> Sweet Affection 4
>  by Masterob
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Returning Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been several months, possibly the longest and most agonizing months for a certain snow fur filly, one by the name of Sweetie Belle. She has been waiting months for her coltfriend Rumble to finally come home from his training, one that had been offered to him after the Invasion of the Changelings and Sirens at an academy for up and coming flyers.

Rumble couldn't turn this offer down, it would help in his goal of becoming a Wonderbolt like he's always wanted, his only drawback was knowing he'd be away from his marefriend for a long period of time.

Sweetie Belle did not want Rumble giving up this opportunity for her, despite what it meant. It was far too big of an chance for him to pass up. So he agreed to go on this trip and climb the ranks to become an ace flyer. After Zecora and Mage Meadowbrook had given him a special ointment that sped the healing process of his wings, he was ready to go.

Of course the two would write to each other quite frequently, and Sweetie Belle would go see him occasionally so they weren't out of touch. But the year was ending for Rumble and he would be making his way back home, and finally reuniting with his favorite filly.

During this period Twilight had opened up her School of Friendship, one of the many things that Sweetie Belle had written to Rumble about. The colt wishes he could have been there to see all the new faces, especially a group of students that Sweetie Belle mentioned, the Pony Sandbar, the Dragon Smolder, the Yak Yonna, the Changeling Ocellus, the Griffon Gallus and the Hippogriff Silverstream.

Rumble was amazed that there were so many different types of creatures at this school, and that the Crusaders had such a diverse group of friends. While he knows dragons like Spike and Ember, as well as Changelings such as Thorax and his followers, and obviously knows ponies since he is one, he hasn't really aquainted himself with Yaks or Griffons, and he's only recently heard of Hippogriffs, mainly after the invasion of The Storm King.

One other pony mentioned in the letters was a filly named Cozy Glow, Rumble was happy to know his marefriend and two of his closest friends helped a filly adjust to life in Ponyville and in the School of Friendship. He hasn't heard from Sweetie Belle in a while, especially after the whole magic disappearance fiasco, but he was on his way home, hoping to see if his marefriend was alright. From what Flitter told him when she went to pick him up, Sweetie Belle was just fine, and that while she didn't have all the details, she heard somewhere that Tirek was involved in this, and that he used a pony to help him.

Rumble felt worried about the idea of Tirek coming back, but it sounds like Twilight and her friends put a stop to him, so that was a huge relief for him, though he worries knowing that Tirek can manipulate from the outside, which means that Rumble has to be prepared for just about anything.

The day was here though, Rumble had been picked up by his foalsitter Flitter, the two were taking a train back to Ponyville, Rumble eager to meet his marefriend.

"I can't believe how long it's been, it feels like I haven't been home in ages," Rumble said.

"Everyone sure missed you, especially Sweetie Belle, my sister and your brother," Flitter said. "Too bad there was a Wonderbolts practice, otherwise CC and Thunderlane could have come."

"Well at least I get to surprise them," Rumble said.

"And what a pleasant surprise it'll be," Flitter said. "I bet they're hardly going to recognize you."

"Huh? I didn't change that much," Rumble said. "It hasn't even been that long, has it?"

"I mean your face, you look so...determined," Flitter said.

"Determined?" Rumble said. "Haven't I've always looked that way?"

Flitter struggled to find the words, "It's hard to explain, it's just that for the longest time you always looked so shy, and you had self confidence issues. We knew you had potential but you were afraid to live up to that potential. Then you started dating Sweetie Belle and slowly you started exerting that confidence that was stuck deep down inside of you. Now you look fully realized, like you understand just how amazing you truly are."

"Did I really change that much Flitter?" Rumble asked.

"In a way, yes," Flitter said. "I just miss the days when you were my cute little Rumble, now you're older, more serious and more mature." She then hugged him tightly, "It's just hard for me to see you as all grown up, I miss my little colt!"

"Whoa, easy Flitter, other ponies are staring," Rumble said nervously.

Flitter turned her attention to the curious ponies, "What!? Never seen a foalsitter show love to her little foal!?" The ponies just trotted away quickly, wanting to avoid an awkward situation. She turned back to Rumble, "Sorry you had to see that."

"It's fine, one thing I missed was your affectionate nature," Rumble said.

"Aw, you're sweet Rumble," Flitter said. "Makes it even sadder to see you growing up..." Flitter's ears dropped as a tear rolled down her eye.

Rumble rolled his eyes, Flitter could be too overdramatic at times. "Flitter, I had to grow up sometime, but that doesn't mean I'll stop loving you or anything, you're like my big sister, you and Cloudchaser both, and I'll always want to be with you, even if the day comes where I might grown bigger than the both of you."

Flitter wiped her eyes, "I know, it's hard since when you get too big, it'll be harder to cuddle with you. These days I'm having less time because your marefriend is way too affectionate with you." She leaned in to whisper, "How far have you two gotten?"

Rumble blushed a little at that statement. After talking with Tender Taps at one point, he started to get an idea of what ponies really do when they love each other. "We're just kissing, that's all we're ready for, and I think that's all she knows how to do."

"Just be careful, you'd be amazed what instincts could do to a young filly," Flitter warned.

"Are you speaking from experience?" Rumble asked.

Flitter looked shamefully aside, "Sorta, I mean nothing ever happened since CC would always keep me in check but...there was a time where me and your brother were playing as foals, then one thing led to another...kind of lucky that Derpy walked in when she did."

Rumble blushed upon hearing that, "Wow, did not know you two nearly had something."

"Eh, sometimes it feels like your brother wants to rekindle something between us," Flitter said. "Your brother's a great guy and all, but I don't think it would work out that well."

"But my brother's dating Rarity, so why would he want to date you still?" Rumble asked. "I could understand if he were single, but he seems really happy with Rarity."

"Well over the last couple of months, something started to change in their relationship, it seems like your brother can't put aside his flirty attitude, doesn't help that his Wonderbolt fame has gotten to him," Flitter said. "He constantly gives attention to the mares at his shows, and I swear I saw him getting really friendly with Blossomforth."

"Blossomforth? Yeah I remember her, she used to date my brother, they had a lot of sleepovers," Rumble said. "I heard a lot of weird noise coming from their room."

Flitter blushed at hearing that, "That's not something for you to worry about Rumbly."

"I won't," Rumble said, even though he already had an idea of what they might have been doing, he's not as oblivious to this stuff as Flitter thinks. "Anyway Flitter, don't worry too much about Sweetie Belle, I still love you a lot, nothing's going to change that, even if I do get older and more serious about things."

"Yeah, I know, Flitter said, somewhat dejected.

Rumble leaned in, "But I'm still cute right?"

Flitter looked a little surprised, then giggled, "Yes Rumble, you're still cute."

"Sweet," Rumble said, laying his hooves behind his head. "Still got it."

Flitter giggled, "You're so adorable."





Meanwhile in the depths of Tartarus, several of Equestria's villains are sitting in their cages, looking really bored and annoyed. In one cage was the Energy stealing centaur, Lord Tirek. To the cage beside him was his pen pal Cozy Glow, the filly who betrayed the School of Friendship. Nearby was Queen Chrysalis, with her Changelings in cages of their own. Sharing a cage were the Dazzling Sirens of Adagio Dazzle and her friends, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.

"I'm so bored, how long has it been since something exciting happened?" Sonata asked.

"Too long," Aria said. "I know this is meant to be a world of imprisonment, but with so many unusual creatures here, you'd think we'd see something interesting."

"I've spent a thousand years in here, I can tell you from experience that excitement comes rarely," Tirek said. "And we don't have anyone on the outside who can spark up some excitement."

"Too bad Discord choose his pitiful pony friends over us," Chrysalis said. "I should have tried forging an alliance with him, I'm sure that would have been just as benificial."

"I doubt that," Tirek said. "I'm sure he hasn't forgotten how I betrayed him, he'll stay loyal to those accursed ponies forever."

Adagio banged the bar on her cage, "Stupid ponies and their stupid Friendship! We should be ruling over Equestria right now! Bad enough we lost to those Elements and their little assistants, but to also lose to those foals! Next time I see them I'm breaking more than just their wings! If they have wings, maybe I'll include their horns."

"Those Crusaders are rather pesky, aren't they?" Cozy Glow said. "My mistake was not trying to earn more trust from those other six students of Princess Twilight's."

"What is it with Equestria and their need for six?" Chrysalis wondered. "Six Pillars, Six Elements, Six foals, Six Students."

"Two of those groups are children too," Tirek said. "They're breeding their saviors young."

"Funny, I've only met The Crusaders, at least only Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. I never really got to know those other foals," Cozy Glow said.

"Ugh, one of them ticks me off the most," Adagio said. "That stupid Rumble, he had the nerve to think he could take me on, which of course is the reason why I took pleasure in breaking his tiny little wings."

"I still think that was a bit harsh," Sonata said. "I mean he is just a foal, if you're gonna hurt someone at least make it someone who can fight back, that way it means more and makes you look like less of a coward."

"You're way too soft Sonata," Aria said. "Remember that foal assisted in ruining our plans."

"And don't ever call me a coward," Adagio warned. "I give mercy to no one, that's my deal, be it Princess Twilight Sparkle or puny little Rumble."

"Rumble, isn't he Sweetie Belle's coltfriend?" Cozy Glow asked.

"That depends, which one's Sweetie Belle again?" Adagio asked.

"The Unicorn with the pink swirly mane," Cozy said.

"I think I remember something like that," Adagio said. "Anyone else know?"

"Yes I'm aware," Chrysalis said. "I could feel the love radiating off those young foals, it would make for a really nice meal."

"That's actually kind of adorable, nothing like young love," Sonata said.

Adagio rolled her eyes, "Again, they're out enemy! That colt especially annoys me with his stupid chivalrous attitude, he thought he could actually defeat us and take Flurry Heart back! I wouldn't be surprised if breaking his wings wasn't enough to deter him! I still remember that smug look he had when they brought us in here!"

"Probably because he was originally taking care of Flurry Heart, so he's trying to look good in front of her parents," Aria theorized.

"So he's just an arrogant show off huh?" Adagio asked.

"He's just blinded by his love for his filly and his friends," Chrysalis said. "It gives him a false sense of strength, he believes to be stronger than he actually is and has a will that is firm considering his young age. Even if they are our enemies, even I must find that slightly impressive."

"Sweetie Belle did mention that he is very determined but also stubborn," Cozy Glow said. "He'd try to be the hero even if he couldn't move his legs."

"Sounds like he makes poor judgment calls," Tirek said. "He is but a child, so I guess it's to be expected."

"Hey, I'm a child and I nearly defeated the Elements of Harmony all on my own," Cozy Glow said.

"Not all on your own child," Tirek reminded. "Without my guidance, you never would have even learned of the secrets underneath Princess Twilight's school."

"Well I still did most of the work," Cozy Glow said.

"Still, this boy's determination makes him perform foolish actions it seems," Tirek said. "Can anyone confirm this?"

"Well I can confirm Adagio's story," Chrysalis said. "That and I do seem to remember when I first had those foals in my grasp, he foolishly tried to carry five other foals in the air while they were thousands of feet up high."

"Wow really? He really wants to be the hero huh?" Adagio asked.

"Perhaps we can use that to our advantage," Tirek said. "Seems this boy would do anything to help another, without really putting a lot of plan into it."

"What are you getting at Tirek?" Adagio asked.

"I'll explain, but there is another obstacle to overcome before we can consider this plan, and that is getting out of this accursed prison," Tirek said.

"Uh, how are we suppose to do that?" Aria asked.

Tirek looked around to make sure no guards were in distance, fortunately Tartarus had little need for actual ponies to keep watch since the Cerberus lurked nearby. However Tirek got out once before, and he knows he can do it again, a thousand years in Tartarus gave him a good idea of who comes and goes. Once it was clear, especially with The Cerberus sleeping, Tirek started to explain his plan to his allies, a plan that with any luck, would get all of them out of Tartarus and on their way to once again controlling all of Equestria.





At Ponyville, Sweetie Belle is sitting by a lake, looking down at her reflection as she moved the water around. She really missed Rumble, she so desperately wanted to hold him close to her again and spread kisses across his face.

"Oh Rumble, why must you be so far away? Oh how I miss being around you, my brave and handsome knight," Sweetie Belle said. She tossed a nearby pebble into the water right afterwards, sighing in sadness. "It's only a few more days, but the closer it gets, the more frustrating it feels."

As Sweetie Belle closed her eyes, thinking of her true love, she heard a familiar colt speaking. "The wait does seem to get worse the closer it is, huh?"

She turned around to see a good friend of hers, "Hi Tap-Tap."

Tender Taps chuckled a bit as he started to blush, "Seems like every mare and filly I know has a funny nickname for me."

"Well Apple Bloom, Twilight and Starlight made it look fun, plus it's funny seeing you blush," Sweetie Belle said.

"Why does everypony keep telling me that?" Tender Taps wondered.

Sweetie Belle giggled, "Sorry but it's true, you get easily flustered. I remember when Rumble used to get that way, then he gained a high level of confidence that I have to work extra hard to get a blush out of him."

"That's what I envy about him," Tender Taps said, sitting down next to Sweetie Belle. "He's so calm and confident nowadays, I somehwhat stutter when I speak to most fillies."

"You've gotten better I think," Sweetie Belle said. "You just need a proper role model. Rumble's older brother is very confident when he talks, and Rumble learns from that. The closest you have to an older sibling is Starlight, and she's a bit awkward at times herself."

"Maybe I need to take lessons from Rainbow Dash then," Tender Taps said.

"Or Applejack, I mean either one's good, but personally I like Applejack better," Sweetie Belle said. "Anyway what brings you out here?"

"I was on my way to Twilight's castle when I saw you here," Tender Taps said. "You looked kind of sad, and I can easily tell it's because you miss Rumble. I mean I miss him as well, I can't wait for him to come back either."

"It's frustrating," Sweetie Belle said. "I didn't want him to go but I knew how important this was to him. A good marefriend has to be supportive of what their coltfriend wants after all."

"Hey I'm sure it was hard for Rumble too," Tender Taps said. "Actually I know it was hard because he almost didn't want to go."

"Huh? How do you know that?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"He told me before he left," Tender Taps explained. "He didn't think it'd be worth it if he left for so long, because he wanted to always be around you. He said it would be torture if he couldn't see your pretty face everyday and get good luck kisses as often."

"Huh, this is the first I'm hearing about this," Sweetie Belle said.

"Well Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were trying to keep you together so you didn't lament over Rumble too much, so Dinky suggested I didn't say anything to you because she was worried you would take advantage of the situation," Tender Taps said.

"Huh, how rude," Sweetie Belle said. "Not wrong but still..."

Tender Taps just glared slightly, "Wow really?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged it off, "Can you blame me? This has been torture not having him around, I don't even know how I managed to get around without having Rumble in my life."

"Uh, aren't you exaggerating a bit?" Tender Taps asked, confused by this filly's statement. "I mean you got along just fine, you made friends with some of the Students at the School of Friendship, you and your friends even solved a Friendship Problem."

"Oh yeah, when I went to Mount Aries," Sweetie Belle said, thinking about how pretty the place looked, especially it's wide open flower fields. A blush formed on her face when she imagined dancing with Rumble through those fields, just the two of them, the colt spinning her around and pressing their muzzles together. The two then stood gazing in the eyes of one another as they leaned in, ready for a kiss, until Sweetie Belle was snapped back to reality when she heard Tender Taps calling her name.

"Uh, Sweetie Belle!? This is getting awkward!" Sweetie Belle then noticed that she was inches away from kissing Tender Taps, the colt backing away from the lovestruck filly.

"Whoops, sorry, I thought about Rumble again," Sweetie Belle said, backing up a little to give Tender Taps space.

"Heh, funny, I said I wanted to be more like Rumble, but that doesn't mean I want to kiss his marefriend, I would never do something like that," Tender Taps said.

"Yeah Rumble and I built our relationship on a foundation of trust," Sweetie Belle said.

"Wow, pretty ironic considering how your relationship started," Tender Taps said. "Shows how far you two have come as a couple, makes me happy to know"

"Well ever since then we made a vow to never keep secrets from each other again," Sweetie Belle said. "Truthfully it did feel like I had to work to earn his trust back, thankfully he was so forgiving it wasn't that hard do to."

"Well if you hadn't pretended to date him, then you never would have realized you liked him, so it did work out in the end at least," Tender Taps said.

"Yeah, so weird to think about...it kind of freaks me out that if I worded things differently, I wouldn't even have that I have now, makes me wonder what my life would have been like," Sweetie Belle said.

"Don't think too much into it, just accept that things worked out," Tender Taps said. "Who knows, maybe it was fate that brought you together, maybe you two were meant to be."

"Yeah, we were," Sweetie Belle said. "Rumble and I will be together forever. We'll get married and have cute little Alicorn babies."

"Yeah, I'm sure you-" Tender Taps stopped when he processed what Sweetie Belle had said. "Wait, Alicorn babies? Sweetie Belle we've been over this, you being a Unicorn and Rumble being a Pegasus does not equal Alicorn. Flurry Heart is a different example, and I'm pretty sure that had to do with her mom being an Alicorn."

Sweetie Belle huffed in annoyance, "Flurry Heart, I still remember when that little sneak got a kiss from my Rumbly."

"Uh, are you still mad about that?" Tender Taps asked. "I know it was weird but she's only a toddler, she has a crush on Rumble, that's completely normal. Considering his good looks and his natural charm, anyone could have a crush on him."

That had Sweetie Belle slightly worried, "Think our friends do? Aside from Scootaloo I mean."

"I don't think so," Tender Taps said, recollecting all the knowledge he's obtained. "I've never seen Apple Bloom hint at liking Rumble, Dinky keeps saying that she doesn't want anything more than a Friendship, I don't talk to Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon much to know if they have a crush, Babs probably does but she's off in the city so I don't think that will be a problem. I think that's all the fillies we know."

"Right...wait what about the colts?" Sweetie Belle asked, then eyed Tender Taps. "You don't have a crush on Rumble, do you?"

Tender Taps shook his head, "I can promise you that I don't, I mean yeah he's very handsome and if he were to ask me on a date, I'd definitely consider it." Tender Taps did his best to fight back a blush, "But I wouldn't crush on a friend's coltfriend."

"Yeah, I can believe you," Sweetie Belle said. "You're too busy dealing with your crush on Twilight anyway."

Tender Taps's face turned completely red, "Crush!? What crush!?"

"Come on, you can be honest with me," Sweetie Belle said. "When Rumble and I were dating, or trying to, you were so supportive of us, give me a chance to be supportive of you and your feelings. I promise I won't laugh, or judge or make you feel awkward, just tell me how you feel."

Tender Taps felt immensely embarrassed to be in a situation like this, but at the same time, he did have a lot of trust for Sweetie Belle. She was a kind filly at heart and her natural instinct is to help others, which is how she got her Cutie Mark in the first place.

"Alright, I'll be honest," Tender Taps said. "I do have a crush on Twilight, she's just so amazing and pretty, sometimes I wish I were older or she was younger so we can be together."

Sweetie Belle giggled a bit, "I so knew it, you made it so obvious given how much you blushed when you were around her, or how you could barely form sentences. You seemed more flustered around her than you did with Apple Bloom."

"I'm not even sure how this all started," Tender Taps said. "I thought the mare I would end up with would have been Apple Bloom, I never imagined it would be Twilight, a mare way out of my league."

"Hey things don't always go as expected," Sweetie Belle said. "I thought the love of my life would end up being Button Mash, not once did I consider Rumble as my one true love, but it ended up happening. Also Twilight isn't that much out of your league, maybe you're a little young for her now, but if you play your cards right, she'll definitely wait for you. Or if you do well enough she won't care about your age and take you right now."

"I doubt things would move along that fast," Tender Taps said. "Maybe in my dreams though."

"I can help you with that," Sweetie Belle said. "I promise that I'll at least make Twilight want to wait for you."

Tender Taps looked surprised, "Wait, how?"

"I have a few ideas, might take a few tries but it'll definitely work in the end," Sweetie Belle reassured.

"Uh, are you sure about that?" Tender Taps asked.

"Of course, truthfully I've been wanting to do something really nice for you for a while, now is the perfect chance!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"Wow, that's really generous of you Sweetie Belle," Tender Taps said.

"Well you deserve it," Sweetie Belle said. "Anything for the colt who was the first to believe in my happiness with Rumble."

"Well technically Dinky was the first," Tender Taps said.

"The first of my immediate friends at least," Sweetie Belle said. "Now let's get you all smoothed up." Sweetie Belle gestured toward the direction of her sister's house, many ideas already popping into her head on how to make Tender Taps the future coltfriend of Twilight Sparkle.





Back in Tartarus, the villains were making plans in hushed tones, as to not alert the attention of the Cerberus when they heard some hoofsteps. Making his way over was a member of The Royal Guard, Flash Sentry, along with two other guards all carrying trays of food.

"Alright, feeding time," Flash said. "Now remember the drill."

"Yeah, yeah, no funny business," Adagio said.

"Right, now we're going to open those cages, if any of you attempt to make an escape, not only are my guys here, you also have a giant three headed dog to worry about," Flash said.

"Well your little hellhound isn't the most reliable guard now is it," Adagio said. "Considering it couldn't even stop Tirek from leaving."

"That was out of his hands, er paws," Flash said. "Point is that it won't be happening again."

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Adagio said.

Flash carefully opened Tirek's cage and placed some food inside, the centaur barely moving, but glaring hard at Flash, freaking him out a little.

"If I wanted to, I could easily steal your means of flight," Tirek warned.

"Why do you say that to me everytime I come here? I know that already, you took my flight once before already!" Flash said.

"I did? Huh, I took the flight away from so many ponies at once, I guess I don't remember," Tirek said. "How marvelous my power works, don't you agree?"

"Uh huh, sure thing I guess," Flash said, quickly backing out of there and locking the cage.

He made his way over to Cozy Glow's cage, carefully opening it and placing the food there. "Eat up kid."

Cozy checked on the food, naturally it looked kind of icky to her. "This again...don't you have anything better."

"You know the rules, bad fillies don't get good meals," Flash said.

"Aw, but I said I was sowwy," Cozy said, flashing her sad eyes at Flash, who desperately looked away.

"That's not working on me," Flash insisted, his tone stating otherwise.

Cozy pouted in annoyance, "All I wanted to do was make friends, isn't that what The Elements of Harmony were all about?"

"Look I don't know the full story, but I do know that-" Flash's talk was interrupted when he heard Sonata banging on the cell door.

"Hurry up I'm hungry!" She continued banging on the door, freaking Flash out a bit.

"Hey settle down!" Flash warned, the other guards aiming their spears, completely distracted from Adagio carefully slipping a hair pin that she had tucked away to Chrysalis, the queen then using her magic to carefully float the clip to Cozy's cell.

"Settle down Sonata, don't want to make a scene," Chrysalis said, winking her eye.

Sonata took a moment to register that, then 'calmed herself', sitting back.

"Good, you'll get your food, everyone gets their turn," Flash said, closing the cell, not noticing that Cozy had placed the clip in the lock to prevent it from closing all the way.

Then Flash made his way to Chrysalis's cell. "Alright, here's your food."

Chrysalis looked down on her meal, then faced Flash. "It's disappointing."

"Huh? What is?" Flash asked. "You mean the food?"

"Yes, it's so...plain and dull," Chrysalis said, moving in close. "Not really my ideal meal."

"Well sorry, but this is the meal I was told to give you," Chrysalis said.

"No need, the ideal meal can't be cooked, at least not for me," Chrysalis said, gently stroking Flash's chin.

"Um...what are you doing?" Flash nervously asked.

"I never realized how strong your jaw looked, you look just like an ideal solider," Chrysalis said. "Strong and sturdy, never one to back down."

"Uh..." Flash said, sweating nervously. "Listen ma'am, I'm sure you're very appealing and have a great personality, but I don't think we're right for each other, I mean-"

"I can sense love emanating from you, do you have somepony special?" Chrysalis asked. "Somepony you care about?"

"Well not exactly, I mean I have somepony that I've had my eye on but..." Flash was saying, then trailed off.

"I get it, you love this pony, but she doesn't love you, but perhaps I can make that happen," Chrysalis said, stepping out of the cage. She then shapeshifted into Twilight, smirking deviously at the solider. "Am I appealing to you now?"

During this second distraction, Adagio had pulled a necklace from her mane and tossed it at Cozy, gesturing the young filly to quickly hide it, which she did in her own mane.

Flash blushed heavily at these advances, seeing his crush standing before him, or what looks like his crush at least, "I..." He quickly shook his head, "N-no! This is wrong!"

He quickly grabbed his spear and along with the other two guards, threatened Chrysalis back into her cage where she immediately changed back.

"You know the rules, no shapeshifting," Flash said.

"Yes, I know," Chrysalis said. "This cage's charm makes it difficult, but it is losing it's effect slightly I'm afraid."

"We'll have that fixed, don't think you'll be escaping anytime soon," Flash said, shutting the cage.

"Don't be too sure, you never know what could happen," Chrysalis eerily warned.

Flash paid her no mind as he approached the Dazzlings, the guards having their spears ready in case they attacked the cage again. "Alright, try to remain calm, I am opening the cage!"

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up, I'm freaken hungry," Adagio said.

"Huh, rude much?" Flash said, cautiously opening the cage and slipping the food inside.

"Aw, did we hurt the poor guard's feelings? How sad," Adagio sarcastically commented. "Hate to break it to ya, but we really couldn't care less about your damn feelings."

"If you're trying to get me unhappy so you can feed off my negativity, it won't work, I have skin as thick as stone," Flash said, turning around and walking off, obviously still a little upset about how rude Adagio just was. "Well enjoy your food, or try to at least, we'll be making our exit."

"Come by again soon," Chrysalis said in a flirty voice, weirding Flash out.

Once he and the others had left, Cozy scanned the area to make absolutely sure no guards were around as she slipped out of her seemingly locked cage. "Wow, that was easier than I thought."

"Good, now hurry, I trust you know the plan," Tirek asked.

"Sure, sure, I got it," Cozy said, then started fluttering her wings. "Now off I go!" She quickly flew out of the gates, right over the Cerberus, the hellhound looking up briefly to see what it had just heard. "Gotta hurry before those dummy guards realize they forgot to close the gates again. It's amazing how careless they can be."

She flew off quickly, making her way to a nearby town, ready to enact her plan.
> Meet-up at Mount Aris
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at Ponyville, Sweetie Belle has already gotten to work on her plan to spice up Tender Taps and to make him more appealing to Twilight, or at least more appealing in general, should he want to give other fillies a chance.

"Alright, first thing's first, you need the look," Sweetie Belle said.

"The look? Oh are you gonna make me more handsome?" Tender Taps asked.

"No, that would be kind of hard," Sweetie Belle said, surprising Tender Taps a bit. "I mean you're already naturally super cute so I don't think I can do any more for that."

Tender Taps blushed at her statement, "Oh wow, thanks Sweetie Belle. For a moment I thought you meant that it's impossible for me to be cute."

Sweetie Belle giggled at that comment, "Silly Tap-Tap, why would I think you're not cute enough? Besides every other mare and filly finds you super cute, so you should already know how good looking you are. What I mean is I need to bring it out so it defines you more, so it's not like a mare meets you and comments that you're cute, I want your cuteness to be the thing that attracts the mares to you."

Tender Taps scratched his head in confusion. "Uh...I don't think I get what you mean."

"You don't have to, your job is to just look cute," Sweetie Belle said, adjusting his mane. "We'll start with your pretty mane, it's fine as is, but I think I can tweak it to make it more noticeable."

"Uh wait, did you call my mane 'pretty'?" Tender Taps asked.

"Well yeah, it's so nice and fancy looking," Sweetie Belle said, combing through his mane with her hoof. "A mane really sets the tone for what most ponies would see you as. Take Rumble for example, his mane makes him look like he flies fast, which he does, and it makes him look like a tough guy. Now we both know his newfound cocky attitude is just a show to make himself look good." Sweetie Belle giggled at the thought, "I have that affect on him, he wants to be tough for me, so I let him, plus it's great for his confidence. Your mane makes you look like you're a colt born and raised in Canterlot, the fanciest city in all of Equestria. If you go out there act like you're important, I think most ponies would believe you."

"Act like I'm important?" Tender Taps asked. "Uh, how exactly? Being snobby? I don't think I can do that."

"Oh I'm not saying to act snobby, Twilight would hate that," Sweetie Belle said. "Um, take Rainbow Dash, she's confident but not too egotistical. She just believes she can do anything, and she's not afraid to fail because she'll just try again. That's another lesson for you, don't be afraid to look bad, if Rainbow Dash can come back from her awkward moments, like the stunt she pulled once at a Wonderbolts show, or the time she thought she was a Superhero, then you can definitely pull it off."

"So, I need to be confident and look confident, even if I mess up," Tender Taps said.

"Exactly, and even if you do, then prove to everyone you learned a lesson from it," Sweetie Belle said. "Twilight loves it when ponies learn lessons, now I'm not saying to intentionally goof up, just don't be afraid if it happens." Sweetie Belle finished with his mane, "There, looks a bit smoother." She pulled out a mirror, "What do you think?"

Tender Taps observed his mane, it didn't look too different aside from the back part being longer and Sweetie Belle attempting to give him a bang, "Um, it looks nice but I'd rather have my mane slicked back completely."

"Really huh?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Well if you say so, this is just an experimental phase. Ooh, speaking of which," Sweetie Belle then dashed out the room in an instant, and came back a few seconds later with a large rack of clothes. "Dress up time!"

"Uh...that's a lot of clothes," Tender Taps said. "Would Rarity mind if we used them? I don't want to make her unhappy."

"Don't worry, I got your covered," Sweetie Belle said, pulling out what looked like yodeling suit. "Now let's find your style."





Elsewhere, Cozy Glow is flying far away from the gates of Tartarus, hoping to have put enough distance between her and any guard that could be nearby. Hopefully the Cerberus won't know she's gone for a good while, but she also wants to make sure nopony else had seen her, at least anypony that might recognize her as a danger to Equestria.

"Alright, time to put our plan into action," Cozy said. "Everyone's counting on me, I gotta get this right, soon we'll all get what we so rightfully deserve, Tirek can get his Kingdom, Chrysalis can get her Changelings and feast on love, The Dazzlings can get their Negative Energy and I can rule over Friendship, we'll all be totally unstoppable!"

Cozy Glow stopped herself to take a look around, making sure nopony was listening in, it would be highly embarrassing if somepony heard her evil plan too soon.

"Alright, first order of business...find out just where I am," Cozy looked around to see if she saw any place familiar. "Shoot, I might be lost."

"Hey don't start this mission off slow!" a voice said, spooking Cozy.

"What? Who said that!?" Cozy asked.

"Check your mane," the voice said, which Cozy hesitantly agreed to. She ruffled around and pulled out the necklace that Adagio had tossed to her. "Understand now?"

"Oh this thing, almost forgot about it," Cozy said. "I was wondering why you gave me this, I just thought you wanted me to look pretty."

"You really think I care about that? This is little magical artifact we own, it's mainly to sense magic but thanks to a little assistance from Chrysalis and Tirek, we were able to link them as a magical communicator," Adagio said. "We've been planning this for a while obviously, we're just surprised it worked."

"It might not last long, I didn't have enough magic to use, neither did Tirek," Chrysalis said. "Make sure you do this quick, otherwise we're stuck apart with no way of contact."

"Yeah, I'm sure you don't want to have to fend for yourself out there, no way the ponies forgot what you did," Adagio said.

"At least the ones in Ponyville," Sonata said.

"Exactly, just try not to draw attention to yourself, thankfully you're a pretty plain looking filly so that helps," Adagio said.

Cozy took some offence to this, "Plain!? I'll have you know that Princess Twilight's School of Friendship voted me cutest filly!"

"Uh-huh, sure they did," Adagio said, not buying it. "Look you want to sit here and talk all day or get your flank in gear!?"

Cozy rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Just tell me what you need me to do."

"Find a nearby town for starters and take the first train to Ponyville," Adagio said. "Not gonna lie, you're gonna have to sneak onboard since I doubt you have bits to spare."

"I think I can manage that," Cozy said. "Well, wish me luck!"

"More like do it or you'll regret failing us," Adagio warned.

Cozy furrowed her brow, "You know you should try being nicer to the pony that's going to set you free."

"If you mess up and get sent back here-!" Adagio's rant was interrupted by a scuffle, much to Cozy's confusion.

"Please just hurry up Cozy, before Adagio really loses it," Sonata pleaded.

"Alright, but because you asked me really nicely Sonata," Cozy said, then put the necklace around her neck and made her way to the nearest town, which would be the home of the Hippogriffs and Sea Ponies, Mount Aris.

In this particular town, the train bringing Rumble to Ponyville had stopped off. Rumble and Flitter had actually gotten off due to Rumble's interest in the town after hearing so much about it.

"So this is Mount Aris," Rumble said, complete awe of his surroundings. "Amazing that this place was completely underwater!"

"Actually Rumble, I think it was just the ponies that were under water, er I mean Hippogriffs," Flitter said.

"Right, The Hippogriffs," Rumble said, looking around. "A whole different species, just like the Dragons, Changelings and Griffons."

"Let's take a quick look around, we can catch the next train back to Ponyville, shouldn't be too long," Flitter said.

"Sure thing," Rumble said, flying off into the city, leaving his foalsitter behind.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" Flitter said, flying after him.

Cozy Glow had made her way into the city, taking note of the creatures inhabiting it, "This must be that Mount Aris place that Silverstream is from." Cozy looked slightly concerned, "If the Hippogriffs see me, it might draw too much attention since I'm a Pegasus. Then again I could just pass myself off as a tourist, they probably won't know the difference. Still, I hope none of them recognize me, I need to get to their train quick."

Cozy flew over the city, staying close to the walls and houses, bringing as little attention to herself as possible, too distracted by avoiding detection to pay attention to where she was flying

Nearby Rumble was flying carefree over the city, looking down at the sights below, taking everything in, not paying that much attention to the sky in front of him. "Wonder if any of them can fly fast? How fast is a Hippogriff compared to a Pegasus?"

Suddenly an in-air collision happened, both Cozy Glow and Rumble bumping into each other in the skies, knocking their heads together and taking them for a loop.

"Owie, that hurt!" Cozy Glow whined as she rubbed a sore spot.

"Oh jeez, I'm really sorry," Rumble apologized, rubbing his sore spot as well.

Cozy shook her head, still distracted by the pain, "Not to be rude, but you should really watch where you're-" Suddenly Cozy got a good look at Rumble and all the words immediately left her mouth as she stared at the colt in front of her.

"Again I'm sorry, I just didn't expect there to be-" Rumble took note of Cozy, curiosity filling his mind, wondering why there was another Pegasus in town, and why she seemed to be staring at him. "Um, hello?"

Cozy snapped out of it, "Huh? Oh right, um apology accepted, I'm sure you didn't mean it, and maybe I should have been more careful too."

"Well as long as we're both alright," Rumble said, leaning in close to inspect her head. "I didn't leave a bump or a bruise did I?"

Cozy blushed at how much closer Rumble had gotten, he was such a cute Pegasus, she didn't know why there was another Pegasus in town, but she didn't care, all that mattered to her right now was getting to know this Pegasus more. "I'm fine, really...but if you want to check for yourself, I won't stop you."

Rumble lifted her mane up to get a better look, getting a deeper blush from Cozy. "Yeah you're good, you must have a tough head." Cozy started rubbing Rumble's forehead as well, much to his confusion. "Um...what are you doing?"

"Well obviously I'm checking up on you silly," Cozy said. "You bumped your head as well."

"Oh right, good point," Rumble said. "I'm fine honestly, I've taken worst."

"Wow, tough colt huh?" Cozy Glow said, smirking a bit. "Well regardless of how it happened, it's really nice to meet you."

"You too um...what's your name?" Rumble asked.

"Oh, it's Cozy Glow," the filly introduced, forgetting that she needed to keep a low profile.

Back in Tartarus, Adagio's eyes widened in anger and shock, "Did that stupid filly just use her real name!?"

Rumble found that name familiar, he just couldn't put his hoof on it, "Cozy Glow? Where have I heard that name?"

Cozy realized her blunder and desperately tried thinking of a way to cover it up, "Um...it's just a common name, yeah you've probably never heard of me at all, nope, no siree, my name is a total enigma."

Back in Tartarus, Adagio had facepalmed hard, "She's totally making things worse!"

Rumble however, just leaned in, squinting his eyes to study her face, "Even if I haven't met you before, I know I've heard of you, at least I've heard your name."

Cozy began to fly away, ready to take off at light speed should her cover be blown, "Um, are you absolutely positive?"

"Yeah...Cozy Glow, you're one of Sweetie Belle's friends from Ponyville!" Rumble declared. "I remember in one of her letters she told me that she helped a filly named Cozy Glow get accepted into Twilight's school!"

Cozy wasn't sure if she should be worried or not, Rumble seemed to know who she was, but it sounds like he doesn't know everything, "Uh...so you know Sweetie Belle?"

"She' suppose to deny it!" Adagio angrily shouted, her voice faintly heard through the necklace that Cozy was wearing.

"What was that?" Rumble asked, looking around.

"Um...must have been some creature around, you never know right? Hehe," Cozy seemed extremely nervous, then hush spoke into her necklace, "Quiet down!"

Rumble looked back to Cozy, "Did you say something?"

Cozy stammered a bit, "Uh...I said...quite the town?"

Rumble just stared a second, then shrugged it off, "Yeah, it is quite a town. So you are Cozy Glow from Sweetie Belle's letters, right?"

"Uh...yes," Cozy said, deciding to trust this colt. "I'm Cozy Glow, I met Sweetie Belle several months ago, along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"I thought so, she mentioned a Pegasus filly with a blue curly mane and cute freckles," Rumble said, making Cozy feel flustered. "Wow, so we finally meet, Sweetie Belle's told me quite a bit about you."

"Oh really? What did she say, if I may ask?" Cozy asked, looking somewhat nervous.

Rumble seemed to catch on to it, then chuckled to himself, "Hey if you're worried that I'll be mad about you putting out those fake answers and getting The Crusaders in trouble then don't worry, it sounds like you worked everything out, and you told both Twilight and Starlight the truth about what you did, so if Sweetie Belle can forgive that, then so can I." Rumble started chuckling more, "Besides that one answer you gave was funny, 'Who is the Princess of Friendship?' 'You're mom'!" Rumble started laughing out loud. "I don't know why but that sounded so funny to me!"

Cozy laughed nervously, so far things seem ok, "Right, so is that all she's wrote or..."

"Well she's only mentioned you once, since then she's just talked about some other stuff, like the time she came here to help somepo-someone with a Friendship Problem. Truthfully I haven't gotten a letter in a while, really wish I did since I heard all the magic got taken away," Rumble said. "Flitter told me that Sweetie Belle was fine when she came to pick me up, but I haven't spoken to Sweetie Belle since before the magic problem."

"Right, that was so bad," Cozy said. "But everything worked out, and Sweetie Belle's just fine."

"That's a relief, any idea how this happened? I mean I've heard about who could be behind it but I never got a full story," Rumble said.

"Um...must have been a dangerous villain, or just some clumsiness at the school," Cozy Glow said. "Or maybe it was that mean Chancellor who wanted Twilight's school shut down just because she allowed non-ponies to attend."

"Oh, I heard about that guy, he sounds really mean, thankfully it sounds like Twilight fixed everything," Rumble said.

"She sure did," Cozy said. "So...um what brings you to Mount Aris?"

"I'm just stopping off to visit," Rumble said. "I don't know if Sweetie Belle told you, but I've been at a pretty neat flight training school so I can improve my skills and become a Wonderbolt like my older brother."

"Oh right, I think she did mention that once," Cozy Glow said. "Must have been fun, I'm not much of a competitive flyer, I'm more of a casual flyer."

"That's perfectly fine, not everypony is into sporty things, though I'm sure if you ever tried hard enough you could be a really talented flyer," Rumble encouraged.

"Aw, that's so nice of you to say," Cozy said, blushing a little. This colt was too sweet, even for her.

"So what about you? What brings you to Mount Aris?" Rumble asked. "Unless you live here and take a train to Twilight's school."

"Oh no, I moved to Ponyville for Twilight's school," Cozy said. "I'm just taking a nice little...vacation, and I heard how great this place is, plus it's a new Kingdom to see since they were liberated."

"Funny how many kingdoms have been liberated in the last few years, first The Crystal Empire, then the Changeling Hive and now Mount Aris, maybe soon another Kingdom will be discovered and liberated," Rumble said.

"All thanks to Twilight and her friends," Cozy said, putting on a fake smile.

"Yeah she's amazing, strong too, she makes everypony feel safe, I really admire that about her," Rumble said. "So are you here with your parents?"

"My parents?" Cozy asked. "Um no, I don't have parents that take care of me."

That statement disheartened Rumble, "What? That's terrible! No parents? Then who watches over you?"

Cozy tried thinking of an excuse, "Um...I have ponies who do from time to time so-"

"I'm sorry but that's just unacceptable for me," Rumble said. "I can't in good conscious allow you to fly around with little to no supervision, you never know what dangers await."

"Oh it's fine, really," Cozy attempted to reassure.

"No, it's not fine Cozy, I can't leave you by yourself, so for the duration of your trip, you're staying with me," Rumble said, grabbing her hoof. "I'll be taking you back to Ponyville safe and sound."

Cozy blushed at the contact, as well as the determination emanating from Rumble's voice, "Uh...sure ok."

"Good, now come with me," Rumble said, flying Cozy toward where Flitter was.

Cozy felt so flattered that this boy was so willing to help, he sounded so chivalrous, it was so attractive to her. She could see why Sweetie Belle liked this boy, perhaps she could make use of this kindness.

Flitter herself was walking around the city, looking for Rumble. "That boy, where'd he fly off too?"

"Looking for someone?" She heard. She turned and saw a Hippogriff boy. "Hello, you look lost, I'm guessing you're a tourist, need any assistance?"

"Oh that would be great thanks, I'm looking for a colt that I'm foalsitting," Flitter said.

"I'll help if you'd like," the boy said. "My name's Terramar, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Flitter," the mare introduced. "Hm...your name sounds kind of familiar, we've never met right?"

Terramar shook his head, "I don't think so, I normally don't see ponies. The last time I did was when Princess Twilight came to town with three fillies."

"Three fillies?" Flitter asked. "Um, they wouldn't happen to be an Earth Pony named Apple Bloom, a Unicorn named Sweetie Belle and a Pegasus named Scootaloo?"

"Whoa, you know the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Terramar asked.

"Yeah, the colt I foalsit for is dating one of them," Flitter said. "Maybe that's how I know your name, Sweetie Belle mentioned helping a boy out, you must have been that boy."

"How is she doing? Her and the other Crusaders?" Terramar asked.

"Oh the usual, getting themselves into weird antics from time to time," Flitter said. "I remember when they were causing trouble looking for their Cutie Marks, now they're off helping ponies with theirs...and still causing some mischief in the process."

"I've seen first hoof how...eccentric they can be," Terramar said, remembering their argument on whether land or sea was better. "So what brings you to Mount Aris, if you don't mind me asking that is."

"Oh it's nothing grand, I was bringing Rumble home from his time at a flight school in Rainbow Falls when we decided to stop by here, just to take in the sights," Flitter said. "Sweetie Belle mentioned in a letter that she sent to Rumble that this place was really beautiful, so Rumble and I decided to check it out together on the way home."

"Well I hope you like what you've seen so far," Terramar said. "Say where is Rumble?"

"Actually I was trying to find him, we got separated from each other, guess he was too eager to explore the city," Flitter said.

"I can help you find him if you'd like," Terramar suggested. "I know this city pretty well, and the ocean too for that matter."

"That'd be great, just keep an eye out for a Pegasus colt with grey fur and a slick back black mane," Flitter said. "Maybe you can tell me about yourself."

"I don't have anything too exciting, unlike my sister Silverstream, she goes to Princess Twilight's school in Ponyville," Terramar said.

"Ooh, so she's that sweet Hippogriff I've seen there, still I'm sure you have something to tell me about yourself," Flitter encouraged.

"Um, well I guess I can say a few things that are somewhat interesting," Terramar said, albeit bashfully.

The two began to search for Rumble, unaware he was already searching for them, along with a new friend.

"Flitter's gotta be around here somewhere," Rumble said, scanning the ground below.

"So about your friend," Cozy said. "Does she like...know anything about me?"

"Are you still worried about the prank you pulled on the Crusaders or something?" Rumble asked. "What did you prank a lot of ponies or something? Are you like secretly a disciple of Pinkie Pie? Or even Discord?"

Cozy nervously chuckled, "Oh no, I was just curious, that's all."

"I hope you're not the type to worry too much over what others think of you," Rumble said, still scanning. "If you live like that, it'll be hard to really make friends, because you'll be too nervous to talk to others. You gotta put your fears and insecurities aside and embrace who you are, that's something I learned as Sweetie Belle's coltfriend, to just be confident in yourself and not let others make you feel down."

"Wow, you sound so enlightened," Cozy said. "I sure hope Sweetie Belle appreciates having a coltfriend like you."

"She does, she told me it was the best decision she's made in her life," Rumble said.

"Well I sure do hope you feel like it was a good decision," Cozy said.

"Of course, I did have a large crush on her prior to dating her, so it's like I achieved my first greatest goal," Rumble said.

"So you crushed on her huh?" Cozy asked. "Funny, I'd think she'd be the one crushing on you," Cozy inched closer to Rumble, batting her eyes at him, "After all, you're really charming."

Rumble chuckled nervously, "That's um, really nice of you to say." He kept looking until he found the pony he was looking for. "Flitter!"

Flitter looked up and saw her little colt, "Rumble! There you are!"

Rumble flew down to ground level, looking up at Flitter, "Sorry I got separated, there was so much to see in this town!"

"That's fine dear, I know you can take care of yourself, but try not to let it happen again," Flitter said, rubbing his mane a little.

Rumble blushed slightly from the contact, then took note of the Hippogriff next to Flitter, "Who's this?"

