinging to her face.

All at once, a vivid memory suddenly assails pony Cozy Glow.

She remembers once approaching that statue that herself, Chrysalis, and Tirek while they were trapped in stone. In the memory, she gazed upon the statue with stunned horror rising from her system.

Pony Cozy Glow . . . she's still just a little filly! Still just a child! How unbelievably cruel! Cozy's human self once thought back then.

Fifty-fifty, the inner dialog went on back then. That is the odds that this could have happened to me. Standing there, helpless. Frozen for all time. Frozen and rejected and unloved. If I was born in this world instead of my own, if fate had been just a hair off, then this would have been me instead.

But, in a way, it did happen to me. She is me, and I am her.

We are both cursed . . . together.

Cozy Glow's eyes water at the sight of this as well as the haunting memory she gained from her counterpart.

Looking at this memory from the opposite perspective, she had no idea her human counterpart ever approached that scene because, while Cozy's mind was awake and aware, she could not sense anything beyond her stone prison.

Cozy did not want to admit to anyone else how much those years inwardly broke her. She tries to act tough on the outside (or cute if she's trying to curry a favor), but inwardly . . . she knew she could never be the same pony again. Those years spent in a stone prison ensured some inner core of fear is firmly planted within her. Fear that this fate could be hers again.

Back then, she feared she'd never be free of it.

But, thanks to the antics of her counterpart, it persuaded Princess Twilight not only to give her a chance, but Tirek and Chrysalis as well, for all three had to be freed to free any of them.

Of course, after freeing them, no doubt all three of them realized that they could be trapped in stone again individually if it became necessary.

This curse was not like the curse of stone from the cockatrice. Unlike that, the victims are absolutely aware of the passage of time.

Cozy's counterpart had feared that might have been her pony self’s fate.

And now here her human self is, trapped within her own mind, just like Cozy was herself all those years ago.

“Cozy?” Sunset prompts as she touches Cozy Glow's left shoulder which, in turn, draws the transformed filly's attention up to Sunset. Upon looking at Sunset, Cozy realizes that there is a sympathetic look to Sunset's eyes, but urgency too.

“Right. The crystal,” Cozy recalls.

“Close your eyes and draw upon your inner senses,” Sunset encourages. “If it is here, you should feel the pulse getting stronger now.”

Once Cozy cooperates, she quickly realizes that Sunset is right. The magical pulse feels much stronger at this current location, and the pulses are coming more frequently too.

However, it is not coming from the direction of her human self on the bed, but it is in this room. Somewhere nearby. Somewhere . . .

She pops her eyes open then proceeds to point at a small closet tucked in one corner of the room as she confidently declares, “The magical pulses are coming from somewhere in there.”

“You sure?” Sunset checks.

Cozy nods confidently as she says, “I am sure.”

“Alright, then.” Sunset moves to investigate the closet.

As she does so, Cozy's eyes drift back to her other, slightly older, self on the bed.

“Golly . . . she really is me!” Cozy exclaims in quiet awe. “I really feel like I am her, as if that's me on the bed right now.”

“I'm sure it must feel very strange,” Sunset says as she continues her investigation of the contents in the closet which, as it turns out, is the stuff human Cozy wore before she was put into the hospital gown.

“Do you think she can hear me?” Cozy asks Sunset hopefully.

“You can try,” Sunset invites. “I checked her mind earlier. Because of the terrifying images I saw and the horrible feelings I felt, I dare not try that again. Sombra was infamous for his Fear Curse and I know, by now, that reputation is well deserved. This is partially why I haven't had a good night’s sleep in two and a half days.

“But you . . . you have a special connection with her. If anyone can get through to her, it certainly would be you.”

Cozy moves herself beside the bed of her counterpart. Once there, she clasps the left hand of her unconscious alternate self.

Memories flash through Cozy's mind again, but this time it is more simple. All those memories are about is simply having hands. It's about being born with them and never knowing anything else but them except for a couple of visits her human self made to Equestria, although one of those instances wasn't real. During that time, her human self had been annoyed at how limiting her hooves were. Human Cozy could never wrap her head around the concept of how ponies with hooves could open rounded doorknobs. It was actually one of her greatest nemeses at the time.

That first visit is what started the chain reaction that ended up getting Cozy Glow free from stone.

Tears rise to her eyes. She can hear Sunset Shimmer pause behind her when Sunset hears Cozy sniffle.

“Thank you!” Cozy says to her human counterpart with desperate gratitude. “Thank you for being brave and visiting my world. Thank you for helping my new mother change her mind about me and decide to give me another chance. I do not wish to fail you, but part of me is even afraid of myself.

