Glowing in Everglow

by Darkmoon9

Chapter 11: The Rook of Taralos

Diary of Valentine
My time in the dungeons of Taralos had been a living hell. I had been living the high life on the money stolen from the many mares I seduced and exploited. I was even of a high rank among the Cult of Chaos, worshippers of the Unspoken, the God of Chaos. But now I had been reduced to being confined to this cell, eating stale bread. The only news of the outside world being what I gleaned from other prisoners and the guards.

I have heard rumours that the group of adventurers who captured me had all their members knighted, Cozy Glow, their groups leader had been promoted to the leader of a knightely order, the Defenders of Taralos. This boiled my blood even thinking about it. I swore that if I ever got out of this place, I would have my revenge against the people who put me in here. Especially that orange unicorn I got into a fight within the lair of the Forge Cats.

One day I was visited in my cell, the visitor was a pony, and it must have been a high-ranking one, as he ordered the other guards to get out so I could speak with him in private. He pulled back the hood that had obscured his face once we were alone, revealing a familiar face. It was the same unicorn who was part of the group that had arrested me, I could recognize his grey coat, orderly black mane and piercing green eyes anywhere. I asked him:

"What do you want?"

The pony chuckled, his green eyes staring intensely into my soul:

"Well, I am here to grant you your freedom, as long as you perform a favor for me in return."

I was immediately suspicious, favors like this was not granted without a string attached.

"Other than my freedom, whats in it for me? Do I get to kill the pesky ponies who put me in this awful place?" I told the unicorn. He explained everything to.me calmly:

"Oh, you will have your revenge, I have arranged for you to become the leader of the Cult of Chaos. The only thing I ask of you in return is to command your followers to restore the Temple of Chaos in the Forest of Dreams. This will spread chaos across Taralos and the Defenders of Taralos will be sent to respond to the threat. When they do so, kill them. As for their leader, Cozy Glow, I have great plans in store for her, she will not be present among them, neither will I for that matter."

Realizing that this pony was going to hand me everything I wanted on a silver platter, I accepted the deal. He opened the door to my cell and handed my a potion of invisibility. Now everything was suddenly going my way.

Diary of Cozy Glow

After the defeat of the Gnoll King and the end of what colloquially became known as the Gem Gnoll War among the people of Taralos, the kingdom entered an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity. The horn of Prince Shining Horn was "found" among the belongings of the Gnoll King, leading to Queen Regent Scarlet Lance stepping down, the coronation of King Shining Horn taking place just a month after the end of the war. It seemed like Scarlet Lance kept her word of stepping down for her brother once the war was over after all. It was a shame, as Scarlet Lance was a much stronger monarch than Shining Horn. For my role in the defeat of the Gnoll King, I was invited into the inner circle of the King's advisors.

I did sense an opportunity, for Shining Horn was without a romantic partner, if I could manipulate him into marrying me that was a pathway for me to become Queen. I did attempt to woo him, starting by accompanying him during his walks in the palace garden, casually talking to him. He was quite curious about my life and how I had contributed to beating the gnolls. Most of what I told him were lies, keeping my dark past and the true reason his horn was stolen hidden.

Shining Horn told me some very interesting facts about his family history. His father, the former King Greybeard had recently passed away due to what most assumed was an illness. He had been sick for years before his demise, which was why he wanted to step down and give the throne to his son, this was around the same time me and Sunset first showed up in Taralos.
Yet his sister suspected their father might have been poisoned. For a couple of years before our arrival, the Old King's brother, Prince Swiftblade had attempted a coup against his brother and been banished from the kingdom as a result. Scarlet Lance suspected an agent of Prince Swiftblade was responsible for the death of Greybeard. I had to agree with Scarlet Lance, the entire situation did sound suspect.

With time I think Shining Horn started to take a liking to me as we got to know each other. Shining Horn talked a lot about his beliefs, that we could unite the different tribes under one banner with diplomacy, and that he was hoping to avoid conflict with the Gem Gnolls through a peace offering. He was very naive in my eyes, but sincere, which was sort of admirable. The King still valued my more pragmatic advice, and he said he really appreciated how I convinced most of the Turves Clans to accept the alliance.

However, when I finally made my move, asking the King if he wanted to get more... intimate... in our relationship. He just told me:

"I am honored you would ask, Dame Cozy Glow, but I have already been engaged to Morning Rose. She is a mare from from one of the most powerful noble houses in Taralos, our future marriage will strengthening the connection between our families. While you have done alot for Taralos Cozy and your noble title is more than earned, you simply don't have the pedigree of the more established houses. Plus, you are a pegasus, the other noble houses would never accept their King being married to anypony other a high-class unicorn. I am truly sorry, but I am more than willing to have you as a friend Cozy"

While his answer was disappointing, seems another path to power had run into an obstruction, I did see the value of having the King himself as a friend. And I had to admit part of me genuinely cared for him. That floozy he was engaged to on the other hoof...

The ties between Taralos and the Turves Tribes that had participated in the final battle against the Gnoll King continued to strengthen over the following years. Night's Blessing continued to visit Vil for diplomatic meetings, we spent some time together as friends throughout these visits. She told me about how her union with Dawn Rising had brought their clans together like never before. The Black Hooves and the Red Rocks were almost like a single clan, but their closeness had made the other clans nervous.

I heard from Sunset that she joined the Temple of the Sun Queen, becoming a preacher to spread her word of forgiveness and redemption. Twilight didn't interact with me much, word on the street was that she spent most of her time searching in vain for a spell that could penetrate the barriers between dimensions so that she could go home. Whenever Twilight intended to bring me with her as a prisoner or leave me be in this world I did not know. I would never allow her to take me back alive, I would rather die than to return to a statue.