"This is Terramar," Flitter said. "His sister Silverstream attends Twilight's School."

Cozy Glow grew nervous hearing that, wondering if this boy would probably recognize her. Then again if Rumble doesn't know about the things she did, maybe Terramar didn't either.

"Well it's nice to meet you Terramar, I've heard great things about your sister from Sweetie Belle," Rumble said.

"It's nice to meet you too Rumble, Sweetie Belle has mentioned you to me, she was obviously quite enamored with you," Terramar said. "Especially after going to those flower fields, she had quite an imagination about it."

"Right, she mentioned something about them in a letter," Rumble said, rubbing his head bashfully. "Saying that she found the ideal place for us to get married."

Cozy rolled her eyes at that statement, only Sweetie Belle can be such a helpless romantic.

"Well she and her friends do have quite the imagination, and really creative minds too," Terramar said.

"Boy do they ever," Rumble said, chuckling with the group, sans Cozy Glow, who just stood there fake smiling, somewhat relieved that nopony seemed to recognize her just yet, she just had to hope it would last.

"By the way, who's that filly with you?" Flitter asked, spooking Cozy Glow a bit.

"That's Cozy Glow, a friend of The Crusaders, not sure if you might know her," Rumble said, getting a nervous reaction from Cozy.

"I don't think I do," Terramar said, rubbing his chin. "I mean I think I heard the name once before, from my sister at least, I mean it sounds really familiar."

"Oh it's probably nothing, I'm just it was a passing name in a meaningless conversation," Cozy Glow said.

Rumble leaned in to whisper, "She's kind of overly modest, she made a little mistake she's not proud of."

Flitter turned her attention to Cozy Glow, the filly offering a nervous smile. "Well, anypony should be forgiven of a mistake if they're really sorry." Flitter trotted over to Cozy and pulled her into a hug, "I bet you're sorry for your mistake, aren't you?"

"Uh...sure, yeah totally sorry," Cozy nervously said.

"You're so full of it," Adagio's voice said from the necklace, getting Flitter's attention.

"Uh, did you say something Cozy, you were kind of whispering," Flitter said.

"Oh, just that, when I apologize, I...really mean it?" Cozy said nervously, hoping that would work.

"Well that's good to know," Flitter said, completely oblivious to the situation. "You're a nice filly Cozy."

"Thanks, I always try to be as polite as I possibly can," Cozy said, then turned around to angrily whisper into her necklace. "Will you shut your stinkin' mouth already you stupid old hag!?"

"What'd you call me you little skank!?" Adagio angrily asked, then found herself in a tug of war with Aria.

"You're gonna blow her cover!" Aria shouted, trying to pull the necklace away.

"She's gonna blow it herself!" Adagio said, pushing Aria away.

As Cozy whispered into her necklace, the two Pegasus Ponies and their Hippogriff friend were just standing there a bit awkwardly, not sure exactly what the young filly was doing.

"Um...Cozy Glow?" Rumble said, getting Cozy's attention.

"Oh, I'm so sowwy, I can get weally nervous when ponies are weally nice to me," Cozy said, amping up her cuteness.

"Oh my, that's so adorable!" Flitter said, flying over and hugging Cozy tightly. "She talks so adorably!"

"Hehe, please let go, you're crushing me," Cozy said, trying to push herself a way.

Terramar leaned in to whisper to Rumble, "Why was she talking like a toddler?"

"I don't know," Rumble whispered back as Cozy finally pried herself away from Flitter. "But Flitter's not wrong, that is kind of cute."

"Well then Cozy, it's been nice but me and Rumble really need to get back to Ponyville," Flitter said. "You should go find your parents."

"Actually, about that Flitter," Rumble said, getting his foalsitter's attention. "Cozy's parents aren't here, she's by herself and I'm not too comfortable just leaving her here alone, so I was hoping we could take her back to Ponyville with us."

Flitter turned to Cozy, sympathy forming in her eyes, "Is that true honey? Your parents aren't here?"

Cozy shook her head, "No, I got sent to Ponyville by myself to attend the School of Friendship, nopony really takes care of me though," Cozy widened her watery eyes, "I'm all by mysewf, and weally lonely."

Flitter once pulled Cozy close to her, squeezing her even tighter, "You are coming home with us now young filly, oh I can't believe your parents would do such a thing! If I ever met them I'd shove my hoof so far up their flanks they won't be able to sit for weeks! Months even!" Flitter gestured for Cozy to follow her, using her wing. "Come with me darling."

"Aw, thank you so much miss," Cozy said, then muttered. "And stop hugging me so tightly you nutjob."

"Did you say something dear?" Flitter asked.

"Just that you're probably the nicest mare in all of Equestria, and I wish I had a mommy like you," Cozy said, looking up at her with big adorable eyes.

"I know I just met you, but I think I love you!" Flitter kissed the top of her head. "You're such a sweetheart!"

Rumble stared awkwardly at this situation, looks like Flitter might have another pony to focus her love and affection on, aside from him of course. He then turned back to Terramar, "Well I guess she's coming with us, still kind of sad that she's all by herself, she really could use some more friends."

"Yeah, friends," Terramar said, still somewhat analyzing Cozy Glow. He remembered that his sister mentioned there being a traitor at the School of Friendship, and that it was a filly, but he never really took it that seriously, figuring it would be hard for a filly to outsmart Princess Twilight, The Elements and even the EEA. But something about this filly is setting off his suspicions, based on her nervous mannerisms and he could swear he heard her directly talking to somepony a moment ago, whether Rumble or Flitter caught on is debatable. He had to make sure of a few things. "So which train are you taking again?"

"An express train, I think?" Rumble said. "It won't make too many stops, only at major locations, I think the next stop is The Crystal Empire, then maybe the city before finally at Ponyville."

"Right, just checking," Terramar said. "Well I won't keep you, the three of you should be on your way."

"Bye Terramar, come by Ponyville sometime, we'd love to have you," Rumble said, walking off with Flitter and Cozy Glow. Flitter also waved bye, as did Cozy, but he could swear he saw a look of disdain in her eyes as she did.

The three stepped onto the train once again, getting ready to ride back to Ponyville, Flitter and Rumble eager to see their friends again, Cozy eager to set her plan into motion.

After the train had left, Terramar had flown to find his father Sky Beak, "Dad!?"

"Terramar!" Sky Beak greeted from the seaside. "Hey son, I was just about to meet your mother, did you need something?"

"Dad, question, how fast do you think we can get some guards to The Crystal Empire?" Terramar asked.

"Um, well with some of our best flyers, it shouldn't take very long, why what's wrong son?" Sky Beak asked.

"I just have this terrible feeling, I think I saw that filly my sister mentioned, the one she said tried to take over Princess Twilight's School," Terramar said.

"Are you sure?" Sky Beak asked. "Last I heard she was sent to Tartarus."

Terramar shrugged slightly, "Truthfully I'm not 100%, but I just can't shake this feeling, she was acting a bit strange and she played up a cute front, I mean...maybe I'm just worried but, you know, with Silverstream in Ponyville-"

"Son, if you think there's a chance that our world can be in danger, or your sister could get hurt, I'm willing to take a chance of my own," Sky Beak said. "We'll round up some guards to The Crystal Empire and meet with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor."

"Thanks dad, honestly I don't want to be right, but I also don't want to not do anything," Terramar said.

"Better safe than sorry," Sky Beak said. "Don't worry, if it's nothing I'm sure everyone would understand."

Terrmar nodded in agreement, "Right, thanks dad."
> Drama at The Crystal Empire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Ponyville, Sweetie Belle had been having a blast playing dress up with her friend Tender Taps, making him try out several different types of clothes. First the cowpony look, then a business pony look, then a member of The Royal Guard, then a yodeling look, even a Wonderbolt look, Tender Taps guessed this was originally meant for Rumble.

"Hm, hard to find a style that makes you stand out," Sweetie Belle said. "I mean according to Rarity, Twilight has fairly simple taste so anything should work, but at the same time, it's like none of this suits you."

"Maybe it doesn't," Tender Taps said, trying to pull the Wonderbolts costume off. "Wow this is tight, how do Wonderbolts fly in these things?"

"Well it has to be tight, that way it's more aero...aero something, whatever word Rumble and Rainbow Dash use," Sweetie Belle said. "Besides you should be ok with certain costumes, I mean you do take dance les...oh right! You're a dancer!"

"Well, yeah I like dancing, but what's your-" Tender Taps's question was left unanswered as Sweetie Belle sped out the room, and then back inside with a new outfit. Tight black pants, a white shirt and a black vest with gold outlines. "These should work." She tossed the clothes to Tender Taps, "Alright, get dressed."

Tender Taps had pulled himself out of the Wonderbolts suit, after a little assistance from Sweetie Belle, and started putting on the new clothes. "Two questions, first what does this have to do with dancing, second why do you have foal sized clothes?"

"Well it looks like the suits you wear at your dancing school," Sweetie Belle answered. "Second, Rarity makes lots of clothes, so of course some are foal sized, she sells clothes to foals too."

"Ah, well I guess that makes sense," Tender Taps said, slipping into the pants.

"Plus I had these specially made for the day me and Rumble have our first big dance...that or whenever I want Rumble to help me live out my fantasies," Sweetie Belle said, getting a confused look from Tender Taps. "What? I'm sure Twilight has fantasies of her own for you to help her live out," Sweetie Belle pointed out.

"I don't know why, but that just sounds kind of weird," Tender Taps said.

"You'll understand when you're in a relationship," Sweetie Belle said.

"I briefly dated Apple Bloom, not once has she asked me to 'Live out a Fantasy'," Tender Taps said.

"That's because your dating didn't last very long," Sweetie Belle said. "Plus it was very awkward."

"Hey!" Tender Taps said, slightly offended.

"Sorry, but you can't really argue that, it just seemed like you two dated for the sake of dating," Sweetie Belle said.

"Hey I honestly thought me and Apple Bloom had chemistry," Tender Taps pointed out.

"Lots of ponies think that at first, I thought that with Button Mash and Scootaloo thought that with Rumble, granted neither of us got to really date that pony, aside from Scootaloo's one night, but my point still stands," Sweetie Belle said.

"Wait, if that's the case then what if me and Twilight don't have good chemistry?" Tender Taps asked.

"You won't know unless you try, you at least have a chance. Rumble was never interested in Scootaloo, and I never got to even talk to Button Mash about it, in fact he didn't even make a move until I started dating Rumble, you need to make your move soon, before some stallion comes over to Twilight," Sweetie Belle explained. "Well some have but so far she's never been interested, but she likes you already so far, you just have to keep charming her until she knows your crush on her is more than just that, you have the chance to prove your something grander."

Tender Taps had put on the shirt and slipped into the jacket, "So you really think this will help me win over Twilight?"

"It can definitely help, it's fancy but not too off putting for a simple taste pony like Twilight," Sweetie Belle circled around Tender Taps, trying to observe his look in the suit. "Yeah, this looks really nice on you, really brings out some of your finer features, like your mane."

Tender Taps brushed his hair, "Yeah you've mentioned my mane a few times already, sounds like you really like the style, or is it the color since it's similar to yours?"

"It's just so slicky, oh and it really draws out your eyes, your big, pretty, purple eyes, same eyes Twilight has," Sweetie Belle said.

Tender Taps blushed as he laughed nervously, "Are my eyes really that pretty? There's no way they can compare to Twilight's."

"Have some faith in yourself Tap-Tap, you've got it all, the mane, the eyes, the sweet tone of your voice, your excellent dancing skills..." Sweetie Belle said, buttering up Tender Taps.

"Aw, you're too nice Sweetie Belle," Tender Taps said.

"And your butt," Sweetie Belle finished.

"Aw that's nothing spe-" Tender Taps's pupils shrank when he realized what Sweetie Belle had said. "Did you just talk about my...er, backside?"

"Yeah, your butt looks super cute in those pants, really squeezes into it and shows off it's features," Sweetie Belle said, glancing at the colt's backside. "I mean Rumble's is great too, I love watching him walk after all." Sweetie Belle had a goofy love struck smile on her face upon saying that, making Tender Taps feel awkward. "But yours is just as well toned, probably from all the dancing."

"Um, maybe please stop talking about my rear end?" Tender Taps said. "You're making me a bit uncomfortable."

Sweetie Belle blushed awkwardly after coming to her senses," Right, sorry, I guess not all ponies like having that brought to attention. I think it's because I once heard Thunderlane say that to my sister, she seemed just as shocked as you are right now, I thought she was gonna knock him out or something."

"I can imagine," Tender Taps said. "Have you ever told this to Rumble?"

"Once, sorta, when I was talking about the muscles in his body, I included his butt, he didn't seem to think much of it," Sweetie Belle said. "Maybe he's used to it since Thunderlane probably said it before to another pony. I mean I can understand why ponies say that, it's weird but when I look at Rumble's, I just feel all funny inside. Have you ever felt that way?"

"Eh, a few times honestly," Tender Taps said, remembering the first time he saw Scootaloo from the rear, then a few times with other mares. "It's an awkward feeling though."

"Maybe it's a weird part of growing up?" Sweetie Belle said.

"Probably, I have heard of weirder," Tender Taps said, remembering the time he saw Night Glider with Double Diamond, and Twilight's very vague explanation of it.

"Well let's not dawdle on this, I have more preparation to do for you, let's go," Sweetie Belle said, though as she turned to walk, she glanced once more at Tender Taps. "By the way, have you ever noticed my butt before?"

Tender Taps nearly fainted, this was getting way too awkward, plus he didn't know how to answer this, one wrong comment and Sweetie Belle might knock him out or something.

"Uh...well..." Tender Taps awkwardly rubbed his forearm.

"I'm-I'm sorry, is that too awkward?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I mean I was just curious, but if you don't want to answer that's fine."

"Promise you won't be mad at my answer?" Tender Taps asked, wincing a little at her not yet incurred wrath.

"Yes, I promise," Sweetie Bell reassured.

"...Once...Just once I've noticed, I felt bad because you're dating Rumble, but I couldn't help it. I would never move in on you, I like you as a friend and I don't want Rumble to hate me. I'm sorry if that upsets you," Tender Taps said.

Sweetie Belle shook her head, "I'm not upset, it's fine, I guess it's normal. I mean, I just commented on yours, it's ok if you noticed mine...I hope it was a good notice."

"Sweetie Belle, if I did have a crush on you, it wouldn't be because of a physical appearance, it would be because you're really kind and sweet, having a cute anything, be it your mane, your eyes or...your butt...would be secondary to your personality," Tender Taps said.

"Aw, you're such a sweetheart," Sweetie Belle said. "Twilight will definitely like you over your physical appearance too." She gestured him over, "Let's get going."

Tender Taps nodded and followed after Sweetie Belle, still feeling a bit awkward from the prior conversation.





Back on the train, Flitter, Rumble and Cozy Glow are sitting together on the ride back to Ponyville. Cozy had scooted really close next to Rumble, making the colt feel a bit more awkward.

"It's fun riding on trains, isn't it Rumble?" Cozy Glow asked.

"Yeah, super fun," Rumble said, slightly inching away from the filly. "So, where were you from before moving to Ponyville?"

"Oh no place that special," Cozy insisted. "My life was pretty boring until I came to Ponyville."

"Uh-huh, so what was it like being in Ponyville? What was Twilight's school like?" Rumble asked.

"It was absolutely perfect! All the students were nice, and so were the teachers," Cozy said. "For a while I was even Princess Twilight's special little helper."

"Aw, that's sweet," Rumble said.

"The only time the school was not so great were the times Twilight wasn't running things, like when Discord was there and that mean old Chancellor Neighsay," Cozy said.

"What was he like anyway? Sweetie Belle didn't have that many nice things to say about him in her letters," Rumble said.

"He was mean, bossy, didn't like anything non-pony, and was so annoying!" Cozy Glow said, frowning at the memory of the Chancellor. "He always got in everypony's way, and if it wasn't for him then I'd..." Cozy had caught herself at the last second, realizing she nearly gave away her identity. "Er...then I'd say my time in that school would have been flawless, that and not having Discord around and having to take orders from a cranky old donkey or some over confident minotaur."

"...What did Discord do to that school?" Rumble asked.

"A lot of weird things," Cozy Glow said. "He's really annoying, no wonder Starlight nearly disintegrated him."

"Starlight did what!?" Rumble asked.

"She hit him with a really strong magic blast and destroyed his body for a while," Cozy Glow explained.

Rumble's eyes were really wide, "Starlight is a LOT stronger than I thought she was. Discord is one of the strongest creatures in Equestria!"

"And the lamest," Cozy Glow said. "He was better off as a statue in Celestia's garden, or they could have left him in Tartarus."

"That's a bit harsh to say," Rumble said. "I mean I know Discord is a bit...untrustworthy at times, but if Fluttershy likes him, and she's the Element of Kindness, then he must be somewhat nice to have around."

"Fluttershy's too nice sometimes," Cozy Glow said. "But I do like her, she's sweet."

"So...what was it like in the school when all the magic disappeared?" Rumble asked. "I haven't heard from Sweetie Belle since then, quite frankly I was worried something happened to her, until I found out nopony really got hurt."

"Oh that...oh it was," Cozy Glow cleared her throat. "Weally, weally scawy!"

Rumble wasn't sure if the way she spoke was genuine or if she was putting on an act, while this was cute, he knew he would probably get tired of it real soon. "Sorry you had to go through that, I wish I could have been there, at least to keep Sweetie Belle safe."

"Wouldn't you be scared by something like that?" Cozy asked.

"I've met with villains before, it wasn't so hard, just a matter of outsmarting them," Rumble said.

"Oh really?" Cozy said. "Have you ever seen a Siren?"

"Siren?" Rumble asked, recollecting the memory of The Dazzlings. "Oh yeah, I've seen Sirens, really freaky creatures, nothing I can't handle though."

Back in Tartarus, Adagio was fuming as she had overheard Rumble's statement, "Nothing you can't handle huh? That's so weird since I seem to remember crushing your puny wings under my hoof! Maybe next time when you're laying helpless on the ground I'll-"

Meanwhile Cozy was covering her necklace, muffling up Adagio's malicious words, hoping Rumble wouldn't hear. "Wow, you must be so brave Rumble!"

"I try my best," Rumble said, passing it off as nonchalant as possible.

Cozy scooted closer to Rumble, cuddling up right next to him, "So if a baddie shows up, you'll keep me safe, won't you Wumbly-Boo?"

Rumble nervously gulped at Cozy being so close to him, "Yeah...sure." He used his wing to slightly push her away. "Anything for a friend."

"Right, friend," Cozy said, a little sinister like tone in her voice, much to Rumble's confusion.

Flitter herself couldn't help but find this odd, this filly was being awfully close to Rumble. She knows that Rumble's dating Sweetie Belle, it's been brought up before, and if this filly is friends with Sweetie Belle, why try to advance on a friend's coltfriend. Then again this girl probably doesn't even realize how close she's being, when one has a crush they don't always realize what emotions they're giving off.

The train then stopped off at The Crystal Empire, giving ponies a chance to leave or board the train. This meant just one more stop to Ponyville, Rumble was getting excited.

"Almost home, I can hold Sweetie Belle again," Rumble said, much to Cozy's annoyance.

"Sounds like it's been a while since you've been with her, you must be out of practice when it comes to proper coltfriend behavior," Cozy said. "If you want, you can practice on me until we get home, Sweetie Belle doesn't have to know."

"Alright that's it," Flitter said, picking Rumble up and placing him on her other side, siting between the two foals. "Much better, you two can still talk, but at a reasonable distance from each other."

Rumble felt relieved that Flitter finally stepped in, but Cozy was beyond annoyed at her seduction plans being thwarted. Though as he waited for the train to move again, he heard a little rambling outside. He looked and saw some Hippogriff guards speaking with some Crystal Guards. "Huh? Why are there Hippogriffs here?"

"Hippogriffs?" Flitter asked, looking out the window, same with Cozy. "Oh yeah, there are Hippogriffs, did The Crystal Empire hire guards from Mount Aris?"

Cozy started to sweat a bit, unless what Flitter thought was true, it would otherwise be odd that there be guards at the Crystal Empire Station. She looked herself, seeing the guards gesturing to inside the train.

"Oh no..." Cozy muttered, wondering if any of the Hippogriffs at Mount Aris actually recognized her. She needed to leave without making a scene, and needed to do it now. So with many of the ponies distracted or not paying attention, other just waiting for the train to move again, Cozy quietly started to slip away, doing her best not to bring attention to herself.

She made her way to the end of the train, sneaking through the door and flying out the other side, away from the guards' sight.

"What do you think Cozy, do you think they flew all the way over here? Think they want anything?" Rumble asked, not getting an answer in return. "Cozy? Where'd you go?"

Rumble left his seat as well to go search for his newly made friend, Flitter not even noticing straight away.

"I hope there's no trouble with this train, really hope there's not some sort of invasion that's about to happen," Flitter turned to where she thought Rumble was. "Might be a while before...Rumble?" She turned to the other side, "Cozy Glow?" She looked around and saw no sign of either foal. "What the...where the heck did they go?" She groaned out in frustration, "Dang it Rumble, sometimes it's hard keeping you in one spot."

She got off her seat and went to search for the foals, hoping they weren't in too much trouble.

Meanwhile Cozy had snuck her way through town, playing it cool and making sure not to draw a lot of attention to herself. "That was a close one, I thought my plans were a bust."

"I told you to keep a low profile you little brat!" Adagio shouted from the necklace. "Chances are that little Hippogriff boy was the one who probably tipped off the guards, I knew someone was bound to recognize your name!"

"Well pardon me for making one little oopsie!" Cozy shouted. "I mean Rumble didn't seem to know me, neither does his whackjob foalsitter!"

"That still doesn't mean to take it easy!" Adagio shouted. "Tirek told us you were a genius when it came to acting and manipulation, yet you screw up on your first attempt!"

"At least I've come closer to defeating Twilight Sparkle than you have!" Cozy spat back, glaring down at her necklace.

"Just don't mess up again, from the sounds of things you have quite the detour to work around," Adagio said. "Now get your flank over to Ponyville, if you mess up and get sent back here, what I did to Rumble will pale in comparison of what I will do to you if you fail!"

"Yeah I'd love to see you try," Cozy sassed.

Adagio angrily gritted her teeth, "I swear that little..."

"You're not good with children," Sonata said, much to Adagio's annoyance. "Speaking of children, think you can ask her to pick up Flurry Heart for me? I kind of still want her."

Adagio rolled her eyes in annoyance, she could swear that she's surrounded by imbeciles.

Back with Cozy she began to look explore and around, examining her surroundings when she noticed something. "That statue looks like Spike, except without the wings."

"Cozy!" She heard. She turned to see Rumble flying towards her, a concerned look in his eyes, "There you are, I got so worried when you disappeared."

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine Rumble," Cozy said.

Rumble landed next to her, his concern replaced with mild annoyance, "Please don't wander off next time, with all the guards at the station I thought you might have been in danger."

"Oh, well when that happened...I got weally scared," Cozy said. "I thought a monster was coming, so wan far away!"

"I get that it looked like trouble, but you still need to stay near me, I won't let anything bad happen to you," Rumble said. "Think you can come back with me and stay close?"

"I don't know, I'm still kind of worried," Cozy said, making a sad face, adding a little trembling to the mix.

"Is there anything I can do-" Rumble's question was interrupted when Cozy suddenly grabbed him into a really tight hug.

"Hug me tightly, so I know you won't ever let go," Cozy said, squeezing Rumble close to her.

"Um...alright if that's what you want," Rumble said, gently but firmly hugging Cozy Glow, getting a sigh of affection from her.

"Wow, you're so strong, I bet you can take on any villain with no trouble at all," Cozy said.

"Heh well, I wouldn't go that far, I am just a colt, though I do my best," Rumble felt very flattered by Cozy's words, only Sweetie Belle has made feel like the strongest in the world.

This moment was interrupted when they heard a familiar voice, "Rumble? Is that you?"

"Cadance?" Rumble answered, spooking Cozy Glow into letting go. When Rumble turned to Cadance's direction, Cozy had dashed off when he wasn't looking.

Cadance appeared into view, having come around a corner, "Rumble, it's so nice to see you."

"Oh hi Cadance!" Rumble greeted. "It's nice to see you here!"

"I'm happy to see you as well, what brings you to The Crystal Empire?" Cadance asked.

"Not sure really, I was on my way home from flight school when the train suddenly stopped at the town's station," Rumble said. "My friend here got worried when she saw the guards because she was afraid a monster was coming, so she flew away. I just caught up with her so she should be safe."

"Well that's nice and all, but what friend are you referring to?" Cadance asked.

"My friend Cozy-" Rumble looked aside and saw that Cozy was gone. "Aw not again, she really needs to stay in one place."

"Cozy?" Cadance asked. "Um, this friend of yours, describe her please?"

"Her name's Cozy Glow, she's a Pegasus with a blue mane and freckles," Rumble said.

Cadance immediately recognized the name and the description, feeling a sense of worry and dread. "Oh my...Rumble listen, you need to be careful, there's a reason guards were at the station."

"Huh? What's going on?" Rumble asked.

"That girl, Cozy Glow, she's-" Cadance then heard some noise from nearby, it sounded like something had crashed somewhere. "What in the world?"

The two rushed to where they heard the noise and saw a cart having crashed through a store door.

"Whoa, how'd this happen?" Rumble asked.

"I don't know, this is quite concerning," Cadance said, checking inside to make sure nopony was hurt.

During this Rumble had caught sight of Cozy Glow again, flying like she had somewhere to be. "There you are."

Rumble flew after her, leaving Cadance behind, "Looks like nopony's injured, we just need to-" Cadance noticed Rumble was missing. "Rumble? Where'd you go!?"

Cozy had flown out of sight, hoping that nopony had seen her push the cart. Cadance nearly blew her cover to Rumble, but unfortunately it seems like everypony's on to her, it might be a matter of time so she needs to move quickly.

"I gotta find another way to Ponyville, and fast!" Cozy said. "Looks like I'll have to fly there."

"You really think it will be that easy?" She heard from her necklace, much to her annoyance.

"What do you want now Adagio!?" Cozy asked.

"Just giving you a fair warning, the area outside Crystal Empire is covered with snow, you probably won't make it very far if you try flying," Adagio said.

"Well do you have any other ideas? I can't use the train because of those stupid guards and-" Cozy's rant was interrupted by a familiar colt.

"Cozy!" Rumble flew over to her, landing beside her, the filly scrambling to look as non-suspicious. "You can't keep running off like that! Look it's not safe here, we need to go."

"Not safe? How exactly?" Cozy asked, hoping to get some more information.

"I'm not sure, but Cadance did seem pretty worried when I spoke to her, then a cart crashed into a store," Rumble said. "Also, this may sound weird, but it almost sounds like Cadance knew who you were."

"Well I am part of Princess Twilight's school, so she probably knows me from there," Cozy explained.

"Yeah I'm sure she would, but she sounded kind of worried when I mentioned you," Rumble said, making Cozy sweat a bit.

"Worried? Are you sure about that Rumble?" Cozy asked, hoping to throw him off guard.

"No she was worried, I can tell," Rumble said, leaning in close. "Actually, Cadance wasn't the only one who found something odd about you, Terramar also seemed like something was familiar about you, and not in a good way."

Cozy stepped back, her eyes darting around, "It's nothing, I swear..."

"Yes, between Terramar's reaction, as well as Cadance's, plus you always running off and acting really suspicious, I think I may have figured you out," Rumble said, narrowing his eyes at the filly.

Cozy knew there was only one option, she really didn't want to do this since Rumble was really cute, but she wasn't really going to have much of a choice. Looking to the side, she slowly reached her wing toward a rock laying on the ground, ready to use it as needed.

"Cozy...is a villain after you!?" Rumble asked.

That took Cozy by surprise, she really thought he had figured her out. "Uh...yeah...That's right, I think a villain might be after me, I've felt that way for days, that's the real reason I was at Mount Aris, I was trying to hide from danger."

"Is that why Cadance and Terramar seemed so worried?" Rumble asked.

"Y-yeah! They know about this villain and neither of them want me to get hurt, so they've been keeping an eye out for me," Cozy said.

"Figured that's what Cadance wanted to tell me," Rumble said. "Come on, let's go find her, she'll help keep you safe."

"No!" Cozy shouted, getting a confused reaction from Rumble. "See if we went near her, we'd be putting the Crystal Empire's Princess in danger, we need help from Twilight, she and her friends can put a stop to this evil doer!"

"I know Cadance isn't much for fighting but she's still a very powerful Alicorn, I think she can hold her own in battle," Rumble said.

"But, didn't she get captured by Chrysalis once?" Cozy asked. "And exhausted herself greatly trying to keep King Sombra back? And had her magic taken by Tirek once?"

"Well Twilight told me that Cadance and the other Princesses gave her their magic, and Tirek took it later as a trade for her friends," Rumble explained.

"But that proves my point! Cadance gave her magic to Twilight because they both knew who was better when it comes to fighting!" Cozy explained.

"Actually the reason they did that was because-" Rumble's explanation was once again interrupted.

"I just think it would be better to go find Twilight and have her sort this out," Cozy said.

Rumble groaned in mild annoyance, "Ok, let's say we went with your plan, Twilight's still all the way in Ponyville, and the train isn't moving. If we go to Cadance, she'll get us a trip to Ponyville where we can meet with Twilight and she can keep you safe from whatever it is that's after you."

"Or, we can just fly over to Ponyville because it sounds like a fun adventure!" Cozy said with a chipper smile.

Rumble wasn't amused, "Now's not the time to be goofing around, there's a ton of snow outside the Empire, we'd freeze in like the first five minutes." He then grabbed her by the hoof. "Now let's go."

"Wait, Rumble!" Cozy said, resisting a bit.

"Cozy, it'll be fine, just come with me!" Rumble said, trying to get her to comply.

Cozy had little choice, she again attempted to reach for the rock. She had it in her wing and was about to grab it, ready to knock Rumble out, when they heard yet another voice familiar to Rumble calling out.

"Wumble?" The two turned to see the youngest Alicorn Princess Flurry Heart standing nearby, analyzing the two.

"Flurry Heart?" Rumble said, little surprised to see her out here and by herself.

"Wumble!" Flurry excitedly flew over to greet her favorite colt with an affectionate hug. "I miss you!"

Rumble slowly but happily returned the hug, "Same here, it's been a while Flurry, you've gotten bigger since the last time I saw you."

"Pwetty too?" Flurry asked.

Rumble playfully rolled his eyes, "Yes, prettier too."

"Wumble also pwetty," Flurry said, getting a chuckle from the colt.

"Well thank you, I'm glad to know I'm...pretty," Rumble felt weird saying that but he knew Flurry was just trying to offer him a compliment. "Why aren't you home or with your parents?"

"Home bowing, daddy no play," Flurry said.

"Well you shouldn't be out here by yourself, what if your mommy or daddy get worried?" Rumble asked.

"Me stwong!" Flurry insisted, flexing a foreleg. Flurry rolled her eyes at the scene before her, finding this filly delusional.

"Yes, you are strong, but you still need to be someplace safe," Rumble insisted, then turned to Cozy. "We should get Flurry back to her mom."

"Right, you take her back and I'll go find a route to Ponyville," Cozy said.

"Oh for goodness sake Cozy, I get you want to get help from Twilight but first thing's first," Rumble said. "Just stay close to me, if there's trouble I'll get us out of here." Flurry nudged Rumble, getting his attention and pointed to her horn. "Oh, and Flurry will help with her magic, she once shielded me and Sweetie Belle from Changelings." Rumble tapped his chin, "You know come to think of it, she also once attacked King Sombra and distracted him long enough for Twilight and her friends to deal the final blow."

"Well isn't she the bold one?" Cozy said. "Um, just how strong do you think she is?"

"Well she's still a toddler, but she's super strong," Rumble said. "I wouldn't mess with her, she'd destroy me."

"Me no hurt Wumble!" Flurry said. "Me love Wumble! Me want Mawwy Wumble!"

"Aw, I know you wouldn't hurt me Flurry," Rumble said, rubbing her mane. "You're too nice and sweet to do that."

Cozy did a brief gag motion while Rumble had his attention drawn away, then went back to fake smiling once he brought his attention back to her. "So she's really strong, if there were a villain, she could beat it up?"

"Depends on the villain I guess, but I'm not gonna let her fight, it's dangerous," Rumble said. "Even if she is strong, I wouldn't risk her getting hurt. I still like to think of myself as her knight, like I do with Sweetie Belle."

"Well aren't you chivalrous," Cozy said. "And since you're protecting me, are you also my knight?"

"Uh, if you want I guess," Rumble said. "If I agree to that, will you come with me like I asked you to?"

Cozy had nearly forgotten that scenario, the idea of her plans possibly getting foiled by Cadance. Though if Flurry's nearby then perhaps she can make that work to her advantage, having a tiny little hostage in the form of Princess Cadance's daughter could help her make an escape, but that would once again mean cutting her relationship with Rumble short.

Unless she could think of a quick back-up plan. In addition to wanting Rumble around for her to continue flirting with in hopes of winning him over for her own benefit, getting to Ponyville with as few distractions as possible seems a bit more ideal.

"Alright, I guess we could return this little bundle of adorableness," Cozy said, approaching the filly. "Mind if I carry her though? I've always wanted a chance to carry around Princess Flurry Heart."

"Sure, I'm sure Flurry wouldn't mind," Rumble said, turning to the little Princess. "Right Flurry?"

Flurry Heart took one look at Cozy and recoiled in mistrust and suspicion. "No, want Wumble."

"Oh come on Flurry, Cozy just wants to be your friend," Rumble said.

"No want her, want Wumble," Flurry said, nuzzling up next to Rumble.

Rumble started nudging Flurry towards Cozy, "Give her a chance Flurry, she's really nice." He looked to Cozy, "She's not good with other filles it seems, at least ones that are friends with me."

"It's fine, it just makes her that much cuter," Cozy said, grabbing Flurry and holding her in a hug, much to the toddler's annoyance. "Aw she's so soft and cuddly."

"Isn't she?" Sonata said, loud enough for Flurry to have heard.

"Sonata?" Flurry said, looking around.

"She said my name!" Sonata cheered, only to be pulled away by Aria.

"Did she say 'Sonata'?" Rumble asked, tapping his chin. "Wasn't that one of the Sirens?" Rumble looked around cautiously, "Is she here!?"

"She might be, or one of the other Sirens!" Cozy said. "We should find Princess Cadance quick then, if she's as strong as you say she is, then maybe she can keep us safe."

"I really hope those sirens don't come back, I don't ever want to see their leader again," Rumble said, looking around rather worried like.

"What happened to that tough talk from before?" Adagio taunted, heard somewhat through Cozy's necklace.

"Ugh, I can still hear her annoying voice! I'm never gonna get that creepy chick out of my nightmares!" Rumble said.

"Hey, who the hell are you calling annoying!?" Adagio shouted, making Flurry suspicious, Rumble as well.

"Wait, that voice seemed way too real to just be in my head," Rumble said, looking around. "Is she..."

"Is that her!?" Cozy shouted pointing in a direction for Rumble too look.

"Where!?" Rumble got into a defensive position. Cozy then took this time to grab Flurry and toss her away, causing a shouting cry from the toddler as she landed in a garbage can, causing it to fall and roll over, going down the street.

"Flurry!?" Rumble asked, turning around, seeing the Princess missing. "AH! Flurry! Oh my Gosh! Where did she go!?"

"She flew away!" Cozy said. "She thought the Sirens were back and flew off hiding!"

"Flurry wouldn't do that, she loves me!" Sonata said.

"Shush!" Cozy said to the necklace, then resumed her story to Rumble, pointing the opposite direction of where she threw Flurry. "She went that way!" Rumble flew of to find Flurry while Cozy snuck off, making her way back to the train. "Now to get that train moving again."

"Hey what did you do to Flurry!?" Sonata asked.

"I threw her away," Cozy casually answered.

"Are you crazy!?" Sonata shouted, knocking Adagio aside and grabbing her end of the communicator. "What if she got hurt!?"

"Not really my problem," Cozy answered. "She made for a good distraction so I used her to her best ability."

"...You ARE crazy!" Sonata said. "If I find out Flurry got hurt then I'll...I'll...!"

"Give me that!" Adagio shouted, grabbing the necklace away. "Sonata we all know you're as harmless as a butterfly most of the time, the only way you do any damage is if I give the order."

"Hey, I can be tough if I wanted to!" Sonata insisted.

"Right, sure you can," Adagio said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Anyway Cozy, now that you threw away an Alicorn Toddler, what's your next plan?"

"I'm just gonna get the train moving, the sad part is that I might have to separate from Rumble, but I'm sure we'll meet again soon," Cozy said, flying through the city, avoiding the sight of all passing guards.

"Well how exactly are you gonna get the train going?" Adagio asked. "Suppose they don't have plans to get it moving, you'll be screwed."

"I got it under control Adagio," Cozy said. "Besides, I doubt they'll be searching forever, plus there are other trains." Cozy arrived back at the train station as the guards finished patrolling the train. Just as she expected, another train started pulling in, many of the ponies boarding that train in hopes of getting home. "Bingo!"

She snuck in closer, hoping to get on board without anypony noticing. As she did she accidentally bumped into a stallion with a large and wild mustache.

"Whoa, careful there little filly," The pony said.

"Sorry for bumping into you mister," Cozy said. "I just need to get on the train."

"It's fine, bound to happen in such a crowded place," the stallion said. "Been a while since I was here, took a nice little vacation. You off on a vacation as well?"

"Yes, sort of," Cozy said. "Sorry to cut this short but I really need to get on board, I have friends and family to get to."

"Oh, well I won't keep you, carry on then," the stallion said.

"Thank you sir," Cozy said, moving in closer to the train as the stallion made his way into town.

"Such a sweet little filly that pony is," the stallion said.

Many of the guards checked up on the ponies that passed by, making sure everything looked alright. Cozy grabbed the rock she picked up and tossed it at a random pony's head, knocking them for a loop. This distracted the guards as they went to check on the pony and she quickly slipped by.

"Heh, dummies, now to get to Ponyville," Cozy said, finding a nice spot on the train. "Maybe after this is over, I can find a way to get rid of Sweetie Belle, maybe I can use The Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon and find a way to make Rumble fall in love with me. We can get married and have lots of cute babies together."

"You're weird, you know that?" She heard Adagio say.

"I'm not weird, I'm just in love," Cozy said. "You didn't tell me Rumble was that much of a cutie."

"What exactly is cute about him?" Adagio asked. "He's got a goofy looking mane style and a girly looking face."

"He's got really pretty eyes," Cozy explained. "And a really charming personality."

"Pfft, that's all? His eyes and personality?" Adagio asked. "I still don't get the-"

"I also like his butt," Cozy added, getting a complete silence from Adagio and the others around. "It looks soft but firm."

"Yeah, we're done talking here," Adagio said, placing her communicator aside as Cozy shrugged it off.

"She just can't appreciate certain aspects of a colt I guess," Cozy said, laying back and relaxing.

Meanwhile Rumble was anything but relaxed, he frantically flew around, trying to find Flurry. "Oh crap this isn't good! Where are you Flurry Heart!? Princess Flurry!"

"Rumble!" He heard the loud voice of Shining Armor call out, much to his worry.

"Oh boy..." Rumble cringed a bit in worry, what would Shining Armor say if he knew Rumble lost track of Flurry. Granted Rumble wasn't obligated to watch over her this time, he still took his eyes off her while he had her around.

Shining Armor approached the colt, "This is a surprise, what brings you here Rumble? And why are you calling for my daughter?"

"Hey Prince Shining Armor," Rumble nervously greeted. "I'm surprised to see you here too."

"...I live here," Shining Armor said. "I'm the Prince, you just called me 'Prince', wait what's going on anyway?"

"Um, don't be mad, but I just saw Flurry Heart a moment ago...then she flew off," Rumble said..

"That explains you calling her, she's such a little sneak," Shining Armor said. "She keeps leaving the castle to explore the city, even though I tell her not too. Thankfully the resident are very hospitable and keep an eye on her for us."

"Oh, so you're not mad at me for losing track of her?" Rumble asked.

"Of course not, it's not like we asked you to foalsit her, I mean it would have been easier if you did have her so my wife doesn't get mad that I let her leave the castle again, but it's not like you did anything to scare her off," Shining Armor said.

Rumble let out a relieved sigh, "Oh that's a relief, though my friend did say a Siren might be here so-"

"A Siren!?" Shining Armor asked. "You let my daughter out of your sight with a Siren around!?"

"Hey you just said I technically wasn't responsible!" Rumble shouted. "I mean I still wouldn't allow harm to come to her, but still!"

Shining Armor looked around, "Where did she fly off too!? Oh no, I gotta warn the town!"

"They're already on alert, some guards surrounded the trains earlier on and your wife seemed really concerned about something," Rumble said.

Shining Armor couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Come on, why am I the last to know this stuff!?" He ran off in a frenzy, leaving Rumble confused by the stallion's actions.

"Starting to realize why Chrysalis was able to take over Canterlot so easily during his wedding to Princess Cadance," Rumble said, then around some more, asking any nearby civilian if they've seen Flurry.

As he flew he encountered one pony, the same pony with the fuzzy mustache. "Excuse me sir, have you seen a pink alicorn foal?"

"Alicorn? Oh you mean Princess Flurry Heart!" the pony said. "Ah yes, what a nice girl, I was there for her Crystalling, front row too, and oh boy was it a memorable event, see-"

"Um with all due respect sir," Rumble kindly interrupted. "I need to know if you've seen her, it's quite important."

"Sorry son, I just got here, I haven't seen Princess Flurry Heart, quite frankly the only filly I saw was a little Pegasus with blue curly hair," the man said.

"Oh my friend Cozy, do you know where she might have went? I should probably reunite with her," Rumble said.

"She boarded that train there," the pony said, gesturing to the now horn blowing train. "Looks like it's about to take off."

"Wait, she's what!?" Rumble said, flying toward the train. "Cozy Glow!"

"Heh, young foals, always rushing to the next destination, sometimes they gotta appreciate the moment," the stallion said as he resumed making his way back home.

Rumble quickly boarded the train, scanning around for his friend. As he flew he found her sitting, looking really relaxed, much to his confusion. "Cozy!?"

Cozy jumped at the sound of her name being said, then turned to see Rumble standing nearby. "Oh, Rumble, what brings you here?"

"I should be asking that, I thought you were looking for Flurry!?" Rumble asked.

"Well I was, I came onto the train to make sure she wasn't trying to leave, but I couldn't find her so I decided to sit down a bit and reduce some stress," Cozy explained.

"Well the train's about to leave, we need to get off-" Rumble's worries came to fruition when the doors closed and the train began departing. "Oh no!" The train began departing and leaving the station, Rumble attempted to open the doors but they were locked tight. "Too late."

"Aw, looks like we're stuck here," Cozy said. "Oh well, to Ponyville we go!"

Rumble looked slightly annoyed by Cozy's random chipper attitude, though something about her seemed weird to him, between the things she's been saying and parts of her attitude, he's wondering what more there is to this girl.





At Ponyville, Twilight is looking over some papers and documents, her school would be expecting new students so she had to figure out how things would be going down.

As she worked, Starlight entered the room with a load of books, getting Twilight's attention. "Oh Starlight, looks like you've got everything."

"Yeah," Starlight said, struggling to hold onto the books. "Everything on the list." She dropped down with all the books spilling across the floor. "Well now there's a mess."

"It's fine," Twilight said, using her magic to levitate the books. "These should help me prepare the lessons I need for when the school year resumes."

"It's exciting to think about, all those new faces," Starlight said. "Speaking of which, Rumble's coming back today, think you'll be taking him into the School of Friendship?"

"I don't think he really needs it," Twilight said. "Rumble knows a lot about friendship already, he's naturally friendly towards everypony he meets after all."

"Guess so, hey maybe he can at least get that Honorary Alumni thing you gave the Crusaders," Starlight said.

"I could do that, but I doubt that's even on Rumble's mind, his biggest goals involve his flying, I think he'd be more interested with a Wonderbolt's position rather than a diploma from my school," Twilight said. "Not that I blame him, it's great that he's that focused, shows true commitment. If anything he can probably be a tutor here one day, teaching others the value of working hard for your goals."

"Rumble is quite the hard worker, I wouldn't be surprised if he earned his Cutie Mark while training," Starlight said.

"Me neither, even if he's not too thrilled about the idea," Twilight said. "For someone who's dating a Cutie Mark Crusader, it's amazing how much he really doesn't care for Cutie Marks, I mean it's not like he has to do exactly what the mark said. Rarity's mark is about finding gems, but that didn't stop her from being a seamstress."

"It's just a phase I'm sure," Starlight said. "Then again I used to hate Cutie Marks as well, to the point where I enslaved a village and removed all their Cutie Marks, driving me down a road of madness and power hunger to the point where I wanted to take over all of Equestria!" Starlight started panting and sweating as she spoke, freaking Twilight out a bit.

"Uh...you doing ok there Starlight?" Twilight nervously asked.

"Sorry, went off on a tangent, I still have some regrets that I'm not fully over," Starlight said.

"It's fine, if anything you can relate to Rumble, so if he comes and either still doesn't want a Cutie Mark, or isn't satisfied with having one, then you can easily help him I'm sure," Twilight said.

"That shouldn't be too hard, I just need to remind him how special a Cutie Mark is, but how in the end it's up to him what he does with his life," Starlight said. "That and I can easily offer to remove it if he really hates it." That response got an annoyed glare from Twilight. "What? This time I'd be doing it because he genuinely wants to get rid of it."

Twilight sighed in disbelief, hopefully this can be resolved without forcibly removing any Cutie Mark, regardless of the owner's consent.
> The Path Continues
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train that just left The Crystal Empire was finally back on route to Ponyville, though this one would require a few stops, but as long as it was toward her intended destination, Cozy had no problems waiting, especially when she had a cute colt keeping her company, even if he was a little irritable at the moment.

"I bet you can't wait to be back home, right Wumbly-Boo?" Cozy asked, getting a grumble from the colt. "I'm sure you have a lot of friends who want to see you."