“It was so awful in there in that stone prison. You have no idea . . . or perhaps you do, somehow. I remember how you felt when you gazed upon that statue. That memory you gave me is the only reason I know what I looked like back then from an outside perspective. I would have been trapped in that stone forever if you hadn't come. So few in my life honestly gave me a chance.”

Based on the lack of creaking from Sunset Shimmer's leather jacket, it sounds like the older woman still isn't moving yet. Probably listening in.

“I . . . I can't tell you how much I . . .” Cozy said with a wavy voice full of overwhelming emotion. It forces her to pause for a second in an attempt to collect her wits and steady herself. Then she tries again. “I put on so many masks in my life, but you understood me. You saw beneath it all . . . for deep down, you are the same.”

From the sounds of it, Sunset resumes her search in the small closet.

“And now, it seems, it is my turn to help you out,” Cozy finishes with as much courage and resolve as she can muster.

“Got it!” Sunset cries out triumphantly. She wheels about then heads back to Cozy Glow. She reveals, in the palm of her hand, some tiny black thing that has a bit of shiny metal at one end.

“What is that?” Cozy asks.

“In my world, it's called a flash drive,” Sunset answers which wins a confused cock of Cozy's head at Sunset. To that, Sunset replies by shaking her head. “That doesn't matter. What does matter is her magic geode crystal is hidden within this. With this magic, she is able to control and recharge machines.”

“How does it work?” Cozy asks curiously.

“Here.” Sunset takes Cozy's other free hand and slaps the flash drive on Cozy's palm. Once that is done, Sunset closes her fingers around Cozy's hand to close it. “Twilight tells me you had a brief foray as an alicorn, right?”

“Yeah,” Cozy confirms.

“Do you remember how channeling that energy felt when you did it?” Sunset checks.

“A little,” Cozy says lamely. “But that was years ago . . . and I went through several traumatic experiences since then. In a way, I don't like to think about it.”

“Today you must try!” Sunset encourages. “Close your eyes and focus your mind on the energy within your hand.”

Cozy feels a bit reluctant to cooperate. Channeling magic, after all, led to her downfall last time.

But this magic is already active for some reason and it's wreaking havoc on everything within this building. She may not feel totally comfortable admitting this, but she does care about that fact.

So, accordingly, she cooperates.

“Do you feel the magic pulses coming from the geode?” Sunset checks, to which Cozy silently nods. “Good. That's a good girl. Now, what I want you to do is focus on your positive feelings. This is important, for this is required to tap into light magic.”

Cozy Glow squints at Sunset as she asks her, “You seriously want me to focus on happy thoughts?”

“Magic comes from within, Cozy!” Sunset assures as she bends over a little to be closer to eye level with the petite little teenager. “Your emotions are everything. It is fuel for the fire of magic.”

Cozy maintains her suspicious look as she counters, “I didn't need to do that when I used alicorn magic.”

“Didn't you?” Sunset counters evenly. “Are you seriously telling me you felt absolutely nothing when you used her power back then?”

Cozy's expression softens as she admits, “No, but I wasn't drawing upon happy feelings back then.” She looks corner-wise up. “Well, I take that back. I was happy.” She looks back at Sunset. “I was happy to destroy my enemies and anything standing in my way.”

Sunset droops her eyes as she theorizes, “Lord Tirek's influence in you, no doubt.”

To that, Cozy just shrugs.

“Trust me when I tell you this, Cozy!” Sunset urges. “I know what I'm talking about. I know how magic works, or at least I have a pretty good idea. There is a lot of things different about this world and its interaction with magic, but the core principles are much the same. You have to draw upon your positive feelings. Let it envelop you.”

Cozy sighs. She does not think she has this in her, but she tries. After all, there is no time to argue.

Cozy tries to focus on her positive feelings, but finds she does not know where to start. In fact, it is rather her fears that are far more available to access. The pressure she feels at this moment, the idea that people might get hurt, including the ones she needs to get back to Equestria . . .

A hand on her shoulder returns her attention back to Sunset.

“You do have some of this Cozy's memories, do you not?” Sunset checks. “Did she offer any memories which show her love of friends and family?”

Cozy doesn't say anything, but quickly realizes Sunset has a point. There are a lot of memories the other Cozy offered which reveals how and why she cared for others. Those memories are especially intense around the human version of Cozy's mother, ironically enough.

Cozy closes her eyes and focuses on those feelings. For now, she does the exact opposite of what she tried to do over all these years since receiving those memories, and that is to embrace them. Until now, Cozy had tried to reject them and push them to a distance because she was afraid it would overwhelm her. There are many in her life that had tried to get her to accept the fact that those memories are a part of her now whether she wants them to be or not. Learning to embrace them was a way to integrate and move beyond them.