The King would soon get married to Morning Rose, their union producing a son.

During one of the many visits of Night's Blessing, while spending time gossiping back in the room I aquired at the palace during one late evening. I suddenly heard a knock on the door. I told Night's Blessing to wait while I answered the door. It was Cipher, telling me he wanted to speak to me in private. Sensing a matter of great importance, I asked Night's Blessing to wait out in the hallway. Cipher immediately approached me and whispered in my hear:

"I see you have been getting close with King Shining Horn. That will serve our purpose quite well. A path has been cleared to make you the Queen of Taralos. There is just one thing left for you to do."

I asked him about whatever that one thing might be, Cipher handed me a vial containing a strange black liquid.

"Sneak into the Kings bedchamber at night and pour this liquid into the mouths of the King, his wife and their newborn child. The guards trust you and they will let you in. After their deaths, only Scarlet Lance stands between you and ultimate power."

I had to admit the offer was tempting. Yet thinking of the time I had spent with Shining Horn, something didn't sit right with me. Plus, there was something else that was off here. Shining Horn had told me the elite of Taralos would never accept a pegasus ruler, especially not one who didn't come from the established noble families. And how exactly would I get away with such a blatant murder? No, there was something fishy about this. Cipher clearly had his own agenda. He did not want to establish me as Queen, he was working for someone else, and he was using me as a pawn to get the royal family out of the way. I remembered what Shining Horn said about there being an agent in their midst working for Prince Swiftblade, I think I found him.

"You have no intention of making me Queen do you Cipher? I am only a disposable pawn in your game ain't I? The one you truly want on the throne is the Kings uncle, Prince Swiftblade, isn't it?"

Cipher gave me a sadistically cruel smile, his true insectoid eyes being momentarily visible. He held his dagger against my throat using the telekinesis from his horn in a threatening manner.

"Very smart Cozy, no, I do not have any intention of making you a monarch and I never did. Swiftblade is far more worthy of that position than you can ever be. Only a pony of royal blood can hope to hold on to the throne after all. And you my friend is not of royal blood. Nevertheless, you will do what I say, or I will slit your throat where you stand.”

Even with the dagger against my throat. I tried to take time to analyze the situation: The king was in check by an enemy bishop, there were no ways out of the check, except one. It was time to castle, but this move would end up with the rook being taken. Fortunately, reality was not like chess, there was room for uncertainty. If I did what Cipher wanted, I would be truly screwed, the guards would know who was responsible and I would be found guilty of regicide. Who knew what kind of punishment would be inflicted upon me for that. Perhaps even worse than my stone imprisonment back in Equestria. No, however dangerous it seemed, the other option was better.

First, I needed to get his knife off my throat, so I told, Cipher:

"Fine, I will do it."

This was enough for him to relax the pressure against my throat. I took the opportunity get away from him and to scream for help as loud as I could, hoping that Night's Blessing was still lurking somewhere out of the corridor. In response, Cipher lunged at me with his dagger, I tried my best to dodge it, but he plunged it deep into my back. The world suddenly became blurry as I felt a sting of pain. Just before the world went black, I could see Night's Blessing rush into the room, engaging Cipher in combat, just before Cipher cast an invisibility spell on himself and disappeared.

When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on my own bed, a unicorn's glowing horn pressed up against my wounded back. I opened my eyes and saw Sunset at work patching up my wounds, together with Night's Blessing by her side.

"You are lucky to be alive, if Night's Blessing didn't stem the bleeding and rushed to get me immediately you would have bled out on the floor" Sunset told me.

I wasted no time telling them exactly what happened, holding nothing back. No more lies, not with those two at the very least, because they were my best friends in the whole world. I told them to immediately inform the guards to be wary of an assassination attempt from Cipher, and to immediately wake up the royal family.

Sunset leaned over me with a smile on her face and said:

"You did the right thing Cozy; I am proud of you. Just wait until I tell Twilight about the sacrifice you made here tonight. You just proved without a shadow of a doubt she was wrong about you. You just took a dagger to your back to protect the King, that’s downright heroic."

Night's Blessing rushed to warn the guards about Cipher while Sunset remained by my side. Eventually guards came back to me and said they searched the entire palace without finding a trace of Cipher. Yet they would make sure no one made it into the royal family's bedchambers, invisible or not, until the crisis was over, and Cipher was apprehended.

Fearing Cipher lurking in every shadow, I asked Night's Blessing to sleep in the same room as me for the next couple of nights. Yet despite the presence of a dear friend, I slept uneasily, and when I did sleep, I only had nightmares.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

11556625
So what you're saying is she not a filly? Are there any major characters in this story who are fillies?

[Darkmoon9]

11576587
To explain this the best I can, the Defenders of Taralos is a military organization and probably wouldn't hire super young fillies for dangerous missions. That being said, there is one set characters around Cozy's age (primarily Cipher and Night's Blessing), and another set which are older (Sunset, Twilight, Silverwing and Shadow Chaser). As for Cozy I kind of made the assumption that she was around 11 or 12 when Friendship is Magic Season 8 and 9 took place, her being around 16 when Sunset released her from stone, 17 during the Gem Gnoll War and 23 after the time skip in the latest chapter. Cipher and Night's Blessing around the same age as Cozy during the same time period with only a year or so apart. So if you would consider Cozy at 16 at the start of this story a filly, then yes, otherwise, no. I hope this answer was informative.