"Uh-huh..." Rumble said, maintaining his pout.

Cozy knew why he seemed kind of bothered, she knew it did have to do with her actions, leaving her to feel a twinge of guilt. "Look Rumble, I get why you're upset. I know you told me not to sneak off, but I did it anyway, and the fact that we don't know where Princess Flurry Heart went, and accidentally leaving Flitter behind at-"

"AAHH!" Rumble shouted, getting some unwanted attention from ponies nearby. "I didn't think of that! Oh no, Flitter's gonna be so mad at me! She's totally gonna kick my flank for this! Oh man, how do I get out of this!?"

"Aren't you overreacting a bit?" Cozy said.

Rumble narrowed his eyes at Cozy, "You..." He turned to face her, prepared to give her a quite the earful, then he noticed the overexaggerated sad and sorry look in her eyes.

"You're not mad at me, are you Wumble?" She asked, doing a sad lip quiver.

All of Rumble's words seemingly abandoned him right then and there, leaving him unable to vent his anger, "Dang it."

Rumble laid back against his chair, feeling all hope lost. Suddenly he felt some weight on his lap, then looked down to see that Cozy had turned his hindlegs into a pillow. "Hellooooo!"

"Ugh, Cozy!" Rumble said, not in mood for her cute shenanigans.

"Aw, don't you still want to be my fwiend Wumble?" Cozy asked.

"Of course I do," Rumble said. "But you really need to think about the things you do, thanks to you my foalsitter might be mad at me, she may be very affectionate but she's also just as stern, I don't want to get on her bad side."

"Wow, sounds like a really tough mare," Cozy said, getting off his lap, then pulling him into a hug. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens, if she gets mad then I'll just tell her that I'm to blame and you were just trying to help me, alright Rumble?"

Rumble groaned slightly, "Alright Cozy, hope your plan works."

"It will, don't worry Rumble, I won't let anything happen to you," Cozy said, then leaned into his ear, speaking eerily soft. "Nothing at all..."

Rumble raised his eyebrow as he glanced at the filly, "That sounded almost creepy like Cozy."

Cozy giggled at his reaction, "Silly Rumble." She planted a big kiss on his cheek, weirding him out even more to the point where he slowly pushed her away, leaving her on her own seat.

"What did I get myself into?" Rumble muttered.





Back at the Crystal Empire, Cadance started rounding up all of the guards, wanting a sit-rep about where Cozy Glow might be. Also among them was Sunburst, who had been alerted to the situation and offered his assistance, he is Flurry's Crystaller after all.

"Be sure there are guards at every perimeter of the empire, we don't want Cozy Glow sneaking away," Cadance said.

"How can one filly be so much trouble?" a guard said.

"Well I heard she's been working with Tirek, so she must be really bad," another guard said.

"Guys, this is the filly that nearly wiped out all magic, she's much more dangerous than she sounds," Sunburst reminded.

"Exactly, just be on your guard, and don't fall for her cuteness," Cadance said, getting glances of confusion from the guards. "Yeah I know that sounds weird to say but she can put on quite an act."

From nearby, Flitter had flown over, getting Cadance's attention. "Princess Cadance!"

Cadance had turned to Flitter's direction, "Oh it's you, you're Flitter right? Rumble's foalsitter?"

"Glad you remember me," Flitter said, landing before Cadance. "Sorry to bother you, but have you seen Rumble anywhere? He might be with a little pink Pegasus, they somehow escaped my sight and now I can't seem to find them, so I've been flying-"

"Hold on a moment," Cadance said. "Did you say a little pink Pegasus?"

"Yeah, cute little thing too, especially those freckles and her baby talk," Flitter said.

"Is her name Cozy Glow by any chance?" Sunburst asked.

"Yeah, why have you seen them? I hope so, I really need to get back home," Flitter said. "I heard Cozy Glow doesn't even have a family to take care of her, isn't that terrible? Maybe I can take her in or something, she could use a big parent figure I'm sure, I think I'm the mare for that, wouldn't you agree?"

Cadance and Sunburst realized this could be a potentially awkward situation, but first they needed to confirm something, so Cadance spoke again. "Flitter, do you know who Cozy Glow is?"

"...Uh didn't we just establish that she's a cute little filly? One of Rumble's new friends," Flitter said.

"But did you know she used to live in Ponyville?" Sunburst asked.

"Well she mentioned going to Twilight's school so I kinda figured," Flitter answered.

"And did you know she no longer attends?" Cadance asked.

"Well, no she never mentioned that, did she graduate?" Flitter asked.

"...No, not exactly," Sunburst said. "You see..."

"I found Flurry!" Shining Armor said, using his magic to hold Flurry near him. The ponies noticed that she looked really dirty. "I found her in the garbage."

"The Garbage!?" Cadance asked in sheer shock.

"Huh? What was she doing in the garbage?" Flitter asked.

"Mean pony!" Flurry shouted.

"She keeps saying that, I don't know who she means," Shining Armor said.

Flitter approached the little Princess, "Flurry, have you seen Rumble?"

Flurry nodded, "Uh-huh, Wumble wif mean pony!"

"Which mean pony?" Flitter asked. "To my knowledge, Rumble's only been with his new friend Cozy Glow."

Shining Armor's eyes widened, "Did you just say 'Cozy Glow'? As in the same Cozy Glow that nearly destroyed Equestria!?"

Flitter stared at Shining Armor like if he just lost his mind, "Uh, no, this Cozy Glow is a filly."

"You're both correct," Cadance said. "Cozy Glow is a filly, and a dangerous villain."

"She's the reason all of Equestria's magic started to disappear!" Shining Armor said.

Flitter still didn't look like she was buying this, "Um, mind running that by again? Because it honestly sounds like you just said that Cozy Glow caused that magic shortage a while back, which I find hard to believe since, you know, she's a small filly."

"You seriously haven't heard of her? You live in Ponyville!" Shining Armor shouted.

"I just heard one of the students caused trouble, no way it was a little tiny filly like Cozy Glow, she's way too adorable to do anything like that," Flitter insisted.

"Cozy is only a filly, but she's highly dangerous," Sunburst explained. "She was secretly working with Tirek to destroy Equestria, she's the one who had Twilight and her friends trapped in Tartarus, she's the one who trapped Starlight in a magic barrier, she's the one who nearly destroyed all magic, she tried taking over Twilight's school to be the New Princess of Friendship! It was terrible I tell you!"

"She's a manipulator," Shining Armor said. "She tricked Twiley, she tricked her friends, she tricked The Cutie Mark Crusaders, she tricked all the students at that school, and now it looks like she's tricked both you and Rumble."

"Wait, Rumble!" Cadance said. "He's still with Cozy Glow isn't he!?" She turned to Shining Armor, "You haven't seen Rumble have you!?"

"Well last I saw him he was looking for Flurry," Shining Armor said. "He said he found her outside and then flew off."

"Ok, maybe he's still-" Cadance just realized something her husband said, "What do you mean he found her outside? Did you take your eyes off Flurry again!?"

"Only for second, literally a second!" Shining Armor said. "I was watching over her like a hawk! Then I heard some of the guards stumbling to get outside and when I went to go check on them, Flurry decided to sneak off!"

"You know how adventurous she gets though, you really need to keep a closer eye out," Cadance said.

Before this could continue, Flitter had spoken up, "Sorry to interrupt but Shining Armor, do you know which way Rumble might have gone?"

"I honestly don't know, he just went looking for both Flurry and Cozy Glow," Shining Armor said.

"I really find it hard to believe that such a sweet little filly could be evil!" Flitter said. "Are you sure she wasn't mind controlled or something? I mean Shining Armor got mind controlled during his wedding, so the same could have happened to Cozy!"

"Gee thanks for bringing that up," Shining Armor complained.

"I wish I could say it was mind control, but she was acting on her free will," Cadance said. "She willingly worked with Tirek and willingly tried to-"

"Tirek!?" Flitter shouted in disbelief. "Now I know it has to have been mind control or a trick! Or maybe he manipulated her! Such a small filly, she probably believed every single word he said about Friendship! That girl really needs a good mother figure, when we find Cozy, that's what I'm going to be, I'll set her straight and she'll never make a bad mistake again!"

"Yeah, something tells me that kid's already a lost cause, I say we just find her so we can send her back to Tartarus," Shining Armor said.

Flitter's eyes widened, "She, has been staying, IN TARTARUS!? She's a little filly!? Who's stupid idea waa it to send her to Tartarus!?"

"Excuse me but that was Princess Celestia's idea!" Shining Armor shouted.

"Well shame on her then," Flitter said, much to the surprise and mild ire of the others, namely Shining Armor.

"You can't cast shame on Princess Celestia! She's the Princess!" Shining Armor shouted.

"Well I am, because what type of Princess banishes a little filly?" Flitter asked.

"A Princess who wants to keep her Kingdom safe from villains!" Shining Armor argued.

"Enough!" Cadance interjected. "We'll discuss this later, for now we need to find Rumble and Cozy Glow."

"Excuse me Princess, did you say Cozy Glow?" The stallion with the messey mustache asked. He had just been walking and spotted The Princess, her husband and the guards.

"Yes, yes I did," Cadance answered. "Why, have you seen her? Or a young gray Pegasus boy?"

"Oh yes, they were making their way towards a train just a little while ago, first that young filly and then the little Pegasus colt," the stallion answered. "The train just left a few minutes ago, looks like they're about to do a little traveling."

"They did WHAT?!?" Flitter shouted in disbelief. "That Rumble! I can't believe he would just run off like that! Ooh when I get my hooves on him-"

"Easy Flitter, I'm sure he didn't mean to board a train and leave," Cadance said. "But I am concerned about this, we need to go find them and fast."

"I'll send some guards to stop the train," Shining Armor said.

"That's what my Kingdom's guards already did," they heard. They turned to see Terramar making his way over to the group.

"Oh, Terramar, what brings you here?" Flitter asked.

"Wait who's he?" Shining Armor asked.

"I'm a friend of the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Terramar answered. "And the younger brother of one of Princess Twilight's students, not sure if you heard but my sister Silverstream is one of the six students that helped save Equestria."

"Oh right, one of them was a Hippogriff," Shining Armor said. "Wait so your kingdom sent these guys here?"

"Yeah, I asked my dad to sent some Hippogriffs to the Crystal Empire and make sure there there was no trouble," Terramar said. "Something about Cozy Glow seemed familiar, or sounded familiar, looks I was right to be worried, that filly is going to try and take over Equestria again."

"Mean pony!" Flurry shouted again.

"Huh, I've never seen Flurry this mad," Sunburst commented.

"We gotta go after the train before it gets too far away," Shining Armor said. "Get all the Pegasus ponies and the Hippogriffs a head start, we'll round up all the others and try to stop that train!"

"What about the snow?" Flitter asked. "It's gonna be hard going past a snowstorm."

"Don't worry, our troops can handle it, plus Cadance has a spell for the rest of us, we can't destroy the snow clouds but we can shield against it," Shining Armor said.

"Alright, sounds like a plan to me," Flitter said. "Now let's hurry."

"Right, I'll send the flyers out, Flitter you can come with me, Cadance and Sunburst. Oh and you too Terramar," Shining Armor said.

"Sure thing Prince Shining Armor," Terramar said.

"Right, let's spread out!" Shining Armor ordered, each pony doing their task to help save Rumble and stop Cozy Glow.





Back in Ponyville, Sweetie Belle was putting some final touches on Tender Taps. He had the suit, the adjusted hair, and some slight make up to bring out his features. She couldn't help but admire her own work, she was turning this colt into quite the looker, she was gonna keep going until no mare or filly could resist him.

"We're almost done, soon we're gonna send you on a test run," Sweetie Belle said.

"Huh? A Test run? What does that mean?" Tender Taps asked.

"We're gonna show you around Ponyville and see how all the mares and fillies will react to seeing you, if they thought you were cute before, they haven't seen anything yet," Sweetie Belle said.

"Um, wasn't this to get Twilight's attention?" Tender Taps asked.

"Yes but it's good to gauge the reactions of other girls," Sweetie Belle said. "Plus it can be a real confidence booster."

"Um, alright if you say so," Tender Taps said, slightly worried about this outing. He is slightly worried about the opinions that others may have on him. "What if something goes wrong though? What if they think I don't look all that great?"

"I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't confident," Sweetie Belle said. "Besides the mares and fillies in Ponyville are nice, even if there's a slight flaw they'll be cool about it. Now don't be such a worrier Tap-Tap, let's go show them the slightly new you!"

Sweetie Belle took Tender Taps by the hoof and led him outside, still uncertain about this. What would ponies say about his look, especially his clothes.

The two walked through Ponyville, Tender Taps shying away from any gazes that came his way. As they walked Sweetie Belle noticed her two best friends and fellow Crusaders, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They seemed to be making their way toward where the train station was.

"Oh, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, perfect! Let's see what they have to say!" Sweetie Belle said, dragging Tender Taps to her friends.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had arrived at the station, where there waited Dinky and The Young Six of Twilight's school of Friendship, that being Sandbar, Silverstream, Gallus, Ocellus, Smolder and Yona.

"How long before this friend of yours comes again?" Schmolder asked, looking a little impatient. "Feels like we've been waiting here a while."

"Soon, I just want to be here the moment he steps off that train," Dinky said. "I've really missed him these last several months and I want him to know that from the moment he steps out of the train."

"Wait, this Rumble dude, was he your coltfriend?" Sandbar asked.

"No, he's Sweetie Belle's coltfriend, but before that he was and still is my best friend, so my superiority status take priority here," Dinky said.

"Heh, somepony's high on themselves," Apple Bloom joked, getting an annoyed eye roll from Dinky. "We get yer close with Rumble but this is a whole different level."

"Surprised it took you this long to get here Apple Bloom, figured you'd be here sooner," Dinky said.

"Well ah had apple picking to do," Apple Bloom explained.

"I met with her at the farm, even lent her a helping hoof, because that's the kind of friend I am," Scootaloo said. "But the real question is, where is Sweetie Belle?"

"Yeah, if anypony should be here it's her," Apple Bloom said. "She missed Rumble more than any of us."

"Excuse me?" Dinky said. "Best friend here, I missed Rumble just as much as she did. In fact I can now say I missed him even more since I came here early to greet him!"

"Yer really taking this seriously ain't ya?" Apple Bloom said. "Times like this I'm convinced you regret not making Rumble yer coltfriend before Sweetie Belle."

"Ooh! Are you secretly jealous that Rumble liked Sweetie Belle and not you?" Silverstream asked.

Dinky narrowed her eyes at the eager Hippogriff, "First of all, Rumble liked me just as much as he liked Sweetie Belle, we just choose to remain friends because neither of us wanted to give that up, we cared about each other too much to let romance potentially ruin it. Second I was happy he got together with Sweetie Belle, I even helped him win her over while some fillies," she narrowly glanced her eyes at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, "Tried doing the opposite of that."

"Hey it was worth a shot to get Rumble to like me," Scootaloo admitted. "Plus things can change, and when they do, I'll be ready."

"Yeah good luck with that," Dinky muttered.

"Seriously though, I'm just as surprised Sweetie Belle's not here, even if she's not the first she should still be one of them firsts," Apple Bloom said.

"You mentioned me?" they heard Sweetie Belle's voice say. The group turned to see the young filly making her way over alongside a somewhat nervous Tender Taps. "Here I am."

"Hi Sweetie Belle, hi Tender Taps," Apple Bloom greeted.

"H-hi everypo-every creature," Tender Taps said, remembering the diversity of the group.

"You all saw it for yourself, I was here long before Sweetie Belle was," Dinky said.

"Yeah, yeah, you're Rumble's eternal best friend, nopony can ever get in the middle of that," Sweetie Belle said. "I hate to see how you'd act at our wedding."

"Little early to be planning that isn't it?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Hey, me and Rumble have been together a really long time now, I think it's safe to say we're steady," Sweetie Belle said.

"You sure about that?" Smolder asked. "What if he found a new girl to fall in love with at this fancy flight school of his?"

"He wouldn't do something like that, we have a special connection that can never be broken," Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah Rumble's way too decent of a pony to do something like that," Apple Bloom said.

"I really can't wait to meet him, he sounds so amazing!" Silversteam said, hopping excitedly.

"He is, but speaking of amazing, notice something different about our friend here?" Sweetie Belle said, gesturing to Tender Taps.

"Wait who's that?" Silverstream asked.

"...Tender Taps, the friend of ours that dances," Sweetie Belle said.

"You've seen him before around Ponyville," Apple Bloom said.

"Oh, that was a different pony? I thought it was Scootaloo with a different hairstyle," Silversteam said, to the surprise of both Tender Taps and Scootaloo.

"Wait, are you saying Tender Taps looks like a filly, or that Scootaloo looks like a colt?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Yeah don't answer that, neither of us would be happy," Scootaloo said, somewhat bitterly. "Also I don't look like Tender Taps!"

"Yeah, he's way prettier," Sweetie Belle said, getting a glare from Scootaloo.

"You saying I don't look pretty!?" Scootaloo angrily asked. "Because I can be pretty when I want to be! I will put you to shame Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle stared for a second, before putting on a fake laugh. "Oh Scootaloo..." She then muttered, "Good luck with that." Sweetie Bell cleared her throat before speaking again. "Back to my previous question, do any of you notice anything different about Tender Taps?"

"Sort of," Scootaloo said. "I mean he's wearing some neat clothes, but that's it."

"Well his hair looks styled a bit differently," Apple Bloom said.

Dinky moved in close, trying to see if she spotted any difference, though one other thing caught her attention, "Huh, I don't know why, but your eyes look really pretty today."

Silversteam leaned in, "Yeah, they do look pretty!" She turned to her other friends, "Don't they look pretty?"

"Hey I don't want any part in this," Gallus said.

"Same, he does look kind of rad, but that's probably the most I can say about him," Sandbar said.

"Um, he looks nice I guess," Ocellus said, shying away a little.

"He looks too fancy, it's kind of lame," Smolder bluntly stated.

"Yes, looks too frail, needs toughness!" Yona said.

Sweetie Belle wasn't too thrilled about the mixed response, while she didn't care what Gallus or Sandbar really thought, she did hope the girls would see Tender Taps in a proper light. Silverstream looks sold, Ocellus also seemed interested, though with her shyness it was hard to tell if she was genuine or just going along with it. Smolder is as stubborn as usual and Yona is Yona, those two would have been harder to show Tender Taps to.

"So, who's the filly he wants to charm?" Dinky asked.

"Huh? What makes you think I want to charm somepony?" Tender Taps asked

"I can see that you have some make-up, really brings out a shine in your mane," Dinky said.

Silverstream looked closer, "Yeah there is a definite shine to your mane, and your eyes, it's so pretty."

"So who is he trying to charm?" Sandbar asked.

"Ah got a good guess," Apple Bloom said in a teasing tone. "Is it Twilight?"

"Why does everypony say that?" Tender Taps asked.

"Because you make it obvious," Scootaloo pointed out.

"Yeah, even when you and I were dating ah could tell you liked Twilight more," Apple Bloom said.

"You are always hanging around Twilight, you blush a lot when you're near her," Dinky said.

"Aw, you like Princess Twilight, that's so adorable!" Silvestream said.

"Isn't she a lot older than you are?" Smolder asked.

"Not by that much," Tender Taps insisted.

"I'm gonna help him win her over, I'll personally groom him for that day, when we're done she's gonna be madly in love with him, or at least willing to wait til he's older, I mean look at how cute he is," Sweetie Belle said, gently caressing his mane. "He's got the eyes, the mane and the sweet tone of his voice, he's like, the perfect boy for a girl to fall for."

Tender Taps nervously laughed while a huge blush formed on his face, "Th-thanks Sweetie Belle."

"Mmhmh, don't mention it Tap-Tap," Sweetie Belle said in an almost flirty voice.

None of the other foals or students knew what to make of this, Sweetie Belle seemed awfully friendly with Tender Taps for a moment, possibly just proud of her work or just getting too lost in the moment.

Their train of thought was interrupted by an oncoming train, Dinky getting particularly excited. "Sweet! The Train's here!"

"Hope Rumble's on it," Apple Bloom said.

As the train came to a halt, the ponies and creatures waited patiently for Rumble to step out of one of the cars. Unfortunately all the ponies had left and there was no sign of Rumble.

"Aw...maybe the next one then," Silverstream said, hoping to cheer up a saddened Dinky.

"Yeah, he'll be here soon, we just need to be patient," Apple Bloom said.

Dinky sighed in disappointment, "I guess you're right." Dinky looked off to the distance, "Come home soon Rumble..."





Elsewhere on a different train, Rumble and Cozy are sitting and waiting until their stop in Ponyville. Rumble still looked pouty and annoyed while Cozy hummed quietly to herself.

It didn't take long for things to start going south again as a bunch and Pegasus and Hippogriff guards came rushing in landing on top of the train, creating a slight thud that got everypony's attention.

"What now?" Rumble asked. He looked outside to see if he found anything, then noticed a Hippogriff Guard outside the window, making his way onto the train. "More guards?"

That snapped Cozy out of her humming and she too looked outside to see oncoming guards, "Dang it."

She quickly got off her seat while Rumble was still looking outside, very confused about why more guards are coming, there can't be anyway that whatever they were looking for in The Crystal Empire is now on their train. 

"Cozy does this seem weird to you? Since leaving Mount Aris-" He looked next to him to see nopony there. "Cozy!?" He turned around and saw her leaving through the door that connects to the other carts. Rumble's face contorted into a very angry expression. "Come on! Again!?"

He quickly flew over to the door and saw that Flurry was flying off into the distance. He wasn't gonna let her get away that easy this time, so he quickly flew after her.

Cozy approached a wooded area, hoping to have flown away from the guards in time. "These dummies keep making me change plans, this is getting annoying."

"Well maybe if you hadn't blown your cover so easily this wouldn't have happened," Adagio said through the necklace.

"You just love bringing that up, just remember when I break you out of your cells, you're gonna so owe me big time!" Cozy Glow said.

"Well don't forget what happens if you fail!" Adagio warned.

"Yeah, yeah, Miss I'm so Tough that I can overpower a foal," Cozy mocked. "Look maybe you should-"

Suddenly Cozy was tackled from mid-air, rolling along the ground until she landed against a tree. She looked up and saw a furious looking Rumble standing over her.

"Stop, ditching, ME!" Rumble shouted. "I've asked you to stay near me countless times Cozy! You can't keep running off at the first sign of danger!"

"Sowwy Rumble," Cozy said, looking up with cute eyes.

"That's not gonna work this time," Rumble said, backing up. "Now stand up."

Cozy did as instructed, not wanting to make Rumble any more agitated. Rumble grabbed a nearby vine, stretched it a little to test it's sturdiness and then tied one end of it around Cozy's tail, much to her confusion.

"What are you doing?" Cozy asked.

Rumble then tied the other end around his tail, "This will keep us from getting separated, it's sturdy enough to handle some pulling, so you'll have to try really hard to break it if you want to fly off but I'll know way before it will even start to strain. Now thanks to you we have no train and I don't know where we are, thankfully one thing they taught us in Flight School is how to navigate when we're lost, now fly up with me."

"Uh, ok," Cozy again did as instructed, the two flying upward as Rumble began to scout the area.

"There are no towns immediately nearby, we'll have to keep flying. But we had to travel south to get to Ponyville, and South..." Rumble checked the wind and where the sun was before making his decision. "That direction." He turned to Cozy, "Come on let's fly."

"You're the boss," Cozy said as she and Rumble flew down, hoping to reach their intended destination soon. So far this has been a long day for Rumble, especially since meeting Cozy Glow.

He didn't want to admit it, but something about her seemed a bit suspicious, despite her claims it still feels like she's hiding something. One thing he knows for sure, is that this filly is definitely a lot of trouble to be around.
> Rest Stop
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having made their way through the snow storm surrounding the Crystal Empire thanks for a two Pegasus Chariot and some magic, Shining Amor along with Cadance, Sunburst, Flitter,, Flurry Heart and Terramar were on their way to finding Rumble and Cozy Glow.

"Hopefully the guards stopped the train, they should be able to find the kids soon," Shining Armor said.

"We can then put an end to whatever Cozy Glow is planning," Cadance said. "But I still wonder how she got out of her cage?"

"Whoever was on guard must really messed up then," Sunburst said.

"We'll run it by Celestia soon, this isn't the first time a prisoner escaped from Tartarus," Shining Armor said.

"I still say there could have been a better place to send her than a place like that," Flitter said.

"Let's not get into this again," Shining Armor said. "Where exactly did you even find Cozy Glow?"

"At Mount Aris, after I picked up Rumble from his flight school," Flitter said.

"Hold on, Mount Aris? How did you get to The Crystal Empire then?" Sunburst asked. "I mean was it intentional because coming to The Crsytal Empire from Mount Aris seems a bit out of the way.

"Well I kind of wanted to see Mount Aris so I took a special train there, but I couldn't find a direct train to Ponyville from there so I take to take a train that went backwards and got the right train from there. It was a special type train that only stopped at big locations, which I didn't mind, not because it was faster but because secretly I kind of wanted to spend more time with Rumble," Flitter explained.

"Oh, do you not spend a lot of time with him?" Terramar asked. "I mean didn't you say you were his foalsitter?"

"Honestly he doesn't even need one much anymore, he's mature enough to take care of himself, I'm mainly around just to make sure he has something to eat when he's hungry or make sure he does his school work, honestly my title barely means much these days," Flitter explained. "Ever since he began dating Sweetie Belle, that's less time I've had to spend with him, and I kind of missed that."

"So you delayed his trip home to spend a little extra time with him huh?" Sunburst stated. "I guess that's understandable."

"Maybe it was selfish of me to do that, because of this Rumble is in danger now, I failed to protect him like I promised I would," Flitter said.

"Don't beat yourself up, things like this happen," Shining Armor said. "No one could have guessed that a filly like Cozy Glow was evil."

"And there's no need to feel ashamed for wanting to spend time with Rumble," Cadance said. "I'm sure it's not easy to accept that he's growing up, that's hard for anypony who cares for a foal to deal with."

"It just means you love him," Terramar reassured. "I think he's lucky to have a pony like you that will do anything for him and to be with him."

"Aw, thanks Terramar, you're so sweet," Flitter said.

"And we know you didn't mean to selfishly endanger his life like that by taking a overly complicated train route," Shining Armor said, to the annoyance of those around him. "What?"

"So, what was Celestia thinking when she made you captain of the Royal Guard?" Flitter sarcastically asked.

"Hey, what are you trying to say!?" Shining Armor said, somewhat offended.

"Come on let's focus," Cadance said. "The sooner we find the train, the sooner we save Rumble, let's hurry."





Elsewhere Rumble and Cozy are still flying around together, Rumble checking on Cozy every few seconds to make sure she didn't create some way of escaping.

"Ugh, so sign of a town anywhere, feels like we've been flying forever too," Rumble said. 

"Wish I could help, but I don't know much about the area outside of Ponyville," Cozy Glow said.

"Don't worry too much about it," Rumble said. "We'll find our way home soon enough."

"So um, what do you plan to do when you get home?" Cozy asked.

"A lot, first thing's first, I want to catch up with my marefriend, I really missed being around her," Rumble said.

"Why did you fall in love with Sweetie Belle anyway?" Cozy asked. "What was that story?"

"Simple, she was a very pretty filly with a heart of gold, ane every time I saw her, it made my heart flutter," Rumble said. "For a long time though, I didn't have the courage to tell her how I felt, thankfully my best friend Dinky helped me find the opportunity I needed."

"Best Friend huh? That's sweet," Cozy said. "Do you miss your friend as well?"

"Of course, Dinky's always been by my side, she means the world tome," Rumble said. "If it wasn't for Dinky, I don't think I would have the good fortune I have today. She's always been there for me when I needed her, in all the good times and the bad."

"Aw, that's so adorable...so which one do you care about more?" Cozy asked, smiling deviously.

Rumble glared slightly at Cozy, "I won't choose between my best friend and my marefriend, they both mean a lot to me and I love them both the same."

"But what if they ask? What will you say?" Cozy asked, leaning in closer.

"I've already talked this over with them, they know I care about the both of them equally, Sweetie Belle respects the fact that Dinky was in my life first and Dinky knows that Sweetie Belle is just as big of a focus," Rumble said. "Now stop asking me that, it's kind of rude."

"Oh I don't mean to be rude, I just want to make sure you're properly prepared for such an awkward situation," Cozy Glow insisted.

"Cozy..." Rumble warned.

"Just the idea of your best friend and your marefriend fighting over your affection, it could be really weird," Cozy said

Rumble started to get irritated. "Cozy will you stop-"

"What if all your other friends started getting jealous too? What if they want to be your best friend and marefriend?" Cozy asked. "I mean, what if-"

"Cozy Glow!" Rumble shouted, startling Cozy. "That's enough!"

Cozy for the first time felt slightly intimidated by Rumble, between the venom in his voice and the look of displeasure in his eyes. "Oh, sowwy Wumble, I was just-"

"And enough with the cutesy talk! It was fine at first but honestly it's getting really annoying!" Rumble shouted. "Just keep flying and stop trying to get in my head! Honestly Cozy did you really flunk on purpose like Sweetie Belle said in her letter or are you really just that bad at Friendship!?"

Cozy felt a little hurt by Rumble's statement, she didn't expect him to get so angry, maybe a little upset and annoyed, almost playful like, but he really seemed unhappy. "I...I'm sorry..."

"If you really are sorry Cozy, stop screwing around and help me find a way home, no more running off and stop talking about my friends in such negative light, they're supposed to be your friends too," Rumble said.

"Right, my friends," Cozy said, thinking about The Cutie Mark Crusaders. She had to admit, they were pretty nice to her, going out of their way to help her get into the School of Friendship. Of course that was all a ploy for her true mission, that being to take over Equestria and rule over Friendship as a whole.

Of course she also ended up betraying The Crusaders, locking them in a closet once they got word of her impending betrayal. Perhaps she felt some remorse doing that to her friends, the ponies who helped her even when she technically didn't need it. No, she can't think like that, it was their own fault for being so naive, and they never would have gone along with her master plan. She can't forget she has a mission of her own, and she wants revenge on the Elements of Harmony, and she will unleash her true Friends to Equestria to destroy everything these ponies cared about.

"I see a village up ahead," Rumble said. "Come on, let's hurry."

"Uh-huh," Cozy answered, flying to match Rumble's speed as they made their way toward the village.

The two landed in the town, it was a little bland looking, but not too bad. The ponies were all attending to their own business, barely paying any mind to the two foals.

"I hope we can find somepony that can help us," Rumble said, then  grabbed his rumbling stomach. "Or get us something to eat."

"I'm sure we'll find some food," Cozy reassured.

"Might be hard though since I don't really have any bits," Rumble said.

"That won't be a problem," Cozy said, somewhat mischievously.

Rumble found her tone slightly suspicious, but before he could inquire he heard the familiar voice of Night Glider from above. "Rumble!?"

Rumble looked up in surprise, "Night Glider!?"

Night Glider landed down before the young Pegasus, "Wow, I can't believe it's you! What brings you to Our Town?"

"We got lost," Rumble explained. "Wait, this is where you live? Where Starlight used to live?"

"Yeah pretty much, not very fancy but a place we love to call 'home'," Night Glider said. "So you're lost? Where were you coming from?"

"Rainbow Falls, I went to a Flight School there the last several months there at a Flight School," Rumble explained.

"Oh right, I think Starlight mentioned that in a letter, Sugar Belle too when she traveled to Ponyville to deliver some of her treats," Night Glider said, then noticed Cozy Glow. "Who's the filly? A friend from Flight School? Or a new marefriend?"

"Uh I just met her, I'm still dating Sweetie Belle, and we intend to keep it that way," Rumble said, much to Cozy's chagrin. "Her name's Cozy Glow, I met her at Mount Aris."

"Hello!" Cozy said.

"Mount Aris? You went there from Rainbow Falls? Isn't that more down south?" Night Glider wondered.

"Uh, is it?" Rumble asked. "Honestly I just went on whatever route Flitter took me on."

"Flitter? Oh is she here too?" Night Glider asked.

"No, I got separated from her back at The Crystal Empire," Rumble said.

"The Crystal Empire? Alright you're gonna have to do quite a bit of explaining," Night Glider said, then noticed Rumble grabbing his growling stomach. "After we get you something to eat, you look kind of exhausted too, you can come to my place, I'll get the gang to come greet, maybe Sugar Belle will make you a treat."

"I normally don't eat sugary foods," Rumble said, grabbing his stomach once more. "But I might make an exception, I'm too hungry to care."

"I'm sure she has something light, and if anything you can work it off, nothing wrong with treating yourself once in a while," Night Glider said. "I speak from experience on this Rumble, you got nothing to worry about."

"If you say so Night Glider," Rumble said, following after the older mare with Cozy close behind, not that she had much of a choice.

Time passed by, the guards of The Crystal Empire and Mount Aris were still checking the train as carefully as possible, hoping to find any sign of either Rumble or Cozy Glow.





Shining Armor eventually arrived with his group, Flitter immediately getting off and flying into the train. "Rumble!"

"Hey wait up Flitter!" Shining Armor called out.

"Don't tell me to wait!" Flitter called from inside the train.

"Well she's eager to find Rumble," Sunburst said.

"Not the only one," Terramar said. "Look."

The young Hippogriff gestured to Flurry Heart thoroughly checking each cart herself, even occasionally lifting one up with her magic, accidentally dropping ponies out. "Wumble!?"

"Ah! Flurry don't do that!" Shining Armor hastily scolded, quickly trotting towards his daughter.

Cadance however took the moment to speak with a guard, to her dismay, there was no sign of either Rumble or Cozy Glow. "Looks like they got away, I hope Rumble's alright."

"I think Rumble can take care of himself, especially when it comes to a filly," Sunburst said. "I mean this girl, is she battle trained? Does she do much fighting?"

"I don't think so," Cadance said. "I don't believe she could overpower Rumble in a fight, and he's only gotten stronger since the last time I've seen him, I think so at least. He did spend nearly a year at a Flight Camp."

"Then he should be fine, the only need for concern is if she were aligned with a villain but I don't think there have been any signs of that," Sunburst said.

"I hope it stays that way," Cadance said. "From the sounds of things, Cozy seemed to run off whenever it looked like she could be caught or if she raised enough suspicion about herself, and Rumble simply goes after her, either oblivious to why she's doing that or to keep an eye on her."

"I hope that's the only thing for us to worry about," Cadance said.

"Let's just have confidence that Rumble will be alright, I mean he's a clever kid, and he's faced danger before and held his own," Sunburst said.

"Last time there was a threat he got his wings broken by one of the Sirens," Cadance reminded. "I don't want that to happen again, honestly I'm worried something worse could happen, what if he gets himself killed?"

Sunburst was about to say something, but retracted, "Yeah, let's hope that doesn't happen."

Flitter flew out of the train, looking to be in a panic, "I can't find him!"

"He couldn't have gotten far, we'll just spread our troops around," Shining Armor said.

"He could be anywhere thought!" Flitter said. "What if he's lost!?"

"Easy now, I'm sure he's learned some navigation techniques, hasn't he?" Sunburst asked. "I'm sure he's well able to find any nearby town and get the proper resources."

"There isn't a town for miles though!" Flitter said. "What if he's stuck in a forest or something! What if it's a place worse than The Everfree Forest!?"

"Flitter, I know you're worried, but panicking won't help," Shining Armor said. "Our guards will continue searching but for now the smart thing to do would be to go find Twiley and get her help. She can multiply our resources greatly," Shining Armor said.

"That's actually a great idea!"Cadance said. "We can fly over to Ponyville, it shouldn't be too far away."

"But Rumble's probably close by, we can't leave him now!" Flitter urgently said. “I have to find him!”

"I can stay behind with the guards," Sunburst said. "I mean, you need to help explain things to Twilight, maybe even Rumble's brother, I'm sure he's worried about him, like your sister might be worried about you."

Flitter still looked reluctant to leave, she couldn't bare the idea of going back without Rumble, in her mind, that would signify failure in protecting the colt she promised to always be there for.

"I...I just can't," Flitter stammered out. "Rumble needs me, I just can't-"

"Flitter," Cadance said, getting the mare's attention. "I understand your worry, I was a foalsitter myself, how you worry about Rumble is exactly how I would feel when Twilight was a filly." She placed a hoof on Flitter's back, hoping to give her sense of reassurance. "I know you desperately want to find Rumble and make sure he's safe, but sometimes you have to take a different approach. The sooner you get to Ponyville, the sooner you let Twilight, Thunderlane, your sister and everyone else that cares about Rumble know, and then you'll have a load of more support. This type of thing would be easier coming from you, because you would know how to tell them."

Flitter felt a state of kinship with Cadance at the moment, she knows of Cadance having watched over Twilight during her younger days, that was no secret, so she can geniunely respect her words, not as a Princess, but a fellow foalsitter.

"Alright Cadance, I'll trust you on this," Flitter said, then turned to Sunburst. "Promise you'll keep a sharp eye out, I want my Rumble back safe and sound."

"Of course, Flurry Heart would never forgive me if I let Rumble down," Sunburst said, looking over to the toddler filly.

"Find Wumble!" Flurry commanded.

"Uh, yes Princess," Sunburst nervously said.

Terramar gestured Flurry to come with him "Come on Princess, let's see if your aunt can help."

"Auntie Twiley!" Flurry said, making her way to the chariot.

Shining Armor joined the others on the chariot, giving one final glance to Sunburst. "Good luck, and be careful out there."

"I'm sure I can handle whatever's out there," Sunburst said.

As the Chariot took off, Sunbust turned his attention to the guards, "Alright, let's get this train moving again, I'm sure these ponies want to get home, before they start to get irritable."





Back in Our Town, Rumble and Cozy Glow were given a nice meal along with a few treats made by Sugar Belle to go with it. Rumble had explained the situation to the mares, to which Night Glider had checked some nearby train schedules to see when they can get home. She was still a bit confused as to how and why he went from Rainbow Falls, to Mount Aris all the way to The Crystal Empire, but even Rumble wasn’t too sure. Her guess is that he wasn’t really paying attention to the route at first.

"I hope you're enjoying your meals little dears," Sugar Belle said.

"I sure am," Rumble said. "Your cupcakes are good too, though I'm gonna have to work off the extra sugar when I'm done."

"I can show you some tricks," Night Glider said. "We'll keep you in tip-top shape."

"I'd really appreciate that," Rumble said, then turned to Cozy. "How's your food?"

Rumble was surprised to see Cozy scarfing everything down, like if she hasn't eaten in ages. For a somewhat well mannered filly, she can be quite the messy eater.

"Cozy Glow?" Sugar Belle said, getting the filly's attention.

"Huh? Oh sorry," Cozy said, wiping her face. "I was just weally hungwy! This is tasty food! And your cupcakes, they're so heavenly!"

"Aw, you talk so cutely," Sugar Belle said. "I really appreciate the compliment dear."

"Man, having you as a baker must be a dream, this is tastier than the treats at Sugarcube Corner," Cozy said.

"Oh my, I wouldn't say they're that great," Sugar Belle said with a blush.

"Oh but they are, I bet Rumbly-Boo agrees too," Cozy said.

"Please stop calling me 'Rumbly-Boo'," Rumble said. "But in all seriousness, you are a great baker, not sure if I would compare you to The Cakes or Pinkie Pie since you're all great in your own way."

"That's very sweet of you to say," Sugar Belle said. "Well on the bright side you all seem properly fed, now there's the matter of getting you all home."

"Well it is late, my suggestion is that they stay here overnight and we'll send them home in the morning," Night Glider said.

"In the morning?" Rumble asked. "But if we wait that long, my brother and foalsitters are gonna get worried."

"I know kid, but it's better to travel in the day, a lot of strange creatures come out during the night, it's not a good idea for two foals to travel during this time," Night Glider said.

Rumble looked highly disappointed. "I get your point, but still..."

"Don't worry, you can stay with me if you'd like," Sugar Belle said. "I can take care of you both until the morning."

"Great idea, maybe I can round up Double Diamond and Party Favor to join," Night Glider said.

"Sure, that'd be great!" Sugar Belle said, then leaned in to whisper. "But please try to keep your emotions under control around Double Diamond, especially with these two around, something tells me you had trouble like that once before."

Night Glider angrily blushed, "I can control my emotions just fine, besides I'm sure you and Party Favor have had a few flings yourself, so I can say the same about you."

Sugar Belle gasped in shock, "You know we are just friends, he just has a slight crush on me, it happens."

"Yeah, I know it does," Night Glider said, turning away, looking a bit annoyed.

"Excuse me but are you trying to say something?" Sugar Belle asked.

"Um, excuse me?" Rumble said, getting the attention of the two mares. "Is there something I should be aware of?"

Both mares began to blush, realizing they may have gone a bit far off the point.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it little guy," Night Glider said. "Come on, finish up so we can get you ready for bed."

Sugar Belle used her magic to lift up the empty platters and take them to the kitchen while Night Glider brought the two to the room they would be staying in. Rumble was slightly concerned about this development, as it meant he would be away from home longer. Cozy was also a bit worried since this was delaying her plans.

But on the bright side, now she has a nice bed to sleep in for the first time in forever. Her allies can wait another night, truthfully the only one she felt sorry for was Sonata, but the others could wait for all she cared.





Back in Ponyville, everyone was still waiting at the train station for Rumble and Flitter to arrive. Even Thunderlane, Cloudchaser and Derpy joined in on the wait. But it was getting late and there was no sign of either of them.

"Where's Rumble?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I'm getting really worried."

"They should have been here by now," Dinky said.

"You don't suppose something bad happened, do you?" Silverstream asked.

"Like they got attacked by some big scary monster on the way to Ponyville?" Smolder bluntly asked. "Or they got sucked into another dimension, or-"

"Will you stop it!" Dinky shouted. "You're making us more worried!"

"I'm just pointing out the possibilities so we can be ready for any outcome," Smolder said.

"Alright, let's keep cool heads," Cloudchaser said. "Maybe it's not as bad as we think. Maybe the train's not working, maybe they took the wrong train, maybe Flitter is doing this on purpose because she misses spending time with Rumble and probably urged him do some weird and crazy excursion."

"What's happening here?" they heard Twilight say. They all turned to see her making her way over with Spike and Starlight. "Are you all still waiting for Rumble?"

"Tw-twilight!" Tender Taps said, stumbling over himself. "H-hi! It's nice to see you today!"

"Oh, hello Tappy," Twilight said. "Do you know what's happening?"

"Oh um, it looks like...the situation is...the train, and Rumble..." Tender Taps kept stumbling over his words, much to Twilight's confusion.

Dinky got annoyed and finished the answer for him, "Rumble's not here, he should have been here a while ago, but he's not and we're all getting worried."

"Rumble's late?" Starlight said. "Did he know which train to take? The trains can get a little confusing, especially with all the new locations that have been added to the route, like Mount Aris, and The Dragon Territory, and the new Changeling Hive..."

"This isn't really of any help!" Dinky said. "We need to find out where Rumble is and get him!"

"Will you relax, even Sweetie Belle's calm, and she's his marefriend," Schmolder said.

"Actually I'm not that calm, I'm really worried," Sweetie Belle said.

"And don't tell me to relax! Rumble's my best friend, I'll worry as much as I'd like to!" Dinky shouted, then turned to Twilight. "Is there a spell you know that can bring Rumble here!?"

"I'd have to know where he is, or have him in my line of sight," Twilight said. "It's not as simple as just saying his name or something."

Dinky groaned loudly, "We need to know if he's alright! Isn't there anything that can tell us!?"

"Dinky," Twilight said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Please, I know this is stressful for you, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions or start assuming the worst."

Dinky shook her head in annoyance, "Twilight, over the last couple of years I've seen Changelings, Sirens, Energy sucking Centaurs, Bug Monsters, Ursa Minors, Magic Disappearing, Vines popping out of The Everfree Forest, Literal Chaos, Moon Mares, I have a list Twilight, a LIST! There's a lot of danger out there so I am not exactly having positive thoughts at the moment!"

"Dinky! That's a Princess, lower your voice!" Derpy ordered.

"Aren't you worried Aunt Derpy!?" Dinky asked. Flitter's your best friend and you love Rumble very much, even you have to understand-"

"I get it, it's very scary out there, I'm still not over having been turned to stone by The Storm King a while back, but panicking isn't going to help, you're just making yourself and others more scared," Derpy gestured to the other Unicorn filly. "Especially Sweetie Belle."

Dinky could see that Sweetie Belle was almost hyperventilating while Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and  Tender Taps tended to her. Dinky started to feel some remorse, especially for bringing up past traumas.

"You're right, I'm sorry everyone, I'm just worried about Rumble," Dinky said. "He's always been there for me, I hate not being there for him if he's probably scared or worried."

"I thought he was suppose to be this brave Pegasus colt or something," Smolder asked, getting a glare from many in the group.

"You need to work on your sensitivity," Gallus said. "And that's coming from me."

"We just need good vibes, try to be mellow," Sandbar said.

"Yeah, exactly," Twilight said. "We just need to...huh, is that my brother?"

Everyone turned to see the Chariot carrying Shining Armor, Cadance, Terramar, Flitter and Flurry Heart making it's way over.

"My brother's there too," Silverstream said.

"And my sister, but where's Rumble?" Cloudchaser asked.

The chariot stopped with Shining Armor getting off quickly, Twilight going to meet him. "Big brother, this is a pleasant surprise."

"It's great to see you too Twiley, I just wish this was under better circumstances," Shining Armor said.

"What's happening?" Twilight asked, looking over to Flitter, who seemed to be very distraught at the moment. "And where's Rumble?"

Shining Armor turned to Flitter, "Are you ok telling them? Or do you want me to-"

"I got it," Flitter assured, getting the attention of the others. "We have some trouble, and unfortunately it has to do with Rumble."

Dinky and Sweetie Belle stepped forward, both of them looking up at Flitter, each with a different emotion. For Sweetie Belle it was the fearful look of a worried marefriend. For Dinky it was a strong front trying to hide the fears of a best friend.

"Flitter?" Sweetie Belle said, sweat forming from her forehead. "What's going on."

