An Unexpected Ally

by Kind of Brony

A New Challenger Approaches

Twilight looks down at the little filly and blinks, processing what has just been said. She's still getting into the swing of hosting her own court, but she thought she was getting the hang of hearing her subjects' requests or problems, and hashing out solutions, but this...

"Excuse me?" Twilight asks.

The filly responds in a squeaky voice, "I want to discuss the imprisonment of Cozy Glow." Her wings ruffle at her side, green and still spattered with the downy feathers of foalhood. It makes her age hard to determine, as she looks too old to still have such feathers, clashing with her confident and clear way of speaking. Her messy black mane frames a face that looks a bit too thin for what one would expect from a well fed foal, and her dark green eyes hold a weariness Twilight has only seen a few times from her mentor before Princess Luna was returned to her. She leans slightly in her throne to get a glimpse of the filly's flank, and sees a a black question mark there, so she at least isn't that young.

"Right," Twilight says, siting straight once more and looking to the side at her friend. She likes to have at least one of them present during court to serve as advisors, and today has Rainbow Dash beside her. She meets her gaze and shrugs, so Twilight continues. "What do you want to discuss?" she asks.

"Do you plan on ever freeing her?"

A frown tugs at Twilight's lips. "I'm afraid not, Miss-"

"Anonymous is fine," she supplies, and Twilight has to admit it at least matches the cutie mark.

"Is that your name or...?"

"Might as well be. You can call me Anon for short. Anyway, so if you don't plan on releasing her, why not just kill her?"

"What?!"

"Yeah, I mean, she's not conscious in there, right?"

"No, but why would I kill her?"

"Why not? What's the difference between being dead and being petrified forever? It frankly just seems irresponsible if anything. Like, since when has a banishment or imprisonment ever held forever, anyway? Seems inevitable that something somewhere down the line will end up freeing those three, and you'll probably get caught off guard when that happens, so why not play it safe?"

"We do not execute prisoners in Equestria," Twilight says sternly.

"Attempted petrification forever seems close enough, but whatever. I don't really care, just pointing out the obvious. I didn't come here for that, anyway. do what you want with the other two, but I believe Cozy Glow should be freed."

"That kid nearly destroyed Equestria!" Rainbow says with a glare. "Why would we do that?"

"Because she's harmless without the element of surprise or stronger bad guys helping her," the filly says with a shrug. "And she's a kid. If you need a more logical reason though, then she's a normal pony with a normal lifespan, so if you just put her in a regular prison, she'll eventually die of old age and then you don't have to worry about her getting loose in, like, a thousand years and causing problems." She sniffs and adds, "Unless you don't think Equestria is up to the task of containing one regular pony for sixty or seventy years. With how dumb the guards are, that might be true."

"Young filly, I don't know what your parents have been teaching you, but it's not nice to call others dumb."

Anon rolls her eyes at Twilight's admonishment. "Whatever. Are you going to free her or not?"

"Cozy Glow will stay where she is," Twilight says with narrowed eyes. Who is this filly? A friend of Cozy's? An ally, maybe?

"That so? Out of curiosity, did Cozy ever get a proper trial, because if not, she's entitled to one, you know."

"Why would she be?" Rainbow asks angrily, causing the filly to deadpan back at her.

She speaks as if to a foal as she answers, "Because it's literally Equestrian law, you idiot."

Twilight opens her mouth to reprimand the filly again, but pauses as she thinks that over. It's... technically true. "That might be so, but you do understand that there isn't a jury in Equestria that would find her not guilty, correct? She wouldn't go free for long."

"Yeah, this kingdom is kinda messed up. Especially your law books," Anon agrees with a sage nod. "That's why it's taken me a whole year to read through all that crap, and it's also why, since Cozy hasn't gotten a trial yet, that I'm taking it upon myself to demand one for her, and to defend her."

"You need a law degree to defend another in court," Twilight says with a furrowed brow.

"Not for trial by combat, anyone can step forward to champion for another."

"Trial by what?" Twilight asks, bewildered. "Equestria doesn't have trial by combat!"

"Actually, it does, as of subsection two of the Sky Spears doctrine."

"Sky Spears? Isn't that some old Pegaloplis thing?" Rainbow says. "That's ancient history."

"Mhm, but since Pegalopis was absorbed by Cloudsdale, which then became part of Equestria, their laws were never technically removed. Something about keeping some pegasus nobles happy I think," Anon says ponderously, then shrugs. "Regardless, it's legal, so I'm doing it."

"This is ridiculous," Twilight says. "Even if this is true, which I'll be looking into soon enough, do you really think you can beat any pony I choose for you to fight?"

"Yep!" the filly chirps cheerily. "You'd be surprised at just what I'm capable of."

"Kid, you look like a strong wind could blow you out of the sky," Dash says flatly.

"Yeah? And yet you're all afraid of Cozy Glow, a little filly. Maybe looks are deceiving," Anon says, meeting Rainbow's eyes unflinchingly, a smirk pulling at her lips. "Maybe you'll find out what I really am if you end up being my opponent, eh? It'd be a shame if your Wonderbolt career got ended so soon because Twilight decided to let you fight her battles for her." The filly licks her lips and her posture almost becomes predatory as she continues in a deeper tone, "I've always loved wing-meat, after all..."

Twilight's wings flare and she stands, eyes hard. "I'd be the one to fight you. Do you really think you can defeat an alicorn?"

The filly smiles wider. "Nothing would make me happier, Princess. So when's the fight?"

The mysterious filly left soon after once they discussed a place and time, and an hour later Twilight had to explain to her friends save Pinkie who was stuck at work, why she had agreed to a duel with a foal the next day at high noon.

Rainbow, bless her loyal heart, tried to help her make her case. "Seriously, this kid is weird with a capital 'W'!" Rainbow says. "Like, she was looking at me like a timberwolf looks at a rabbit for a second there."

"And she was dropping some serious hints, too," Twilight defends.

"Yeah? Hints about what?" Applejack asks skeptically.

"That she's not a filly at all."

"What else could she be?" Rarity interjects. "The changelings are good now, and if she were an unreformed one, surely she'd care more for freeing Chrysalis than Cozy Glow."

"Um, if she is just a little filly, you aren't going to hurt her, are you?" Fluttershy asks.

Twilight rolls her eyes. "If that is the case, then of course not. Why would I have to? I'll just pin her with magic until she gives up. It will be eas-"

"Twilight! Is it true you're going to fight that cutie little green filly tomorrow?!" Pinkie declares as she bursts into the map room of the Friendship Castle.

"Pinkie? I thought you weren't out of work for another few hour?"

"I wasn't, but Mrs. Cake let me go early to find out if what that filly is saying is true, and that if it is, I'm supposed to send you her way so she can yell at you for threatening foals."

"What?! She challenged me!"

"So it's true?"

"Wait, what's Anon saying?"

"She's at the center of town telling every pony to come to Whitetail Woods to see her kick your butt. She seems really confident."

"Why that little-"

"Twilight! She's a child!"

"Possibly a child, Rarity, and she's trying to free one of Equestria's greatest villains."

"That is a might bit strange," Applejack concedes. "Wonder why that is?"

"Ooh! Maybe she's Cozy's foalhood friend, or-or maybe she's Cozy's sister!" Pinkie supplies. "If one of my sisters were turned to stone, even for doing something super bad, I'd still try and help them."

Rarity and Applejack share a concerned look, then turn to Twilight. "Um, Twilight, darling, Cozy Glow doesn't have any siblings, right?"

"No," Twilight says, then stops herself, looking flustered. "I mean, I don't know. I, and the ponies I've tasked with looking into her, have yet to actually figure out where Cozy Glow came from."

"So she could be Cozy's sister," Rarity says.

"Oh dear, that's so sad," Fluttershy says, holding her mane and stroking it.

"Could be," Twilight says with a stomp. "Or she could be a monster, or a co-conspirator! Come on, girls, don't let her turn us on each other. I'll beat her in our duel tomorrow without hurting her, then we'll get to the bottom of this, alright?"

"You know best, Ah guess. Just be careful."

"Of course I will be. Even if she's something more than meets the eye, I'll still win. I've been taking classes with Tempest, and Dash says I'm getting better with my wings."

"Yeah, she can almost fly as well as I could when I was twelve years old."

"Gee, thanks."

"Hey, that's a compliment."

"With how full of herself she is, I think she means it."

"I'm not full of myself, I'm just that awesome."

"Regardless, there's nothing to worry about. I can handle a her just fine, and if I can't, well, I'll have you all there to help me. If three of Equestria's worst villains couldn't beat us, this one filly won't be able to."

"I hope you're right, Twilight..." Fluttershy mutters.

Author's Note:

The part where Anon brings up the trial by combat law was inspired by The Five Second War by Jest.

Twilight surely has nothing to worry about, right?

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

"Ooh! Maybe she's Cozy's foalhood friend, or-or maybe she's Cozy's sister!" Pinkie supplies. "If one of my sisters were turned to stone, even for doing something super bad, I'd still try and help them."

Then explain Scorpan. He betrayed his brother for friendship and did nothing to free him. The dark price of friendship is betray those that are closer to you for strangers

[Phai]

"Do you plan on ever freeing her from?"

missing end remark. Add stone, prison, or some other appropriate noun.

"Why hat little-"

that

[Killjoy1221]

11669077
I think there's a difference between this and literally turning your brother in to the police.

[Synthetic Soul]

"Regardless, it's legal, so I'm doing it."

That's a great quote, I hope to use it someday

[hmaf43]

Anonfilly story…? Weeeeee!

[Poparakelis]

Ok, ok, I'm interested

[Status L]

"Regardless, there's nothing to worry about. I can handle a her just fine, and if I can't, well, I'll have you all there to help me. If three of Equestria's worst villains couldn't beat us, this one filly won't be able to."

Foreshadowing!

[Frustration in Excelsis]

"Because she's harmless without the element of surprise or stronger bad guys helping her," the filly says with a shrug. "And she's a kid. If you need a more logical reason though, then she's a normal pony with a normal lifespan, so if you just put her in a regualr prison, she'll eventually die of old age and then you don't have to worry about her getting loose in, like, a thousand years and causing problems."

... those are actually some rather practical points. Cozy has no inherent powers and her entire strategy was reliant on tricking or persuading people to do the things she needs; lock her for the rest of her natural life in a spare room only accessed by Twilight and her immediate circle and she couldn't do jack squat.

Sky Spears? Isn't that some old Pegaloplis thing?" Rainbow says. "That's ancient history."

Missing opening quote mark.

[Cragadilian]

normal pony with a normal lifespan, so if you just put her in a regualr prison

*regular.

"That's why it's taken me a the whole years to read through all that crap,"

I don’t know if you were trying to write a specific number of years or a whole year.

Sky Spears? Isn't that some old Pegaloplis thing?" Rainbow says. "That's ancient history."

Frustration in Excelsis already mentioned this, but you missed a quotation mark.

which then became part of Equestria, there laws were never technically removed.

Wrong version of there, *their. Unless you were trying to say “there were laws never technically removed”?

"Seriously, this kid is weird with a capital 'W"!"

This might need another apostrophe ‘ rather than a quotation mark.

[Wild Stallion]

"Ooh! Maybe she's Cozy's foalhood friend, or-or maybe she's Cozy's sister!" Pinkie supplies. "If one of my sisters were turned to stone, even for doing something super bad, I'd still try and help them."

Aww! I want this now. Pinkie's sister gets in trouble with the law and Pinkie takes off for home to help them in that special way that only she can.

"I'm not full of myself, I'm just that awesome."

Never change Rainbow Dash. Never change.

11669077

I wonder how Tirek would take to having to babysit Cozy Glow and Greenie.

[redandready45]

Dis gun be good!

[Haoryu Changer]

I love this version of Anon Filly!

[KvAT]

It's real ironic how Twilight doesn't even see the hypocrisy with how she's "not going to hurt a filly" but literally gives a pass for Cozy Glow.

[midnight arrow]

11703901
same

[midnight arrow]

well lets hope anon goes easy on twilight also love this so far well onto the next chapter

[vectorVll]

"Right," Twilight says, siting straight once more and looking to the side at her friend. She likes to have at least one of them present during court to serve as advisors, and today has Rainbow Dash beside her. She meets her gaze and shrugs, so Twilight continues. "What do you want to discuss?" she asks.

Bad choice.

[vectorVll]

I'm now going to start putting the RIP tags on ponies when they take this. L