Cozy Mark Crusadin'

by 5u0myn0n4

Chapter 9

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed Scootaloo to the clubhouse. Scootaloo rode on her scooter, and slowly dragged behind her a trunk, containing Grogar's bewitching bell.

"So we're just going to hide again?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Not for too long this time. The clubhouse is the first place our friends would try to look for us. If they're concerned, they'll come." Scootaloo said.

"Why not talk to them now? Why'd you leave before they reached any resolution?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Why'd I leave? Why'd they leave me?!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "I thought this time was going to be different, but I was wrong. Twilight and her friends have their hooves full with confronting one of their enemies, and my aunts and parents are having adult conversations without me again!"

"Scootaloo. It's not as bad as you're making it out." Sweetie Belle said. "Protecting Equestria is important. Our sisters have big responsibilities now, but they still make time for us."
"And ah'm sure yer family didn't mean to push you away. Your Aunt Holiday just needed to speak with her brother. Ah get it. It's family."

"Mmm hmm. I'm not saying either of you are wrong, but I'm just tired of being everypony's tertiary priority..." Scootaloo said.

Scootaloo may have been misreading her friends and family, but there was one pony who was tough to get nay kind of read on.

"So then, what about Cozy?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"What was she thinkin' rearing her head at yer place? Arugin' with your parents? Like who does she think she is?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yeah, Cozy acted really strange back there. I'll admit." Scootaloo said.

"Did she actually mean to stand up for you? Against common reasoning?" Sweetie Belle wondered.
"Or was that just a diversion so she could get back the bell?" Apple Bloom said.

It hit Scootaloo when she realized that there was still the chance that Cozy likely only had her own interests in mind. It wasn't something she could rule out at the time.

"Well I'm not taking any chances." Scootaloo opened the trunk, revealing Grogar's bewitching bell inside. "If she just wants this back from me, well, here it is, but she has to come get it from me."

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom's eyes widened, and the two exchanged a worried look.

"You're not going to use that thing again, are you?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"No, of course not. I learned my lesson before. Thing is, this is just to ensure that Cozy Glow has a little extra incentive to come looking for me." Scootaloo said.

"Oookay. But, be careful, Scootaloo. Remember, that thing is super powerful! And somepony could get hurt." Sweetie Belle said.
"Plus, we don't know who else might be looking for it." Apple Bloom added.

"You think she went this way?" They heard distant chatter.

The CMC turned their heads to try to see where the noise was coming from.

"Someone like... them?" Apple Bloom asked.

The CMC saw two big shadows in the distance, and they were moving closer.

"Hide!" Sweetie Belle said.

The three hid in some bushes, and surveyed the area to see who was making the ruckus. It didn't take long to see who.

"Think they're looking for the bell?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I think so." Scootaloo said, gulping.

---

Meanwhile, the mane 6 surrounded Cozy Glow, and they had many questions for her. Cozy gulped, but she was confident she could weasel her way out if she played it right.

"So, what brings you here, Cozy Glow?" Twilight asked.

"I uh... I came here to help my dear friend Scootaloo." Cozy said, smiling with a big grin.

"A likely story." Rainbow Dash said. "You, helping ponies. Pah."

"Sure you don't have any other ulterior motive?" Applejack asked. "Any secret 'destroy all magic' schemes?"

"Oh golly, no sire. No more magic destroying schemes here. I wouldn't attempt such a thing again."

"Well that's assuring." Rarity said.

"Assuming she's tellin' the truth." Applejack added.

"Now girls, if we don't give her the benefit of the doubt, how can we ever expect to earn each other's trust?" Fluttershy asked.

"Trust? She broke out of Tartarus. I say we just put her back." Rainbow Dash said.

"You want the truth? Let's just say I do have some ulterior motive." Cozy said.

*gasp*

"I mean um... you may call it "ulterior motive", but I call it, unfinished business!" Cozy said. "I mean uh... of course I meant friendship! Err... gosh this is so confusing!" Cozy exclaimed

Gosh, no one takes me serious. she thought in her head.

"Get on with it, Cozy!" the mane 6 all exclaimed together.

"Why are you here!?" Twilight asked.

"Since you all are dying to know what I'm up to." Cozy pulled out, and held a purple foal sized helmet.

"I came to give Scootaloo her helmet back, okay!" Cozy exclaimed.