"Where's Rumble, tell me he's alright," Dinky said, trying to hold in some tears. Despite Twilight's assurance, she couldn't help but assume the worst, especially with Flitter's demeanor.

"I don't know where he is, we got separated," Flitter admitted, her heart twisting around.

"How?" Thunderlane spoke up. "What happened?"

"Before anything, this wasn't Flitter's fault, she was manipulated," Shining Armor said.

"Manipulated?" Twilight asked. "By who?"

"Cozy Glow," Cadance answered, getting a look of shock and fear from everyone around. "She's somehow escaped from Tartarus, and she currently has Rumble."

"Cozy Glow's back?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I'm afraid so, and she may not be alone," Shining Armor said, turning to Twilight. "This is a big emergency Twiley, if we want to rescue Rumble and stop whatever it is that Cozy's planning, we're gonna have to act fast."

Twilight looked very worried, while Cozy is not much of a threat on her own, the fact that she's been aligned with Tirek and likely following his orders is what really worries her. "Alright...let's go save Rumble."
> Nighttime Plans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Our Town, Sugar Belle got a bed ready for both Rumble and Cozy Glow, they were gonna be sleeping in her room while she and the others would sleep on the floor. The others were sleeping in her living room, all agreeing to help watch over the foals and make sure they got on the first train to Ponyville in the morning.

"Alright you two, get some rest, first thing tomorrow we'll get you to that train," Sugar Belle said.

"Thanks Sugar Belle," Rumble said, getting comfortable on the bed.

"Yes, thanks, you're really kind and sweet," Cozy said, cuddling right next to Rumble, much to his annoyance.

"Cozy there's plenty of room on the bed, you don't need to be so close to me," Rumble said.

"Yeah, but I feel safer next to you, plus you're really soft," Cozy said, getting a roll of the eyes from Rumble.

"Aw, you two look so cute sleeping next to each other," Sugar Belle said. She then kissed both of them on the head, and placed the blanket over them. "Goodnight."

She grabbed her sleeping bag and placed it on the floor right next to the bed as she began to doze off. Rumble and Cozy were still tucked in, though Rumble used his wing to gently push Cozy away from him.

"Try to stay on your side of the bed Cozy," Rumble said, getting into a comfortable position.

"But I'm more comfortable next to you," Cozy insisted. "Don't you want somepony to cuddle?"

"Yes, but unfortunately she's all the way back home, that's where I intend to go tomorrow, so don't mess this up for me," Rumble said.

Cozy looked down in sadness, "Well, alright, I won't bother you then." She laid down on the bed, far away enough for Rumble to be satisfied.

Rumble finally believed he had some quiet, quite frankly he was pretty exhausted from the day and just wanted to relax. Truthfully he still had some worries in his head, such as how Flitter was doing, knowing her she's probably freaking out due to him having been separated from her, he also wonders how his friends are holding up, figuring they must be very worried themselves.

Then there's his friends, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Tender Taps, as well as his best friend Dinky and his marefriend Sweetie Belle. He knows they must worried as well, he yearns to see them again.

Deep down he also feels frustrated, knowing the main reason for this delay is sleeping right next to him. Deep down he wonders why he even cared so much about keeping Cozy safe, all she's done was make things difficult for him. Unfortunately he couldn't allow any danger to befall Cozy, no matter how annoying she was.

He looked to the filly not too far from him, laying all alone near the edge of the bed. Somehow he felt some pity for her, perhaps he's judging her too harshly. If she's being chased by a villain, then she's likely to freak out and make mistakes half the time. But something about her story just seems kind of weird. He's seen no sign of a villain, though he thinks he heard Adagio's voice at one point, but that might have been his imagination.

Still, strange as this filly is, he could tell that something's bothering her. She's likely just socially awkward and still learining about friendship, including what things are ok to say and not say. Maybe instead of being angry or scolding her for her actions, he could try his best to explain things to her in hopes of having her better understand friendship.

Well, he couldn't let this night end on a totally negative note, so he decided to try and make things right. "Hey, Cozy, are you still awake?"

Cozy turned around, looking curiously at Rumble, "Yeah, I’m still up, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just...I'm really sorry for getting angry before," Rumble said. "Maybe I'm just frustrated by everything recently, and maybe I'm just not understanding you. But it wasn't nice of me to say the things I said, and if you're interested, maybe I can teach you a thing or two about friendship as well. I can tell you have potential, you're really nice, but you can be a little up front about things. Still, I just wanted you to know that I don't dislike you, and I still want to be your friend, if you're ok with that."

"Golly, thanks for being so nice Rumble," Cozy said. "I'm also sorry for coming on too strong, you just seemed so nice and you're incredibly cute, I couldn't help myself. I'm also sorry for asking you too much about your relationship with Sweetie Belle and Dinky, I get really curious sometimes."

"It's fine, I forgive you for that," Rumble said. "I guess it's normal to be curious when it comes to that subject, it did make for a good Friendship Lesson."

"Aw thanks," Cozy said. "Um, I was also wondering if...well, see I kind of get nervous when I'm sleeping somewhere that isn't where I live, and so..."

Rumble sighed in submission, "If I let you cuddle next to me, you promise to be a little more cooperative?"

Cozy wasted no time cuddling next to the colt beside her, "Sure would."

Rumble shook his head in mild annoyance, but forced a smile, "Just get some sleep for now, we have a train to catch tomorrow."

"That won't be hard, I feel so much safer next to you," Cozy said, nuzzling against Rumble. "Wow, you're soft to nuzzle, but you also feel firm too, you're the perfect cuddle pony." She wrapped her foreleg around him, bringing him into a hug. "Delightful..."

Rumble had an awkward blush on his face, "Just don't tell Sweetie Belle I let you do this, I don't want her to get jealous."

"Your secret's safe with me," Cozy said, getting ready to drift off into her slumber. "Night Rumbly-Boo."

Rumble couldn't fully believe the situation he was in, but he didn't care, he just wanted to sleep and get the night over with. But Cozy wasn't that bad to cuddle with, she was pretty soft herself, though it still didn't compare to Sweetie Belle.

Thinking about Sweetie Belle, Rumble really hopes to the high heavens that she never finds out, he does not want her getting the wrong idea. If there's one thing he's learned from dating the filly, is to never get on her bad side. While she wasn't totally aggressive, she's still not a pony you want to upset.





Back in Ponyville, Sweetie Belle was sitting on the bench of the train station next to Tender Taps, worrying her mind away about her coltfriend Rumble.

"Why does this keep happening?" Sweetie Belle asked. "For the last few years it seems like something's always after me, my friends or Rumble! I mean, we're just foals, what could villains want with us? With Rumble!?"

"Well, we are friends or relatives six of the most powerful ponies in Equestria, so of course we're pretty obvious targets for villains, they want an upper hoof on Twilight and the others," Tender Taps explained. "Yeah, it pretty much sucks, but that's why we have to try to adapt and get stronger." Tender Taps laid back against the wall. "Though I shouldn't talk, I'm weak as a twig, I bet even Flurry Heart is stronger than me."

"Well she is an alicorn, she's probably stronger than most of us," Sweetie Belle said, taking note of the very impatient looking toddler who seemed super eager to go back out and look for Rumble. "She doesn't seem to be handling this well."

"Of course not, she's a toddler, she has no grip on her emotions, I bet she just wants to go out and bring Rumble back immediately," Tender Taps said.

"She's not the only one," Sweetie Belle said, pouting in annoyance. "If I only had a lead of some sort."

"Hey you aren't considering going out there by yourself are you?" Tender Taps asked.

"If it means bringing Rumble back, then you bet I am," Sweetie Belle said. "I'll even assemble a team of my own if needed!"

"Of who?" Tender Taps asked. "Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? Not to be discouraging but you're all still foals, you can't just go out there on your own. It might be dangerous out there."

"So far it's just Cozy Glow, I think I can take her, with my fellow Crusaders we'd be unstoppable," Sweetie Belle said.

"What if she has allies though?" Tender Taps asked. "She was pen pals with Tirek, so she's' got powerful connections. What if she's made more friends? Like with Chrysalis? Or the Sirens? Or even King Sombra!?"

"Ugh you’re being way to pessimistic Tender Taps!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Excuse me!?" Tender Taps said in disbelief. "I'm trying to prevent you from getting yourself hurt out there, or worse!"

"He's right Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said, getting their attention. "We're all worried about Rumble, but ah think past experiences have shown us that we're not exactly well suited to fight such strong enemies."

"Yeah," Scootaloo chimed in. "If Cozy Glow does have any stronger allies, we'd be toast."

"Ah know it's hard, but we gotta let Twilight handle this," Apple Bloom said. "You know she's gonna stop at nothing to save Rumble."

"If we go out there, it'd just give Twilight something else to worry about," Tender Taps said.

"Plus we might just end up getting in their way," Scootaloo added. "It's hard to admit, but it's better to just wait for them to bring Rumble back home."

"Fine," Sweetie Belle reluctantly said. "I just wish I knew what Cozy Glow was up to, what could she want with Rumble?"

"I think that's what Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are discussing with Twilight now," Scootaloo said, gesturing to Twilight and the others.

The Crusaders decided to listen in on the conversation, Flitter telling Twilight everything.

"We just met her in Mount Aris, she didn't seem like she had anything evil planned, she just seemed like a sweet little filly," Flitter said.

"I can attest to that as well," Terramar said. "She did seem quite innocent, almost seemed like she was really lost."

"She was so friendly and really nice to Rumble, maybe too nice since she seemed a bit flirty, of course Rumble has that natural charm with fillies," Flitter said.

"He certainly does," Twilight said. "Listen, you don't need to feel guilty for what happened, anypony could have made a mistake like that. Cozy Glow tricked me and my friends as well, we all fell for her charm. She's very calculating and manipulative, and nearly took over Equestria due to her lack of understanding of how Friendship is suppose to be."

"How could that have even happened though?" Flitter asked. "How could a young innocent looking girl have had such...evil in her? Are you really certain she wasn't brainwashed?"

"I don't know either, I wish I could have gotten through to her, but I didn't know about her treason until it was too late," Twilight said.

"Well, when we find her, we can just educate her, simple as that," Flitter said.

"Um, if I may interject," Starlight said. "Maybe I should let you know that she pushed me into a magic portal that nearly imploded and destroyed everything, I'm not sure if she's redeemable."

"Didn't you brainwash and entire village then try to manipulate time just because your friend moved away?" Flitter bluntly asked. This not only got a glare from Starlight, it also made everypony else feel awkward.

"Fair point..." Starlight said. "I mean, all I did was try to break up a Friendship, I wasn't intentionally trying to destroy Equestria, and my idea of Friendship wasn't meant to be selfish!"

"Um, Starlight, try to relax a bit here," Cadance said, getting a slight glare from the Unicorn. "This is already a tense situation as it is." Cadance turned to Flitter next, "Also Flitter, I'm quite certain that Starlight's really sensitive about her past mistakes, so maybe-"

"Hey I'm just pointing out hypocoristic," Flitter said.

"Did you just interrupt my wife?" Shining Armor asked. "Who happens to be a Princess!?"

"All I'm saying is that if Princess Luna, Discord and even Starlight here can get a second chance, why not a filly who probably just didn't know any better? Even Trixie, who tried taking over Ponyville and banishing Twilight, was given the 'misunderstood' treatment, she's a grown mare who knew what she was doing!"

"Trixie was mind controlled by her amulet though," Twilight pointed out.

"Which she bought!" Flitter said. "She came to town to get revenge on you Twilight, all because you exposed her for being a fraud! She knew what she was doing!"

"Look, this is getting nowhere," Twilight said. "We'll focus on past mistakes later, we really should be trying to look for Rumble. Now tell me Flitter, do you know where Cozy was trying to go?"

"She did mention Ponyville, I don't know why she wasn't on the train though," Flitter said.

"Probably because of the guards we sent there," Shining Armor said. "She probably bolted the moment they arrived."

"Come to think of it, she did quickly leave the train when we first arrived at The Crystal Empire, this was right after we saw the Hippogriff guards," Flitter said.

"That does seem like something a pony on the run would do," Starlight interjected. "Speaking from my own experience."

"So the best solution is to check near where that train was," Twilight said.

"That was the main reason for coming here," Shining Armor said. "We already left Sunburst to have a look around, but we knew that wouldn't be enough."

"We need you and your friends to help us find Rumble and stop whatever Cozy Glow is planning," Shining Armor said.

"I'd be more than happy to help with that," Twilight said. "And I know my friends will too."

"Got that right," Rainbow Dash said, making her way over along with the rest of the Elements. "You can be sure we'll save Rumble from Cozy Glow."

"And figure out what she's up to while we're at it," Applejack said.

"I can always count on all of you," Twilight said, then turned her attention to Flitter. "We promise to bring Rumble back safely."

"That's if he hasn't gotten away himself," Rainbow Dash said. "I mean, I'm sure he's either caught on to her evil nature or is on the verge of catching on."

"For all we know, he's on his way over to Ponyville right now!" Pinkie said.

"Oh, if he is, we really need to find him then," Fluttershy said. "He shouldn't be out there by himself."

"The sooner we find him, the better," Rarity said, glancing towards where Sweetie Belle was. "For my sister's sake." She turned back to her friends, "And mine too, I do adore little Rumbly quite a lot myself."

"We all like Rumble, he's a nice boy," Applejack said. "Just say the word Twilight, and we'll march into battle."

"Uh, not much of a battle," Rainbow Dash said. "It's just Cozy Glow, I don't really intend to beat her up or anything, evil or not, she's just a filly."

"Well fer all we know Chrysalis, The Sirens or even Tirek probably escaped too," Applejack said.

"We should probably look into that," Twilight said. "We'll split into three groups, one team will look for Rumble where the train last was, one team will go to Tartarus to get some answers, and one will stay here just in case Rumble does come back."

"Hey! Can we be on any team?" Sweetie called out to Twilight.

"Sure, you all can be on the Team that stays here," Twilight said. "That seems feasible."

"Ugh, I wanted to be on the Team that searches for Rumble," Sweetie Belle lamented.

"Told ya Twilight wouldn't let you do that," Apple Bloom said. "Besides if Rumble does come back, I think he'd want to see you most of all."

"Also if Cozy Glow shows up with him, we can beat her up!" Scootaloo said.

"I'd rather you don't resort to violence!" Twilight suggested. "Even if she is evil."

"Why does everypony keep calling her 'evil'?" Flitter said. "I'm telling you all, she's probably just misguided, use your fancy friendship magic on her. Like, can't you use the Elements of Harmony to free her from evil like you did with Princess Luna and that Stygian guy?"

"Um, pretty sure it doesn't work like that," Rainbow Dash said. "But if it makes you feel better, we'll see what we can do to help redeem her."

"That's all I ask," Flitter said. "That being said, I'm on the Find Rumble Team, just throwing that out there."

"Same here," Cloudchaser said, walking over with Thunderlane. "We want to bring the little guy home safely."

"I hate that my brother's out there somewhere with an evil little..." Thunderlane paused when he heard Flitter's throat clear. "Uh...misguided little filly, who honestly Rumble can reform himself. Flitter mentioned she might have a crush on him, he just needs to work his charm on her." This last statement merely got a look of annoyance from the other ponies around him, and a death glare from Sweetie Belle. "Uh...something I said?"

"Thunderlane...he already has a marefriend," Cloudchaser said.

"Yeah, he was not really interested in Cozy's advancements," Flitter pointed out.

"I don't mean dump Sweetie Belle, just charm her enough to switch sides," Thunderlane said. "I think he can pull that off."

"Or, how about he saves that kind of thing for my sister," Rarity said, a hint of venom in her voice. "After all, he certainly does not want to earn her wrath, now does he!?"

Thunderlane took a step back, sporting a sheepish smile, "Sure, whatever you say Rares."

Twilight shook her head at the encounter, this was silly and not to mention a waste of time, "Alright, here's the teams. Finding Rumble will consist of Applejack, Rarity, Thunderlane, Flitter, Cloudchaser and Derpy. Going to Tartarus will consist of myself, Starlight, Shining Armor, Cadance and Sunset Shimmer. Fluttershy and Pinkie will stay behind with everypony else should Rumble come home."

"What about me?" Spike asked.

"For now, I need you to send a letter to Celestia," Twilight said, bringing out a paper and quill. "Let her know what's happening, and ask her to send Sunset Shimmer our way."

"Reminds me of the old days where we did this on a pretty regular basis," Spike said, writing the information.

"Oh yeah, back when I was still a student," Twilight said, fondly reminiscing.

Spike finished up the letter and sent it to Celestia through his fire, "There, she should be getting it now."

"Good work, I know another way you can help. Do some constant patrols of the area surrounding Ponyville, if Celestia writes to you again with something urgent, go to Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie immediately," Twilight said.

"You got it," Spike said, saluting for Twilight as he went to start his patrol.

"Good, now let's get started," Twilight said.

"Wait up, you can't go out there now Twiley, it's kind of late," Shining Armor said.

"Huh? Are you serious!?" Twilight asked. "What do you expect us to go home and sleep knowing that Rumble needs our help?"

"Well, when you put it that way..." Shining Armor said, rubbing his head sheepishly. 

"Big Brother, when you come to me with an emergency, then I'm going to act on it right away, not sleep for like eight hours and try then, Rumble could need our help right now," Twilight said.

"I know, maybe that was a bad time to mention it, but it's night time and it might be hard to navigate, I'm worried about your safety as well baby sister," Shining Armor said.

"I'm not a 'baby sister' Shining Armor, I'm a Princess of Equestria, I can handle whatever's out there," Twilight said. "This wouldn't be the first time I've gone out at night to do a mission after all, how do you think my battle with Nightmare Moon went? That was after navigating through the Everfree Forest."

"I...er, I guess that's a good point," Shining Armor said. "I'm just throwing it out there, if you feel like you can do this, I won't stop you. I just want to make sure you'd be able to do this."

"If it makes you feel better, we'll grab some extra supplies, if anypony gets tired we'll make sleeping arrangements, but if we're able to do something now, then I'd rather try that, I won't forgive myself if Rumble got hurt and I couldn't prevent it."

"Huh, always the hero, huh Twiley?" Shining Armor said, getting a sheepish blush from his sister.

"Oh it's nothing really, I just like helping ponies, especially foals," Twilight said.

"Alright, let's not stand around any longer, we have a colt to rescue!" Rainbow Dash said, getting a murmur of agreements from the others, aside from Rarity.

"Before we go, I would like to mention something to Tender Taps," Rarity said, then turned her attention to the colt. "Or Tender Taps darling, mind coming over for a minute please?"

Tender Taps wasted no time obeying Rarity's request, trotting over to the mare, "Yes Miss Rarity?"

"You can drop the formality darling," Rarity instructed. "Listen, I need you to do me a favor while I'm away."

"Sure, what is it?" Tender Taps asked.

"Please keep Sweetie Belle company," Rarity said. "I can see her worry from here, she needs a friend to keep her company."

"Oh, well sure," Tender Taps said. "I mean I'm sure Apple Bloom and Scootaloo would do fine to but..."

"I know Apple Bloom and Scootaloo will help as well, I don't even need to ask them, they're just that caring of my darling sister," Rarity explained. "I just want to make sure you stay near her too, you have a sensitivity to you that many fillies find charming, and I know it will benefit Sweetie Belle."

"Well sure, I'd be happy to stay with her, if that's what you want," Tender Taps said.

"You're such a good colt Tender Taps," Rarity said, rubbing his mane. "You're friends are lucky to have you, and you're gonna make a mare a very nice coltfriend."

Tender Taps looked down at his hooves, trying to hide his embarrassment, "Come on, I'm just a normal colt, I'm not special."

"Of course you are Tender Taps," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, nopony can tap dance like you!" Pinkie added.

"You're very empathetic as well, a good quality in a coltfriend," Starlight said.

"You just need to toughen up a bit, since you're usually kind of wimpy," Rainbow Dash said, getting a glare from her friends. "What? I'm just giving constructive criticism, Rumble's tough for his age, why can't Tender Taps be?"

"He's not much of a fighter Rainbow Dash," Starlight said.

"Neither is Fluttershy, but I bet she could hold her own against something dangerous," Rainbow Dash insisted.

"Um, not really," Fluttershy said. "I'm actually pretty helpless in a fight, I feel no shame in admitting that."

"...We really gotta work on that," Rainbow Dash said.

"Girls, if we're gonna go find Rumble, we need to do it now," Cadance said, getting their attention.

"Right, sorry," Rarity said. "Come on ladies, we have a colt so save."

"Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, watch over Flurry for us please," Shining Armor called to the two mares.

"You got it!" Pinkie Pie reassured.

Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash made their way to Cadance and Shining Armor while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy joined with the foals. Twilight stayed behind to say her piece to Tender Taps.

"I'm relying on you to watch over your friends Tappy, they need you right now," Twilight said.

Tender Taps nervously nodded, "Y-yes Twilight."

Twilight giggled at his awkwardness, "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden? I mean you do get like this when you talk to me, but it seems extra amped up today. Also, did you do something with your mane? It looks nice."

Tender Taps's face reddened, he felt excited, yet nervous, "Uh, it's nothing really, just trying new things."

"Well it looks nice," Twilight said. "Hey, you think after we come back we can spend a little time together? Running a school hasn't left me with much time to spend with my favorite foals, and I'd like to make a special day just for you Tappy."

Tender Taps had no immediate response, much to Twilight's confusion. He just stood there in complete silence, no movement at all, much to Twilight's confusion.

"Um...Tappy? You alright there?" Twilight waved her hoof in front on his eyes. She then noticed his face beginning to turn blue. Not only was he not moving, he wasn't breathing either. "Tender Taps!"

The bolt quickly snapped out of it, looking around frantically, "Huh? What!?" He looked up at a slightly confused Twilight. "Oh, um...yeah, Yeah! Spending time together, you and me, nopony else! Yes that's...ahem, totally fine with me..."

Twilight still looked a bit confused by his reaction, then started giggling, "You're so adorable Tappy." She then kissed the top of his head, leaving him speechless again. "I'll see you soon." 

She began to trot off, leaving Tender Taps completely love stricken. "Yes, sure thing Twilight..."

Twilight had rejoined her friends, all of them slightly confused as to what happened.

"Uh, Twi? What was that about?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Nothing, just a little friendly teasing," Twilight said. "He kind of has a crush on me, so I like to make him feel awkward from time to time. I know it probably seems mean but it's too cute to resist."

"Well I find his crush completely adorable," Rarity said. "And quite understandable, honestly Twilight, I wouldn't be surprised if there were more foals who have a slight crush on you."

"Yes, well despite what he believes, I find Tender Taps to be a very special colt, he may be young now but I get the feeling he's gonna grow into a fine stallion, so I want to make sure that happens," Twilight said. "Like you said Rarity, he's gonna make a mare a great coltfriend."

"If that were true, why did he and Apple Bloom break up then?" Applejack asked, almost bitterly.

"He's probably not ready to be in a relationship, or just doesn't have the confidence yet," Rarity said. "Being good coltfriend material doesn't mean he's going to feel confident enough to be one."

"That and he probably likes Twilight more, so the kid probably thought he was leading Apple Bloom on and felt terrible about it," Rainbow Dash said.

"Exactly, if he didn't think he could devote himself fully to Apple Bloom, then it wouldn't be a good idea for him to pursue a relationship with her," Twilight said. "You have to admit Applejack, that's a very mature thing for a colt to do, shows he takes relationships seriously."

"Ah guess, still wish they could have stayed together," Applejack said.

"Well who knows what the future holds," Twilight said. "Anyway let's hurry, my brother and Princess Cadance are waiting on us."

"Same with Thunderlane and the twins," Rainbow Dash said, gesturing to the three impatient ponies.

As the mares did their thing, Tender Taps stood at his spot in satisfaction, "Wow, Twilight wants to spend time with me, just me! It's almost like a date! I have a date with The Princess of Friendship! Sweetie Belle was spot on about this new look!"

"Told ya," Sweetie Belle said, getting the colt's attention. He turned to see her alongside The Crusaders. "Hey Tap-Tap."

"Now you have a nickname for him?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah, it's cute," Sweetie Belle said, then turned to Tender Taps. "I see you got a little date with Twilight, I mean maybe it's not a date to her but it's still something."

"Yeah, kind of nervous though, I mean, what do we do when we're alone?" Tender Taps asked.

"I can help you with that, no trouble at all," Sweetie Belle said, still clearly distraught.

"Are you sure you're up to that?" Tender Taps asked. "I mean, I know you're probably really stressed out right now, so-"

"It's fine, Tender Taps," Sweetie Belle said. "I am very worried about Rumble, but I have faith in my sister and her friends, plus I could really use a distraction, otherwise I'm gonna worry myself out of my mind."

"Oh, well...If that's what you want then," Tender Taps said. "Still, if you do feel like-"

"I'll be fine!" Sweetie Belle insisted. "I'm tougher than I look, and so is Rumble. He'll be back, I just know it."

"...Yeah, yeah he will, I'm sure of it," Tender Taps said, hoping to give Sweetie Belle more relief.

"Good, now let's go back to my sister's Boutique," Sweetie Belle said.

"Sure thing," Tender Taps said, then noticed Dinky from the corner of his eyes, walking off. "Hey Dinky!  We're going to Sweetie Belle's house, wanna-"

"No!" Dinky said. "No one bother me."

"Wow, Dinky's not taking this too well," Scootaloo said.

"She and Rumble have been best friends for years, so of course she's gonna be unhappy about it," Apple Bloom said. "But in times like these, she needs her other friends to help her out too."

"Why don't you two do that, I'll go with Sweetie Belle to her house," Tender Taps said. "Maybe if you can, try to bring Dinky over so all five of us can keep each other company."

"Good idea, maybe we can bring over Flurry Heart too, and Terramar, the more friends the better," Apple Bloom said.

"Ugh, why Flurry Heart? I can't stand her," Sweetie Belle said.

"That's not nice to say Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom scolded. "Flurry cares about Rumble too, and yes while she does have a crush on him, can you really blame her? Lots of foals have a crush on Rumble."

"I still have a crush on him," Scootaloo said, much to Sweetie Belle's annoyance. "Hey he was originally gonna be my coltfriend before things went bad."

"Let's not delve into that...again," Tender Taps said. "Look just go help Dinky, I'll stay with Sweetie Belle."

"Sure thing," Apple Bloom said. "Let's go Scootaloo."

As the two fillies went to find Dinky, Tender Taps went with Sweetie Belle to her Botique. Meanwhile Terramar stayed with his sister and the rest of her friends, explaining his story.

"Yeah, they arrived at Mount Aris, I offered to guide them through the city, that's when Rumble showed up with Cozy Glow," Terramar said.

"Didn't you know she was evil?" Smolder asked. "Silverstream, didn't you mention anything?"

"I thought I did, I mentioned our classmate worked with Tirek to try and overthrow all of Equestria," Silverstream said.

"You might have told me, but I still didn't remember," Terramar said. "Cozy Glow is a plain sounding name and doesn't sound threatening, so it's easy to forget I guess."

"Well, should we do something?" Ocellus asked.

"Like what?" Gallus asked. "You heard Princess Twilight, if she's not letting the Crusaders do anything, what makes you think she'd let us?"

"Well, we are slightly older," Silverstream stated. "And we each have cool abilities! I can fly, Smolder can breath fire, Gallus can also fly, Ocellus changes forms, Sandbar can...uh, well he's good with thinking!"

"I am a good thinker," Sandbar added.

"Also Yona can smash things!" Silverstream concluded.

"Yah! Yona smash! I smash mean pony and rescue other pony!" Yona declared.

"Also, in addition to flying, I can change form in the water, just in case we need to swim anywhere," Silverstream added. "We're like the perfect team!"

"Yes, but you forgot one thing," Gallus said. "The flying, the fire, the form changing, Princess Twilight already has access to all that. She can fly and think, if she needs a fire breather she has Dragon Lord Ember, if she needs some creature to change forms, she can get King Thorax, if she needs stomping, she can send Pinkie Pie to find Prince Rutherford, and I'm pretty sure they won't have any trouble swimming through water, especially if they can fly over it."

"Um, alright all good points so far," Silverstream admitted.

"And there's one thing they have that we don't, strong magic," Gallus said. "Princess Twilight's magic is extremely powerful, and she won't need all that magic to stop one little filly. They have all they need to find that Rumble kid and figure out how Cozy Glow escaped from Tartarus, and even if Tirek or some other creature was free, you think we'd be able to stop them? Yeah I don't think so."

"Right now it's better to just stay here where it's safer, I'm sure our families wouldn't approve of us endangering ourselves," Ocellus said.

"Honestly the best thing we can do is comfort Sweetie Belle, Terramar said. "As well as the other Crusaders."

"Still, we were the ones who helped stop Cozy before, so I feel like we should be doing something," Silverstream said.

"We are, if she comes to town, we let Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie know, I mean it's not like we can beat her up," Gallus said.

"Well we can, but Princess Twilight says that violence should never be a first option," Sandbar said.

"Well let's go find The Crusaders and Flurry, we can talk this over with them," Terramar said. "And see if there's anything we can do now for them at least."

As the foals agreed and went to find The Crusaders and Flurry, both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were seen looking around rather worriedly.

"Are you sure you haven't seen her!?" Fluttershy asked, checking through a bush.

"Not since Shining Armor told us to watch her," Pinkie said, checking a barrel.

"Where could she be?" Fluttershy wondered. "Oh, did we already lose her?"

"That might be a record," Pinkie said. "Let's hurry and keep looking."

During this, Flurry is seen peeking from behind a corner, making sure the coast is clear before she started fluttering off, going in the same direction that Dinky had gone.

Sweetie Belle had gotten to her sister's home and store, making her way through the lobby with Tender Taps following shortly after, closing the door behind him.

"I still can't believe Twilight asked on a date, I mean not really a date, but close enough to one," Tender Taps said. "You really helped me out there Sweetie Belle, I owe you big time. So what do you have...Sweetie Belle?"

Tender Taps had noticed that Sweetie Belle was trembling, something was bothering her and he knew exactly what it was. "Tender Taps...do you really have faith in Twilight?"

"Faith, in what? Finding Rumble?" Tender Taps asked. "I mean Twilight's very diligent when it comes to this type of stuff, so yeah I do have total faith in her to bring Rumble back safely."

"That's good to hear," Sweetie Belle said. "I...I know I should have faith in her as well, same with my sister." Sweetie Belle wiped her face, at this point is sounded like she was holding back some tears. "But I can't help but worry, Rumble's out there and in danger, and there isn't anything I can do..."

"Well, come on, it's Rumble, I mean he's a tough colt, and he's been in danger before," Tender Taps said.

"But I was there for him!" Sweetie Belle said, turning to Tender Taps. She had already begun crying. "The first time at least, the only time he was in danger and I wasn't there for him was back when Twilight was making that Friendship Festival. Seeing Rumble being brought back home with two broken wings...Now something worse can happen to him, I may never even get to see him again!"

"Don't think that way Sweetie Belle, I know it's tough but we gotta believe he'll be fine," Tender Taps said. "I mean, so far it's just that filly who betrayed the school, Rumble can protect himself from her. Plus she isn't the violent type is she? I mean the worse she did to you, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo was lock you in a closet, and she did seem pretty powerless on her own."

"But what if there's more?" Sweetie Belle said. "What if The Sirens or Chysalis come back? What if Tirek's helping her again? What if King Sombra comes back!? What if The Storm King comes back!?"

"Um, didn't the Storm King bite the dust?" Tender Taps asked.

"So did King Sombra, but he still came back!" Sweetie Belle said. "It could even be a new enemy! One we've never heard of! He might be super strong! Rumble could be hurt, he could be in danger, he could...he could-"

Tender Taps pulled Sweetie Belle into a reassuring hug, gently stroking her mane as he embraced her. "He could be just fine, the last time he got hurt was because he was trying to protect Flurry Heart, this time it's just him, he'll be able to get away easier. He's a smart colt who has the perfect combat training, and he's probably gotten better since his flight school."

Sweetie Belle started to calm down a bit, Tender Taps's soothing words reducing the stress and anxiety weighing in her heart. However, some doubt still lingered. "But...what if-"

"You can't focus on the negatives, I know it's difficult, but you have to try and trust Twilight to find him, who knows, maybe he defeated Cozy Glow himself," Tender Taps said.

"Heh, maybe, he's more than a match for her, isn't he?" Sweetie Belle said, finding some calm in this.

"He sure is, don't lose hope Sweetie Belle, whatever happens, I'm here for you," Tender Taps said.

Sweetie Belle's worries started to fade, though some lingered within her. She couldn't help it, the love of her life was in a likely terrible situation. She's just thankful she has friends like Tender Taps to get her through this.

"Thanks Tap-Tap, you're the best, I’m sorry for calling you pessimistic before," Sweetie Belle said.

“It’s fine, you were just worried about Rumble,” Tender Taps said.

“You’re so understanding,” Sweetie Belle said, pulling away. Before she did though, she left a kiss on his cheek, much to his surprise.

"It's nothing really," Tender Taps insisted, not sure what to make of that cheek kiss. It seemed like a simple friendly gesture though, so he didn't put in much thought.

"Alright, let's get you prepared for your 'date' with Twilight," Sweetie Belle said, doing a playful emphasis on the term.

"Heh, heh, yeah, date," Tender Taps said. Aside from the unfortunately situation they found themselves in, at least he had that to look forward too. He did have to wonder how Dinky was taking this, given how distraught she just was.

What nopony else in the town knew was that Dinky, along with Flurry were already on their way out of Ponyville, having snuck past Spike’s surveillance of the area. The two came to a silent agreement, they needed to find Rumble, and they were gonna make sure he was safe. Cozy Glow won't know what hit her by the time they're done with that mischievous filly.





Back in Our Town, Cozy and Rumble are fast asleep on their bed, at least Rumble was, Cozy has been in and out, she still had a lot on her mind, knowing she still had a task to do. Thankfully Adagio has been pretty quiet, likely asleep herself or just bored with talking to Cozy. That's better for the filly, she really doesn't want to put up with Adagio's annoyance for the moment.

Cozy did enjoy her position, snuggled with a very handsome colt, getting all nice and cuddly with him. He was soft and firm, and he looked so cute and innocent when he slept. She gently stroked his face, having so many ideas as to what she would love to do now, but she wouldn't know where to start.

However during this, she heard Sugar Belle's voice from the floor. "Come on Party Favor, you know we can't do this."

"Come on, Night Glider and Double Diamond are doing this, or they wanted to but couldn't since I was there," Party Favor said. "Plus I didn't want you to be lonely."

"You know I don't see you that way though, we're just friends," Sugar Belle said.

"I know, but I want to at least have one night with you, this is the best chance I'll get," Party Favor said. "One day you might not be living in this town anymore, your recipes have gotten so great, I wouldn't be surprised if you moved in with Pinkie Pie or something, maybe work for The Apples."

"Nothing's stopping you from coming, honestly I think you and Pinkie Pie would look better together," Sugar Belle said. "As for the Apples, you and I both know why I would want to go to that farm."

"Yeah, I know, but I still want this moment, maybe if I'm lucky, you'll change your mind," Party Favor said.

"I don't know, besides the foals are there," Sugar Belle said.

Party Favor looked over and saw them asleep, well Rumble truly was but Cozy quickly faked it. "They look fast asleep." He looked down to Sugar Belle. "Are you sure? I mean give me a few minutes, I promise to be really quiet, if they wake up I'll leave."

Sugar Belle sighed, "We'll start small, that's it. But you aren't getting the pie unless you can warm up the oven, if you know what I mean."

"...Sorta?" Party Favor said.

"Just kiss me, we'll see where we go from there, but after tonight, you may not get this again, so enjoy what you can," Sugar Belle said.

"Thanks," Party Favor said, kissing the mare before him. "You know I do care about you right? It's not about, well you know..."

"I'm aware, you're a sweet guy Party Favor, I know you'll accept whatever answer," Sugar Belle said. "Who knows, I may not end up liking you, but I'll put in a good word for you."

"Well I'm hoping the girl that loves me is you, because you're too amazing to not try to win over," Party Favor said, nuzzling his nose against hers.

"Well then, try to win me over," Sugar Belle said, the two resuming their kiss.

Cozy had her eye slightly peeked open, a little amazed by what was happening not too far off. She observed their make-out tactics, seeing how the two gently caressed each other. She turned her attention to Rumble, wishing that could be them.

But why wish, when she could just go for it, after all, Sweetie Belle wasn't here. She made her move, leaning in and nuzzling her nose against his, like she saw Party Favor do to Sugar Belle.

"Sweetie Belle..." Rumble said in his sleep. Cozy looked a bit disappointed upon hearing that filly's name, but it can't be helped, if anything she can use it to her advantage.

"I'm here for you, Rumbly..." Cozy said, leaning in for a kiss to the sleeping colt. In Rumble's mind, or rather his dreams, he was kissing Sweetie Belle, unaware of the filly he was truly kissing.

Cozy relished in her kiss with Rumble, keeping an eye on Party Favor and Sugar Belle, to see what they would do next. This was gonna be an interesting night.
> Change of Pace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dinky and Flurry had made quite the distance from Ponyville, they knew doing this could land them in trouble, but they didn't care about the consequences, only Rumble. The two were walking down a path in the middle of a forest area, it looked a little creepy to them, but they continued on nonetheless.

"So, Flurry...uh not sure how well you can understand me," Dinky said. "Can you even talk? I mean in sentences?"

Flurry shook her head, "No...when I bigger."

"Oh...but you at least understand me," Dinky said.

"Uh-huh," Flurry answered.

"Alright, so at least it won't feel weird talking to you then," Dinky said. "I mean I didn't expect a conversation out of you, but it's better talking if someone can really listen."

"Me listen, you talk," Flurry said. "Me like listen, when me want listen."

"When you want to huh? Well not everyone likes hearing someone ramble on, so I won't bore you too much," Dinky said. "I mean I don't think I even have much to say, the only thing that surprised me is that you were so willing to come with me to find Rumble. I mean I know you like him but I don't think your parents will be happy, then again my parents won't be happy when they find out that I not only went off on my own to find Rumble, but that I took a toddler with me. Even I don't know what I was thinking, agreeing you let you come with me, maybe because you care about Rumble too."

"Me love Rumble," Flurry said. "Me help Rumble. Me marry Rumble."

"Right, you have a crush on him," Dinky said. "I don't blame you, I have a small crush on him myself, but like I always tell ponies, I'm just fine being his friend, and I know that's just what be wants. Friendship is easier, no real commitment and you just spend time with someone you care for. I don't need to be his marefriend to spend time with him, I can just ask him to. Plus he doesn't feel extra pressured to be extra nice to me just because we're dating, we're just two buddies hanging out. I mean what do I have to gain from being his marefriend?"

"Kissy," Flurry responded.

Dinky blushed quite a bit, "Right, kissing. I mean, I can live without that, it's just kissing, it's overrated. Besides I can kiss him, just only on the cheek, like a friend would."

"Me kiss Rumble, me like kiss," Flurry said.

"Yeah, Sweetie Belle was mad, but I thought it was cute," Dinky said. "I wish I could ask you why you liked Rumble, would you be able to tell me, even if it's just one word?"

"Rumble pretty," Flurry answered.

"Pretty huh?" Dinky asked, smiling a bit. "Yeah he is pretty, or better yet, he's very handsome. The most attractive thing for me about Rumble was his smile, he had that gentle, innocent smile that could light up a room." Dinky looked somewhat saddened. "Of course he rarely does that now, every time he smiles nowadays, he seems to have a smug look to him, like I'm not saying he's mean, he's still very kind, but it's like he has this radiance of confidence. I know I shouldn't complain since that's a good thing, but I kind of miss when he was really shy, made it more special when we talked, because for a while, I was the only pony he could confide his feelings toward."

"You sad?" Flurry asked, trotting closer to the older filly.

"Not too much, he's still my friend at least, and I know he loves me, not the same way he loves Sweetie Belle, but he told me he still loves me like a friend would, in the end that's all I should be grateful for," Dinky said. "Nothing better than having a friend, even if it was just one for a long time, that one was enough."

"Me you friend too," Flurry said, catching Dinky by surprise.

"Wait, did you call me your friend?" Dinky asked, getting a nod from Flurry. "Aw that's so cute, you're such a nice filly Flurry, you're gonna be a great Princess when you grow up."

"If you can last that long," they heard a sinister voice say. The two huddled close together, keeping an eye out for whoever, or whatever, said that. "Hey, who's there!"

Within the shadows, they could make out a silhouette of a tiger, a goat and a snake. Though as they stepped forward, Dinky and Flurry soon noticed it only seemed to have one body.

"What in the world are you!?" Dinky asked, mix of terror and disgust.

"We are what's known as a Chimera," the tiger head answered. "We've been searching around this forest for a good meal."

"It's been a while though," the goat replied. "While we get some snacks here and there, there's nothing too filling, nothing pony sized at least."

"Well technically we're just fillies, half a pony..." Dinky said. "Actually she's much younger, more like a quarter pony."

"You won't be able to talk your way out of this, little pony," the snake head said.

"We'll settle for anything tasty right now," the tiger head said, the entire creature leaning forward. As it lunged at the two fillies, Flurry quickly put up a forcefield to stop it, surprising the monster.

"Run!" Flurry said, taking off with Dinky right behind her.

The chimera shook off the shock and began pursuing the two fillies. They took into the actual forest, hoping to lose the creature along the way.

"Let's hide in there," Dinky said, gesturing to a tree stump hole. The two jumped inside, hoping to have still avoided the Chimera's sight.

The beast walked through, trying to find the kids through their scent and any tracks they may have left behind. Dinky held Flurry close, hoping to keep the toddler calm while using her for some ease as well.

The Chimera searched around the tree, snarling with great menace. "I know you're here..."

Dinky held Flurry tight, worrying for their safety. She couldn't just give up though, she has a goal, to rescue the colt she cares so deeply about. She had to fight, no matter what it took.

"Stay here," Dinky whispered to Flurry, surprising the Princess. "I'm gonna see if I can get rid of that monster."

"No, monsta scary!" Flurry said.

"Well we have to try something," Dinky said. "You stay here where it's safe."

"No, you friend," Flurry said.

"Yes, we are friends, and friends help each other, like right now when there's a monster around," Dinky said.

"Monster's such a strong word," The Chimera tiger said, surprising Dinky. "Hello my little snacks."

Dinky quickly blasted the tiger in it's eye with her magic, irritating it greatly as she and Flurry slipped away.

"Hey, pull it together!" the goat said. "Don't let them get away."

"I don't plan on it!" the tiger head said. The monster lunged towards the fillies. Dinky was about to hit another attack when a surprise came.

Out of nowhere, a mysterious pony arrived and kicked The Chimera down, surprising the beast and the fillies.

"What in the world?" Dinky said in confusion.

The Snake head spoke first, "Who is this!?"

"Doesn't matter, just another meal for us!" The Tiger said. "You made a huge mistake, now you're gonna regret it!"

It's threat proved empty when the pony rushed in with a few combo kicks, displaying an expert knowledge of martial arts, getting the monster in each of it's heads with swift kicks and ending with a strong kick to the side of the beast, knocking it through a tree, causing it to fall over and land on the beast.

"Holy smokes!" Dinky said, looking on in amazement. "I don't know where you came from, but you really saved our flanks!" The mare turned to them, Dinky getting a good look at her face. Between the broken horn and the scar over her right eye, she seemed way too familiar. "Do I know you?"

"Possibly, if you were in Ponyville during the Storm King's invasion," she replied.

"Storm King's Invasion?" Dinky wondered, scratching her mane. "Wait, I think I remember, some weird ship thing coming down and a little...animal creature introducing some strange pony..." Dinky then had a realization. "You're Tempest Shadow! The mare that nearly took over Equestria!"

"Well it wasn't for me, it was The Storm King's Invasion, I was just the lead general," Tempest said.

"Still, you turned Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance into stone, as well as my foalsitter," Dinky said.

"If you mean that random Pegasus, that was technically meant for Princess Twilight, not that it matters now," Tempest said.

"I haven't heard from you since then, the only thing Twilight mentioned was that you ended up saving her, and you were the one who defeated the Storm King," Dinky said.

"Twilight did most of the work, I just finished him off, permanently," Tempest said. "I haven't even seen Twilight Sparkle or her friends since that day."

"Where did you go?" Dinky asked.

Before Tempest answered, she realized a pressing issue. There were two fillies unattended in a forest late at night, one of which seemed to be glaring at her. "Before I answer that, who are you two, and why are you out here? Furthermore where are your parents?"

"Oh right, guess I should explain myself too," Dinky said. "My name's Dinky Do, this is my friend Flurry Heart."

"Your friend's an Alicorn," Tempest pointed out. "Is she a Princess? I don't recall seeing her during The Storm King's Invasion."

"She is a Princess, her mother is Princess Cadance," Dinky said.

"That would explain why she seems so unhappy to see me, funny I still don't really remember her being there," Tempest said.

"She was probably with her dad, Prince Shining Armor, or her Crystaller," Dinky explained, then nudged Flurry. "Remember Flurry, she's Auntie Twilight's friend now, she forgave her, your mom forgave her, so you can too."

Flurry Heart still seemed unsure, not that Tempest really cared. "If she doesn't trust me that's fine, I don't fully expect ponies to, even if they knew of Princess Twilight's forgiveness. It doesn't erase the trouble I have caused."

"Well everypony deserves forgiveness, you're not the only one Princess Twilight redeemed after all," Dinky said.

"I'm aware," Tempest said. "Anyway you still haven't fully answered my question. Why are you here alone at night?"

"See, my best friend in the world got lost, potentially with an evil pony, so me and Flurry wanted to find him," Dinky said. "Flurry's got a crush on him so she really wanted to help."

"Me love Rumble," Flurry said.

"Right...she loves Rumble," Dinky said. "That's the name of the colt by the way."

"Yeah, I figured that," Tempest said. "So your friend is lost, and you think the best thing to do is search for him in the middle of the night while potentially having to avoid dangerous creatures. If I wasn't here, you two would probably be dead right now."

"...Harsh much!?" Dinky said. "I think I could have taken care of things, and Flurry's an Alicorn, she's by default the strongest pony here."

"Being and Alicorn does not equal being the strongest," Tempest pointed out.

"Still, I trained with Twilight Sparkle and her pupil Starlight Glimmer, I can fight to an extent!" Dinky insisted.

Tempest shook her head in mild annoyance, "My point is that it's too dangerous for little fillies such as yourself to be out here alone! I take it nopony else knows about your little rescue mission."

"Well, no, not exactly," Dinky sheepishly admitted. "But I've encountered Changelings and Sirens, so I'm not inexperienced when it comes to danger."

"That doesn't mean that-" Tempest groaned a little, she got the feeling this would just go in circles. "This is such an inconvenience to me, but I can't in good conscious leave you two alone, so I'm gonna be taking you back home."

"Or you could just pretend you never saw us and we can be on our way?" Dinky suggested.

"Don't even start with me, now let's go," Tempest ordered.

Flurry couldn't let this happen, she had a goal and she was gonna see it through, nopony would stop her. She quickly grabbed Dinky and teleported both herself and her friend far from Tempest's eyesight.

"What!? Where did they go!?" Tempest said, looking around in surprise. "Ugh, sneaky foals, maybe I should just let them risk their lives, why should I care?" As she was about to leave, she couldn't help but think about Twilight, knowing the Alicorn would disapprove of such an idea. "But I suppose that's not the friendliest thing..." She reluctantly knew what she had to do. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Tempest had gone out to find the fillies, hoping to locate them before anything bad could happen.





Meanwhile with Twilight's team, she along with Shining Armor, Cadance, Starlight and Sunset Shimmer had arrived at the gates of Tartarus, hoping to get a few answers.

"Here we are, it feels weird being back here, it wasn't that long ago me and my friends were trapped inside," Twilight said.

"I've been there, I still remember the first time Tirek escaped, trapping me and my aunts," Cadance said.

"If you're both done reminiscing, maybe we should head inside now, that way we can figure out what's happening and prevent Equestria from plunging into chaos and despair," Sunset said.

"She's got a point," Starlight said, getting a slight glare from Twilight. "Well we are here to figure things out and do it fast, so..."

"I'll just open the gates," Shining Armor said, making his way forward, using his magic to open the path to their answers. "Let's hurry."

The group made their way inside, walking through the caverns of this imprisonment of a world. They had passed by many of the monsters from the back, including the cockatrice and the bug bear.

"Finny, I could have sworn there was a Chimera here, or am I mistaken?" Twilight wondered.

"I'm sure it's no big deal, if we see it we'll just capture it and send it back here," Sunset pointed out. "Let's hurry."

As they hurried, Cadance noticed something odd, "Hey, isn't that Flash Sentry?"

The group looked up and sure enough, the Pegasus Guard Flash Sentry was seen flying throughout Tartarus, as if he were searching for something, or somepony.

"Where could that little scamp have ran off to?" Flash said, actively searching hard.

"Flash?" Twilight said, getting his attention by surprise.

"Pr-princess Twilight!?" Flash Sentry looked down to see his crush, as well as a few other ponies, including his boss and immediate Princess. "Princess Cadance? Captain Shining Armor!? You're here too!?" He landed down and noticed both Starlight and Sunset with him. "Um...who are you two?"

"I'm Starlight Glimmer," Starlight said, little surprised he didn't know. "Twilight Sparkle's pupil?"

"I'm Sunset Shimmer," Sunset replied. "Celestia's old pupil."

"Sorry, I don't think I'm familiar with either of you," Flash said. "I think I would have remembered seeing or hearing of either one of you."

"Huh, you're much more oblivious than I expected you to be," Sunset rudely stated, much to Flash Sentry's annoyance.

"H-hey! What's that suppose to mean!?" Flash Sentry asked.

"Long and complicated story," Sunset said. "Doesn't matter, what are you even doing here?"

"Um, well I help guard Tartarus, and I come by every so often to make sure everything's in line," Flash explained.

"Oh, so were you here earlier today? Or know anypony that was?" Twilight asked.

"Um...any reason you need to know, Princess?" Flash asked, hoping to keep it cool, especially in front of the mare of his dreams.

"We received some troubling information just a short while ago, we have reason to believe a captive had escaped from this realm," Twilight explained.

"Uh, you don't say..." Flash said, making himself look pretty awkward and suspicious in the process.

"Yeah...so can you let us search for a bit and gather some information?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, gee I'd love to but um...wouldn't you rather go to sleep first?" Flash asked.

Twilight blinked in confusion, "Excuse me?"

"I mean it's kind of late and you might make a mistake in your search, and I wouldn't want you to make any mistakes Princess," Flash said, trying to be charming enough to sway her.

"Are you hiding something!?" Sunset asked, leaning in and glaring at the solider.

"Uh, me? Hiding something?" Flash asked. "What makes you think that?"

"He's totally hiding something!" Sonata's voice called out, much to Flash's dismay.

"Was that one of the Sirens?" Twilight asked.

"We're over here!" Sonata called again. "Want me to sing? That'll lure you over a lot easier!"

"That's fine, no need for that," Twilight insisted, walking over with her group. Flash sweated nervously, knowing that his higher ups are likely to find out he goofed up. Then again, Princess Twilight is known for being really understanding, maybe she'll vouch for him. Suddenly he felt less stressed, knowing just how understanding Twilight is, one of the many reasons he has a crush on her.

Twilight approached the cells, coming face to face with Tirek, Chrysalis and The Sirens, all of them, aside from Sonata, who offerd a friendly wave, were all glaring at the Princess.

"Twilight Sparkle..." Chrysalis said. "What an unexpected surprise."

"Did you miss me that much Princess?" Tirek asked.

"Or have you come to set us free?" Adagio asked.

"None of you are going free anytime soon, I'm just here to do some investigtaion," Twilight said.

"Investigation, of what may I ask?" Chrysalis asked.

Twilight had already noticed something amiss, "Well for starters, where's Cozy Glow?"

"Oh easy, she's-" Sonanta was then whacked in the side by Aria.

"Don't just tell her, she's our enemy!" Aria scolded.

"Oh, right," Sonata said, then glared at Twilight. "You ain't getting nothing out of me Princess!"

Twilight shrugged it off, "Alright, fine, be that way. Maybe we won't find out what Cozy's up to, or why she's with my friend Rumble. Maybe we'll just never see him again, but all of those sad friends though..."

"Sad friends?" Sonata said. "Well..too bad, I'm not talking!"

"Not even for his brother Thunderlane? Or his marefriend Sweetie Belle?" Twilight asked.

"That's right, not for either of them," Sonata said.

"What about Flurry Heart?" Twilight asked, getting a look of concern from Sonata.

"F-flurry?" Sonata asked.

"Oh no," Aria lamented, knowing where this was going.

"That's right," Twilight confirmed. "She was so worried when she couldn't find Rumble, isn't that right big brother?"

"Huh?" Shining Armor said. "Uh, yeah, she was. She lifted up an entire train to find him, my poor little girl looked so heartbroken."

"Not heartbroken! Not little Flurry!" Sonata shouted in worry.

"Yes, she's so sad, she might even start crying for days, never knowing true happiness again," Twilight said.

"And here I thought you cared about my daughter," Cadance said. "Your one redeeming quality too."

Sonata looked troubled, she didn't want to betray her friends, but she liked Flurry, she was so adorable. "Uh..."

"Do NOT give in Sonata!" Aria warned. "If you do, I'll clobber you!"

"But, it's Flurry, she's so cute and innocent, I don't want to take that from her!" Sonata said. "Plus if she finds out about this and that I was involved, she might totally hate me!"

"Is she for real?" Tirek asked Chrysalis.

"Sadly, yes," Chrysalis confirmed.

"Here's an idea," Twilight used her magic to open the cell. "Come on out Sonata."

Before she could try, Adagio tried to pass her, "Freedom!"

The moment Adagio stepped outside, Twilight blasted her back into her cage. "Yeah, nice try! Come on Sonata."

Sonata wanted to check on her friend, but knew not to keep Twilight waiting. She stepped outside her cell, face to face with The Princess.

"Alright, tell me the plan Sonata," Twilight ordered.

"Well we totally wanted revenge on all of you, so we devised a plan for Cozy Glow to escape and go to Ponyville so she and get The Elements of Harmony, then find a way to corrupt them so we can use them for our advantage, even free us," Sonata explained.

"I'm going to kill that girl," Adagio bitterly stated.

"How did Cozy escape anyway?" Twilight asked.

"We just tricked the guard there," Sonata said, pointing to Flash Sentry. "We kept him distracted by making noise, acting crazy, even using your likeness."

"My likeness?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, with Chrysalis pretending to be you at one point," Sonata said, getting a pale face from Flash Sentry. "She turned into you at one point to trick the guard."

Twilight turned to Flash, who was blushing heavily, avoiding her glare. "So, she pretended to be me..." She tuned back to the villains, "And tried to use my authority to make him let you all out?"

"Actually she-" Sonata's explanation was hastily interrupted.

"Yes! That's right!" Flash said. "But I saw through it, Chrysalis is nothing compared to you my Princess, I knew not to fall for her tricks!"

"That look in your eyes stated otherwise, lover boy," Chrysalis said.

"Clam that mouth up foul villain!" Flash ordered.

"Well, I'm not happy that Cozy Glow got away," Twilight said, slightly glaring at Flash Sentry. "But it could have been worse I suppose, maybe we just need more guards. I'm sure you did your best Flash."

Flash felt thankful that Twilight was as understanding as he expected her to be. "Thank you Princess Twilight, you truly are very kind!"

"I learn from my friend Fluttershy," Twilight said. "But I am curious, why Cozy Glow? Why not one of you?"

"It's easier for her to sneak out and blend in," Sonata said. "Chrysalis can blend in, but she couldn't really escape. Tirek couldn't do either, and me and my friends would have had the same problem as Chrysalis. Plus Cozy Glow's such an amazing actress, none of us could pull that off."

"I wanted it to be me, since I could have escaped just as easy, and I'm a much better actress, I did pretend to be you for a while," Chrysalis pointed to Cadance. "But I was told 'I had my chance', and that they wanted Cozy Glow to have more experience."

"She can benefit from it," Tirek said. "You and I both know it, with her brains and skills, she can be the most powerful pony in Equestria!"

"I still find it repulsive that you manipulated a filly like that," Starlight said.

"She sought the power, I just gave her to the tools to acquire it," Tirek said.

"Well perhaps she needs new tools, I have faith she can be a proper pony again, once she truly learns her lesson from her time in here," Twilight said. "All of you have what it takes to change for the better. Chrysalis, had you changed, you'd still be leading your Changelings, you'd be so much happier like Thorax is."

"Feh, I don't need your Friendship, I don't like sharing," Chrysalis said.

"Tirek, what about you? If you need the power, I'm sure some ponies will be more willing to lend it to you, I'm sure there's a place in this world for you to really excel as yourself," Twilight said.

"Maybe I wouldn't hate this world so much if I weren't locked in a cage for a millennia, right after being betrayed by my own brother!" Tirek shouted.

"Then make up with him, I'm sure you and Scorpan would be able to put your differences behind yourselves," Twilight said, then turned to The Sirens. "As for the three of you, surely you desire more than a life like this."

"We're Sirens, we feast on negativity," Adagio said. "Can't be friends to do that."

"I'm sure there's another way," Twilight said. "Sonata, I can tell you're a good pony at heart, even if you don't like most of us, you do care about Flurry at least."

"Of course, she's really cute, I wanted to keep her as a pet of sorts," Sonata said.

Shining Armor looked ready to blast Sonata through her heart with his magic, but Cadance held him back, knowing now's not the time for a fight.

"How about her foalsitter? Or just a big sister type figure," Twilight said. "Flurry does seem to like you, she at least remembers you."

"Oh I know, I overheard her on Cozy's necklace," Sonata said, getting a surprised look from Twilight and an annoyed look from her allies.

"What necklace?" Twilight asked.

"Couldn't you keep SOME secrets!?" Adagio asked.

"Not like it's a big deal," Sonata said, then turned back to Twilight. "Cozy has necklace that lets us communicate with her. Sometimes we overhear her talking."

"Well can you try calling her now? Maybe she's with Rumble!" Twilight said.

"That's the thing, she doesn't like when we talk to her when she's near another pony, mainly so we don't blow her cover," Sonata said.

"Where was she last!?" Twilight asked.

"Not sure, first she got interrupted by Rumble when he got mad at her for constantly ditching him, since she always flew off whenever a guard was about to catch her," Sonata said. "Rumble doesn't seem to know she's evil though, they've been flying around together, going to different places."

"So Rumble's safe?" Twilight asked. "She hasn't hurt him?"

"No, she has no desire to, she has a little crush on him after all," Sonata said.

"Wait, really?" Twilight asked. "I mean, I'm not that surprised, Rumble's very cute and seems to attract a lot of fillies, but wow, she likes Rumble."

"Yeah, it's really cute, I think she wants to marry him and have all his children," Sonata said. "I'm hoping she pulls that off, she's adorable too, a little crazy but still adorable. Plus Rumble's extremely handsome so it works out even better."

"Well Rumble does have a marefriend, so that might be difficult for them to be together," Twilight said.

"Hey, they can break up, it's easy," Sonata said. "I can even help with that."

"Or, you don't do that and leave Rumble's love life as it is," Twilight warned. "Anyway if you can talk to Cozy, do it now, we'll be able to get an exact location."

"But what if she's asleep?" Sonata asked. "It'd be rude to wake her up."

Twilight shook her head in annoyance, "Sonata, that's not something we should be worried about right now, just call her please."

"Alright, you're the boss," Sonata said, then turned to Adagio. "Hey, can you call Cozy?"

"I'd like to see someone make me," Adagio said, getting a glare from Twilight.

"Don't make me come in there," Twilight warned. "You contact that little filly right now!"

"No, I don't take orders from you Princess, I'm Adagio Dazzle, the strongest Siren in existence, nopony orders me around!" Adagio said.

"Either you contact Cozy on your own, or we'll come in there and make you do it by force!" Shining Armor warned.

"Oh ho, I'd love to see you try Princey!" Adagio said, dangling the necklace in their faces. "All I have to do is...hey Sonata what are you-"

Sonata had gone inside and tried prying the necklace away from Adagio. "Come on, stop being difficult!"

"What are you doing, you traitor!?" Adagio shouted.

Aria attempted to help Adagio, but Twilight and the others assisted in helping Sonata pry away the necklace. Within moments they had possession of the necklace and quickly left the cage, leaving Adagio trapped inside.

"That was easier than I thought," Sonata said, holding up the necklace. "But we got it."

"Dammit! I can't believe you would betray us Sonata! When I get out of this cell, you're dead! You hear me!?" Adagio shouted. "Better yet, the moment you come back inside you're dead!"

"That won't be happening," Twilight said, then turned to Sonata. "Would you mind doing the honors?"

"Uh...sure," Sonata said, letting it sink in that she might have really upset her friend. She's just trying to be friendly, and deep down is worried about Rumble, but now she may have to deal with the fact that Adagio might do away with her.

"Sonata? Are you alright there?" Twilight asked, getting a bit concerned.

"Huh...oh yeah I'm fine," Sonata said, holding up the necklace. "Cozy Glow...can you hear me?" Everypony listened in, but heard nothing yet. "Cozy Glow?"

Back in Our Town, Cozy was still making out with the sleeping Rumble. She was gentle so that she wouldn't wake him, and hoped he wouldn't wake up from the pleasure, but he was pretty exhausted from the day, so he might sleep through a lot.

Her necklace was on a table next to the bed, and though she heard Sonata's voice, she was still reluctant to stop what she was doing. She figured to continue on and just tell them later she was asleep, they would likely buy that, not that she cared if they did.

Back in Tartarus, Sonata had shrugged it off to the others, "Guess she's asleep."

"Well that's no help," Twilight said. "At least we have a lead, thanks for your cooperation Sonata."

"No problem Princess," Sonata gleefully said. "Wait, are we still enemies though?"

"Well we don't have to be, do you really want to be an enemy of mine?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure," Sonata said. "I mean, Adagio doesn't like you, so I figured I'm not suppose to like you either. Plus you did get in the way of our plans, so I guess it does make us enemies."

"Well, how about we try being friends, does that sound good?" Twilight asked.

"Be friends?" Sonata asked. "Huh, never really thought about that."

"Sonata, don't you dare!" Adagio shouted. "Do NOT befriend our enemy!"

"Need I remind you that she is a follower of the very pony who banished the Sirens for hundreds of years!?" Chrysalis asked. "Who left you trapped in this accursed place!?"

"Hm, good point, but it wasn't all bad," Sonata said. "I had my friends with me, and I still do!" Sonata turned to Aria and Adagio, "Isn't that right girls!?"

"Of course it was bad! They got in our way Sonata!" Adagio shouted.

"But we were in it together," Sonata said. "And that's all that matters."

"What matters is power! Don't be so damn naïve Sonata, Friendship is meaningless, it has nothing to offer," Adagio said.

Sonata's eyes widened in surprise, then lowered in sadness, "But...we're friends, don't I mean anything to you?"

"Not unless you do something useful, and so far, you've screwed up big time, it's quite shameful actually," Adagio said.

Sonata turned to Aria, "What about you Aria? Doesn't our team together mean anything? We're friends too, aren't we?"

Aria focused her gaze toward Sonata, specifically her eyes. Sonata is the closest Aria has to a friend, one could argue she's the closest she has to a sister. She could just reassure Sonata, she has it in her to tell her friend that she does mean something to her usually cold and empty heart. However, for reasons even Aria couldn't understand, she replied in the negative.

"Sorry, but I'm with Adagio on this one," Aria said, essentially breaking Sonata's heart.

Twilight pitied the poor Siren, to be rejected by those she thought were her friends must have been quite the blow. The others also felt pity, but none more than Starlight, who took the moment to speak up.

"Come on, you three have been together for what, thousands of years, you can't mean to tell me you never really cared at all about each other!" Starlight said. "Come on, she must mean something to you!"

"She did, until now," Adagio said. "But since I'm nice, I'll give you one last chance to redeem yourself Sonata. Free us, free all of us so we can take down these goody-goody ponies!"

"That sounds like a good idea," Chrysalis said. "Come on dear, you know where your true allegiance lies."

Sonata looked back and forth between Twilight's group and her so-called friends. This was a tough decision, she always stood by her fellow Dazzlings, even in tough times, but Twilight seems genuine in her friendship. She has to decide between a longtime ally and a Princess. She made her choice, one she hopes she wouldn't regret.

"Sorry Adagio, if knowing that me being your friend depends on how useful I am, then I can't call that a friendship," Sonata turned toward Twilight. "Alright, I'll accept your offer of Friendship, Princess Twilight."

Twilight seemed relieved to know that Sonata had made the right choice, "Well, first thing you need to know is, as your friend, just call me by my name, Twilight. You don't need to be formal."

"Alright, Twilight," Sonata said. "So, what now?"

"I'll tell you 'what now', you little traitor!" Adagio shouted. "Once Cozy completes her mission, and we're all free from this dreadful place, you're going to be on my list of ponies to destroy! I'm going to make you regret betraying us Sonata, I promise you that!"

"That won't happen," Twilight said, stepping in front of Sonata. "Because friends protect each other. The only one who's gonna have any regrets is you, for treating Sonata as a  tool rather than a friend!" She turned to her newly made friend. "Let's go."

"Wait, so I'm free?" Sonata asked.

"Well...sorta," Twilight said. "I still need to run this by Celestia, and I imagine you'll have to stay with me for a while, but in a way, yes, you're free."

"So...I'll be able to go shopping and stuff one day!?" Sonata eagerly asked.

"Uh...sure, if that's what you want to do," Twilight said.

"And if I stay with you, does that mean Slumber Parties!?" Sonata asked, getting in closer.

"Sure...um, I can do slumber parties, hopefully without relying on a book this time," Twilight said.

"Sweet, we can do each other's hair, read magazines, talk about boys!" Sonata turned to Twilight. "Do you like, have a coltfriend yet?"

"Can we not talk about this now?" Twilight asked, feeling awkward. "I get you're happy about your freedom but we do have an important matter still, finding Rumble."

"Oh right...well in the morning when Cozy Glow wakes up, I'll totally call her and ask her where she is, then we can find her and Rumble, then he'll be safe back home," Sonata said.

"Good, now let's get going," Twilight said, leading her friends out of Tartarus.

"You'll regret this Sonata!" Adagio shouted. "We won't forget about what you've done!"

Sonata looked back at her friends, looking quite concerned. Despite Adagio's harsh words, she can't help but wonder if this truly is the right decision to make.

Twilight placed her hoof on Sonata's back, hoping to reassure her. "Don't worry about it for now, let's just hurry."

"Uh, what should I do?" Flash Sentry asked.

"For starters, you look pretty exhausted, go home and rest, The Cerberus will keep an eye on things," Twilight said.

"Aw, thanks Princess Twilight, you're the best," Flash said, making his way out of the caves.

"I swear that guy's a total idiot," Sunset said, then turned to Twilight. "Do you really have a crush on that guy?"

Twilight looked a bit surprised by Sunset's question, "Uh...no? I don't have any feelings for Flash Sentry, or anypony at alll."

"Are you sure?" Sonata asked, leaning in. "Something tells me you're hiding something."

"I'm not, I have no plans to date anytime soon, maybe in a few years though," Twilight said, a faint blush on her face. "We're wasting time, let's just get out of this place. We'll find somewhere to camp for the night, and resume search first thing in the morning."

"Our first slumber party together!?" Sonata asked.

"...Yeah, our first Slumber Party together. You, me, Starlight, Sunset, my brother and Cadance," Twilight said.

"Sweet! Let's go!" Sonata said and followed Twilight out of Tartarus, Adagio glaring hard at her former friend. However that glare slowly turned into a devious smile, as she took her seat back in her cage.





The night passed by, some ponies sleeping better than others. Twilight and her team found a place to camp for the night, though while most of them were able to sleep just fine, Twilight and Starlight were both too worried to properly rest. Shining Armor had to take it upon himself to make sure his sister and her pupil went to sleep, knowing that if they don't, they won't properly function in the morning.

Spike remained vigilante during his patrols, but he too eventually fell asleep, to which Fluttershy brought him back home, before joining Pinkie Pie in another extended search of Flurry Heart, before they too passed out from exhaustion.

Flurry Heart and Dinky also fell asleep, having took shelter under a rock. Dinky rocked Flurry gently to calm the toddler, who was insistent on staying awake to find Rumble. Dinky understood her frustrations, but knew that both needed sleep, promising to resume their search once they wake up. Of course not too far behind them was a certain mare who wasn't too happy about them slipping away.

Tender Taps stayed with Sweetie Belle that night, calming her down long enough for her to fall asleep, though he himself felt too worried to sleep right away. His best friend was out there somewhere, and seeing Sweetie Belle heartbroken by this was too much for the poor colt.

Rainbow Dash's search team had scoured the area where Rumble was last seen, Thunderlane and the twins putting extra work into finding him. However they too succumbed to slumber, having exhausted themselves in their search.

Sunburst, in his own search, had stumbled into a village, where he decided to spend the night, promising himself to resume his search in the morning.

As for Cozy, she did not do much sleeping that night, for she was having too much fun with Rumble, and copying most of what she saw Sugar Belle and Party Favor do. She was amazed they hadn't noticed her yet, but they looked too engrossed in their activities. She's never seen anypony so much at bliss, and  now Cozy more than ever wants to be Rumble's marefriend, knowing that everything Party Favor was doing to Sugar Belle is stuff he could do to her. Doing it to him was fun, but him being asleep did take some pleasure away. Of course she knew if he woke up, he wouldn't be too thrilled.

But the excitement of doing something so forbidden is what motivated her even more, and she relished in all she did with Rumble that night, until she eventually fell asleep, cuddled next to who she deems her future husband.

Morning came, Rumble slowly started to open his eyes. He looked next to him and saw Cozy all cuddled up, sleeping so peacefully and looking so innocent. Rumble couldn't help but find this adorable, even gently stroking her mane. He may have a marefriend, but that doesn't mean he can't find another filly cute.

"Huh, why do I feel so wet and sticky?" Rumble asked himself. "Was I sweating? That's pretty embarrassing, I hope Cozy doesn't notice." He looked to the sleeping filly and gently nudged her. "Cozy?"

The filly stirred a little, opening her adorable green eyes to meet Rumble's gaze. "Oh, good morning Rumble." She started waking up a bit, stretching her back. "Golly, I haven't had a pleasant night sleep in what feels like forever."

"Glad to know," Rumble said, sitting up on the bed. "We should probably get ready, we have a train to catch."

Cozy Glow didn't respond immediately, she just hugged around Rumble's waist, pressing the side of her face against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Yeah, we should. I bet Sweetie Belle really misses you."

Rumble started to feel awkward, yet he couldn't help but feel like something was different about Cozy. "Hey um...You feeling alright there Cozy? You sound a bit...relaxed."

"Well I did just wake up from a peaceful sleep, truthfully I am still a bit tired, but if you want to get out of bed, I won't argue," Cozy Glow said.

"Well, I don't think Sugar Belle's awake, so-" Rumble stopped when he noticed a weird sight. Sugar Belle was laying on the floor with Party Favor snuggled on top of her. He didn't remember Party Favor being in the room last night, so he figures he came in late at night.

He began to wonder why, yet some impure thoughts started to plague his head. He shook it off, not wanting to think about that.

"What's wrong?" Cozy asked.

"Er, nothing, anyway Sugar Belle's not awake, so I guess it's alright to sleep in a little if you'd like," Rumble said.

"That'd be nice...but can I stay like this?" Cozy asked, snuggling against his chest some more.

Rumble felt awkward, he's already letting this filly get too close as it is. Rumble shudders to think how Sweetie Belle would react if she knew he was doing this. But Cozy was too cute for him to say 'no' to, he knows he might regret this decision but for now he just gave in.

"If you want to, then that's fine," Rumble said.

"Good, I'm happy," Cozy said, getting closer and laying firmly on his chest. "I can see why Sweetie Belle fell for you, because you have such a soft but form body. You feel so huggable, yet so strong, I feel safe and comfort just being with you."

"Oh, well, thanks," Rumble said, feeling even more awkward.

Cozy nuzzled harder against Rumble, "Mind wrapping your hooves around me? I want the full experience."

Rumble mentally told himself over and over to just say 'no', to resist and maybe even call this idea off. "Sure, alright." Rumble mentally cursed himself as he wrapped his forelegs around Cozy.

"Ah...so perfect," Cozy said. "I could stay like this forever..."

"Forever sounds kind of...long, wouldn't you say?" Rumble nervously asked.

"It's the perfect length," Cozy said, resting her eyes a bit.

Rumble wasn't sure what to feel or think right now, all he could think about was Sweetie Belle. The moment he got home, he planned to spoil his marefriend with affection, give her a constant reminder that he loves her and only her. He can only hope that once he gets back home and back to Sweetie Belle that Cozy Glow would back off. If anything he can try setting Cozy Glow up with another pony, maybe Tender Taps. Yeah his friend has a crush on Twilight but Rumble doubts that would lead anywhere, so Cozy could be the next best thing.

Minutes passed and he heard Sugar Belle yawning, turning to see that the mare was finally waking up. "Oh, hey, good morning Sugar Belle!"

"Oh, morning Rumble," Sugar Belle said, then noticed some weight on her. She fully opened her eyes to see... "Party Favor!"

The stallion woke up with a startle, looking around to see who had called him. "Huh? What!?" He looked to see that he was snuggled with Sugar Belle still, then turned to see Rumble and the now awake Cozy Glow. "Oh...um, I bet you're wondering why I'm here."

"I already know, I saw everything," Cozy Glow said, flashing a mischievous smile. "Funny, when I got here, I thought you two were brother and sister, but it looks like you're much more than that."

"Huh? Wait, saw what?" Rumble asked.

"Ok!" Party Favor loudly said, desperately interrupting Cozy. "I'm sure Cozy will tell us all about her strange yet wildly imaginative dream another time, but for now we have to get you kids fed and on the train!"

"Okie dokie then," Cozy said, hopping off the bed. She nearly forgot that her tail was still attached to Rumble's and she unintentionally pulled him down off the bed. "Whoopsie, sorry Rumble."

"I'm fine," Rumble said, rubbing his hind leg.

Sugar Belle helped him up, dusting him off a bit. "Alright, let's hurry now. Once we get you fed we'll be able to find the nearest train to Ponyville, which shouldn't be difficult."

"Let me just grab my necklace," Cozy said, grabbing it off the table. "Can't forget this."

"Good, let's go now dearies," Sugar Belle said as the two foals began to trot out the room. Deep down she herself was concerned how much Cozy Glow had seen from the previous night, really hoping this doesn't make it all the way back to Ponyville, especially the Apple Family.





With Twilight, the Princess was snoozing away, slowly started to stir awake. As she opened her eyes, she saw Sonata standing over her, staring down at the Princess, startling her. "Ah!"

"Ah!" Sonata had been startled by Twilight's reaction. This also woke up the nearby ponies.

"What's going on?" Sunset irritably asked.

"Sorry, I think I startled Twilight," Sonata said.

"Ya think you startled me?" Twilight asked, showing a hint of sarcasm. "What do you need?"

"Well it's morning, so I wanted to know if you wanted me to contact Cozy Glow," Sonata asked.

Twilight's eyes widened, "Right, great idea Sonata. Good, we can get an immediate start."

Sonata grabbed the necklace and started making contact with the filly, "Yoo-hoo! Cozy Glow!"

As Cozy was eating breakfast back at Our Town, she felt her necklace glowing. Thankfully everypony else was distracted either by the food or Rumble's story of his Flight School. She turned to whisper into it, "Sonata?"

"Oh hey Cozy! I haven't heard from you in a while," Sonata said.

"Yeah, not a good time, Rumbe's right here and I can't go too far from him, he tied our tales together," Cozy said.

"He did what?" Sonata asked, getting a confused reaction from the other ponies.

"Well he got mad that I kept trying to ditch him, so he made sure I couldn't escape from him," Cozy said. "I mean I don't mean to but I don't want my cover blown, if that were to happen, well a lot of ponies would have to get hurt, and I'd rather avoid unneeded violence."

"Wow she sounds so evil," Sunset said, then got shushed by the others.

"Careful, we don't want her to overhear us," Starlight said.

"Well anyway, where are you? How did you sleep last night?" Sonata asked.

"Uh, I don't know the name of the town, but Rumble knows the ponies, I think this is where that Starlight Glimmer pony used to live or something," Cozy said.

"My old village!?" Starlight asked, with her getting shushed. "Whoops, sorry."

"Oh, so that town of Equal ponies? Uh, no one recognizes you, right?" Sonata asked.

"No, not at all, lucky me," Cozy said. "I slept at the house of some mare named Sugar Belle, she let me and Rumble have her bed, he made a great cuddle buddy."

"Aw, you two cuddled together last night? How sweet," Sonata said, getting a look of disgust from the other ponies, aside from Sunset, who really didn't care.

"Yeah, I even got to kiss him in his sleep, more than that, we practically made out. I was surprised he didn't wake up, but oh man do I have stories to tell you, I had such a good time last night," Cozy said.

"Oh...you made out with him while he slept, that's...not weird or creepy at all," Sonata said, even she felt uncomfortable hearing this. Of course not the other ponies look incensed, again aside from Sunset, though even she found this mildly strange.

"Hey I took what I could get," Cozy said. "Anyway we're gonna take a train to Ponyville, I'll get the Elements like we discussed and free all of you. Is Adagio there?"

"Uh, she's asleep, they all are, I just figured since I woke up first I talk to you first, plus I got worried about you," Sonata said.

"You're so sweet, that's why you're my favorite," Cozy said.

"Cozy, what are you doing?" Rumble asked, getting Cozy's attention.

"Gotta go before Rumble gets too suspicious," Cozy said, turning her necklace off.

"Bye," Sonata said, then put the necklace away. "I like her, even if she did throw Flurry Heart in the garbage back at The Crystal Empire, but I'm sure she's sorry about that."

"Don't remind me of what that brat did to my daughter," Shining Armor said. "At least we know where she is."

"It sounds like they're on their way back to Ponyville, now since we know that Cozy won't do anything to hurt Rumble, I suggest we go back to Ponyville ASAP and intercept them there," Twilight said.

"What about Rainbow Dash's team, they might be not too far away," Starlight said. "Maybe they can try to grab her before she even gets to Ponyville."

"We have to go back anyway, it'd be easier to just let her go back on her own so we can grab her there, rather than try grabbing her now and risking the chance that she escapes again," Twilight said.

"Seems risky, if she gets discovered between now and then, who knows what she might do," Sunset said.

"She's like really tiny, what could she really do?" Shining Armor said.

"Hm...alright, new idea, I'll locate Rainbow Dash's group and let them know the plan, see if any of them have an idea, if anything we can just have somepony stay on the train undetected and wait until they arrive in Ponyville before doing anything," Twilight said.

"Better idea," Sunset said.

"Alright, will any of you be able to teleport back to Ponyville?" Twilight asked.

"Shouldn't be too hard, especially if we all cast the spell together," Sunset said.

"I think you can pull it off, alright, you all know what to do," Twilight said. "Good luck."

Soon Twilight teleported to her location while the others teleported back to Ponyville.





In the hometown of the Elements, Sweetie Belle was sleeping peacefully on the couch, having a sweet dream about her beloved coltfriend Rumble. It felt so real to her, it's like if he was actually there. She could certainly feel him, his small body, his warm presence, she needed him, she really wanted him. She slowly went in for a kiss, one that felt like complete heaven to her.

She slowly opened her eyes, expecting to find her loving coltfriend. Instead she found a complete surprise, looking back at her was her friend Tender Taps, and he looked pretty surprised by what was happening.

The two backed away from each other, a huge blush on both their faces at what the had done. They looked around to realize that they had fallen asleep together on the couch, sleeping right next to each other.

"Uh...that was awkward," Tender Taps said.

"Yeah..." Sweetie Belle said, not sure what to make of it. "Um, I don't suppose you can, you know, not tell anyone?"

"Oh yes, definitely," Tender Taps said. "I...I really don't think we want ponies to get the wrong idea about us."

"That's for sure," Sweetie Belle said. "Um, well it's morning, so..." She then realized something. "Maybe Rumble's back!"

"Rumble! Right!" Tender Taps said. "I bet Princess Twilight found him!"

The two rushed outside, seemingly forgetting about their prior awkwardness, looking around for any sign of their favorite colt.

"I hope Twilight found Rumble, I miss him so much," Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah, I miss-" Tender Taps was interrupted by a loud yelp of disbelief.

"What do you mean Flurry's gone!?" They recognized that voice as Shining Armor's.

"Flurry's gone!?" Tender Taps said in disbelief, rushing toward where the conversation was with Sweetie Belle.

"She just disappeared, we're really sorry Shining Armor!" Fluttershy said, bowing excessively to show her shame.

"She is very sneaky," Pinkie Pie said, certainly not helping the situation.

Shining Armor, who stood there alongside a distraught Cadance, a shocked Starlight and an annoyed Sunset, and a worried Sonata, just paced in disbelief, "I don't get it, where would see go!? How would she even get away!?"

Before anyone could answer, Derpy flew over, worry in her eyes, "Dinky's missing! Me, her sister and her parents can't find her!"

"Dinky's gone too!?" Tender Taps said, getting the attention of Starlight.

"Oh, hello Tendy, um so I don't suppose you have any idea what might have happened to Flurry Heart or Dinky, do you?" Starlight asked.

"No, sorry, I haven't a clue," Tender Taps said. "But if you're back, does that mean-"

"We didn't find Rumble, but Twilight knows where he is," Sunset said. "Or where he last was, she has a plan to bring him home safe and capture Cozy Glow. Unfortunately now we have this problem."

"Dinky was awfully concerned about Rumble, and I'm sure Flurry was too..." Tender Taps said, then realized. "You think they might have gone to look for Rumble themselves?"

Shining Armor groaned in annoyance, "That girl's gonna be in so much trouble when I find her."

"I'll go look for them," Starlight said, then turned to Sunset. "Would you be able to join me?"

"Sure, two pairs of eyes will help," Sunset said. "Plus I want this over with before anything else happens."

Starlight turned to Shining Armor, "We'll let you know once we find her." She and Sunset then teleported away, hoping to find Flurry.

Tender Taps decided to take a moment to address something he's found odd since arriving, "Um...isn't that one of the Sirens?"

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both finally noticed as well, same with Derpy and Sweetie Belle. Sonata simply waved at the group, "Hello!"

Tender Taps turned to Shining Armor, "Is there a reason for this?"

"Long story, we'll explain, it connects to Rumble as well," Shining Armor said.





Back at Our Town, Sunburst was seen leaving an inn, having gotten a goodnight rest. "Well, hopefully I'll have better luck today, and maybe Shining Armor and Princess Cadance might have found some help too."

As he walked through town, he was greeted by Night Glider, "Hey, you're Starlight's childhood friend!"

"Oh, hi Night Glider," Sunburst said. "Good to see you, I knew this place was familiar, I came here late last night so I couldn't really see the town or anypony in it."

"Yeah, little surprised, what brings you all the way out here?" Night Glider asked.

"I was helping find a colt that got lost, his foalsitter's really worried," Sunburst said. "I think you know him, his name's Rumble. I don't suppose-"

"Rumble? Oh yeah, he was just at Sugar Belle's house, she and Double Diamond are taking him and his friend Cozy Glow to the train station leading to Ponyville," Night Glider said.

"Wait, Rumble was in town!?" Sunburst asked.

"Too bad you didn't know last night, but he's safe and on his way home at least," Night Glider said.

"With a villain!" Sunburst shouted, to Night Glider's confusion.

"Uh...villain?" The mare asked, clearly confused.

"That filly, Cozy Glow, she's evil!" Sunburst shouted.

Night Glider found this hard to believe, "Uh, you sure you got enough sleep there pal?"

"Point me to their direction!" Sunburst urgently said, getting more confusion from Night Glider.

"It's right over-" As Night Glider pointed, Sunburst sped off. "There...?"

"I'm coming Rumble!" Sunburst shouted, hoping to catch up to them.





The two foals were already at the station, as the train to Ponyville arrived. Sugar Belle helped them on, "Go straight home now, I'm sure everyone misses you."

"Thanks Sugar Belle," Rumble said. "Come by soon."

"I certainly will," Sugar Belle said.

"Have fun with your stallion," Cozy said, grinning mischievously at a nervous Sugar Belle.

"You kids and your imaginations, bye now," Sugar Belle said as the train door closed.

The train began to depart, sending the kids home as the two ponies waved bye. "So...Party Favor huh?" Double Diamond asked.

"Do not tell anypony," Sugar Belle warned.

"I won't...my lips are sealed," Double Diamond said.

"Better be," Sugar Belle said, leaving the station with Double Diamond closely following.

Rumble was excited, he was finally on his way back home, and Cozy can finally put her plan into full motion. Big surprises awaited the two foals.
> Long Awaited Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Off in another path, Dinky was slowly opening her eyes, rubbing off any sleep she had when she realized something weird. "Uh, why I am I moving?"

"Because I'm taking you two home," Tempest said, getting the attention of the filly. She sees that Tempest had strapped them both onto her back, preventing either one from moving. "Good morning, sleep well?"

"What the heck Tempest!?" Dinky shouted in annoyance, unintentionally waking of Flurry.

"Huh?" Flurry looked around to see that she too was strapped onto Tempest's back. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh is right little one," Tempest said. "What you two did was absolutely foolish, no telling what other danger you might have attracted."

"We can take care of ourselves!" Dinky insisted.

"Your encounter with The Chimera showed me otherwise," Tempest said. "I understand you wish to find your friend but I'm quite certain he wouldn't want any harm befalling either of you."

"Better than waiting and doing nothing," Dinky said. "We promised to always be there for each other, so I'm just keeping that promise!"

"I doubt your friend wanted you to risk your life, what friend would expect that?" Tempest asked.

"He doesn't expect it, I just feel like he deserves that type of dedication!" Dinky said. "Rumble saved me from loneliness, I will save him from everything else!"

"There is such a thing as too much Loyalty you know," Tempest said.

"Huh? No there isn't, when you have friends, wouldn't you do anything for them?" Dinky asked.

"I have, and it's cost me," Tempest said, squinting her scar eye. "I'm just trying to save you from yourself, and from the same foolishness I once embarked through."

Dinky huffed in annoyance, she barely knows this mare yet she's being lectured by her, on top of having her plans thwarted. Flurry was just as upset, she barely knew this pony but she already didn't like her, especially knowing that this pony once turned her mother into stone.

"So, what exactly happened that made you feel the way you do?" Dinky asked, figuring an attempt at small talk was a littld better than just waiting to be brought back home.

"An accident as a foal, I made a mistake and suffered the consequences," Tempest said. "The friends I thought I had showed their true feelings afterwards."

Dinky was a bit annoyed at Tempest's vague explanation, "Alright, so was it your lack of trust in friends that made you-"

"I don't need your consoling, I've already made peace thanks to Twilight," Tempest said. "I just know from experience that if you try to do something foolish just for the sake of loyalty to your friends, it can go badly for you. While I'm sure your friend would be appreciative that you would risk your life for him, it doesn't make the idea any less dangerous. Let Twilight do what she needs to do and you'll be with your friend again in no time."

Dinky knew there was no point in resisting, she could only hope that when she gets back the ponies wouldn't be too mad she tried to go off on her own, especially considering that she even brought Flurry Heart along with her. Granted the toddler offered to come, Dinky didn't do much to stop her.

As Tempest continued to walk, she found herself unsure where to go, "How frustrating, I don't seem to remember how to exactly get to Ponyville from here."

"Aw, what a shame," Dinky said in mock sympathy. "Well it certainly wouldn't be fair for me and Flurry to be more of a burden than we need to be, so if you decide to let us get on our way-"

"Enough!" Tempest said. "I'm not letting you off that easy, we'll just ask for directions."

"I don't think we're gonna find anypony around for miles though," Dinky said.

"You'd be surprised how many ponies travel," Tempest said. "In fact, I see a caravan just up ahead."

"A caravan? Where?" Dinky asked, trying to look around.

"Up ahead, I see a unicorn stepping out too, she has a cape with a sorcerer hat," Tempest said.

"Unicorn? Cape? Hat? Caravan?" Dinky started putting the pieces together, and did not like the result she got. "Oh no..."

"What wrong?" Flurry asked.

Tempest trotted closer to the mare, one that Dinky got a better look at once she raised her head high enough, "Turn back...turn back!"

"Turn back for what?" Tempest asked.

"Turn back before she sees us!" Dinky warned, but it was too late. Tempest got close and was properly greeted by the mare.

"Oh, hello there, do you need assistance from The Great and Powerful Trixie?"

Tempest looked surprised by this mare's way of introduction, "Well, yes I-"

"NOOO!!!!!" Dinky shouted in despair, to the confusion of Tempest and Flurry.

"Huh? Dinky? Flurry Heart" Trixie said, having noticed the two.

"Trixie?" Flurry said.

"NO! No not you! Anypony but you!" Dinky shouted, getting even more confusion from Tempest and Flurry, and some irritation from Trixie.

"Is this how you greet somepony you haven't seen in a while?" Trixie asked.

"But you're SO annoying! And you've got such a high opinion of yourself too!" Dinky said.

"I do not! Wait what are you even doing all the way out here? And trapped on this mare's back no less?" Trixie asked, then squinted her eyes at Tempest. "Wait, do I know you?"

"I'll spare you my life story, I am called Tempest, I found these little fillies off on their own in the middle of a dangerous forest path, so I am returning them to their home in Ponyville," Tempest explained.

Trixie eyed the two fillies, "Just what were they doing walking down a path anyway? When did you find them?"

"Well I found them yesterday and rounded them up this morning before they woke up, they had attempted to flee from me, but they failed," Tempest explained. "Apparently they were trying to find a friend of theirs."

"A friend?" Trixie asked. "Who, if I may ask."

"It's Rumble, he's missing, not that you would care, I know you don't like him," Dinky said.

Trixie looked extremely upset by that comment, "Excuse me, but that is a cruel thing to say, I know we don't get along too well but I would never wish harm upon him."

"What's going on?" they heard a voice from inside the Caravan say, one Dinky recognized.

"Ugh, not her too!" Dinky said.

From out of the Caravan was the rival to Rainbow Dash and leader of the newly formed Wash Outs team, Lightning Dust. "Trixie what's happening out here?" She took notice of Tempest, "Um, who are you?" She then noticed the two fillies on her back. "And why is Princess Cadance's daughter with you, and that one Unicorn filly from Ponyville?"

"Oh it's terrible Lightning Dust!" Trixie said. "These girls were on a search for their friend Rumble, who hasn't been seen in days!"

"I never said 'days'! He's only been gone since yesterday!" Dinky corrected.

"Wait hold up, what happened to Rumble? What do you mean he hasn't been seen?" Lightning Dust asked.

"He was supposed to come back to Ponyville yesterday after his time at his Flight School, but then he ran into the evil filly Cozy Glow and hasn't been seen since," Dinky said. "Flurry and I went to go find him, though obviously our plans are being thwarted by Tempest here."

"For your own safety!" Tempest said. "You can't go running off on your own, you were nearly killed by a Chimera!"

"I think we could have beaten  that thing," Dinky insisted, putting on a tough act.

"Kid, no way you can take on a Chimera, you're too small and I doubt your magic is strong enough," Lightning Dust bluntly stated.

"Well, combined with Flurry, we would have been unstoppable!" Dinky insisted.

"See, now you're relying on a toddler's help, not a good sign," Lightning Dust pointed out.

"She's an Alicorn  Princess!" Dinky angrily reminded.

"Still a toddler," Lightning Dust continued to insist. "Just accept it kid, you wouldn't have lasted out there, be happy this lady here saved your flank." She turned back to Tempest, "I still don't know who you are though."

"Tempest Shadow, and you are?" Tempest asked.

"Lightning Dust, founder and leader of The Wash-Outs, fastest rising group in Equestria," Lightning Dust said. "Literally, we're fast!"

"They're a knock off of The Wonderbolts," Dinky said, much to Lightning Dust's annoyance.

"Hey we do things even The Wonderbolts are afraid to do, we take risks, we defy death, we don't hold back on anything!" Lightning Dust said. "Now, because I'm nice, I'm gonna help you find Rumble. Trixie, you help Tempest get back to Ponyville and bring the little ones with you, I'll go out and look for Rumble."

"What about Rolling Thunder and Short Fuse?" Trixie asked. "We're suppose to meet them in Las Pegusas for our show."

"Wait, you two are performing together now?" Dinky asked.

"For now, Trixie needed a little help getting an audience, plus we could use a side act," Lightning Dust said.

"Excuse me, if anypony's the side act, it's you," Trixie said.

"Yeah, sure Trix," Lightning Dust said. "It really doesn't matter, we're helping each other out aren't we? Thanks to our show, more ponies get to see you, and you can save up to get all the nice things in life. Maybe even a better looking Caravan."

"Like I told Starlight, I am never getting rid of this, it's way too important to me," Trixie said.

"Fine, have it your way Miss Sentimental," Lightning Dust said. "For now don't worry about the others, they can wait. Well Rolling Thunder can, Short Fuse, not so much, but Thunder can keep little Shorty under control until I get back. Shouldn't take too long to find Rumble, when I do, I might offer him a spot on my team, he may be small but he's fast, talented and much braver than Scootaloo."

"You know he's smarter than her too, he's not gonna join up with something so dangerous," Dinky said.

"What's so dangerous? He just needs to follow my instructions, and he'll be fine," Lightning Dust said. "Well I'm off, next time you see me, I'll be known as the hero who saved a colt in need."

In a flash, she had flown off, leaving only a lightning streak behind her. Flurry looked in awe at her speed and the lightning, though the others weren't really as impressed.

"What a show-off," Dinky said.

"I don't look as bad, now do I?" Trixie smugly asked.

"Oh you are, you're a perfect match for each other, I'd say you have more in common with her than you do with Starlight," Dinky said.

"Well Starlight's much easier to get along with," Trixie said. "I respect Lightning Dust's passion and I do admire how she's not afraid to speak her mind, but she can be quite arrogant and condescending, at least I try to be mindful and I do make amends if I upset somepony, Lightning Dust just brushes things off like she doesn't care."

"Well at least her intentions are being of use, even if she's mainly doing this for her own self gloating," Tempest said. "For now, I shall take up Lightning Dust's offer, though if you don't mind, I'd like to just leave these foals with you so I may be on my way."

"Oh, you sure you wouldn't like to accompany us?" Trixie asked.

"While I wouldn't mind seeing Princess Twilight again, I have business of my own to attend to," Tempest said.

"Well, if you say so," Trixie used her magic to levitate the two foals. "Until we meet again, Tempest Shadow. Oh, and if you have time, stop by Las Pegasus in two days and you'll be treated to quite the show."

"I'll consider it," Tempest said, turning to leave. "Oh, just be warned, they're kind of sneaky, so I probably wouldn't untie them."

"Good point, with Lightning Dust gone, I don't have another pony to take turns pulling the Caravan with me," Trixie said. "Thanks for the tip!"

Tempest nodded and began to depart as Trixie placed both foals inside her caravan, comfortably as she could.

"Hey, you know, you don't have to take us back, if we're gonna be a burden, just let us be on our way," Dinky said.

"Sorry, I'm not doing that, I could never forgive myself if either of you got hurt," Trixie said. "You'll just have to settle with being transported in my caravan."

"Do you honestly care about what happens to us?" Dinky asked.

"Let me put it like this, do I think you're bratty? Yes, I do," Trixie said. "Do I think you should be in danger, no, I don't. You may not be my favorite filly, but I couldn't call myself a friend of Starlight, the pupil to The Princess of Friendship, if I allowed your lives to be in danger. Not to mention what Flurry's parents would do to me if I were to be irresponsible enough to leave you two on your own. I'm sure Rumble will be fine and I'm sure he'd just want you to be safe, if he truly feels you should be risking your life to find him, well then he's not a very good friend now is he?"

Dinky gritted her teeth lightly, anyone saying something mean, or what she perceives to be mean about her best friend is unacceptable to her. For now she had to give in, she had no way of going off to continue her mission, but she'll figure something out soon enough, she's not one to just quit on a goal, she just needs to plan differently.





Back with Twilight, she had teleported herself a few miles away from Starlight's old village. While she wasn't too sure where Rainbow Dash and the others might be, having vague instructions from her brother the previous night, she knew that if Rumble and Cozy Glow found the village in time to be properly prepped for bed, they couldn't be too far away.

She still had some trouble locating everypony, not knowing if they might have split up into groups. If she couldn't find Rainbow Dash, Plan B was to just wait at the nearby Train Station herself, assuming she wasn't too late. She could go there now but she did not want to leave Rainbow Dash searching for nothing.

"Gotta hurry, who knows how far along the foals are," Twilight said, flying through and teleporting around the sky. "I really should have thought this out better, maybe have gotten a map to find nearby towns, that might have been faster."

As she flew, she eventually found two ponies from Rainbow Dash's group, those being Applejack and Rarity, the two walking through a meadow, though Rarity looked quite exhausted.

"Where could Rumble be, he couldn't have gotten that far, could he?" Rarity asked.

"There's a lot of places he could have gone too, plus he's quite the flyer, energetic too, I'm almost thinking he could he hundreds of miles away," Applejack said.

"This is terrible, Sweetie Belle's back home waiting for her coltfriend, if I can't find him I would have failed as a sister," Rarity said.

"Don't be so dramatic, not like Sweetie Belle would hate ya," Applejack said. "I mean she would be pretty dang disappointed but ah doubt she would hate you or anything."

"You don't know my sister, she can hold quite a grudge over little things, now imagine not bringing back her coltfriend, she'd be miserable all the time," Rarity said.

"Well let's try to stay positive, it's worked for us so far," Applejack said.

"Well there's always a first, each adventure we go on, I always fear it could be our last," Rarity said. "One day something bad is going to happen, I can just feel it, I don't think we'll be so lucky one day like we have been in the past."

"Come on, it wasn't luck, it was Friendship's magic that saved us," Applejack said.

"Applejack, we've had close calls, remember Discord, he nearly changed us for good!" Rarity said. "We almost lost to Chrysalis and needed Shining Armor and Cadance to help us, we could barely hold back King Sombra, we got tricked by Starlight to the point of needing assistance from other ponies, even Cozy Glow outsmarted us! And she's only a filly!"

"Yer worrying too much, the reason we've made it this far isn't just luck, it's friendship too," Applejack said. "We always relied on our friends, did so in the past, we'll continue to do so in the future."

Rarity began to feel some of her anxiety alleviate, "Yes...yes I do suppose you're right, maybe the stress is just getting to me. This is a little more personal after all, Rumble is dating my darling baby sister, so he's become just as precious to me as he has to her."

"Yeah, makes sense, yer dating his brother too after all," Applejack said.

"Right, Thunderlane..." Rarity said, trailing off a bit. "Quite the stallion..."

"Uh, you don't sound too happy, anything up?" Applejack asked.

"No, no, everything's just peachy..." Rarity said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Applejack obviously didn't buy that, "Hey if there's anything-"

"Girls!" Twilight said, getting their attention. "I'm so happy I caught you two."

"Hey Twi, got anything to tell us?" Applejack asked.

"Have you found Rumble? Is he alright? Do I need to destroy Cozy Glow!" Rarity looked ready for a fight.

"Easy Rarity, no I haven't found Rumble but I do know he's alright," Twilight said. "I'll tell you later but first let's try to round up the others."

"Alright, let's head to the meeting place," Applejack said. "It's a big rock under a tree near a small pond."

"Yes, we were suppose to meet there in a couple of hours, right when the sun was directly above us," Rarity said.

"You go, I'll try to find Rainbow Dash and the others, it'll help move things along much quicker," Twilight said, taking to the skies.

"Well, at least we know Rumble's safe, so you have one less thing to worry about Rares," Applejack said.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Rarity said.

"Now, about Thunderlane..." Applejack began, getting a slight glare from Rarity.

"I really don't wish to discuss this at them moment," Rarity said. "Let's stay focused on what's actually important, that's bringing Rumble home." Rarity groaned in annoyance, "Thankfully he's more faithful..."

Applejack knew there was much more to this, but willing to respect Rarity's desire not to press this any further, gave in and followed her friend to where they needed to go.





Twilight continued flying around, hoping to find the other ponies, though during her flight she once again noticed a pair of ponies, not ones she had been looking for, but ones she was happy to see.

"Sugar Belle and Double Diamond! Perfect!" Twilight said, flying down to greet the two.

"So, think we should have went with them?" Double Diamond asked as he trotted next to his friend.

"I don't think so, they should be fine, they're smart kids, Rumble I know is," Sugar Belle assured.

"Yeah, but I just think-" Double Diamond then noticed Twilight flying down towards them. "Huh? Is that Princess Twilight?"

Sugar Belle looked up at the Alicorn Princess of Friendship. "It is Twilight!"

"Hello!" Twilight greeted as she landed before them. "Didn't expect to see you two out here."

"We can say the same," Double Diamond said. "You're an awful long way from Ponyville."

"For good reason, now tell me, have either of you seen Rumble?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, were you looking for him?" Sugar Belle asked. "Well don't worry, he's on a train back to Ponyville, he should be there quite soon."

"Yeah, the little guy showed up in our town, totally lost with his new friend Cozy Glow," Double Diamond said.

"Wait, they're already on the train?" Twilight asked, getting nod of confirmation. "Well that didn't go as I hoped, I knew I wasted too much time."

"Huh? What's wrong Twilight?" Sugar Belle asked.

"Nothing, I was hoping to have caught Rumble before he went to Ponyville, or at least have been on the train with him," Twilight said. "Did they go alone?"

"Yeah, we figured they'd be fine," Sugar Belle said.

"She figured, I didn't have much say," Double Diamond said, getting a slight glare from Sugar Belle.

"I'm sorry if you wanted them to have supervision, but I figured since Rumble's a mature colt he would be fine," Sugar Belle said.

"It's not that," Twilight assured. "Rumble is capable of riding a train without supervision, at least in my opinion. What concerns me is the filly he's with."

"Who Cozy Glow?" Sugar Belle asked. "What's there to worry about, she seems like a mature enough filly as well."

"Wait, how did you know about her?" Double Diamond asked.

"I'll explain later, but that filly can't be trusted," Twilight said. "She's up to no good, and if we don't stop her now, things are going to get really bad."

"Huh? Cozy Glow looks like a sweet little filly, what could she do that's so bad?" Sugar Belle asked.

"Wait, I think I know," Double Diamond said, getting the attention of the two mares. "You're worried that Rumble's gonna flirt with her or something, that he wouldn't be able to resist her cuteness and want to put the moves on her, and those two being alone will only tempt him more."

Twilight stared in mild disbelief, "Uh...no, I'm not worried about Rumble doing that at all. He's way to loyal to Sweetie Belle to do that."

"Of course, what was I thinking?" Double Diamond said. "Rumble isn't the type of colt to do something like that, no far from it. He seems well mannered enough to not give into temptation like that, to not be talked so easily into a simple love session, to always be totally faithful to somepony and not go for some cheap thrills, to-"

"Alright already, she gets it!" Sugar Belle shouted, an angry blush donning her face. This surprised both Twilight and Double Diamond.

"Right...anyway I'm worried because Cozy Glow isn't the sweet filly you might believe her to be," Twilight said. "She's actually an evil mastermind who's tried taking over Equestria, she's the reason we lost magic for a while."

"Huh? That little girl?" Double Diamond asked. "Twilight you know I have a ton of respect for you but that story seems a bit...hard to believe."

"Yeah, how can a little filly like her be a threat to Equestria?" Sugar Belle asked.

Twilight sighed in frustration, this is a hard story to explain, Cozy Glow obviously doesn't give off a sinister vibe and due to her age it's very difficult to make others see her as a villain.

"Yes I understand that she doesn't come off as evil, but you have to take my word for it," Twilight said. "If not mine, they ask my friends, ask the Princesses, but Cozy Glow is a disciple of Tirek, he's the one who put her up to the task of taking over Equestria, now he's enacting that plan again!"

Sugar Belle still found this slightly difficult to believe, then again she did hear about a student that caused trouble, she didn't think it was to this extreme and she certainly didn't expect it to be Cozy Glow, especially seeing how close she was with Rumble.

"Twilight, if she's bad, then what's she doing all the way out here, and why is Rumble with her?" Sugar Belle asked.

"She escaped from Tartarus and-" Twilight found herself getting interrupted.

"Wait, Tartarus? Isn't that like, a bit too harsh?" Double Diamond asked. "I mean she's a filly, just send her to her to a corner or something."

Twilight groaned in annoyance, "She didn't sneak a cookie before dinner here Double Diamond, she tried taking over the world!"

"Still, kind of harsh, I mean who's idea was this anyway?" Double Diamond asked.

"Princess Celestia came up with it, and she knows what she's doing," Twilight said.

"I'm not sure, I mean, didn't she send her sister to the moon because they got into an argument?" Double Diamond asked.

Twilight couldn't believe her ears, "Luna, who was corrupted by Nightmare Moon, tried to kill her! Celestia didn't want to banish her own sister but she had little choice, that's why she fully welcomed her when she was free from the curse!"

"Still, doing that to a filly, you were much nicer to Starlight after she did the stuff she did, she did at one point attempt to blast me, Sugar Belle and our friends to nothing," Double Diamond said. "You're even friends with Discord, and he's done some pretty bad things too."

"Starlight...she..." Twilight tried thinking of something, "Uh...she, she was just mostly misunderstood due to her previous failed Friendship."

"So wouldn't Cozy Glow just be misunderstood?" Double Diamond asked.

Twilight was officially frustrated, letting out a large groan that could he heard for miles, "Alright, fine, maybe that was a bad idea, but it's not the point right now! The point is that Cozy glow needs to be stopped before she causes any more trouble! Now if you happen to see Rainbow Dash, Flitter, Cloudchaser or Thunderlane, let them know I'm looking for them, and for them to meet up at their rendezvous point."

"Um, alright, you got it Twilight," Sugar Belle said.

Twilight then took off to find the others, leaving the two ponies behind, little surprised by what they just heard.

"So, an evil filly...that's a bit surprising," Double Diamond said.

"Maybe she's not really a pony? Maybe it's a disguise?" Sugar Belle theorized.

"Could be, that or maybe Twilight's just lost her mind," Double Diamond said.

"I've heard she can be a bit nuts on occasion, but just to be cautious, let's just do as she asks," Sugar Belle said.

"Maybe we can ask..." Double Diamond then noticed another pony approaching from the distance. "Hey isn't that Starlight's childhood friend?"

Sugar Belle noticed Sunburst approaching, looking frantically out of breath as he arrived. "Oh, hi Sunburst."

"Sugar Belle..." Sunburst said, panting a bit. "Double Diamond..." Sunburst took a moment to catch his breath before speaking. "By any chance, did you two happen to drop off two foals at a train station?"

"You mean Rumble and Cozy Glow?" Double Diamond asked. "Yes, we did."

"Oh no, that's not good," Sunburst said. "You two probably don't know this, but-"

"Cozy Glow is evil?" Sugar Belle interrupted. "Yes, we know, though we didn't find out until after we dropped them off on the train."

That took Sunburst by surprise, "You found out? How?"

"Princess Twilight told us," Sugar Belle said. "She just missed her actually, she was here a moment ago telling us about Cozy Glow."

"Yeah sorry, we kind of goofed," Double Diamond said.

Sunburst looked a bit worried, but attempted to calm himself down. If Twilight knew then she could definitely handle it. "Alright, so Twilight's already on this, she'll have this fixed in no time, and soon Rumble will be safely back home and Cozy Glow will be back in Tartarus."

"Yeah, see, that's kind of harsh, she's only a filly," Double Diamond said.

"Yeah, I know it is," Sunburst said. "But it's Celestia's orders."

"Well we're gonna go find the rest of Rainbow Dash's group if you wanna come with us," Sugar Belle said.

"Rainbow Dash's group? So there's an entire search team?" Sunburst asked.

"Twilight didn't go into any detail aside from who's in the team," Sugar Belle said. "Once we find one of them, maybe they can go into some detail."

"Let's get to it," Double Diamond said, leading the group to finding the others.





In the skies, Rainbow Dash is flying overhead, trying to scan every possible area for any sign of Rumble.

"Come on little guy, where could you be?" Rainbow Dash asked herself. "Can't believe that Cozy Glow, just wait til I get my hooves on her for pulling this stunt."

Rainbow Dash kept a really close eye on the ground below, even in the air, knowing that both foals are Pegasi and could possibly be flying. Off in the distance, she did spot somepony flying through the skies. Hoping it's a clue to Rumble's location, she quickly flew toward the pony, though as she got closer, she began to recognize the pony, frowning at the sight.

"Oh great it's you," Rainbow Dash said, laying her eyes upon her rival Lightning Dust.

"Yeah, nice to see you two Rainbow Dash," Lightning replied, sharing Rainbow Dash's displeasure.

"What are you doing out here? You practicing one of your stunts or something?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Honestly I don't even practice most of them, takes away the thrill," Lightning Dust said. "So no I'm not out here doing stunt practice, I'm looking for that foal Rumble, something tells me you're doing the same."

"Huh? You're looking for Rumble? How'd you hear about that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I heard it from Trixie, who heard it from some mare called Tempest Shadow, who heard in from Rumble's Unicorn friend and that Alicorn Toddler that Rumble foalsat several months ago," Lightning Dust said.

"Huh? Wait how did Tempest even hear from Dinky and Flurry Heart?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That Tempest chick was asking Trixie how to get to Ponyville, apparently those little foals also tried looking for Rumble and she wanted to bring them back home, guess it was 'too dangerous' as others would put it," Lighting Dust said.

"Well of course it's dangerous Lightning Dust, they're foals, they could get hurt!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Hey I would have done the same thing honestly," Lightning Dust said. "No matter, since there's two of us now, we can work together and find Rumble."

"Uh, why would I want to work with you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Do you want to find Rumble or not?" Lightning Dust asked. "I'm a bit worried myself, he's a tough kid, but he could use the back up."

Rainbow Dash groaned in annoyance, she hated the idea of having to work with Lightning Dust, but they did have the common goal of rescuing Rumble. As selfish and reckless Lightning Dust can be, deep down Rainbow Dash knows Lightning has some heart and wouldn't intentionally want Rumble to be in any danger, unless it was a stunt she would have had him do.

"Fine, but I'm leading this search, so don't give me any sass, right now you're my wing pony!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Wow, you're still mad about that after all these years? Tch, whateves, have it your way," Lightning Dust said.

Rainbow Dash grumbled as she led Lightning Dust across the skies, hoping to spot Rumble anywhere around.





On the train to Ponyville, Rumble was eagerly awaiting his arrival in Ponyville. He was a day late, and he was sure many of his friends would be worried, but he knew the moment he stepped out of the train to greet them, all that worry will vanish and be replaced with unsurmountable joy.

"Getting close, I'm so excited!" Rumble said. "I can't way to see everypony, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Tender Taps, Dinky and especially Sweetie Belle!"

"Oh yeah...think they'll be waiting at the train stop?" Cozy asked.

"Um, not sure, I mean they were supposed to be yesterday, I don't know if they'll come back today," Rumble said. "What about you though? They're your friends too aren't they?"

"Well..." Cozy Glow said, not sure how to properly answer. "I mean, we were, but..."

"But what?" Rumble asked. "Did something happen?"

"Things just got awkward at one point, and my relationship with The Crusaders hasn't been the same since," Cozy said.

"Oh, Friendship troubles?" Rumble asked.

"You can say that," Cozy said, then lifted up the vine. "Hey, would you mind untying me now? We're gonna be in Ponyville soon and I'd rather not waltz off the train looking like this."

"Um, sure, I mean I guess there's no trouble now," Rumble said, picking up the vine, before giving a stern glare to Cozy. "Just don't fly off again, because I will catch you and you won't like it."

Cozy chuckled nervously, "Noted."

Rumble struggled a bit to untie the vines, he made sure it was extra tight, thankfully they were already slightly loosened from before. Prior to this the only other time he had to take this off was the previous night before they went to bed, when Cozy needed to use the bathroom. Even though she said she didn't mind Rumble being in there, he felt too awkward to go through with it.

With a little more tug he managed to fully untie himself and Cozy from the vines, leaving them both free. "There, it's off."

"Oh good," Cozy said. "That was quite an experience."

"Sure was," Rumble said. "I swear I had more excitement yesterday than I did at Flight School, not that it was boring but there was so much going on. But that's the norm for me I guess."

"Yesterday was exciting for me too," Cozy Glow said. "It's the most fun I've had in months. Even if some parts were nerve wrecking."

"Yeah, I really thought the Sirens were there," Rumble said. "Guess my mind was messing with me."

"Uh-huh," Cozy said, then suddenly pulled Rumble into a hug, one he certainly didn't see coming.

"Uh, Cozy?" Rumble asked. "What's going-"

"Rumble, whatever happens after this point, just know that I'm really, really happy I got to meet you. I know you have a fillyfriend, and I know you really like her, but if you ever do get interested, I'm always available," Cozy Glow said, snuggling into Rumble's neck.

"Uh, Cozy, this is getting weird," Rumble said.

"Sorry," Cozy Glow said, pulling back a bit, but not before kissing Rumble on the cheek. "You can't blame me for having a crush on you, after all, you make it so easy." She sat back against her seat, "But, I won't make you break up with Sweetie Belle, that's something you'll have to do on your own."

"No offense, but I don't think I ever will," Rumble said. "I mean, you're free to have a crush on me I guess, you're not the only filly who does, but try not to be that up front back home, Sweetie Belle will get jealous. She gets mad when Flurry Heart shows me affection, and she's a toddler."

"She needs to learn to share," Cozy said. "But I'll do as you ask, maybe you'll never break up with her, but at least the option of me is always there." She leaned up against Rumble again, "What I wouldn't give to have one night with you though, one, sweet, romantic night, just us two. I would do everything I can to make you happy, and I hope you would do the same for me."

The stop at Ponyville couldn't come sooner for Rumble, Cozy was once again being too forward, the worst part is that he didn't completely hate it. He should be displeased that this filly keeps coming on to him, but he can't bring himself to fully resist. Maybe deep down he's just humoring her, believing that she isn't intentionally doing bad, she's just not good with controlling her feelings, Scootaloo had been the same way. Maybe Cozy just needs help from Twilight or something, plus he can't stay mad at her, she's just too cute.

Boy did he hate admitting she was cute.

Against his better judgement, Rumble just went along with this, figuring if he met her part of the way, maybe she would ease up on the advancements. He  placed his foreleg around her waist and pulled her closer, pleasantly surprising the filly.

"Cozy, even if we don't date, you're still my friend, and I can still give you affection, just not the same type I give to Sweetie Belle," Rumble said. "But if it makes you feel better, I do think you're a very pretty girl, and if I weren't dating Sweetie Belle, if I hadn't even met Sweetie Belle, then there'd be a good chance I would totally date you. I'm sorry you have a crush on me, I hate that I might be breaking your heart, but I'll do everything I can to ease that pain."

Now it was Cozy's turn to feel weird, but this feeling was still more pleasant than how Rumble had previously felt. She enjoyed the feeling, she enjoyed the affection she was getting from Rumble, the one thing she so desperately wanted since meeting him the day prior.

She wanted more.

Soon the train began to come to a stop, after so long they were finally at their intended destination, Ponyville.

"Sweet! We finally made it!" Rumble said, getting off his seat. "Let's go Cozy!"

"Yay, finally!" Cozy said, getting off her seat. "I'll be able to see Princess Twilight soon."

"Yeah, looks like it," Rumble said. "Maybe I'll get to see that school, at least the inside."

The two walked off the train together, Rumble taking in the sights of his home, one he hadn't seen in months. Cozy Glow also took in the sights, she hasn't been here since nearly taking over all those months ago.

"Ponyville is quite the town," Cozy Glow said.

"Yeah, it hasn't changed that much, at least from what I see here, I just want to see that school," Rumble said, looking around. "Too bad none of my friends are here, I hope they're not too worried. Flitter and I were suppose to be here yes..." Rumble's eyes widened in realization. "Right, Flitter! I left her back at The Crystal Empire!"

"I'm sure she found another train," Cozy Glow attempted to reassure.

"That's just gonna lead to another problem, what if she came home and saw that I still wasn't here?" Rumble asked. "Oh, she's probably really worried, I gotta go find her."

"Oh, so does that mean you're going to her house?" Cozy Glow asked.

"I'll go wherever I need to," Rumble said, then turned to Cozy Glow. "This might take a while."

"That's fine...um, I know I promised not to run off on you, but if you don't mind, I really need to go to The School of Friendship and see if Twilight's there, plus I'm kind of worried how Flitter will feel if she sees me, she might think what happened was my fault," Cozy Glow said.

Rumble was tempted to remind her that she is at fault, but didn't want to make her feel worse, "Alright, will you be ok by yourself?"

"I've flown around Ponyville before, it's not like I'm gonna be lost in The Crystal Empire, I used to live here," Cozy Glow said.

"Fair point, alright I'll see you later, make sure you get directly to Twilight!" Rumble said, before taking off in a hurry.

"Bye Rumble!" Cozy Glow said, before sinisterly grinning. "Took long enough, but I can finally send my plan underway." She quickly flew out of sight of the other ponies before any of them recognized her. While the other cities didn't know who she was, she knew that there were bound to be ponies in Ponyville who remember her from Twilight's school.

She flew behind some rocks at the local park, grabbing her necklace to speak, "Hey! Adagio! You there?"

"Cozy?" Sonata's voice said. "Hey what's up!?"

"Sonata? Where's Adagio? I need to speak with her," Cozy said.

"Um...hold on," Sonata said, realizing this awkward scenario. Obviously Adagio wasn't here, so she did the next best thing. She quickly disguised her voice in an attempt sound like Adagio, "What do you want you annoying little filly!?"

"Sonata that was a terrible impression of Adagio," Cozy Glow said in a deadpanned tone. "Come on this is serious, I finally made it to Ponyville, I need to continue the plan!"

"Oh you're in Ponyville!?" Sonata asked. "Where!?"

"Ugh, at the park, I'm hiding behind a rock near the edge so I don't get spotted!" Cozy Glow said, getting no answer. "Sonata? Hey are you there!?" Still no answer, Cozy was getting frustrated. "Why do they even put up with-"

"Hi Cozy!" Sonata greeted, suddenly appearing beside the filly and scaring the daylights out of her.

"Sonata!?" Cozy said, in shock, surprise and slight annoyance at seeing the Siren.

"Yup, that's me," Sonata greeted.

Cozy Glow sighed in annoyance, "What are you doing in Ponyville, how did you escape from Tartarus?"

"Oh I didn't escape, Princess Twilight set me free," Sonata said.

"Huh? Wait why?" Cozy Glow asked.

"Because she felt bad after seeing how mean to me Adagio was," Sonata said. "So she let me out and offered to be my friend."

"Wait, so you're on their side now!?" Cozy asked.

"Um...about that," Sonata said. "Let me explain what happened..."





Back at Tartarus, Adagio is seen laying against the cage, whistling a familiar tune and singing in a muttered tone, "...Now they've fallen under our spell..."

"Hey, Adagio?" Aria said, getting the Dazzling leader's attention. "Hey, I know Sonata messed up, but you weren't serious about kicking her out the group. I mean, she can be stupid, don't get me wrong, but she's still one of us, one of the last Sirens. Plus, despite her ditzy nature, she's still like family to us, she's always been loyal, all we're doing is strengthening the other team and honestly, I don't think even I can bring myself to fight Sonata, like for real I mean."

"You have nothing to worry about Aria, this is all part of my master plan," Adagio said. "Sonata is very loyal, that will never change, that's one advantage I intended to exploit."

"Huh? How are you doing that?" Aria asked.

"Simple, Sonata can't stand the thought of never seeing us, and I'm willing to bet she'll do anything to get back to our good graces, that includes helping Cozy Glow," Adagio said. "See when I said the stuff I said to her, I could see the hurt, but in the years I've known Sonata, anytime she feels like she messed up, she always finds a way to make things up to us, it nags on her, it consumes her. It won't matter how nice Princess Twilight is to her, Sonata's loyalty is to us only. I trust Sonata enough to know she won't truly side against us, because just like the idea of fighting Sonata is hard for you, it's probably ten times harder for her."

"Well, that's a good point, but it sounds like you're taking quite a gamble," Aria said. "I mean, what if she really is tired of us? What if Twilight Sparkle actually messes with her head?"

"Have faith, she really cares about us, especially you," Adagio said. "She can be mad at me, and maybe if it was just me then that would be more of a gamble, but she really loves you Aria, you mean a lot to her and I know she means a lot to you, deep down she means a lot to me as well, of course I can't really tell her that, can't afford to be too soft on her. Just have faith in her, she'll pull through."

Aria thought about Adagio's words, if this was true, then it's quite the master plan as the Dazzling leader put it, she just hopes that her words are true and Sonata truley just wants to make things right again.

"You're quite confident in your ally," Chrysalis said.

"Not just an ally, my friend," Adagio said.

"Ah, the Magic of Friendship as Twilight Sparkle would put it," Chrysalis said.

"Hey! I'm nothing like her, because unlike her, I know how to not let my friends be a weakness, but rather a strength, to truly value my allies and help all of us reach our full potential," Adagio said. "I mean, how many of Twilight's friends are Alicorns? Because I just see a horn and wings on her, if it were me, all my friends would have the same power!"

"I do admire your ambition Adagio Dazzle, I truly hope this plan of yours works," Chrysalis said.

"It will," Adagio confirmed. "I just know it..."





Back in Ponyville, Sonata had explained everything to Cozy Glow, "So yeah, I kind of messed up and I need to make this up to Adagio and Aria."

"So you're only pretending to be their friend huh?" Cozy asked. "Wow, that's really sneaky of you Sonata, kind of like it."

"I kind of feel bad since Princess Twilight is being nice to me, but I can't abandon Adagio and Aria," Sonata admitted. "So I'll do what I must to help your mission."

"Well just keep everypony distracted, I'm gonna try to get to The Tree of Harmony and see if I can get The Elements," Cozy said. "It probably won't be easy but I'll have more time to plan if I'm not discovered just yet."

"Yeah removing the Elements will be tricky, hopefully I should be able to help you with that," Sonata said. "Alright, let's-"

"Sonata!" Sunset's voice was heard saying.

"Quick! Go! I'll distract her!" Sonata said, Cozy wasting no time in flying away. Just in time, Sunset had just shown up. "Oh, hi Sunset!"

"I told you to stay near me, what are you doing all the way out here!?" Sunset asked.

"I um...saw this really cute butterfly, so I tried to catch it!" Sonata said.

Sunset shook her head in annoyance, "Just stay near me and don't run off like that. If ponies see you without me they're going to panic!"

"Alrighty then!" Sonata said with a big cheerful smile on her face.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder how your teammates put up with you, now let's go," Sunset said, walking off.

Sonata's cheery smile quickly turned into a scowl, "Like you're any treat to be around." She followed after Sunset, knowing deep down she can make the mare eat her words.





With Rumble, he's flying overhead of Ponyville, wanting to spot Flitter and Cloudchaser's house, and partially to see what's changed. Of course he noticed the School of Friendship right next to Twilight's castle. "Wow, what a big place, must be a lot of fun being there, maybe after I find Flitter-"

"Rumble!" He heard Derpy shout, then found himself wrapped in a super tight hug, "Thank Celestia you're alright! I was so worried! Oh I missed you so much! We all missed you!"

"Hehe, hey Derpy, it's been a while, I missed you too," Rumble said.

"I'm so happy to see you, I can kiss just kiss you!" Derpy said. "In fact I will." She started peppering his face with affectionate kisses, much to his embarrassment.

"Derpy, come on! Someone's gonna see us!" Rumble pleaded.

Derpy reluctantly stopped, putting on a slight pout, "Oh fine. Shame, you used to love my hugs and kisses, but now it seems like you've out grown them. Guess it's normal for a growing pony."

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, guess it was just a little overwhelming for me," Rumble said.

"You didn't hurt my feelings, but I'm happy to know you're still considerate of others," Derpy said, lowering herself and Rumble down. "Maybe I did come on a litle strong, I was just so worried, we waited for you yesterday, then this thing with Cozy Glow, it was just a bit too much."

"Huh? How did you know about Cozy Glow? Did Flitter tell you? Is she here?" Rumble asked.

"She was, but then-" Derpy then noticed more ponies who were surprised to see Rumble. "Here come Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie."

"Huh?" Rumble turned around and found himself being pulled into a hug, sandwiched between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Rumble! You're alright!" Fluttershy said, hugging tightly.

"You gave us a doozie of a scare little buddy!" Pinkie said, hugging tighter.

"Fluttershy...Pinkie Pie..." Rumble couldn't barely talk, or breath. "You're...kind of..."

"Oh my," Fluttershy said, backing off a bit. "Sorry darling, we didn't mean to crush you."

"We're just happy to see you, did Twilight or Dashie bring you back?" Pinkie asked.

"Huh? No I came on a train, I was a day late because of some complications but I made it back safely," Rumble said.

"Um, was a filly named Cozy Glow with you by any chance?" Fluttershy asked.

Rumble nodded, "Yeah, she was, she said she went to school here so maybe you...Oh boy!"

Suddenly he was pulled into more hugs, this time Scootaloo rushing in to hug him, nuzzling her cheek against his, "Rumble! You're safe!"

Apple Bloom hugged him from the other side, "Thank the stars, I was worried ah never see you again!"

Both fillies planted a huge kiss on both his cheeks, surprising the colt, "Whoa there, easy girls. Wow, not surprised about Scootaloo kissing me, but Apple Bloom?"

"Sorry, overwhelmed, plus ah do like you a lot so I have no shame in showing you public affection," Apple Bloom said.

"And you totally know about my crush on you, so of course I'm sneaking a kiss in," Scootaloo said.

"Yeah but..." Rumble saw Tender Taps running over. "Of course."

Tender Taps pulled Rumble into a crushing hug of his own, "I'm so happy you're alright! You had me so worried!"

"I'm fine, really," Rumble said. "Ease up on the hug, you're like the sixth pony to hug me this hard in under five minutes."

"Sorry about that," Tender Taps said, pulling away. "You're really alright, I'm so glad. Boy, if you knew just how worried everypony was."

"Well speaking of worried ponies, I was hoping to find..." Rumble stopped when he noticed a certain filly, one who's hug he definitely wouldn't mind, maybe much more.

Just steps away was his marefriend Sweetie Belle, who had a look of awe on her face. Finally, after all this time, after six long months, after a day of complete worry, not knowing what was gonna happen to her coltfriend, finally, there he was, standing there and completely alright. This could easily be a dream, she could just call out to Luna, that would answer her question, but instead she just choose to hope it was real, she wanted to at least enjoy it on the off chance it wasn't.

"Rumble..." She knew one way to find out, she quickly trotted over, the other ponies making room for her as she wrapped her forelegs around his neck and pulled him into the deepest kiss she could muster. This was real, this felt real, it was no dream, Rumble was back, safe and sound.

Rumble relished this, finally he could be with the girl of his dreams, this kiss felt like the most satisfying thing in the world to him and he enjoyed it more than the sweetest of treats. He leaned in to return the kiss as well, pulling her close, embracing the love he felt from this filly.

As this went on, the Young Six along with Terramar had shown up, standing not too far from the group, just observing the two foals making out.

"So...is this Rumble?" Gallus asked.

"Yeah, that's him," Terramar answered.

There was some silence for a moment, the seven kids not sure what else to say.

"Wow...they really like each other..." Smolder said. "It's kind of...weird..."

"It's love, and they deserve that happiness, every creature does," Silverstream said, happily observing the two foals kissing.

Neither Rumble nor Sweetie Belle cared about the world around them, just the feeling they had with each other. Right now all was perfect for them, and everything was gonna be alright for the two, unaware of the evil plans that Cozy Glow had set out to enact. Things would get even more complicated soon.
> Tense Moments
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not too far off from Ponyville, Trixie's Caravan had inched closer, the mare ready to finally be back in the town where her best friend Starlight Glimmer lived.

"There it is, you girls are almost home," Trixie said. "Boy that was quite the journey, bit out of the way, but anything for a friend!"

Inside the Caravan though, Dinky just sat there in annoyance, her plan to go rescue her best friend obviously failed and now she had to come back home in shame. Not to mention that the other ponies may be furious with her for going off by herself.

Flurry attempted to console Dinky with a soft hug, hoping to cheer up her friend, though it barely even got a smile from the filly. Flurry could understand her frustrations though, she too wanted to save Rumble.

"You girls alright in there? I haven't really heard you speak much," Trixie said.

"We're fine," Dinky said. "Just peachy..."

"Um, alright then," Trixie said, getting the hint that Dinky really isn't in the best mood. If there's one thing Trixie knows about her is that she's pretty stubborn, so she likely takes this failed rescue attempt as quite the shameful experience.

"Try not to worry about Rumble too much, if Twilight and Starlight are looking for him with their friends, they're sure to find him," Trixie reassured. She got no answer, talking to foals was tough sometimes, she doesn't know how Twilight and Starlight do it, they make it look easy.

Within the town, Rumble and Sweetie Belle are still relishing in their reunion, the two foals so relieved to see each other. Even after they stopped kissing, they were in a constant state of nuzzling, just wanting to feel each other anyway possible. It's been so long, and the worry of what happened to Rumble just furthered Sweetie Belle's desire to keep him close to her.

Everypony nearby either found this cute to see, like their friends and the older ponies, or just uncomfortable to be around, like most of the Young Six.

"You two done yet?" Gallus asked. "You've been like this for like five minutes."

"I haven't seen my coltfriend in months and after the scare I had I'm relishing this as long as possible!" Sweetie Belle said. "So I'd back off if I were you!"

Gallus looked a little surprised by Sweetie Belle's tone, and certainly did not appreciate the sudden sounds of muffled laughter from his friends.

"This, Gallus, is what's known as Sweetie Belle in marefriend mode," Apple Bloom said.

"She gets super possessive of him and if she wants to make out or just do anything with Rumble, no one can tell her otherwise," Scootaloo said.

"So what? She becomes crazy or something?" Gallus asked, getting a glare from Sweetie Belle.

"Did you just call me 'crazy'!?" Sweetie Belle asked, turning her full attention to the brash griffon, causing him to fly backwards.

"She looks so cute when she's protective," Silverstream said. "Wow, you're such a lucky colt Rumble!"

"Thanks," Rumble said, then realized something. "Hey wait, who are you? Who are any of you?" Rumble noticed Terramar among them. "Well I know you, I saw you back at Mount Aris, wait how and why did you get to Ponyville?"

"We'll go first," Silverstream said. "So hi, I'm Silverstream, I'm also Terramar's older sister from Mount Aris, and I attend Princess Twilight's School of Friendship!"

"Name's Gallus from Griffonstone," Gallus introduced. "I'm also here to attend Princess Twilight's school, got a recommendation from Rainbow Dash's friend Gilda."

"I'm Smolder, I'm here under orders from Dragon Lord Ember to attend this school," Smolder introduced.

"...Ocellus...King Thorax sent me..." Ocellus said, backing away a bit.

"Me Yona! Come from Yakyakistan!" Yona introduced. "Prince Rutherford send me here! Make new friends!"

"Name's Sandbar, grew up here in Ponyville and got the chance to be at Princess Twilight's school," Sandbar introduced.

"So you're the six Sweetie Belle mentioned in her letters," Rumble said. "Well it's nice to see you all as well, soon I'll be totally caught up in everything that's happened while I was gone." He then turned to Terramar, "That just leaves your explanation, is there a reason you came to Ponyvile? Nothing bad happened back home did it?"

"No, nothing happened, not yet at least," Terramar said. "Question, where's Cozy Glow?"

"Oh she went to go see Twilight, I think she's worried about something," Rumble said. "She's been worried this whole trip, but I think Twilight will be able to help her."

"Wait, so she's alone!?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah, I didn't want to leave her but she was insistant on finding Twilight, and I needed to find Flitter, she's probably worried, and mad," Rumble said, dreading his foalsitter's wrath.

"Flitter's not in town," Derpy said. "She went with Twilight and several other ponies to find you."

"Wait Twilight's not in town?" Rumble asked. "Oh, I better find Cozy then so she's not looking for nothing. So Flitter did come, but she left again?"

"She came by yesterday with Shining Armor, Princess Cadance and Terramar," Fluttershy explained. "Rumble, this situation is more dire than you seem to realize."

"Yeah, ah mean, have you noticed anything odd about Cozy?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Well yeah," Rumble said. "She thinks there's a villain out there, that's why she freaked out at the Crystal Empire when she saw those guards, then later again when we accidentally took a train home, she actually bailed from the train because she was worried about a villain getting her, that's why we ended up spending the night at Starlight's old village." Rumble sighed in slight frustration, "I like Cozy, but she could be irritating on occasion."

"Um, Rumble..." Scootaloo began. "Cozy didn't freak out and start bailing because she thought there was a villain, she was bailing because SHE was the villain!"

Rumble looked at Scootaloo like she lost her mind, "Uh...what?"

"Cozy used to go to Twilight's school, then she tried taking over Equestria by knocking Starlight into some strange vortex thing and trapped Twilight, mah sister and their friends in Tartarus," Apple Bloom said.

"She intended to become Princess of Friendship by force and run Twilight's school how she saw fit," Scootaloo added.

"She even locked me, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in a closet!" Sweetie Belle stated.

"That filly was bad," Sandbar concluded.

Rumble started processing everything, taking in what each one of the foals had just said before coming to a conclusion, "Is this some weird joke you all set up or something?"

"Huh? No, it's what really happened!" Sweetie Belle insisted.

"Yeah, Cozy Glow is a diabolical villain who's out to take over Equestria!" Scootaloo said.

"...Pinkie Pie, did you put them up to this?" Rumble asked.

"Rumble they're not joking," Pinkie Pie said. "Cozy Glow isn't the sweet little filly she appears to be."

"She tried turning the entire school against us!" Smolder added.

Rumble still found this hard to believe, "Now I'm starting to think that this is some weird hallucination Discord created, are any of you even here?"

"Rumble we were just making out, lasted a good few minutes too," Sweetie Belle said. "Doesn't that seem real?"

"Come on dude, you can't mean to tell me she didn't at least act suspicious," Sandbar said. "I mean you said it yourself, she kept running whenever the guards showed up, that should have tipped you off."

"I'm sorry, but I can't see it, Cozy Glow's really nice, a little annoying but really nice!" Rumble said. "Look she did tell me that she had a few disagreements with The Crusaders, maybe you're all just exaggerating because you still haven't made up."

"I wouldn't exaggerate something like this Rumble, you know me better than that!" Sweetie Belle reminded.

"No offense Sweetie Belle, but you can hold quite a grudge sometimes, I mean you pretty much hated Flurry Heart just because she had a crush on me," Rumble said.

"I didn't hate her!" Sweetie Belle insisted. "She just annoyed me a bit, point is that Cozy Glow is evil!"

"She's right Rumble," Fluttershy said. "Cozy Glow did all these bad things, I know you thought she was your friend, but she was most likely tricking you, sorry to say but I don't think she had any intention of befriending you."

Rumble looked around the group, trying to see any signs of joking from the group, so far however he could see that everyone was very serious. "But, how can she be evil? She's only a filly, maybe it was a mistake, a misunderstanding!"

"She almost took over Equestria, that is not a misunderstanding Rumble," Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, stop making us repeat ourselves, Cozy Glow is not our friend!" Smolder said.

"She's been working for Tirek," Scootaloo said. "Apparently they're pen pals or something and he helped her plan this."

"Oh, so maybe Tirek's mind controlling her then!" Rumble said.

"Tirek can't do mind control, not to our knowledge that is," Fluttershy said.

"Then maybe he tricked her or something!" Rumble insisted. "Or he's threatening her! Or...or..."

"Why is this so hard for you to accept, you've only known her for like a day!" Scootaloo said.

"Friendships can happen in a day, didn't Twilight make all her friends in a day? Didn't you three form The Cutie Mark Crusaders in a day?" Rumble said. "What about you six, how long did it take for you all to be friends."

"Oh, that's easy, we bonded on our first day of school," Silverstream answered.

"Exactly, friendships can happen in just one day," Rumble said. "As Cozy Glow's friend, I need to make sure everything is lined up."

"Rumble, the fact that ALL of us are telling you she's evil, including Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, should be more than enough evidence that she's evil!" Scootaloo said.

"Ah know this is probably hard to accept, it was hard fer us too, but we can't let you go on thinking she's yer friend when she's really not," Apple Bloom said.

"We're just preventing you from getting hurt," Terramar said. "I mean, maybe you already feel some hurt, but it could have been worse if she flat out betrayed you herself."

Rumble still couldn't fully process this, maybe it's because he became pretty enamored with Cozy Glow, it was just this morning she was laying her head on his chest, looking happy and peaceful. It seemed too genuine, the ride her she also seemed genuine in her emotions. Granted she expressed romantic feelings towards him, and he would never leave Sweetie Belle for another filly, if he could help it, but in spite of that, Cozy having a crush on him was flattering and he knew she could at least be a good friend.

"Look, I know none of you would intentionally fib like this, so I want to believe you're being truthful, but it's just hard to accept, she was so nice," Rumble said.

This of course gained some frustration from the other ponies, but they understood his position, this isn't something so easily believed, you would have to actually have been there to realize just how strange this was.

"Hey, tap dancing pony," Smolder said, getting Tender Taps's attention. "Can you chime something in? You're his friend too aren't you?"

"Uh, right..." Tender Taps said, trying to think of something. "Um, I don't know, this would be easier if Applejack or Twilight were here, especially Applejack, she's The Element of Honesty, I'm sure Rumble would believe her."

"While I think that's a great idea Tendy, the honesty isn't the problem, it's more trying to make him understand," Fluttershy said.

"Though maybe we should at least wait for Twilight, she'll explain this better than us," Pinkie Pie said.

"We can't just sit around and wait for The Princess, Cozy Glow is heading to the School of Friendship!" Gallus said.

"Not like anything's there, those caves were sealed off and The Artifacts are someplace safe," Smolder said.

"It's still a good idea to check," Fluttershy said. "We don't want to take any chances, plus we do have to make up for our previous mishaps."

"Yeah, good point..." Pinkie Pie said, remembering that she and Fluttershy had lost track of Flurry Heart, to which Shining Armor and Cadance decided to find her themselves. She then turned to Derpy. "Keep an eye on the foals."

"Got it," Derpy said, saluting Pinkie Pie.

The two mares quickly made their way to The School of Friendship, leaving Derpy behind with the foals. Rumble of course, maintained doubts, though was slowly starting to consider the possibility.

"So, playing along with this, what exactly happened?" Rumble asked. "Like what's Cozy Glow's story?"

"We'll tell you," Apple Bloom said. "See we met her outside our clubhouse, she said she was new and wanted to make friends in Equestria, so we helped her get into Twilight's school."

"From there she quickly became one of Twilight's favorite students and even her own little helper," Scootaloo added.

"Later it was revealed that she was working for Tirek, right after she trapped Starlight in a vortex and Twilight with her friends in Tartarus, helping Tirek steal all of Equestria's magic from ponies, creatures and items," Sweetie Belle said.

"But thanks to us, we were able to reverse Cozy's spell and save all of Equestria," Gallus boasted.

"Yeah, they saved Starlight, who revealed that Cozy Glow was evil," Apple Bloom said.

"Then Twilight had her sent to Tartarus and things went back to normal afterwards," Scootaloo concluded.

"Um...did you say 'Tartarus'?" Rumble asked. "As in, where all the monsters go? Where Tirek, Chrysalis and The Dazzlings are?"

"Yes, that very same Tartarus," Scootaloo said.

"So, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, the pony who loves foals, who always wants to help others the best she could, who forgave the likes of Discord, Luna, Trixie, Lightning Dust and Starlight, decides to send a filly to Tartarus!?" Rumble asked.

"Here we go again..." Terramar muttered.

"Rumble, you gotta understand, Cozy Glow tried to take over Equestria," Apple Bloom said.

"Trixie tried taking over Ponyville," Rumble said. "Discord tried turning Equestria into some chaos filled dimension, Luna tried making the night last forever, Lightning Dust nearly killed Twilight and her friends because she was too busy showing off, nearly leaving Equestria without it's protectors, Starlight...well did she really do anything that bad? All she did was take away some Cutie Marks, honestly Equestria would be much better without them."

"She messed with the timeline," Apple Bloom added. "Also taking Cutie Marks is too bad! Cutie Marks are important to ponies!"

"Weird how you say that and yet you had a problem with Diamond Tiara having that attitude...wait, Diamond Tiara, another forgiven pony," Rumble said.

"Being a bully isn't the same as NEARLY TAKING OVER EQUESTRIA!" Apple Bloom emphasized.

"Still, sending a filly to Tartarus was just plain silly, Twilight really goofed up on that one, all those villains and she can't even help a child," Rumble said.

"Rumble..." Tender Taps said, getting the colt's attention. To Rumble's surprise, he actually  saw a look of irritation on Tender Taps's face, something very rare for the tap dancing foal. "Don't ever disrespect Twilight Sparkle that way, she did what she could, but in the end, it was Princess Celestia's decision to lock Cozy away, not Twilight's."

"Well it doesn't sound like Twilight did much to stop it, I mean she's Celestia's old pupil, I think she could have done something," Rumble said.

"Cozy was a danger to Equestria!" Tender Taps shouted. "Yes Luna did something bad but that was under Nightmare Moon's influence, yes Discord did something bad but he was given a second chance only after getting sealed, which if Cozy were patient, she could have gotten. Trixie and Lightning Dust aren't on that level of bad and Starlight never had the intention to hurt anyone, Cozy didn't care if anyone got hurt, that's the difference! She maybe be a filly but she's still dangerous!"

"As dangerous as Tirek, Chrysalis and The Sirens?" Rumble asked. "Next you'll tell me she'll be as bad as King Sombra."

Tender Taps got in Rumble's face, "I would clam it if I were you Rumble!  Twilight did everything she could, and if you keep disrespecting her and her decisions-"

"Whoa, easy there Tendy," Apple Bloom said, trying to ease her friend away from Rumble. "Listen, don't let Rumble get to ya, he hasn't thought straight since he began dating Sweetie Belle, cut him some slack."

"You can't seriously tell me this doesn't upset you either Apple Bloom, he's questioning Twilight's judgement!" Tender Taps said.

"Dude, while I do think Rumble was a bit out of line," Scootaloo said, much to Rumble's confusion. "Twilight can make weird decisions, I mean didn't any of us tell you about that doll incident?"

"If it didn't happen recently, then it's irrelevant," Tender Taps said. "I trust Twilight more than I trust any other pony, and I don't appreciate when other ponies question her good judgement."

"...When did you turn into such a fanboy?" Rumble asked.

"When did you become Cozy Glow's bff!?" Tender Taps asked. "Alright, you knew her for one day, and now you know she's evil, not like the rest of us who knew her for months and turned on us like it was nothing!"

"He's got a point Rumble," Sweetie Belle said. "Cozy betrayed us without a second thought, that's not somepony you should be defending. I mean why would you side with a filly that would do something so terrible to your marefriend?"

"It's not that I want to, I don't condone the idea of her hurting you, but I...I just can't see her as that evil," Rumble said. "I think we really bonded, and she just gave me that vibe that she really cared."

"What vibe?" Sweetie Belle asked, slightly suspicious.

"Hard to explain," Rumble said, reminiscing. "She was just really friendly, she always had a nice smile, silky mane, soft fur, warm hugs... I mean she-"

"Excuse me!?" Sweetie Belle angrily shouted, snapping Rumble out of his thoughts." Silky mane!? Soft fur!? HUGS!?"

Rumble then realized he may have gone too far and now Sweetie Belle has the wrong idea of his relationship to Cozy Glow. "I swear I can explain."

"You better," Sweetie Belle said. "Rumble, you didn't cheat on me with Cozy Glow, did you!?"

"No way!" Rumble insisted. "I would never do that, I mean yeah she came onto me but-"

"SHE CAME ONTO YOU!?" Sweetie Belle shouted. "That little skank! When I get my hooves on her I'm gonna tear her apart!"

"Hey come on, she's not the only filly who has a crush on me," Rumble said, getting an angry glare from Sweetie Belle.

"Don't make excuses for her Rumble!" Sweetie Belle said. "And you better be telling me the truth about not cheating on me!"

"I did not do anything with Cozy, nothing romantic, it was limited to hugs, I'm allowed to hug my friends, even if they are fillies," Rumble said.

"Oh, speaking of friends, here comes one now," Apple Bloom said, gesturing to an oncoming Trixie, Dinky and Flurry.

"It's Trixie, oh and she found the girls!" Derpy called out. "Dinky! Over here!"

"Sounds like your foalsitter's calling you," Trixie said.

"Ugh, she's gonna be so mad," Dinky said.

"Rumble!" Flurry shouted, pointing at the colt.

"Even if I tell her about Rumble she's not going to be any less mad," Dinky said.

"No! Rumble!" Flurry shouted again.

"What about him?" Dinky asked, then noticed Flurry pointing toward the colt.

"Hey Dinky, it's been a while!" Rumble greeted with a wave.

Dinky couldn't believe it, her best friend in the world was finally home, safe and sound. "Rumble!" She made a mad dash over to her friend.

"Oh sh-" Rumble was tackled down as Dinky hugged him incredibly tight.

"Rumble! Oh thank goodness you're alright!" Dinky said, nuzzling her face against his. "I missed you so much, six months was way too long, then you not coming home yesterday, oh that was the last straw for me!"

"Well I'm here, I'm sorry for worrying you Dinky," Rumble said, then felt another pony nuzzle against him, that being Flurry Heart. "Aw, my biggest fan, I was so worried when I couldn't find you at The Crystal Empire. What happened, where did you go?"

"Mean pony!" Flurry said.

"Mean pony? What mean pony?" Rumble asked.

"Ah bet she's talking about Cozy Glow," Apple Bloom said. "Flurry, did Cozy Glow hurt you?"

"Mean pony throw me!" Flurry said.

"She threw you!?" Scootaloo asked. "That's just harsh!"

"Need any more proof she's bad Rumble?" Apple Bloom asked.

Dinky chuckled a bit, "Let me guess, they're trying to convince you Cozy Glow's evil, right Rumble?"

"Yeah, exactly that," Rumble confirmed. "Did you know her at all Dinky?"

"A little," Dinky said. "I didn't interact with her much though, she's just some filly I saw around the school, I also knew that she was Twilight's little assistant."

"Alright then, still, I get they're trying to explain to me how bad she is, but it's just difficult for me to believe," Rumble said. 

"I don't blame you, I found it hard to believe myself, and I was there for it," Dinky said. "Wait, where is she anyway? I heard she was with you."

"She went to find Twilight in her School," Rumble answered. "Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie just went to get her, I understand that Twilight isn't in town."

"Yeah, she left last night with her brother, Princess Cadance, the rest of her friends, as well as Flitter, Cloudchaser and your brother," Dinky explained.

"And you tried to join with them," Trixie said, approaching the group. "Fortunately that nice mare found you before you got hurt."

"Yes, you're in quite a bit of trouble young filly," Derpy said, glaring down at the foal.

"I know you're not happy Aunt Derpy, but I had to do it, Rumble needed my help," Dinky said.

"I know you were worried but sneaking out of Ponyville with a toddler Princess was very foolish and irresponsible, you could have gotten hurt, or worse!" Derpy said.

"Wait, you and Flurry went to look for me? On your own?" Rumble asked.

"Well...yeah, we did," Dinky admitted.

"Aw, you're so sweet Dinky, you too Flurry," Rumble said, much to Derpy's annoyance.

"Rumbe, don't condone that!" Derpy ordered.

"Uh, right, sorry," Rumble said, clearing his throat in an attempt to sound serious. "Um, next time, be careful..."

Dinky giggled a bit, "Yes Rumble, we'll be careful next time."

"Hopefully there isn't a next time, but given our luck, I won't be surprised if this continues," Derpy said. "Look for now let's just get you kids somewhere safe, I gotta find Flurry's parents and let them know she's safe, then I gotta talk to Dinky's parents, and I know neither pair will be happy!"

"I'll watch over them, I can bring them over to that Bakery since bringing them to Twilight's castle probably isn't the best idea," Trixie said.

"Good idea, I hope you don't mind watching over them some more," Derpy said.

"It's no trouble, always happy to help, I'm not doing anything at the moment anyway, not until Lightning Dust returns, she also went to look for Rumble, she was so worried when she found out," Trixie said.

"Even Lightning Dust?" Rumble asked. "Wow, so nice of her."

"She may have an offer for you when you two meet again, keep an ear out," Trixie said.

Scootaloo turned to Rumble, "I don't suggest considering it."

"Oh you...silly little filly," Trixie said with a somewhat forced laugh. "Just get moving."

"I'll try to find Starlight as well, she should be somewhere around the village with Spike," Derpy said.

"Oh, I'd greatly appreciate seeing my best friend," Trixie said. "Hurry little ones."

Trixie led the foals to Sugarcube Corner while Derpy flew off, looking to find either Shining Armor or Starlight, or even Sunset Shimmer. Meanwhile she hoped that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were able to find Cozy Glow before the filly did anything bad.





Elsewhere, the trio of Thunderlane, Flitter and Cloudchaser were flying through the skies, the trio on their way back to the rendezvous point.

"I hope one of the others had better luck finding Rumble," Cloudchaser said. "Ugh, where could he be!?"

"Little bro's always been adventurous, but this is a whole new level," Thunderlane said. "Can't believe he got mixed up in danger, again."

"Honestly we haven't had a normal day since Rumble started dating Sweetie Belle," Cloudchaser said. "Good thing he's a tough little guy otherwise he'd probably have been scared off by now."

"At the very least, his skills are improving," Thunderlane said. "He'll be able to work his way out of danger, and I'm sure he could make it back home even on his own."

"Wow, you're handling this really well Thunder," Cloudchaser said, then gestured to a very distraught Flitter. "Much better than some ponies."

"Can you really blame me for being worried?" Flitter asked. "Five seconds, that's all it took! I took my eyes off them for five seconds and now my sweet little Rumble is lost with a filly that's appearently evil!"

"Surprised you didn't know, it's all everypony in town was talking about," Thunderlane said.

"I was busy making plans to go pick up YOUR little brother, I'm surprised you're not more worried about him!" Flitter said.

"Whoa, pump the brakes there, of course I'm worried about my little brother," Thunderlane said. "I just have to be confident that he can take care of himself, this isn't the first time Rumble's been in a tough situation, little guy survived getting captured by Changelings and having his wings broken by a Siren, he's a lot more capable than I give him credit for, I want to believe he'll get through this alright."

"He's only a colt, he shouldn't even be in a situation like this, he should be back home where I can keep an eye on him and keep him safe from harm!" Flitter said.

"Sis, you aren't always going to be able to protect him," Cloudchaser said. "You gotta go with Thunderlane's approach, it's ok to worry but you also need to believe in Rumble."

"I know I should, but deep down, I can't shake the feeling of dread," Flitter said. "He may be tougher and much more confident than he used to be, but to me he's still the same little colt who would come to me for hugs when he's happy to see me, and for nighttime cuddles when he's afraid of something."

"He's growing up too fast for you too huh?" Thunderlane asked.

"He's growing up too fast for all of us," Cloudchaser said. "But it's our responsibility to accept it and prepare him for adulthood."

Flitter sighed in annoyance, "I hate it when you're right."

"Sucks, doesn't it?" Thunderlane asked, then recieved a glare from Cloudchaser. "I'm just messing with ya."

"Uh-huh..." Cloudchaser said, not buying it.

Flitter chuckled slightly, good old goofball Thunderlane, his weird antics does bring a smile to her face. While flying however, they spotted the trio of Sunburst, Sugar Belle and Double Diamond below.

"How can one filly really be that bad though?" Sugar Belle asked. "I mean-"

"Hey! Down there!" Flitter called, causing them to look around in confusion. "We're up here!" They looked up and saw the trio.

"It's Rumble's brother and foalsitters," Double Diamond said, walking over with his friends as the trio of Pegasi landed.

"Hi there, nice to see you all," Sugar Belle greeted.

"Same, we'd love to catch up, but we need to ask you something, pretty urgent," Cloudchaser said.

"Yeah, any chance one of you has seen my little brother and some filly who goes by the name of Cozy Glow?" Thunderlane asked.

"Yeah, we dropped them off on a train," Double Diamond said. "It was a while ago, they're probably close to Ponyville by now."

"Wait, so my brother's safe?" Thunderlane asked, taking a breath of relief. "Good, nothing to worry about then, let's just find Twilight and go back home."

"Um, there is something to worry about," Cloudchaser said. "Remmeber, Cozy Glow?"

"Yeah they didn't know she was evil until after they dropped them off," Sunburst said.

"I'm quite surprised really," Sugar Belle said. "She seemed so nice and sweet, plus she looked so cute with Rumble. They even slept together on the same bed, I think Cozy really liked him. Too bad he already has a marefriend, maybe he could have swept her away from evil."

"That does sound adorable," Flitter admitted.

"What's even more adorable was seeing them all cuddled up together the following morning," Sugar Belle said. "She was using his body as her pillow while he hugged her close, it was absolutely adorable."

"Oh wow, that does sound adorable!" Flitter said with sparkles in her eyes. "Rumble's so sweet, he knows how to treat a filly, he's like the perfect coltfriend to have!"

"Flitter don't condone this," Cloudchaser said. "Rumble's already dating Sweetie Belle, the fact that he had another filly in bed with him, even if it was just innocent cuddling, is still not something to be fawning over."

"Wow, so young and already getting fillies in bed with him," Thunderlane said, smiling proudly for his younger brother. "Way to go, little bro."

"Thunderlane!" Cloudchaser scolded. "Did you not just hear me mention his marefriend! You know, Sweetie Belle!?"

"Well to be fair, they're not married or anything, so it's fair game," Thunderlane said, much to Cloudchaser's annoyance.

"See, this is why it's hard for you to have a steady marefriend, no wonder ponies think you and Rarity are gonna split up soon," Cloudchaser said.

"Whoa, who's saying that!?" Thunderlane asked. "Was it Lyra and Bon Bon!? Are they gossiping again!?"

"Does that matter right now?" Flitter asked. "Point is we gotta get back to Ponyville then. Rumble's probably waiting for me, kind of wish I stayed behind now so I could see him again with my own eyes."

"Hey it sounds like he's fine," Cloudchaser said. "Sugar Belle herself said he slept in her bed last night."

"Yeah, the poor little dears came to Our Town last night, so we fed them and gave them a nice little bed to sleep in," Sugar Belle said.

"I really appreciate you doing that, hope it wasn't too much of a bother," Cloudchaser said.

"Oh no bother, he's a sweet boy and I loved having him over," Sugar Belle said.

"Yeah, we all like Rumble, especially Night Glider," Double Diamond said. "Cozy Glow seemed nice too, even if she is secretly evil...Not too sure about the idea of her having to go to Tartarus."

"I know right!" Flitter said. "I mean Starlight never went there and she probably did much worse!" Flitter said.

"Um...taking Cutie Marks isn't the same as taking magic away from everything right after trapping Twilight and her friends in Tartarus," Sunburst said.

"Oh you're just saying that because she's your friend and it's partially your fault she turned evil," Flitter bluntly stated, much to everypony's surprise.

"Alright, now that this has gotten awkward, let's say we just move this along," Cloudchaser said. "Since Rumble's back home, or on his way at least, we should try to rally the others and get back to Ponyville."

"We already told Twilight this as well, I think she said she wants us to meet her at some rendezvous point," Sugar Belle said.

"We don't know where that is though," Sunburst added.

"We do, follow us," Thunderlane said, leading the other trio with him back to the meeting place for all of Rainbow Dash's search group.





Back in Ponyvlle, Cozy Glow had finally reached The School of Friendship. Her main goal was The Tree of Harmony but she likely wouldn't be able to find it on her own, and she didn't want to take too long to find it. She simply hoped to just find a map to the tree in Twilight's office, assuming she probably had one.

The school was pretty empty, aside from some faculty ponies still working, so she had to sneak around. Fortunately she knew the school well, having briefly been Head Mare and spending months studying it's layout, knowing all the secret paths and the entire ventilation system.

The filly had snuck around the school, staying out of the sight of anypony in her vicinity. She finally arrived in the Head Mare's office, which was thankfully empty. She was somewhat surprised, usually Twilight's in here working, she was likely on break or something, or perhaps this had to do with Rumble finally coming home. She didn't care, she's just glad to have less of an obstacle in her way.

She searched through Twilight's desk, trying to find anything important. All she found were some school documents, that she seemed interested in searching but knew this wasn't the time to look. She found a few tests that Twilight had recently graded, all of them being passing grades. She also saw some letters Twilight had received from Princess Celestia, which she scanned through a couple quickly, one specifically mentioning the details of her imprisonment in Tartarus, to which the filly rolled her eyes at.

"Oh wowie, throwing a kid in Tartarus, really something to boast about," Cozy searched again, this time finding pictures, some of Twilight's parents Twilight Velvet and Nightlight, some of Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart, some with Twilight's friends, some with The Cutie Mark Crusaders, some with Rumble and Dinky, a couple others of ponies Cozy didn't recognize that well, including a mare with glasses that looked similar to Twilight, and some freckled boy with a blond mane.

One she found particularly interesting was one of Tender Taps, with a heart drawn around him. Cozy wasn't sure what to make of this, she knows this colt, she's seen him around, usually tap dancing around Ponyville, and Twilight has spoken quite fondly of him. Perhaps this is a colt she truly cares about.

"I'll be sure to make a note of this," Cozy said, placing the picture back. She continued rummaging until she heard some familiar voices.

"Where could she be?" That was Fluttershy. "Think she got past everypony?"

"Probaby, she's really sneaky like," And there was Pinkie Pie. "But we'll nab her, then we'll make her talk!"

"Even if it's those two, I can't take any chances, I gotta get moving," Cozy said. Just as she began leaving she heard another voice, one very familiar.

"Wow this place is big and fancy!" She heard Sonata say. 

"Of course it's big and fancy, it belongs to the Princess of Friendship," Cozy wasn't too familiar with Sunset Shimmer's voice though. "Just keep an eye out for Cozy Glow."

"Sure thing Sunset Shimmer," Sonata said, then starting humming to herself, much to Sunset's annoyance.

"Well at least Sonata's here," Cozy said, peeking from out the door. She saw both Sonata and Sunset trotting by, keeping a close eye out for her location. She quickly closed it slightly the moment she thought Sunset was gonna spot her, fortunately everything went well and her secret remained unexposed. However she did need to talk to Sonata quickly, but if she called out to her then Sunset would get suspicious. Fortunately she had another idea. Grabbing her necklace, she started speaking into it, "Sonata...hey, Sonata."

As Sonata was walking, she began to hear Cozy's voice, "Huh?" She looked around a moment, which did get Sunset's attention.

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked.

Sonata still heard her name being called, then realized it was Cozy trying to communicate with her. Turning her head away from Sunset's direction, she whispered into the communicator. "Cozy Glow? Where are you?"

"Nearby in Twilight's office, you just passed by," Cozy said, opening the door slightly to get Sonata's attention.

Sonata glanced quickly over to Sunset before quietly trotting toward where Cozy Glow was, then slipped inside the room to speak with the young filly. "Back in the school huh? Guess you missed this place."

"In a way, yes, I had power here," Cozy Glow said. "But what I really came here for was to find a map or anything leading to the Tree of Harmony, I don't really remember to well where it is."

"Oh, yeah that might be tough, I don't think anypony really knew where it was unless they were really important," Sonata said.

"Well that's not going to help us...hey wait, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are here, and that pony you were with, isn't she important?" Cozy asked.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Sonata asked. "Yeah she's important, I think."

"She can help us then!" Cozy said. "If you can get them to lead you to where the tree is, I can just follow in secret!"

"Oh, good idea," Sonata said. "Alright, we'll-"

"Sonata!" They heard Sunset shout. Cozy quickly hid back in the  room while Sonata nervously began humming a familiar tune, something Sunset immediately found suspicous. "What are you up to ?"

"Me? What makes you think I'm up to something?" Sonata asked, nervously smiling.

Sunset narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Out of my way." She moved Sonata out of the way and opened the door behind her, stepping into Twilight's office. She scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary. Fortunately for Cozy, she had flown up at the last second, staying close to the ceiling.

She constantly maneuvered around every time Sunset turned her head, not wanting to risk even being seen in the corner of her eye. Sonata became nervous for Cozy as well, so she quickly stepped in to derail Sunset's path. "So, I've been thinking..."

"Didn't realize you were capable of that," Sunset said, upsetting Sonata.

"I'm not dumb you know," Sonata said. "Just because I don't think much doesn't make me an idiot."

"There's a lot wrong with that sentence, but it's not really my problem," Sunset said.

"Wow, you're really rude, you would have made a lousy Princess of Friendship, at least Twilight's friendly," Sonata said, even Cozy felt that one.

Sunset narrowed her eyes at the Siren, "I suggest you watch your tone with me, you still haven't fully earned my trust!"

"Because you keep shutting yourself away, what are you afraid of getting hurt!?" Sonata asked. "Or do you just feel out of place since you spend so much time exploring other dimensions you barely know this one!"

"Hey, at least that gave me knowledge about creatures like you," Sunset said.

"You may know what I am, but you don't know me," Sonata said, leaning in while trying to intimidate Sunset with a glare. "So don't act like you know all Shimmer!"

The two continued to glare at each other, creating a lot of tension that made Cozy feel quite uncomfortable. She needed to leave before she got caught, somehow things might be a hundred times worse of Sunset spotted her, and quite frankly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be around Sonata either.

"Sunset! Sonata!" Fluttershy was heard calling for. She and Pinkie Pie had arrived at Twilight's office, spotting the two. "Oh there you...uh, why do you two look so mad?"

"I had an idea and she wouldn't let me say it," Sonata said.

"I never said that, I just said I'm surprised you were capable of thought," Sunset replied.

"Now Sunset Shimmer, that's rude, you'll hurt Sonata's feelings," Fluttershy said, give the Siren a side hug.

"She's a siren, she thrives off stuff like that, quite frankly I'm surprised she didn't try manipulating or absorbing my negative emotions," Sunset said.

"You wouldn't be worth it anyway," Sonata said. "Besides, I'm at least trying to work with you, all you had to do was just listen to my suggestion."

"We'll listen," Fluttershy said. "Tell us what was on your mind."

"Aw, you really are the Element of Kindness," Sonata said, getting a slight blush from Fluttershy. "Here's the thing, Cozy is really after the Tree of Harmony, if she's not here then she's probably heading towards the tree right now."

"Alright then, you and I will go to the tree then," Sunset said. "Pinkie, Fluttershy, you two continue searching the school, just in case she's still here somewhere, or she attempts to come here."

"Wait why do I have to go with you?" Sonata asked. "Why can't I stay with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie?"

"Because I don't trust you around Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie!" Sunset said. "And I certainly don't trust you to be in Twilight's school."

"Aren't you being a bit too hard on her," Fluttershy said. "It'll be hard to make friends with her if we don't learn to trust her."

"She has to earn that trust first," Sunset said. "I know what Sirens can do, I'm not taking any chances."

"Hey I've heard that you yourself did some pretty bad things, like turning into a demon!" Sonata said. "What makes you so much better than me!?"

"Hey I've made up for my mistakes, until you make up for yours, I am not trusting you near anything important!" Sunset said. "Now, we're going to the tree and capturing that little troublemaker!"

Sonata rolled her eyes in annoyance, then felt Fluttershy gently stroking her mane, "Don't worry, soon you'll feel right at home."

"Yeah, lots of former baddies went through this, honestly sometimes Dashie still doesn't trust Discord," Pinkie said.

"Sometimes I'm still afraid of Luna turning into Nightmare Moon again," Fluttershy said.

"But after all this is over, I'll throw you a party, so you can make tons of new friends!" Pinkie said, throwing up some confetti for emphasis.

"Aw, thanks, you girls are really nice," Sonata said, feeling some guilt as she said that, knowing she will have to betray them.

"You heard Pinkie, after this is over, meaning we still got work to do before you start mingling with other ponies," Sunset said, walking out the room. "To the tree!"

Sonata groaned and followed Sunset out with Fluttershy and Pinkie going in their own direction. Cozy peeked her head out once more and when the coast was clear, she left the room, ready to follow Sunset and Sonata to the tree.





Back in Sugarcube Corner, Rumble is telling stories to the Young Six about some of his daring adventures with both Dinky right by his side and Flurry sitting on his lap.

"So I braved the dangers of the Everfree Forest in my pursuit of Flurry Heart, I knew it was dangerous, but a Knight always protects his Princess," Rumble said, recalling the events of the night prior to Twilight's planned Festival.

"Wow, you're so brave, did you ever find Flurry!?" Silverstream asked, getting a confused reaction from Gallus.

"Uh, she's right there," Gallus pointed out.

"Hey! No spoiling the story!" Silverstream said, getting a shrug from the Griffon, not like he cared anyway.

"Well to answer your question Silverstream, I did, she was in the clutches of...The Dazzlings!" Rumble said.

"Ah! Not the Dazzlings!" Silverstream shouted, quickly ducking under the table before realizing something. "Wait, who are The Dazzlings?"

"A group of Sirens led by their vicious leader, Adagio Dazzle!" Rumble said. "Boy was she scary, mean and vicsious too. Her friends...not so much."

"Sonata!" Flurry said.

"Yeah, like one Siren called 'Sonata Dusk', she seems nice, probaby just a lacky that does whatever Adagio says," Rumble said.

"We know her, Princess Twilight got her on our side," Silverstream said.

"Wow really? That's great, hope I get to see her soon, she did seem kind of nice," Rumble said. "But Adagio, I'm telling you she was scary as heck!" He then leaned in to speak low, keeping Flurry's ears covered. "Really bitchy attitude too."

"Dang Rumble..." Dinky said, smirking a bit. "Not wrong about her though."

"Yeah," Rumble said, laying back and uncovering Flurry's ears. "But afterwards..."

As Rumble continued talking, Sweetie Belle sat with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, looking slightly depressed, much to the surprise of her friends.

"You know, I'd thought you would be happier now that Rumble's back," Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, it was all you wanted for months," Scootaloo said. "Shouldn't you be right up there with Dinky and Flurry?"

"What's wrong Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom asked, very concerned.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Scootaloo asked, getting curious.

"I don't know..." Sweetie Belle said. "I mean, I'm happy that Rumble's back but..."

"Is it because of what he said about Cozy Glow?" Apple Bloom said. "Do you really think he cheated on ya?"

"Honestly, I don't," Sweetie Belle said. "I mean, I'd like to think he really wouldn't, the way he kissed me when he came back, kind of shows that he really did miss me and wanted me all along but...The way he talked about Cozy, it's like he really liked her too. He spent a whole day with her yesterday, they even spent the night together. Rumble may not ever cheat on me, but he might just lose interest and find another marefriend. I mean, what if he's tired of only being with me?"

"Come on, why would he be tired of you? He really likes ya after all," Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, you two have been together for more than a year," Scootaloo said. "He's had plenty of opportunities to find another marefriend. He could have gone with Diamond Tiara, with Silver Spoon, with Babs, with that really shy yet freakishly strong filly, or even Kettle Corn."

"Guess you're right, maybe I'm just worrying too much," Sweetie Belle said.

"I'm I'm being honest, ah really don't think Rumble would ever two-time you or break up with you, ah mean, you both love each other, don't ya?" Apple Bloom said.

"Even so, honestly I just feel guilty even asking Rumble if he did make a move on Cozy when..." Sweetie Belle hesitated a moment, "If I tell you girls, do you promise to keep it a secret?"

"Of course, you know we wouldn't do anything like that to yah," Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we're with ya through better and worse," Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, you're right," Sweetie Belle said, feeling more confident. "Alright, see this morning...I might have accidentally...kissed Tender Taps."

"Wait really!?" Apple Bloom asked.

"No way, you and Tender Taps?" Scootaloo asked.

"It was an accident," Sweetie Belle, eyeing the colt as he was playing with Pound and Pumpkin nearby. "We fell asleep on a couch together, then I started dreaming about kissing Rumble, only to realize I was actually kissing Tender Taps."

"Why were you on a couch together?" Apple Bloom asked.

"He came over last night to comfort me because I was worried about Rumble, then we fell asleep together and next thing I knew, we were kissing," Sweetie Belle said.

"How did he react?" Scootaloo asked.

"He freaked out, he probably didn't realize it at first, for all I know he might have thought for a moment that it was Twilight kissing him," Sweetie Belle said.

"So you kissed Tender Taps huh?" Apple Bloom asked. "So that makes all three of us that have kissed him, wonder how he'd rank us?"

"When did you kiss him?" Scootaloo asked.

"Duh, during the three months we were dating," Apple Bloom said.

Flashback to Sweet Apple Acres

"Really had fun with ya Tendy," Apple Bloom said, going into her house.

"Same here," Tender Taps said. "Let's make plans for tomorrow, we can row a boat together."

"I'd like that," Apple Bloom said, then leaned in for a kiss, the two foals locked together in passion for a few moments. Upon pulling away, Apple Bloom started going back inside. "See ya handsome."

"Yeah, see ya," Tender Taps nervously said as Apple Bloom closed her door behind her.

End Flashback, return to Sugarcube Corner

"Thinking about it, he felt awkward each time we kissed," Apple Bloom realized. "Did he not like mah kisses!?"

"Well he seems to have gotten awkward with all of us, me because mine was so sudden, and then Sweetie Belle because she has a coltfriend," Scootaloo said. "Not sure about you, maybe he just doesn't see you as a marefriend, maybe he'd rather be just a friend to us."

"Still doesn't change the fact that I did kiss him though, so I was the one who cheated in the end," Sweetie Belle said.

"That was an accident though," Apple Bloom said.

"But I accused Rumble! You know how bad that makes me look!?" Sweetie Belle said.

"You just overreacted, I'm sure he'd perfectly understand," Apple Bloom said.

"You were understanding when I kissed him, and I'm sure he appreciated that," Scootaloo said, much to Sweetie Belle's annoyance.

"Gee thanks," Sweetie Belle said, sighing in annoyance. "I'll just find a way to apologize to Rumble, and let him know I mean it."

"Ah doubt you'll have to do much, just be yerself, he still loves yah after all," Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, I'm sure he does," Sweetie Belle said, holding on to some hope of truth.

During this, Button Mash had walked into the Bakery, flowers in hoof before realizing that Rumble was there.

"Hey Button Mash!" Rumble greeted. "Been a while!"

"Dang it!" Button Mash said, angrily throwing his flowers to the floor and stomping off.

"...Well that was random," Silverstream said.





Back in the Everfree Forest, Sunset marched on through, blasting away anything potentially dangerous to herself or Sonata, mostly Timberwolves.

"When I get my hooves on this filly, all the trouble she's putting us through I swear..." Sunset angrily muttered.

"You need to relax more, it's not good for your mental health if you're angry all the time," Sonata said.

"I'm not angry all the time, I'm just not in the best mood right now!" Sunset said. "Look just hurry up so I can get this over with."

"Wow, bossy much?" Sonata muttered, following after Sunset. While she may have some lingering guilt about betraying most of the ponies, she certainly wouldn't mind sticking it to Sunset Shimmer.

The two finally arrived at The Tree of Harmony, Sunset looking up at it to make sure it was still in one piece and all the Elements were there.

"Hm, looks like Cozy hasn't been here yet, all the Element Shards are still present on the tree," Sunset said, then began to admire it. "Gotta admit, it looks kind of pretty. To think this is essentially giving life to all of Equestria, or at least all of Ponyville."

"Yeah, it is a really nice tree," Sonata said. "Um, is it fragile?"

"Fragile? How?" Sunset asked.

"Like could it easily be destroyed or something?" Sonata asked. "Or even have those element things removed?

"Well, theoretically they can be removed, it's just kind of hard," Sunset said. "The tree does have some magic protecting it but if you're quick enough, you might be able to take them off, which is why we can't let Cozy Glow find this place."

"Too late!" Cozy said, getting Sunset's attention. "Hello, I'm Cozy Glow, nice to meet you!"

"You!" Sunset aimed her beam and fired at Cozy Glow, narrowly missing her.

"Gee wilikers! Is that how you properly introduce yourself to somepony!?" Cozy Glow asked.

"I recognize you, I remember seeing Luna placing you in a cage and hauling you off to Tartarus," Sunset said.

"Really? Golly, I certainly don't remember you," Cozy said, then dodged another attack. "Hey! You're really mean! Is this how you treat foals? Wowie, no wonder Twilight's Princess of Friendship, she would never do this to a foal!"

"Save it, you're a villain, so I'll treat you like one!" Sunset began shooting more blasts, Cozy flying around dodging ,though stealthily leading her to the tree where Sunset Accidentally Blasted off the Element of Magic. "Ah! The Element of Magic!"

Cozy flew down to grab it, the shard taking the form of a crown as  Cozy placed it on her head. "Hahaha! Now I'm The Princess of Friendship! Soon all of Equestria will bow before me!"

"Hey, that belongs to Twilight Sparkle! You don't deserve that crown!" Sunset shouted, ready to blast Cozy again, then felt a whack to the back of her head, knocking her to the ground.

"Wow, nice shot Sonata," Cozy said.

"Thanks, been wanting to do that for a while," Sonata said.

Sunset slowly started to stand, glaring hard at Sonata, "You traitor, I knew you would-"

Sonata then screeched loudly, blasting Sunset to the tree, hitting it hard and causing the other elements to start loosely jiggling. "Not like you expected any differently."

Cozy flew to the nearby forest, returning with a vine. "This looks like the vine Rumble used to tie my tail with his, maybe it can keep her restrained for the moment while we grab the other Elements."

The two wasted no time tying up the mare and leaving her aside as they focused their attention back to the tree.

"Sonata, be a dear and try knocking the Elements down again," Cozy said.

"Sure thing," Sonata said, charging up her screech some more and blasting at full volume, getting the shards looser and looser as Cozy maniacally laughed.

"The power...is MINE!" Cozy shouted, laughing some more as her plan was finally coming to fruition. The shockwaves were affecting the tree negatively as light began to emanate and flash to the sky.





This started getting the attention of the ponies in Ponyville, especially Rumble, who had seen it from out the window. "What's...what's happening!?"

"Oh no," Trixie said, rushing to the window. "Cozy must be enacting her plan!"

"She's must be doing something to the Tree of Harmony!" Smolder said.

As everyone panicked a bit, Rumble himself felt conflicted. He really couldn't believe that Cozy would do something like this. She really couldn't be that bad. But with the stories he was told and the timing of this happening now, he had to wonder if Cozy was really the friend he thought she was.

Rumble could already feel his heart getting fragile, if this is true, well he doesn't really want to accept the idea of it.

This attack on the Tree of Harmony could be felt even by the wielders of the Elements, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie cringing in the School, Rarity and Applejack cringing on their way back to the rendezvous point, Rainbow Dash also cringing on her way back, as noticed by Lightning Dust.

Even Twilight felt it as she floated above the rock, where Thunderlane and his group had finally arrived.

"Come on...why is everpony so late? Ponyville's in danger!" Twilight said, her sense of dread beginning to overtake her mind.

Cozy was nearly victorious, and soon no pony would be able to stop her, not unless The Elements acted fast.
> Branches of Emotion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miles off of Our Town, Twilight pace-flew above the rendezvous point, waiting along with Thunderlane, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond and Sunburst, impatiently waiting for the others to arrive.

"Are you all positive we got the meet-up time right?" Twilight asked.

"Yes Twilight, we're positive," Cloudchaser said, getting slightly annoyed. "We're just as in the dark as you are as to why the others are late."

"You don't think anything bad happened to them, do you?" Flitter asked. "Or maybe they got lost?"

"Hey what if Cozy Glow had other allies we didn't know about," Thunderlane suggested.

"Thunderlane, I checked Tartarus, all the other villains are there," Twilight said. "The only one out of their cage is one of The Sirens, because I personally let her out."

"Wait, you freed one of the Sirens?" Thunderlane asked. "Was that a good idea?"

"Don't worry, she seems harmless," Twilight said. "At least without being led around by Adagio."

"Huh, so you're willing to free one of the creatures that broke Rumble's wings, but you're fine with leaving a filly in Tartarus," Flitter commented, with a hint of sass.

"Sonata wasn't the one who broke his wing Flitter," Twilight said. "And it's not like I took pleasure in seeing Cozy get sent to Tartarus, she was my student after all. If anything, I felt guilt for not being able to properly teach her, and I hoped to get a second chance someday. It's not like I would have kept her there forever."

"Still, sending a foal to Tartarus was incredibly dangerous and foolish," Flitter said. "You might have destroyed whatever pureness she had left."

Twilight was beginning to lose her patience, "Look, if you have a problem, take it up with Princess Celestia, but don't blame me if she banishes you to the moon or something!"

"Uh, don't you think you're getting a bit carried away there Twilight?" Thunderlane asked.

Twilight just became even more annoyed, her horn began glowing as she glared at a now somewhat frightened Thunderlane. Thankfully Sunburst had stepped in before things got out of hoof.

"Easy now Twilight, I know this entire situation has been a massive headache for you but we all need to stay on the same page," Sunburst said, then turned to the other ponies. "So let's go easy on each other, especially Twilight. She's the one trying to find Rumble and keep Equestria safe."

"Hey, we're all trying to find Rumble, especially me!" Flitter said.

"My point is, we're all on the same side, let's try to stay that way," Sunburst pleaded.

"I'm with Sunburst," Double Diamond said. "Besides I'm sure there's a good reason why the other ponies are late, maybe they figured something out."

"I hope so, surprised it's taking Rainbow Dash long too, she's supposed to be the fastest flyer in all of Equestria," Flitter said.

"Maybe I should just go look for her," Twilight said. "That way I can get her here much faster."

"If you try looking for her and she comes, we'll just end up having to wait for you," Sunburst said. "I say give them an extra few minutes, if they don't come by then, we'll just leave for now and come back for them later."

"That's a good idea," Cloudchaser said. "It might seem a bit jerky to just leave them but Rumble and Cozy Glow do take more priority."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that," Sugar Belle said, pointing to the distance, "Look over there."

Approaching the group was the bickering duo of Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, both who seemed to be arguing over directions.

"I told you it was this way!" Rainbow Dash said. "I know how to navigate the skies!"

"Uh, so do I, I'm just as good as-" Lightning Dust rephrased that. "No, I'm better than you are when it comes to just about anything a Pegasus can do."

"Says the one who got kicked out of The Wonderbolts," Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, so terrible," Lightning Dust sarcastically replied. "Honestly that's the best thing you could have done for me, all they would have done was hold me back! Now I'm better than The Wonderbolts."

"In what world!?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You know it's true Rainbow Dash, I sell out shows, even Twilight Sparkle loves what I do," Lightning Dust said. "And after today, I'm gonna have another potential candidate to join me, one that won't wuss out like Scootaloo did."

"Like heck you will," Rainbow Dash said.

As they got closer, Twilight called out to them, "Rainbow Dash! Lightning Dust!"

"Sup Twi?" Lightning Dust greeted, landing before the Princess and lightly bowing to her. "Great to see ya."

"Same, little surprised to see you out here though," Twilight said. "Did Rainbow Dash go to find help from you?"

"I would never ask Lightning Dust for help!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yet here I am, giving you help, out of the kindness of my own heart," Lightning Dust said. "I heard about Rumble from a mare named Tempest Shadow, she filled me in on everything."

"Tempest told you?" Twilight said. "Wait how did she know? I never told her, I haven't seen her in months."

"She caught a couple of foals trying to sneak off to find him, Rumble's friend Dinky and your niece Flurry Heart," Lightning Dust explained.

"Dinky and Flurry tried sneaking off?" Twilight asked. "Well Flurry I can understand, she's very sneaky and she is quite attached to Rumble, it's cute, yet becoming a nuisance. Dinky, well she certainly has guts."

"Well Trixie took them back to Ponyville, then I went to go find Rumble myself, that's when I ran into Rainbow Dash," Lightning Dust said.

"Well we really appreciate your help, but we know that Rumble's safe and also in Ponyville, but so is Cozy Glow, the filly who nearly destroyed Equestria's magic," Twilight said.

"Yeah I've heard of her, bit embarrassing that a filly nearly outsmarted you," Lightning Dust bluntly stated. "Seriously Twilight, I know you're better than that."

"Well it wouldn't exactly occur to me that a filly like Cozy Glow could be planning something devious, I don't think anypony would have seen that coming," Twilight said.

"I still don't fully believe it," Flitter said.

"Well I guess she could have fooled anypony, even me," Lightning Dust said. "Though if she did try fooling me, I'd make her regret it."

"Well anyway, should we get going?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Kind of want to see the little guy for myself, and get even with Cozy Glow for pulling this stunt."

"We still have a few stragglers to wait for," Cloudchaser said. "Namely Applejack and Rarity."

"Ugh, why am I not surprised about Rarity, she hates having to walk long distances," Rainbow Dash said. "I bet she's taking like a million rest stops, or Applejack's probably carrying her."

"Come on, you know this is something Rarity would take seriously," Twilight said. "She loves Rumble a lot after all."

"Anypony would want to help the one their sibling loves the most," Cloudchaser said. "Rarity's very dedicated to Rumble and Sweetie Belle's relationship, she loves seeing how happy he makes her sister."

"Wow that's incredibly sappy," Lightning Dust said, not to the surprise of the other ponies. "Anyway we don't have to wait long, I see them coming...and two other ponies."

Everypony turned around to see that Rarity and Applejack were indeed on their way over, being joined by Night Glider and Party Favor.

"Hey it's our friends from the village," Double Diamond said.

"There they are," Applejack said, walking over with her group. "Told ya it was this way."

"Oh what a relief, I'm so tired of walking," Rarity said, sweating up a storm. "I'm gonna need a good spa day after this."

"You really do need to exercise more," Applejack commented, much to Rarity's offense.

"Excuse me but I have a proper daily routine that keeps me in shape, I don't need to do more than I should have to," Rarity said.

"Hey it wouldn't hurt, might make yah more durable," Applejack said.

"Yo! Applejack! Rarity!" Rainbow Dash called out.

"We see ya!" Applejack confirmed. "Come on Rarity, pick up the pace." Rarity looked like she was about to say something but Applejack cut her off, "No, ah ain't carrying you again."

"Drat," Rarity muttered as she trotted towards the group, finally reuniting all the ponies.

"Finally, you're all here," Twilight said. "And it looks like you brought some extra help."

"We ain't the only ones it looks like," Applejack said. "Good to see that Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, Sunburst and Lightning Dust are all here."

"I'm a little surprised you're here Twilight, weren't you at Tartarus getting information?" Rarity asked. "Unless you found out what you needed to."

"I did, Cozy Glow was sent to do a mission on behalf of Tirek, she's actually in Ponyville right now, and she's with Rumble," Twilight said. "Though since you have Party Favor and Night Glider with you, I take it they filled you in on the last part."

"Yeah, they told us they let Rumble and Cozy Glow sleep over and that Sugar Belle and Double Diamond were taking them to the train station," Applejack said.

"We were a bit concerned when Sunburst told us something about Cozy Glow being evil," Night Glider said. "So we went to find him."

"Then we ran into Applejack and Rarity along the way," Party Favor said. "They told us more about Cozy Glow."

"Well now that we're all here, let's get to Ponyville and whoop some ass!" Lightning Dust said.

"Well we probably won't need to do that," Twilight said. "Cozy may be manipulative but she's still a filly, we really shouldn't be lining up to hurt her."