But this time, since it is an emergency, she throws herself into those memories.

Vivid memories of the first time her human self got adopted, being shown her new room, being taken to the fair, having extravagant birthday parties, performing at music recitals to make her beloved mother proud . . . those memories come rushing in and filling her inner being with warmth and love.

She notices, inwardly, a glowing feeling rises from the depths of her heart. It calms her as much as it also elevates her, making her feel as if she could fly on her emotions alone.

This train of thoughts and feelings is partially disrupted with a squeeze on her shoulder. She looks up at the woman beside her that she hardly knows yet knows all too well, Sunset Shimmer, looking down at her proudly.

“You did it, Cozy Glow!” Sunset announces proudly then waves a pointing finger about to indicate the once again steady lights of the hospital, at least the lights that have not blown up by now.

Cozy smiles at them softly for about eight seconds before passing that same look back at her human counterpart.

I guess that's another one I owe you, she thinks to herself.

Comments

[asdtroi8895]

10600777
I dunno, without the sequel mark, I think people may get confused at least initially.

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10600824
if I do that, people might feel like they have to read all of the previous stories before reading this one, then take a look at the length of those stories and say, "Nah. That project is too daunting. Better to not read any of them at all." Maybe they'll post the story in "read it later" and never actually do it. New readers are especially likely to think this way, but old readers are probably eager for a sequel.

I really think that is what happened to "My Little Detour." Nobody wanted to read a sequel of a story that focuses on an OC. I realize this one doesn't have that problem, but I'm still nervous to post it as an official sequel. Even if I do, it's a sequel to several stories. Not sure if the site would allow me to post it as the sequel to multiple stories.

I am going to pay attention to the audience's reaction, though. If a lot of people agree with you, I may go back and post it as a sequel to "The Shadow Queen." This story is a follow up to that novel most of all.

[asdtroi8895]

That was an interesting explination as to what is going on. I do wonder if they plan on doing anything with Sombra once human Cozy awakens.

“You have?!” Princess Twilight asks her daughter with surprise. “When was this?”

Didn't she corrolate Sombra's return with the trio's?

Cozy did not want to admit to anyone else how much those years inwardly broke her. She tries to act tough on the outside (or cute if she's trying to curry a favor), but inwardly . . . she knew she could never be the same pony again. Those years spent in a stone prison ensured some inner core of fear is firmly planted within her. Fear that this fate could be hers again.

I wonder how much Twilight knows of this.

Sunset droops her eyes as she theorizes, “Lord Tirek's influence in you, no doubt.”

Or her past life, or the fact that she probably hated everyone or the fact that she was using a presumably evil magical artifact.

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10610179

I do wonder if they plan on doing anything with Sombra once human Cozy awakens.

They got to deal with him now. Intentionally or not, he may be in the way. preventing human Cozy from waking up. More precisely, at this point of the story, the heroes have got to find out more about what's going on.

Didn't she corrolate Sombra's return with the trio's?

The answer is no, although it is likely Twilight suspected a meeting. In this story, I wrote it in as a fact that Twilight was never able to confirm until now. She knew Triek, Cozy, and Chrysisalsis attacked Equestria together. She knew Discord was also responsible for bringing back Sombra. What Twilight did not know is if the Legion of Doom met Sombra personally or if Sombra immediately went off and did his own thing before he even met the others. According to this story, Cozy never confessed this until now. Twilight or her friends may have even asked over the years, but Cozy is a very suspicious pony by nature. She doesn't tend to be the first to reveal a secret until she really has to.

I wonder how much Twilight knows of this (about Cozy's insecurities).

Cozy can be a good actress and liar, but Twilight is very smart and, at this point, she's lived with Cozy for years. There's an overwhelming chance she knows something is wrong with Cozy. At worst, Twilight might be unaware of exactly why Cozy is upset, but she's got to know that something is wrong. Armed with at least partial knowledge of this fact, how would you predict somepony like Twilight would react? In this story, she adopted Cozy to keep a close eye on her, but what else would the Princess of Friendship attempt to do with this situation?

Or her past life, or the fact that she probably hated everyone or the fact that she was using a presumably evil magical artifact.

In the last example, I assume you mean Grogar's Bell? Cozy has proved capable of doing a lot of damage with good artifacts too. The story will address more on this issue later.

There is honestly a lot of reasons for Cozy's previous behavior. Multiple concepts have already been addressed and more over time.

Whatever the case may be, she is currently surrounded by a lot of potentially positive mentors. My aim is to make it clear that there is a lot of hope for Cozy's future now, regardless of her troubled past. For example: