Summer Sun Scavenger

by AizakkuHorooee

Act 1

At the foyer, Cozy Glow, Spike and I see Twilight and her friends coming up stop.

“Aita? Cozy Glow? You’re going too?” I nod at Twilight. “But I thought George and Kevin were going to watch over you two.”

“Well they did say to spend more time with you,” I reply. “Can’t do that while you’re gone.”

“But that was ten months ago. Surely you should be feeling all better by now, Aita.”

Cozy Glow realizes what I was trying to do and flies up to Twilight. “I wouldn’t worry about it. We just wanted to see the sun rise just like everypony else. We decided to have a little fun while we waited.”

Wow! Cozy is WAY better at this than I am. Could that’ve been from lobbying the Happy Foals school board last year?

Twilight grins. “Oh, okay. I’m sure you two will be safe, playing in the castle. Hope it goes well.” When she and her friends leave, she looks back at Spike, who is staying with us. “Aren’t you coming, Spike?”

“I’ll catch up in a bit. You guys go ahead.”

And with that, Twilight and her friends close the door, leaving me and Cozy with Spike.

“Wow, Cozy, I don’t think I’ve seen anypony so talented at that,” I remark.

Cozy wraps her hoof around me. “I couldn’t just sit there and let one of my best friends spill the beans on accident, ironic as it may seem. If you need a secret kept safe, I’m your filly, Aita.”

Something about what Cozy said was a bit off to me. I might want to talk to Spike about it. I also realize something else. I could still be called by the map one more time before I become more than just the Sibling Supreme.

“I just realized,” I tell her. “that the map uses the stylus for my DS to call me. I might need that in case that happens.”

“You mean that plastic brick you had back in LOLO?” She’s correct in her description at least, so I nod getting her to run off to my room. “You can count on me!”

I turn to Spike. “Is something wrong, Aita?” he asks me.

“Spike, something about Cozy’s comment didn’t sit right. Would you agree?”

“Eh, I guess I can see where you’re coming from. You should’ve witnessed first hoof how our friends treated me when I first went to the dragon lands.”

“Oh, I remember seeing that.” I momentarily mimic Spike. “WADDLE?!? UUUGGGHHH!!!”

Spike giggles a bit. “Hey, that was pretty good. Maybe that’s what Cozy was talking about.”

I cock my upper eyelids. “Come again?”

“You do such good impressions of our friends, it’d be crazy to think you’d need somepony to keep the scavenger hunt a secret. She must’ve seen your impressions at some point, right?” I nod yes. “There you go. Just let me know if she makes you feel uncomfortable again. I got your back.”

“Thanks, Spike,” I tell him, hugging him. “Maybe it was just my imagination.”

When the two of us finish, I grab a nearby saddlebag in time for Cozy to return with my DS.

“Okay you two, ready?”

Spike and I nod as I put the DS into the saddlebag. I then grab Cozy and Spike and teleport out with them.

---

In Canterlot, it turns out Spike, Aita and Cozy Glow decided to meet me and my friends in Canterlot. While my friends are preparing for the celebration, I’m at the same room I stayed during my first ever royal duties, currently going over - pretty cleanly might I add - the list of responsibilities I have in order to perform the Summer Sun Celebration. Keeping me company are of course, Aita, Spike and Cozy.

Celestia and Luna open the room door. “Sorry to interrupt,” Celestia greets. “We know you’re busy planning the Summer Sun Celebration as we requested, but…”

They suddenly notice the atmosphere in the room and the accompanying organization compared to how it used to be years ago when I stayed.

“Oh!” Luna lightly exclaims as she and Celestia approach me. “Things seem, uh, calmer than we would’ve expected.”

“No complaints here,” notes Spike, alongside Aita and Cozy, as he’s reading his comic.

I turn and face the princesses, still subconsciously going through a checklist on-magic. “Without exception, I’ve made a lot of progress since adopting Aita, possibly even more so by this point than if I didn’t. You may not know this about me, but I used to freak out.” The sisters look at each other in confusion. “That was a joke. I wanted to show you with the Summer Sun Celebration how much I’ve improved. So I’ve focused on delegating and trusting others. It’s been great!”

“That’s actually what we came to talk to you about. This may be the last Summer Sun Celebration you’ll need to plan,” Luna reluctantly explains.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask.

“Of course not,” replies Celestia. “It’s just that the celebration has always been about us: my defeat of Luna…”

“And thanks to you and your friends, my reunion with my sister.”

“Now that we’re leaving, we don’t see a need for the holiday any longer,” Celestia further explains.

“Now that you’re…” I start.

“My sister and I have decided,” says Celestia. “the time for us to retire is upon us. You and your friends have proven you are ready to lead Equestria. So let this be the last Summer Sun Celebration, as Equestria leaves behind the old to embrace the new.”

Luna floats an amulet imbued with their magic to me, which I take. I gulp in slight nervousness.

---

At night, Cozy Glow, Spike and I are the first ones at the hall in front of the throne room. When Twilight left her room, Spike received a letter from Shining Armor, telling us to meet at the throne room and that his key will be in front of the doors.

When Cozy and I start for the doors, I notice Spike isn’t doing the same.

“Um, aren’t you coming?” I ask.

“I wish I could, but I still have to help Twilight and our friends. You and Cozy weren’t planned to be here like I was.”

“But you do promise to keep this hunt a secret, right Spike?”

Spike nods at Cozy, so I turn around and see Shining Armor’s medal, which I take and press onto the detector to open the throne room door. When I see Shining Armor, he motions for me to close the door after we walk in before Twilight and her friends see us.

Shining Armor grins. “So, you brought at least one of your teammates, Aita. Where’s Spike?”

“He had to help your sister prepare the festival,” Cozy explains.

“I just hope he keeps this scavenger hunt a secret. But for now, you two can play it. On the throne is the first clue, but don’t read it until I head for the final destination.”

So, Shining Armor begins marching out of the throne room, retrieving his key from us. He opens the door with it and walks out. Once the door’s closed, I walk to the throne and float the note he pointed out to us to me.

“Welcome to your first hunt, sis. I hope you’ll be enjoying this. Your school basement uses ink, so press onward once you think. Hm… Shining Armor’s referring to the Foal Free Press, which uses a printer. And ink in printers typically comes in carts. Cozy, would you happen to know if there’s a hardware store around here?”

“I don’t know,” Cozy replies.

“Okay then. Why don’t I snap us out and we’ll start looking.”

I slide the paper under Celestia’s throne and teleport us to the front of the castle.

---

It isn’t too long after subconsciously noticing Shining Armor that me and my friends gather around in front of the throne room. I am still holding the amulet Luna gave me, still a little nervous about the new stakes of the celebration, and the bulletin board I used earlier is still with me.

“My goodness!” Rarity exclaims. “How are you feeling about all this?”

I smile reassuringly. “I’m actually fine. But if this is gonna be the last Summer Sun Celebration, I want to make sure it’s the best celebration ever. So even though everything was done, I thought of a few last minute changes I could use your help with.”

I teleport out the amulet during my announcement.

Oh! The end of a beloved holiday, Sibling Supreme and her friend running around the castle, last minute changes to a celebration? Discord is revealed to be the new voice around here as he teleports in. “That sounds positively CHAOTIC!!!”

“What are YOU doin’ here?” Applejack asks in aggravation.

“I’ve known Celestia and Luna longer than any of you. I terrorized them, they turned me into stone.” Discord suddenly changes his composition into stone and crumbles to the floor. “If this is the last Summer Sun Situation, I simply can’t miss it.” Now he returns to normal. “Well, I see I’ve arrived just in time for the ‘Twilight gives her friends an impossibly long and overly detailed list’ predicament.”

I beam at him, knowing how behind he seems to be in perception of me. “I guess some draconequus isn’t the know-it-all he thinks he is.” I proceed to float six small cards to my friends, who seem to be pleasantly surprised that.

“Huh. I thought not freaking out about ruling Equestria was a fluke,” Rainbow Dash remarks. “Has Aita seriously had such a positive effect on you?”

I nod. “No more crazy lists. No more freaking out. With your help, I know we’ve got this.”

Discord groans. “Character growth is so boring. Do I at least get that restraining order cleared? Or my own note card?”

“Look, I know you’re mad about not being able to hang out with Aita like the rest of us. But Celestia has control over that, not me, Chrysalis or even Luna. But, at your request…” I float a white card our of the file pocket on the bulletin board, write a short message on it, and send it over to Discord. “There. Now I need to go rewrite my speech, but if you all look at your cards, you’ll see ALL the changes I’ve enlisted you to make.”

Discord sighs as I head for the throne room. “Alright. I guess there was a reason you were picked by Celestia and Luna to raise the sun this final year, just as I did keeping Aita safe last summer.”

I turn to him and nod. “Of course, and I appreciate that you did, Discord; really I do. Once the princesses retire, I promise I’ll do what I can so that you two can see each other whenever you want again.”

So, my friends wave to me as I finally head into the throne room to begin the rewrite. However, I see a stack a papers behind Celestia’s throne. I fly over to investigate, only to see one square inch of paper jutting out of the front of the throne on the bottom. I float it out and begin reading it.

Welcome to your first hunt, sis.
I hope you’ll be enjoying this.
Your school basement uses ink,
so press onward once you think.

Looking at the hornwriting, it seems to be from Shining Armor. Reading that first line, I gasp, knowing exactly what’s going on. “Aita and Cozy Glow are on a scavenger hunt by Shining Armor?!?”

Suddenly, I hear a few honks around in the room. Right, Shining Armor employed geese to guard the throne room. I better watch my volume in here.

“I’ve got to tell my friends about this,” I say to myself, leaving the throne room. “The rewrite can wait. This is too important to ignore.”

I’ll also have to find out for sure if Shining Armor is responsible for Cozy and Aita lying.

Comments

[MatTheBook]

Cozy Glow

Huh???

[AizakkuHorooee]

11522549
This is a fic in the The Lost Changeling series. A slightly earlier installment ended up redeeming Cozy Glow due to a friendship mission.