"Erm... what?" Applejack asked.
"Not what I was expecting." Rainbow Dash added.

"I borrowed it from Scootaloo and lent it to Bon Bon so that her cactus wouldn't poke her while she carried it home. I felt kinda bad that I took Scootaloo's helmet without asking, so I asked Bon Bon if she was done with the helmet, to which she said yes." Cozy explained in quick succession

"That was rather... sweet of you." Fluttershy said.

"A little too sweet, perhaps." Rainbow Dash said.

"So, Bon Bon gave the helmet back to me, and thus I came so that I could trade- I mean give the helmet back, in exchange for..." Cozy's voice trailed off as she almost got a little carried away.

"In exchange for what?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"In exchange for.... ffffriendship?" Cozy said, sounding unsure.

"Hmm. That's definitely her old helmet." Rainbow Dash said.
"And it sounds like a relatively sound explanation." Fluttershy added, though sounding less confident.
"But something about 'er demeanor still reeks of double meaning..." Applejack said.

Cozy started to sweat, as the mane 6's trust in her dwindled.

The mane 6 all looked at Twilight, as she pondered, and thought about Cozy's actions.

Twilight stepped forward, and approached Cozy closer. She glared at Cozy before speaking.

"Don't think we've forgotten why we're so skeptical of everything you say, Cozy Glow. You want to know something? You're one of the most disappointing, and frustrating cases I've come across." Twilight said.

"You aced nearly every test in my School of Friendship. The only time you didn't is when you failed on purpose. You know the ropes of friendship. You know how to do favors for others. And yet you choose to use that knowledge for nefarious purposes. I showed you every reason to want to make friends, and that still wasn't enough for you. You just had to go ahead and abuse our trust. That's why we had to put you in Tartarus. It's impossible to gauge when it is you're truthful or not." Twilight ranted.

"You gave me assignments and tests, and I memorized the answers." Cozy said. "I mean, it seemed like all you needed to pass a test was good memorization, but that's not indicative of good learning. I thought the point was to learn by doing! And I did! I made my own decisions on how to make friends myself!"

"That's all well and good, but depleting the magic and trapping my friends in Tartarus is not the point of friendship!" Twilight argued.

"Well maybe magic is more trouble than it's worth!!" Cozy exclaimed.

"Yeah!? Well, you're just, I- UGH!" Twilight was getting visibly frustrated.

"Well gee, now that you spell it out that way, it sounds like I hurt your feelings." Cozy said.

"And already you've broken out of Tartarus, and now you're after the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What do you want with them exactly?!" Twilight asked.

The front door of Scootaloo's house swung open, and her parents and aunts stepped out.

"We hope we're not interrupting anything important." Mane Allgood said, interrupting their tense conversation.

"But we've reached an ultimatum." Snap Shutter said. "Scootaloo, we decided that we..."

Everypony looked around, but Scootaloo was not here.

"Where is Scootaloo?" Aunt Holiday asked.

"We thought she was outside with you guys." Rainbow Dash said.

"Nope. If she isn't out here, then..." Aunt Lofty started.

"And has anyone seen my old treasure trunk?" Snap said. "Somepony spilled the contents, and took the box. How peculiar."

Cozy thought hard. Why did a treasure trunk sound familiar? She delved into her head, and then it hit her.

I'll keep this bell here safe in a trunk or something. Scootaloo's voice echoed.

Cozy had figured it out. Scootaloo took the bewitching bell with her!

She took the bell with her again! Are you kidding me?! she thought.

Cozy bit her lips, and kept her thoughts to herself while the mane 6 chattered.

"If she's with her friends, she's probably at the clubhouse!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, we better hurry. We don't want them to wander off and get-" Twilight started, but suddenly they heard a loud sound.

*BOOM*

A loud explosion was heard from the woods. In the direction of the Crusader Clubhouse.

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
*gasp*

Everypony looked and saw fire erupt from the forest.

"SCOOTALOO!"
"APPLE BLOOM!"
"SWEETIE BELLE!"

Cries of all three fillies's names were exclaimed simultaneously.

---

Earlier:

The Crusaders hid in the bushes from the two villainous creatures. They were only vaguely familiar with them, but they were notorious to the rest of Equestria.

"We must tread with caution. That town of ponies is nearby. We mustn't create a scene that could alert them to our presence." said Lord Tirek.
"Well that's no excuse for how slow you're going. Quit stalling, and help me find that double crossing pegasus so that I can exact my revenge on that double crosser!" Queen Chrysalis said.
"She double crossed us, before we doubled crossed Grogar!" Tirek said.

The CMC hid in fear, but were also morbidly curious.

"Those must be Cozy's associates." Apple Bloom said.
"I'd hate to have to work with them." Sweetie Belle added.

Scootaloo stared at the bell. They were definitely after the object they held very close.

"If they find us with that bell, we're dead meat." Apple Bloom said. "What do we do?"
"Let's just ditch this thing and make a run for it." Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo thought, and thought deep. Inside the bell's inner resonating chamber, is where its inner power, and frequency resonated. The inside of Scootaloo's mind was much the same in a way. And inside her mind, she came up with an idea... of sorts.

"I have an idea that can get us out of this mess." Scootaloo said.

Scootaloo whispered her plan to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The fillies couldn't believe their ears as to what Scootaloo had suggested.

"That's insane!" Sweetie Belle said.
"We're not splittin' up like that!" Apple Bloom added.

"Please, you guys, just have faith in me this one time." Scootaloo said. "Just stick to the plan, and I assure us we're all going to be okay."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged worried looks. But ultimately, they agreed.

"Okay, Scootaloo. But please be careful." Apple Bloom said.
"Please be okay." Sweetie Belle said. "You mean everything to us, and we'd hate for anything to happen to you."

The CMC all nodded, and hoof bumped, and they sprung into action.

---

"Hey, you two!" one of them yelled.

The villains turned and saw Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"Is this what you're after?" Sweetie Belle asked. She held the trunk up with her magic.

"You want your magical bell of ultimate evil magic?! Well come and get it!!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"What?! How did they get their hooves on Grogar's bell?!" Tirek asked.

"That matters not. We must reclaim it before it falls into the hooves of Twilight or her friends!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

Tirek and Chrysalis growled, and started in their direction.

"And... that's our cue to run." Sweetie Belle said.

Sweetie Belle dropped the trunk, and ran with Apple Bloom. Tirek claimed the trunk, and opened it, but inside it was empty!

"A diversion!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

"A diversion for what?" Tirek asked.

“Yoo-hoo!” cried a voice. It was Scootaloo, inside the Crusader Clubhouse.

"Hey, Tirek!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"It is LORD Tirek!" he exclaimed, turning his head.

"Wait, this wasn't the plan!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "I think she was diverting us!"
"Scootaloo! What are you doing!" Apple Bloom yelled.

"You guys want the bell? Well here it is!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

Scootaloo had successfully captured the attention of Tirek and Chrysalis, and they went after her.

"SCOOTALOO!!” they both exclaimed.

Comments

[the informational dude]

I have to wonder now, are you going to rewrite the entire finale with this story, or are we just going to reimprison the villains? I doubt that even if the CMCs used the Bell that they could defeat Tirek and Chrysalis (since their magic and love could be easily drained). Also, on Grogar; is he Discord, or not? And, will this story share the same backstory for Cozy as Cozy Chronicles had It feels incomplete if we just cut it before the Finale takes place.

Just asking.

[asdtroi8895]

Great chapter! I do hope that Tirek and Chrysalis won't do anything too rash with Scootaloo and co.

"You aced nearly every test in my School of Friendship. The only time you didn't is when you failed on purpose. You know the ropes of friendship. You know how to do favors for others. And yet you choose to use that knowledge for nefarious purposes. I showed you every reason to want to make friends, and that still wasn't enough for you. You just had to go ahead and abuse our trust. That's why we had to put you in Tartarus. It's impossible to gauge when it is you're truthful or not."

Twilight sure is full of herself with that school. Funny, how that doesn't apply to the mare who had a loving father and the trust of an entire village, which she abused severely or the chaos spirit who was given a second chance only to betray they them later. They never had to send Cozy to Tartarus, they were just too lazy/unwilling to try and reform her like they did with others.

"You gave me assignments and tests, and I memorized the answers." Cozy said. "I mean, it seemed like all you needed to pass a test was good memorization, but that's not indicative of good learning."

And that is a great retort to that argument. Memorization does not equal actual learning.

[Kichi]

Well, maybe if Scootaloo become the hero that defeated Chrysalis and Tirek she could manage to stay in Ponyville

[hmaf43]

Kill off one of CMCs and turned this story into nationalism please