"Yeah, speak for yourself," Cloudchaser said. "I'm going to tear her a new one for what she put Rumble through."

"I just want to make sure Rumble's completely safe," Flitter said.

"Alright, everypony huddle together then," Twilight said, readying her magic. The ponies were quick to gather around as Twilight cast her spell, teleporting everyone to Ponyville.





Starlight and Spike were right at the edge of Ponyville, having halted their search for Flurry Heart once they felt some tremors from the Everfree Forest.

"What do you think is happening?" Spike asked.

"Cozy Glow must be behind this, she must have finally gotten to the village," Starlight said. "She must be ennacting her plan!"

"Wait, if she's here, then what about Rumble?" Spike asked. "Wouldn't he be here too?"

"He must be in town too...or worse, still with Cozy, she might have him tied up somewhere," Starlight said. "Probably using him as a hostage."

"But one thing doesn't really add up to me," Spike said. "How could Cozy be doing damage to the tree?"

Before Starlight could guess, the two felt a powerful magic surge nearby. They looked behind to see Twilight arriving with an entire group, looking a little exhausted.

"Twilight!" Starlight said, rushing over to the dizzy Princess. "You alright Twilight? You look out of it."

"Teleportation spell...took a lot out of me," Twilight said, trying to shake it off. "I'll be fine...just gotta relax a moment."

Starlight took note of the extra ponies within Twilight's group, "While I'm not surprised to see Sunburst, I certainly didn't expect to see my old village friends here."

"Even Lightning Dust is here, that's a bit surprising," Spike said.

"What's so surprising about that?" Lightning Dust asked, getting in close to the now nervous dragon. "You saying I wouldn't want to help!? You think I'm incapable of helping!?"

"No, it's not that!" Spike insisted, taking a big step back. "It's just that you travel a lot, so I didn't think Twilight and the others would run into you."

"Well I found them, I met some mare named Tempest who found Dinky and Princess Flurry Heart wandering outside of Ponyville, she told me everything that's happened with Rumble," Lightning Dust explained.

"Wait, Tempest found Dinky and Flurry!?" Spike asked. "Where are they now?"

"I asked Trixie to take them back to Ponyville, they're probably in town right now," Lightning Dust said. "That was a few hours ago, so they might have gotten back just now, or at least a few minutes ago, depending on how fast Trixie was moving. She hates overexerting herself but she might feel obligated to get them home as soon as possible."

"I'd like to think the latter," Starlight said. "But I'm glad Trixie has them, that means she should be in town as well."

"Well since we're here, let's go and-" Rainbow Dash was interrupted by another tremor. "What is that? It's been driving me nuts for the last ten minutes or something."

"Same here," Applejack said. "Getting me worried."

"It's been going on for a while," Spike said. "We wanted to go see but we had to keep looking around for Flurry and Dinky."

"Well now that you know they're safe, let's all go in together to find out what's happening," Rainbow Dash said, ready to fly over.

"Give me a few minutes please," Twilight said, still somewhat dizzy. "You can go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"I can go with you," Spike said. "I can ride on your back if you'd like."

"Fine with me," Rainbow Dash said, flying to the ground and lowering herself down enough to allow Spike onto her back.

"I'll come too," Lightning Dust offered. "I am kind of worried myself, if this could affect even Princess Twilight, then I gotta make sure things aren't gonna go south."

"Add me to that too," Night Glider said. "The three of us are fast enough to fly over there and see what's happening, maybe put a stop to it."

"Alright, let's get going then," Rainbow Dash said, flying over with the other two Pegasi.

"I hope they can figure out what's happening," Twilight said, still holding her horn in pain.

"Just leave it to them for now," Starlight said. "We'll catch up in a bit."

"Well I'm going to check on Rumble," Flitter said, taking to the skies and flying into town.

"Yo, sis, wait for me!" Cloudchaser said, following after her twin.

"I should go find the little guy myself, haven't seen him in so long, gotta make sure he's ok," Thunderlane said, flying to find Rumble.

Twilight gestured to the others, "Let's get to town, I wanna check on everypony."

"Yes, I should tend to my darling little Sweetie Belle," Rarity said.

"Let's hurry on then," Applejack said, leading the rest of the ponies into town.





Outside of Sugarcube Corner, all the ponies had stepped out to see what was happening, each of them gazed in the direction of The Everfree Forest.

"Should we do something?" Apple Bloom asked. "Ah mean, we can't just stand here, can we?"

"What can we do? We're kind of powerless," Dinky said.

"We can go smash!" Yona said.

"Is that your answer to everything?" Gallus rhetorically asked. "Plus what exactly would you smash? We don't even know what's happening."

"Actually we do, it's Cozy Glow, she's doing something bad," Scootaloo said, getting into a battle stance. "Let's go over there and teach that bratty filly a lesson!"

"Now hold on there Scootaloo," Tender Taps said, easing his filly pegasus friend. "We don't even know how Cozy Glow is doing this, she might have some type of magical artifact."

"The only magical artifact she has is that necklace one of the Sirens gave her," Sweetie Belle said. "At least that's what Shining Armor heard from Sonata."

"Maybe she had more," Apple Bloom said. "Ah mean, no offense to her, but she don't seem too bright. Maybe there were things she wasn't clued in on."

"Yeah, poor girl," Tender Taps said. "She's probably too innocent to really know what's going on."

"Wonder where she is?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

"I think she's with Sunset Shimmer," Tender Taps answered. "Hopefully both of them are safe."

"Or maybe they went to see what was happening out in the forest," Dinky said.

"Hopefully they can handle whatever it is," Ocellus said.

"...I really hope Cozy Glow's alright," Rumble said, to the confusion of the other ponies, and especially frustrating the foals.

"You can't be serious," Smolder said.

"Yeah, she's probably the one doing that Rumble!" Apple Bloom said. "Actually I'm a hundred percent positive she's behind all this!"

Rumble shook his head, "I just can't see it. Don't get me wrong, I know you're not trying to trick me but maybe there's been a misunderstanding? I mean, it happens a lot, doesn't it?"

"Don't be so naïve Rumble, I know you thought Cozy could be your friend, we did too when she first lived here," Scootaloo said. "But the unfortunate truth is that she's not, you're just going to have to accept it."

Rumble still didn't look convinced,  he couldn't sense any sign of deceit within Cozy, there's no way it was that easy for her to fool all of them.

"We know it hurts Rumble," Apple Bloom said, somewhat sensing Rumble's doubt. "But you still have us, and we'd never betray you."

Rumble just focused on where the power distortion was, feeling a sense of doubt, and a need to find out the truth behind all this. He had to see for himself, so it a quick huff, Rumble sped off toward where echo sound was, to the surprise of the other ponies.

"Rumble!" Apple Bloom called out. "Come back! It ain't safe!"

"Come on Rumble, Cozy Glow isn't worth it!" Sweetie Belle angrily shouted.

"That headstrong little colt!" Trixie said, then started trotting after him. "All of you stay put!"

Dinky looked tempted to trot after where Rumble went, however Tender Taps brought this to attention, "Don't even think about going out there Dinky!" He then turned to the alicorn toddler, "Same with you Flurry!"

Flurry, who's wings were spread, simply retracted them and sat down with an angry pout. "Want Rumble!"

"Yeah I know you want Rumble but you can't just endanger yourself to find him!" Tender Taps said. "Just stay put like Trixie said to."

Flurry turned her head away in annoyance, wanting to just ignore Tender Taps and fly off anyway. Dinky joined her side, patting the filly's head, "Sucks doesn't it? We'll see Rumble again soon though."

"Me want Rumble," Flurry stated again, Dinky bringing her in for a side hug.

"Weird, you'd think Dinky was Rumble's marefriend, she seems much more concerned than Sweetie Belle," Gallus said, much to Sweetie Belle's annoyance.

"Don't say stupid things like that!" Sweetie Belle warned. "I am worried about Rumble, I just know better than to do something dangerous, I don't want to be a liability for Rumble."

"She's not wrong," Terramar said. "If she went out there, it would just give Rumble more to worry about, same with Dinky and Princess Flurry Heart."

"Thank you Terramar," Sweetie Belle said. "By not worrying Rumble with my safety, he can do what he needs to do on his own. Of course I'd rather he be here where it's safe, and NOT risk his life for some little skank, but I'm sure Trixie will bring him back safely, or Sunset Shimmer."

"Trixie ah doubt," Apple Bloom said. "Sunset Shimmer, possibly, if she sees Rumble in time."

"What's this about Rumble?" they heard Twilight said. Everypony turned around to see Twilight approaching with Starlight, Sunburst, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, Party Favor and the Pegasus Trio.

"Twilight! You're back!" Tender Taps said, running in to hug the Princess of Friendship. "I'm so happy you're safe."

"Of course I am, this Princess knows what she's doing," Twilight said, returning the hug.

"Somepony's confident in herself," Sandbar pointed out.

"She has reason to be, she's Twilight," Tender Taps boasted. "She can do anything she sets her mind to."

"Well that can apply to anyone," Twilight said, blushing slightly at Tender Taps's compliment, then broke the hug. "Anyway what's this about Rumble? Is he here? Did anypony see him?"

"Tell me he's safe!" Flitter said.

"He was here, he seemed perfectly fine," Apple Bloom said. "Then he went to go check out what was happening in the Everfree Forest."

"Trixie went to go find him, though she's probably not gonna reach him in time," Gallus bluntly stated, much to everypony's annoyance.

"Well Rainbow Dash just flew over there with Spike, Lightning Dust and Night Glider," Twilight said. "Though I am a bit disappointed that he would do something so foolish."

"Ooh, he is so grounded!" Flitter said, angrily clenching her fist, if she had one at least.

"Um, I don't think you have that authority," Thunderlane said, then received a deadly glare from his friend. causing him to take a step back. "But then again, what would I know?

"Rumble was really worried about Cozy Glow," Apple Bloom said. "He doesn't believe that she's evil, he keeps insisting that she's too nice to be a villain."

"He even said she got really 'chummy with him," Sweetie Belle said, a hint of venom in her voice.

"That honestly doesn't surprise me, it's not something anypony would believe without seeing it for themselves," Twilight said. "Still, this just means that she's manipulating him like she's done to everypony else. We have to get him to realize she's not as nice as she seems, otherwise she might use his naivety to her advantage."

"Let's go after her then, if Rumble's that was then that's where I want to go!" Cloudchaser said.

"Twilight, are you able to?" Starlight asked. "You did just use up a lot of magic."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Twilight said. "I'm not gonna be able to teleport all of us just yet though, so we're gonna have to move on hoof."

"Will you be able to fight if you have to?" Thunderlane asked.

"Well, I doubt I'll have to fight since it's only Cozy, but I'm still prepared," Twilight said, rubbing her horn slightly. "Shouldn't be tough."

"Twilight..." Tender Taps said, looking up at the Princess, almost sensing some doubt in her voice.

"Don't worry Tappy," Twilight said, rubbing his mane. "I'll finish this quick, then I can make time for you."

"Alright...please come back safely," Tender Taps said. He then leaned up to kiss her cheek, much to her surprise. "For good luck."

"You're so precious," Twilight said, extending her wings. "Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, Party Favor, you three stay here and keep an eye on the foals and students, everypony else, follow me!"

Twilight had led her team to finding Cozy Glow, more than ready to put that filly in her place. Tender Taps looked on in worry as the mare of his dreams went on to save the day again.

"Ha, you have a crush on Princess Twilight," Gallus teased.

"Yeah, so what?" Tender Taps said, with a hint of an attitude. "At least she likes me back, somewhat."

"Wow, you actually admitted your crush," Dinky said. "Good for you Tender Taps. Keep this up, maybe Flurry here will call you Uncle Tappy."

Tender Taps took notice of Flurry, "Huh...that's one thing I never thought about." He knelt down to look Flurry in the eyes. "Would you ever call me that?"

"Tappy," Flurry said, smiling at the colt.

"It's cute when you call me that," Tender Taps said, then kissed her nose, making her giggle. "You believe in your Auntie Twilight, don't you?"

"Uh-huh," Flurry answered.

"Good, me too," Tender Taps said, looking back toward the forest. "Go kick some flank Twilight!"





In the forest at The Tree of Harmony, Cozy is still attempting to pry one of the elements off the tree as Sonata damaged it.

"Keep at it! I almost got it off!" Cozy said.

"You're wasting your time!" Sunset called out. "Even if you get the Elements off, you still won't be able to properly utilize them!"

"Be quiet!" Sonata said, then blasted Sunset again. "Don't distract us!"

"Great work Sonata!" Cozy said, finally prying an element off the tree. "Just in time, I have the most fitting Element for you." She flew over and placed it against Sonata's neck. "As The Element of Magic and the soon to be New Princess of Friendship, I hereby bestow upon you The Element of Loyalty!"

The Element took the form of a necklace as it was firmly placed around Sonata's neck.

"Wow, thanks, it looks great!" Sonata said, checking out her new Element. "So pretty too, and totally my style!"

"Well it suits you Sonata, you're a very Loyal friend, can't imagine anypony else having it," Cozy said.

"Besides me?" They heard Rainbow Dash said, seeing the mare fly in with Spike on her back, Lightning Dust on one side and Night Glider on the other."

"Oh it's you, wow perfect timing," Cozy Glow said, somewhat rolling her eyes.

"I don't know what you think you're doing," Rainbow Dash said, trotting over to the duo as Spike got off. "But I think you have something that's mine, and my friend's."

"We just wanted to borrow it for a bit, don't friends share?" Cozy Glow asked, putting on a fake innocent act.

"Save it kid, we know what you're planning," Lightning Dust said. "So don't try the sweet and innocent act with us!"

"That goes for you too Sonata," Spike said. "Some friend you turned out to be, after Twilight was so nice to you."

"I did what I had to do, you'd do the same if it was for Twilight or her friends," Sonata said.

"Don't try to justify it, you're both just manipulative ponies, taking advantage of other ponies' good nature!" Spike said.

"Couldn't have said i better myself Spike," Night Glider said. "I can't believe you would do this Cozy Glow, to think my friends actually took pity on you! We gave you a place to sleep when you needed one, if we only knew who you really were!"

"If you did, then things would have ended really badly for you," Cozy Glow said. "I always plan ahead."

"Well your plans are over," Rainbow Dash said, getting into a battle stance with her friends. "We're taking you down! You and your friend!"

"Not happening," Cozy Glow said, getting into a stance of her own alongside Sonata.

"You really wanna do this?" Lightning Dust asked. "You're outnumbered four to two, and one of you is a pint sized filly, you have no chance against us."

"Strength isn't just in numbers," Cozy Glow ominously warned.

Sonata in a quick blur, had sped over and knocked Night Glider away, then used her Siren mouth blast to knock her opponent to a tree. 

"Night Glider!" Spike shouted in worry, then turned to Sonata and started breathing fire in her direction. Cozy Glow flew in to ram her head into Spike's face and allowed Sonata to blast Spike against the Tree of Harmony.

Rainbow Dash went for a punch but Sonata had side stepped and rammed into the Wonderbolt Pegasus.

Lightning Dust was about to lend the assist but Cozy Glow had snuck up and placed her hooves over the mare's eyes, "Guess who!?"

"Hey! Let go you little brat!" Lighting Dust said, punching around and trying to land a hit on Cozy Glow. "I'm warning you, I'm not afraid to hit a filly!"

"Too bad you won't be able to!" Cozy Glow said, leading Lightning Dust into Rainbow Dash and Sonata's fight.

Rainbow Dash flew in for a kick just as Lightning Dust stumbled in front. While the mare managed to toss Cozy away, she was unable to dodge her ally's oncoming kick and took one straight to the head.

"Ow! Dammit!" Lightning Dust said, rubbing her sore spot. "Watch where you're kicking Rainbow Dash!"

"Stay out of the way then!" Rainbow Dash said, then got blasted by Sonata's attack. 

Sonata then turned to Lighting Dust and attempted to ram her, though the mare was too fast, and was able to sidestep and kick Sonata's head. "Ha! Way below my league!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Cozy Glow teased.

"You're next!" Lightning Dust flew in for a punch to Cozy, but she flew up just in time for the brash mare to accidentally strike Rainbow Dash in the face.

"Ah! What gives!?" Rainbow Dash shouted, tending to her jaw.

"Now who's in who's way?" Lightning Dust taunted.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash got in Lightning Dust's face. "I'd watch your attitude if I were you!"

"You're the one not aware of your surroundings!" Lightning Dust shouted.

"Neither are you! That's why you got kicked out of The Wonderbolts! Because you HAD to make a tornado that nearly demolished my friends!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Ugh, that was so long ago! For a pony of Friendship you really know how to hold a grudge!" Lightning Dust shouted.

"Hey! Stop fighting!" Spike said, making his way back over.

"Stay out of it!" Both mares shouted, before glaring at each other again.

Things were getting pretty tense between the two, though suddenly they started to feel weaker, and a little dizzy as well. Unbeknownst to them, Sonata had been draining their energy, having the perfect opportunity during their argument.

"Wow, it didn't take long to get them to turn on each other," Cozy said. "I did hear that Rainbow Dash had a rivalry with one of the Wash Outs, looks like it was really intense."

"Works for me, so much negative energy," Sonata said, then blasted the two mares. "I feel so much stronger."

Night Glider then flew in to attack, trying to take Sonata by surprise, but the Siren was quick to sidestep and blasted Night Glider again. Spike also tried attacking with fire, however Sonata buck kicked him in the face, then blasted him too.

"Stronger and faster," Cozy Glow said. "Impressive."

"Thanks, now let's finish up," Sonata said, then focused back on the tree, trying to blast more of the element shards off.

Not too far off, Rumble had gotten closer, trying to follow where the echoes were coming from. He really hoped that Cozy Glow would be alright when he found her. As he got closer to the echoes, he saw that it was near a giant chasm.

"There it is," Rumble said, flying toward the edge of the cliff. As he neared it he took a peak down and noticed something interesting, "Is that Cozy down there, with one of the sirens?" He then saw that Sonata attacking the Tree of Harmony, and that is what was causing the echoes. "What are they...?"

Sonata continued relentlessly attacking tree as Cozy flew over to pry off the rest of the Elements. There was much more power this time around due to Sonata having absorbed the negative energy from Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust.

"Keep going Sonata, we almost got it!" Cozy Glow said, pulling off more of the Elements.

"Can't wait to see how surprised Adagio will be when we actually pull this off, maybe she'll show us a bit more respect," Sonata said, then attacked the tree some more.

"Well after today, maybe I'll be the new leader of our alliance, even Tirek and Chrysalis will have to treat me like a true Princess," Cozy Glow said, prying off the last of the elements. "Good, that's all of them."

"I gotta say, you really came up with a great plan Cozy Glow," Sonata said.

"Aw, well you did a great job yourself, pretending to be Twilight's friend, then pulling this last minute betrayal, we really make a great team," Cozy Glow said.

"Yeah, we're so sneaky aren't we?" Sonata said, going to help Cozy Glow gather the Elements. "Alright, we just gotta get these to Tartarus so we can free Adagio, Aria, Chrysalis and Tirek."

"Right, that might be tricky, but I think we can pull it off, I just gotta sneak out of town," Cozy Glow said.

"Well maybe we can get some help," Sonata said. "Oh, I know, what about Rumble?"

"What about me!?" they heard Rumble say, the two mares turning to see a very angry colt with a look of hurt in his eyes.

"R-rumble!?" Cozy Glow said. "You're here? I thought you went to go find Flitter? Um, I mean, it's not what it loos like!"

"Save it! I heard your whole plan!" Rumble shouted, angrily stepping forward. "You're gonna use those Elements to free Chrysalis, Tirek and those other Sirens from Tartarus!"

"Um, well..." Cozy Glow struggled to find an explanation, but she really couldn't come up with anything.

"I can't believe you would do this, I came here because I was worried about you! I thought you might be in danger!" Rumble said. "This whole time I thought you were just a scared filly trying to find help, but that was all a lie!"

"Rumble, please, let me explain," Cozy Glow pleaded.

"There's nothing to explain!" Rumble said, trying to maintain himself, but slowly losing some composure. "You tricked me, the worst part is, I honestly believed you were a good filly, I thought you were my friend!" Rumble started to tear up, "Even when the others said you were evil, I never believed it! I just met with The Crusaders, they along with everypony else kept telling me how bad you were, and stupidly I didn't believe them! I thought if anything you were under a spell, but you're not! And don't try to say that your friend there is tricking you, I overheard everything, this was YOUR plan!"

Cozy Glow was getting nervous, Rumble was not happy, he was fuming, he was clearly angry and hurt from this revelation. She couldn't help but feel some degree of guilt, this was different than the reactions she got from Twilight, the other Elements, the Cutie Mark Crusaders or anypony else for that matter, not even The Student Six. She actually really hurt somepony, one that could have genuinely been her friend.

"Rumble, I swear I didn't want you finding out like this," Cozy Glow said, regret in her eyes. "And I swear I never meant to hurt you!"

"Well you did a lousy job," Rumble said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I really cared about you Cozy Glow, just last night I let you cuddle with me, just this morning I let you embrace me, and honestly, I kind of liked it. I liked how close we were, I thought you and I could have been great friends. Honestly, the idea of having a Pegasus friend that can fly with me was something I really looked forward too!"

"Rumble, it's not too late for that!" Cozy Glow said, cautiously trotting over. "We can still be friends. Believe it or not, I really like you too. We can still be friends, we can be more than that." She gently stroked his cheek, "Rumble, I think I can really fall in love with you, you're just so perfect. You're very handsome, you have a soothing voice, your hugs are warm and you're very brave." Cozy leaned in close, talking into his ear, "Join our team Rumble, we can rule over Equestria as a couple. You don't need Sweetie Belle, or anypony else for that matter, I'm all you need."

Rumble simply pulled her hoof away, taking a step back. "You want me to betray my friends and family? Are you serious!? Cozy, I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to carry out your plan, I'm taking you both down."

"Rumble be reasonable," Sonata said. "Last time you tried doing this by yourself, you got overpowered. Now I'm not like Adagio, I don't take pleasure in hurting others, at least not foals. But if you try to get in our way, I will have to take action. So for your own safety, just fly home and pretend like you saw nothing, you have nothing to prove by fighting us."

Rumble considered his current options, while he knew he can't just give up, Sonata had a point about his strength. He lost to Adagio very easily last time, and it looks like Sonata at least defeated various ponies, all of whom are stronger than he is. He did however notice that Sunset Shimmer was stirring awake, suddenly giving him an idea.

"I hate to do this," Rumble said, turning his head away. "But fine, have it your way. You two are the ones making a mistake though, you could have had real Friendship."

"Rumble, I know you probably think Cozy's terrible, and that betraying Twilight's kindness," Sonata said. "But there are some things I can't give up, like Cozy I do have some regrets because many of the ponies were really nice to me, but I can't abandon my family." Sonata then began to walk off, "Think about this, the reason you refuse to join us and betray the ones you love is no different than my reason to stay loyal to the ones I love. We're not so different when you think about it." She turned back to face Rumble. "I can't promise your friends or family won't suffer the wrath of when Adagio, Chrysalis and Tirek take over, but as long as Cozy Glow loves you, then you too will be spared."

Sonata quickly trotted off, with Cozy Glow not that far behind, getting one last glance at the pony she had just betrayed. How she wishes she could still be with him, she'll figure something out though.

Once the two mares left, Rumble quickly made his way over to Sunset Shimmer and began untying her, "I'll get you free."

"Glad you're here," Sunset said. "I can't believe this happened, I never should have trusted Sonata."

"You're not the only one with regrets right now," Rumble said, loosening the rope. "That Cozy Glow..."

"Yeah you two were traveling together all day yesterday and today," Sunset said.

"I bumped into her at Mount Aris, I offered to help her, I wanted her to feel safe and secure, I wanted to bring her to Ponyville, all because I thought I was doing something good, trying to make a new friend, trying to act like a true Wondebolt would, how a Knight would, how any hero would, and it blew up in my face!" Rumble said, angrily breaking the rope.

"I know it must be tough, you thought you were friends after all," Sunset said.

"She told me so, she looked me in the eye and told me, I believed her when she told me that," Rumble said, fully untying Sunset. "Then the others told me she was evil, and I didn't listen. I choose the word of a stranger I hoped to befriend over the friends I already had!"

"Don't blame yourself Rumble," Sunset said, rubbing Rumble's mane. "No one can fault you for trying to see the good in another. The only one to blame right now is Cozy Glow for putting you through this."

Rumble wiped away some more tears, "I almost wish I never met her now, if I hadn't, at least I'd have already been home with my family, my friends, and my marefriend."

"Well, you're here now," Sunset said, pulling Rumble into a hug. "We're not gonna let you get hurt again Rumble."

"That's kind of you Sunset Shimmer, thank you," Rumble said, returning the hug.

"Huh, I actually comforted somepony," Sunset muttered to herself. "Guess I really am coming along myself."

"Did you say something?" Rumble asked, looking up at the mare.

"Oh nothing, just thinking out loud," Sunset replied. "Come on, I gotta get you out of this forest, then I'm going after Cozy Glow."

"Don't forget about us," Rainbow Dash said, struggling to get up. "Damn, why do I feel so light headed? Last thing I remember was fighting that siren, and Lightning Dust constantly getting in my way."

"Think you got the last part mixed up," Lightning Dust said. "You got in my way. Now I feel like I had some life sucked out of me."

"Sonata probably absorbed some of your negative energy," Sunset said. "I'm guessing when you two had a disagreement, the negative emotions that came from that was enough for Sonata to feed off of, thus giving her some extra power."

"Yeah well..." Rainbow Dash then noticed a certain extra pony. "Rumble!" She flew in to hug the foal, "So happy to see you little guy!"

"Yeah, hi Rainbow Dash," Rumble said, then felt another hug, this one from Spike.

"Glad you're alright Rumble, everypony was so worried about you," Spike said.

"Yeah, I'm..." Rumble stopped when he noticed something different about Spike. "You have wings!?"

"Oh yeah," Spike said, flapping them. "I got them not too long ago, went through quite the change too, basically dragon puberty."

"Sounds rough," Rumble said. "Weird, feels like I went through it before you, and you're older than I am."

"Well Dragons age differently than ponies," Spike said. "I'm still technically a Baby Dragon even though I'm older than you are."

"Can't believe Sweetie Belle never told me," Rumble said, then angrily muttered. "Wish she gave us more information about things."

"Anyway kid, I'm happy to see you. It's been so many months, how was the Flight School!?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It was fine, I guess," Rumble said, obviously not feeling too enthusiastic, still feeling bitter.

"You guess? Did something happen?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Um, I hate to interrupt," Sunset interjected. "But we should focus on catching up to Cozy Glow and Sonata right now." She then gently stroked Rumble's head, "Plus Rumble's not feeling to great, he did just find out that Cozy Glow was evil and he's feeling a little betrayed."

"Sucks feeling betrayed by a friend, doesn't it kid?" Lightning Dust said. "When you think they got your back, when you trust them as your wing pony, then they sell you out."

"Alright, I know you're talking about me," Rainbow Dash. "For somepony who says she's over it, you sure like bringing it up."

"Pardon me for wanting him to feel like he has somepony to relate to," Lightning Dust said. "For the record, I did get over it, but that doesn't mean I can't still feel a little hurt by it. I just turned that into motivation and founded The Wash Outs, so Rumble can take his hurt and use it to motivate himself."

"Not a bad lesson actually, I learned that the hard way," Sunset said, then turned to the foal beside her. "Rumble, no matter how mad you are or how hurt you feel, never change who you are, and never turn into a monster, both literally and figuratively."

Rumble looked a bit concerned, "Is there something you wanna talk about Sunset Shimmer?"

"Another time, now let's go get Cozy Glow," Sunset said, running in the direction she had run.

"Come on little guy," Night Glider said. "We gotta get you to safety, maybe some closure too."

"Don't worry, Cozy Glow's betrayal won't go unpunished," Spike said.

With that, the four Pegasus ponies and sole dragon flew off, beginning their trip out of the Everfree Forest.

The two traitorous ponies of Sonata and Cozy had just gotten out, having avoided all the monsters within, not too much trouble for Sonata but still a bit scary for Cozy Glow.

"I hate Timberwolves," Cozy Glow said.

"Well they were pretty weak," Sonata said. "That and I'm a lot stronger, thanks to the negative energy I absorbed, plus this Element shard makes me feel stronger too."

"We should move quickly though, I don't think that negative energy is gonna last too long and you don't want to have to fight Princess Twilight," Cozy Glow said. "Well not yet at least."

"You mentioned me?" They heard Twilight said, then turned to see that she was angrily standing there along with Starlight, Thunderlane, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Applejack, Rarity, Trixie, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

"Oh darn it," Cozy Glow said.

"So you're the filly that's been causing trouble for Rumble," Cloudchaser said, looking ready for a fight.

Twilight stepped forward to face the two, "Cozy, how did you get out of Tartarus?"

"Um...the guard let me out after I asked him, weally, weally nicely," Cozy Glow said, trying to put on a cute act.

"Uh-huh, likely story," Twilight said. "Honestly that's not the part I'm unhappy about, the I'm not happy that you exploited Rumble's kindness and generosity, Flitter's too. You manipulated and deceived them just like you manipulated and deceived everypony else!"

"Hey it wasn't anything personal, not like I intentionally sought them out, they offered to help and I accepted it," Cozy said.

"Well I didn't expect you to be evil!" Flitter said. "I'm very disappointed in you Cozy Glow, I thought you were our friend! When I heard you had no family, I was set on adopting you! You broke my heart Cozy Glow! And I'm sure this is gonna break Rumble's too."

"Kind of late for that," Cozy Glow sheepishly admitted.

"Well we're sending you right back to Tartarus where you belong," Cloudchaser said. "And while we're at it, we'll return those Element things back where they belong too."

Sonata stood in front of Cozy Glow, "You're going to stay away from her. If there's one thing I can't stand is anypony bullying a foal! Why you even sent her to Tartarus in the first place is beyond me!"

"Don't get me started on you, Sonata Dusk!" Twilight said. "I gave you a second chance, I gave you freedom from Tartarus out of pity, and this..." Twilight gestured with her hoof to the two, mainly at their stolen elements. "This is what you do!? I honestly felt sorry for you, but I guess that was just one big act, wasn't it!?"

"Not entirely," Sonata said. "What happened in Tartarus wasn't an act, Adagio really meant what she said. But that's exactly why I did this, I had to prove to her that I'm worthy of being one of her friends, that I'm worthy of being her family!"

"That's even more foolish, why would you want to please somepony that treats you like garbage!?" Twilight asked.

"If your brother said something mean to you, if he thought you were worthless, would you just decide to betray him!? Or would you do anything you could to prove yourself to him!?" Sonata asked.

"I shouldn't have to prove anything to my brother, and he shouldn't have to prove anything to me!" Twilight said. "We love each other regardless of our faults! If your fellow sirens really cared about you, then they wouldn't make you feel like you'd have to pull a stunt like this to get in their good graces! You could have had real friends! We would have been your friends!"

"Look you just don't get me, nor do you get my friends," Sonata said. "So do us a favor, and stay out of our way, otherwise you're gonna get hurt!"

"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere!" Flitter said, angrily stomping forward. "I'm gonna put both of you in your place myself!"

"Flitter, hold on," Twilight said, though Flitter was already flying at Sonata, the siren quick to block a punch.

"When I'm done with you, I'm gonna teach Cozy a lesson myself," Flitter said. "She could use a little tough love!"

"Heh, you seem pretty angry right now," Sonata said, just as Flitter was getting weaker and dizzy. "I think you overexerted yourself though."

Flitter collapsed to the ground, nearly drained of energy, much to her sister's worry. "Flitter!" Cloudchaser glared at Sonata, "Alright, wanna see love for family!? I'll beat it into you!"

Cloudchaser also flew in but Sonata had grabbed her, quickly draining some of her negative energy too, "Listen, girls, I don't wanna hurt you, really. But I do want you to hurt somepony else."

"Hey! What are you doing to my friends!" Thunderlane asked, getting really frustrated and angry.

"Easy there Thunderlane, be smart about this," Twilight said. "We have to keep our distance for the moment."

"Let's just blast her with our Unicorn magic," Trixie said. "She can't get past all of us!"

"I know you wouldn't hesitate to hurt me or Cozy," Sonata said, just as Flitter and Cloudchaser stood up, glaring at the other ponies. "But would you hurt them?"

"Flitter! Cloudchaser!" Thunderlane said, about to step forward.

"Thunderlane wait up!" Twilight warned, but the moment Thunderlane got in too close, he started acting strangely as well, first losing some energy, then turning to the other ponies with the same glare in his eyes.

"Twilight, what's happening!?" Trixie asked.

"She must have mind controlled them!" Twilight said. "She's manipulating their emotions using actual magic!"

"Hold them off for me," Sonata said, getting Cozy on her back. "Hold on tight Cozy."

As Flitter and Cloudchaser flew at Twilight and her friends, Sonata zipped past and through them, using her speed to her advantage after relishing in more negative energy.

"They're getting away!" Twilight said, turning around to give chase. However Thunderlane her gotten in her way, though Starlight had restrained him.

"We'll try to round them up, go after Sonata and Cozy Glow!" Starlight said.

Twilight nodded and flew to find the two evil ponies just as everypony else attempted to restrain the three mind controlled Pegusai.





Back near Sugarcube Corner, all the foals were still gathered together with the Village Four keeping a close eye on them.

"Say Apple Bloom, after this is said and done, would you mind if I go see your brother?" Sugar Belle asked, getting a jealous reaction from Party Favor.

"Sure, mah brother would be happy to see y'all," Apple Bloom said, then focused on the mare. "So...how long before ah get to call ya big sister?"

Sugar Belle blushed upon hearing that, "Oh, um...well..."

"Let's not rush things," Party Favor interjected. "That's quite a commitment after all."

"Yeah, let's go with that for now," Sugar Belle said, trying to hide her blush.

Double Diamond felt relieved that unlike Party Favor, he doesn't really have a strong rival when it comes to mares, not yet at least.

"I hope Trixie caught up to Rumble," Sweetie Belle said, rubbing her head. "Can't believe he just ran off like that, right after coming back too! This is really giving me a big headache."

"Every strong pony is going that way," Tender Taps said. "I don't think we have much to worry about."

"Hey I think I see somepony," Scootaloo said, gesturing to the distance. "Whoever they are, they're pretty fast!"

Approaching from the distance was Sonata, with Cozy Glow on her back. The little filly could see the foals from the distance, particularly one that could be really beneficial to her.

"Slow down, I have an idea," Cozy Glow said. "Get me close to that colt with the purple mane."

"What for?" Sonata asked.

"Explain in a minute, just be ready for carry extra weight," Cozy said.

Scootaloo gazed into the distance, "Wait, that looks like Sonata, and is that Cozy Glow on her back?"

"Did Sonata find Cozy Glow fer us!?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Wow, it looks like she really-" Tender Taps was then grabbed the moment Sonata passed by the group, brought into the air by the quick little filly Pegasus "What the?"

"Hey there handsome," Cozy said, then was dropped Tender Taps on the Siren's back.

"Tender Taps!?" Sweetie Belle said, noticing that he had just been grabbed.

"Hi Crusaders, it's been a while!" Cozy said, landing on Sonata's back. "Sweetie Belle, gotta say, you're coltfriend, very good kisser."

"Wait, what!?" Sweetie Belle said. "What are you talking about!?"

"Hi Flurry!" Sonata said, waving at the confused filly.

"Hey! Put him down!" Sugar Belle said, attempting to zap the siren.

"Go Sonata!" Cozy ordered, Sonata rushing out of the village.

"What the..." Apple Bloom tried running after them. "You lousy varmints, come back with mah friend!"

"We gotta go after them!" Sugar Belle ordered, charging up her horn as she started zapping in Sonata's direction, with Party Favor doing the same, the two along with Double Diamond pursuing Sonata.

"Did...did Sonata just foalnap Tender Taps?" Dinky asked.

"With help from...Cozy Glow?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sonata betrayed us!" Apple Bloom said. "Ah can't believe her!"

"Why would Cozy Glow call Rumble a good kisser?" Sweetie Belle pondered. "Would he really..."

As they pondered the situation, Twilight had finally made her way over to the foals, "Quick, did Sonata come through here!?"

"Yes, she did," Apple Bloom said, then gestured in the direction she ran. "Ah saw her with Cozy Glow, are they working together!?"

"Yes, unfortunately Sonata had betrayed us, what a shame," Twilight said. "Don't worry, I'll catch up to them soon. Hopefully we can end this quickly."

"Are you gonna beat them up or something?" Smolder asked. "Can we help?"

"Let's not resort to violence, I want to find a pacifistic way of ending this," Twilight said.

"Really? Even though they betrayed us, deceived Rumble and nabbed away Tender Taps?" Apple Bloom asked, somewhat emphasizing the last part.

"I know that they..." It took Twilight a second to register what Apple Bloom had said. "Pardon me?"

"They took Tender Taps," Apple Bloom repeated. "Sonata and Cozy ran by and him a moment ago."

Twilight's eye twitched slightly, "They...did...WHAT!?" Suddenly Twilight had essentially burst into flame, her eyes turning a demonic red as she let out a massive growl that frightened everyone.

"Has...she ever been this mad before?" Sandbar asked Sweetie Belle.

"My sister said she has," Sweetie Belle said.

Twilight flew off in a fury, ready to wreak havoc on the ones who dared put her precious Tappy in danger.

"Remind me to never forget about turning in my assignments," Gallus said to his classmates.





In the distance, Sonata is still running, trying to put as much distance as she can between the town and herself.

"Gonna slow down a bit, don't want to exert all my energy," Sonata said.

"Good idea, besides I think we're far away enough," Cozy Glow said. "Soon we'll be able to fully unleash our plan, can't believe how close we are!"

"We're so smart, maybe Tirek will reward us when he takes over!" Sonata said.

"He's my best buddy, of course he'll reward us," Cozy said. "We just gotta keep going, we'll bust out Adagio, Aria, Chrysalis and Tirek, then Equestria will be all ours!"

"Um, excuse me?" Tender Taps said, getting the attention of the two mares. "But what gives!? Why'd you grab me!?"

"Oh, yeah, we should probably explain," Cozy Glow said. "See, you're gonna be our hostage. That way if Twilight or anypony comes, then we can use you for a mental advantage."

Tender Taps stared in disbelief, "Are you kidding me!?"

"Noperuni, I'm totally serious," Cozy said.

Tender Taps couldn't believe what he was hearing, this filly was nuts. "You're crazy, I'm going back home."

"Well golly, that might be a problem," Cozy said. "See if you try to leave, then we're gonna have to hurt you."

That explanation seemed to disturb Tender Taps, but it also concerned Sonata very much. "Um, Cozy, I don't want to hurt a foal."

"You won't have to, I'll beat him up myself," Cozy said.

"Excuse me, what makes you think you can beat me up?" Tender Taps asked, then received a punch across his face, courtesy of Cozy Glow, knocking him off Sonata.

"That answer your question?" Cozy Glow said, hopping off Sonata and stomping on Tender Taps, preventing him from getting up. "Like I said, if you try escaping, I'm going to hurt you. Now be a good little colt and do as I say!"

"You think Twilight's gonna be ok with this!?" Tender Taps asked, his eye throbbing from the pain. "She's gonna catch up to you eventually, then you're gonna lose!"

"Oh be quiet," Cozy said, picking Tender Taps up and dropping him on Sonata's back. "Come on, let's keep going Sonata."

"Hey, is there any reason you choose this colt? Or what it random?" Sonata asked.

"Oh there's plenty of reasoning behind it," Cozy said. "For starters, this colt is Twilight's favorite foal, she really seems to like him. She even has a picture of him in her office with a heart drawn around it."

"Aw, that's adorable," Sonata said.

"Yeah, it is," Cozy said, leaning over to Tender Taps. "You must be so precious to her."

"Well she's precious to me," Tender Taps said. "And when she finds you, I'll get to happily watch her pound the snot out of you."

"Please, by the time she finds us..." Cozy noticed an incoming pony from the distance, to her surprise it looked like Twilight, and she was furious.

"Give me back my TAPPY!" Twilight shouted, sending a strong beam blast, hitting the ground right next to Sonata, causing her to drop both foals. While Cozy Glow hit the ground, Twilight was quick to grab Tender Taps in her hooves from mid-air. "I got you Tappy!"

"Oh thank goodness," Tender Taps said, nuzzling the Princess. "I knew you'd come."

"Of course I..." Twilight took a moment to observe his face. "You're hurt!?"

"Yeah, Cozy's got a really strong punch," Tender Taps said, holding his eye. "But I'm fine, it should stop throbbing eventually."

Twilight was ticked off now, those mares had the nerve to hurt her precious little colt. She gently placed him down and turned her attention the two mares, who were recovering from the blast that Twilight sent their way.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Cozy asked, glaring right at Twilight, before immediately faltering. This mare looked furious, she could see a violent look in her eyes. She was ready to hurt them, really badly too. Cozy did what she did best, try to act cute. "Golly Princess Twilight, you wouldn't hurt a sweet little-"

Twilight just grabbed Cozy in magic, spinning her around in the air and tossing her miles away. She was not in the mood for Cozy's bogus cuteness. She turned her attention once more to Sonata.

"Did you just seriously do that to a foal!?" Sonata asked. "At least I have the decency not to hurt someone that young!"

"Great, you have some degree of decency, too bad you couldn't use that to NOT turn evil again," Twilight said.

"I don't get you, I mean, all I did was stay Loyal to my friends," Sonata said, gesturing to the Element around her neck. "Isn't that what this Symbolizes? One of the Six Elements of Harmony!?" Sonata angrily stepped forward. "I did this because I love them! They're my family! I can't turn my back on my family! I mean, look, I really, REALLY appreciate you taking pity on me, and you may not believe me when I tell you this, but I really hoped we could have been friends, I even considered just staying with you! But I can't just leave Adagio and Aria back in Tartarus, we've been through too much together!" Sonata got closer until she stopped, right in front of Twilight. "Pass judgement on me all you want Twilight Sparkle, but I don't regret this. My friends may not be perfect, but I still care about them despite their imperfections, that, in my opinion, is the true test of Friendship, that is the true Magic that Friendship has to offer! If you can't undetstand that, then maybe you don't deserve to be The Princess of Friendship! Maybe Cozy Glow should be, because she understands it so much better than you do, and-"

Twilight had enough and just blasted Sonata in the face, as the Siren tried to recover, Twilight lifted her up with Magic and slammed her down a few times, then as she kept her in mid-air, flew overhead and blasted Sonata down to the ground, landing right beside her.

"Sonata, I perfectly understand your reasoning," Twilight said. "But that doesn't excuse your actions, I'm sorry, but I have to send you back to Tartarus."

"Pfft, like I care," Sonata said, coughing a bit. "At least I'll get to be with my friends."

"It's a shame really," Twilight said. "I genuinely believe you can be a good pony, and I guess I can't blame you for wanting to be loyal to your friends, I just with your friends were better ponies, or that you at least could see that they're not worth protecting." Twilight cast one final look at Sonata, "Once you realize that, I'll happily accept you back into my circle of friends, though this time, you'll have to work to earn our trust however."

"Twiley!" Shining Armor was heard saying, making his way over with Derpy and Cadance.

"There you are, I was wondering where you've been," Twilight said.

"Sorry, we've been running around a lot," Shining Armor said. "We just met up with Derpy and she told us that Flurry was safe, thank goodness too. I don't know what we would have done if she got lost for good."

"Wait, you lost track of Flurry before!?" Sonata asked. "You're such lousy parents!"

Shining Armor glared at Sonata, "You be quiet!"

"Hey wait, that's Sonata Dusk," Cadance said. "What's she doing here?"

"She, unfortunately decided to betray us," Twilight said.

"I had my reasons!" Sonata argued.

"I knew it was a bad idea to trust her," Shining Armor said. "But what about Cozy Glow?"

"I don't know, I may have lost my temper and tossed her away with my magic," Twilight said.

"It was amazing," Tender Taps said, making his way over. "Twilight's super strong."

"All for you my sweet little Tappy," Twilight said, nuzzling Tender Taps. "We should get some ice for your eye."

"I can handle that," Derpy said. "You should find Cozy Glow."

"Yeah, good idea," Twilight said, using her magic to levitate Tender Taps onto Derpy's back. "Please be careful out there."

"Well all that's left to worry about is Cozy Glow, and she's not that threatening," Derpy said, then flew off with Tender Taps.

"You really like that colt," Shining Armor said. "What's so special about him?"

"Oh, he has a crush on me, it's really adorable and I like humoring him," Twilight said. "Plus I kind of like him too, and he's getting older so maybe..."

"Twiley, I love you, but that's a bit weird," Shining Armor said.

"Oh what's so weird about potentially grooming the perfect coltfriend?" Twilight said. "I'm not in any rush anyway, might as well make sure the day I'm ready I have a decent stallion waiting for me." Twilight gestured to her brother and sister-in-law, "Talk about this later, help me find Cozy Glow."

Shining Armor and Cadance shrugged it off and followed after Twilight.





In the distance, Cozy Glow had landed hard on the ground, nursing some owies after landing. "Stupid Twilight, I'll get her for this!" She stood up, looking around, "Did I land near Ponyville? I should move before-"

"Before what!?" Again, she had heard Rumble's voice, she turned around to face him. "I'm not letting you go anywhere!"

"Rumble, let's not do-" Cozy was interrupted with a punch to her face. "Did...did you just PUNCH ME!?"

"That's for tricking me! And this is for endangering my friends!" Rumble flew in again to throw another punch, landing on the other cheek of Cozy.

"That's it!" Cozy said, returning the punch, this one to Rumble, "You have some nerve! Hitting a cute pony like me in my adorable little face!"

Rumble rubbed his face and then flew in and hit Cozy with an uppercut. She followed up with a stroke strike to his face. The two took turns punching each other, leaving each other with black eyes, bruises and scratches.

"Is this really what you wanted Cozy Glow!?" Rumble asked, throwing a punch. "To throw away all the Friendship you've received!?"

"No! Of course not!" Cozy Glow insisted, punching back harder. "I'm just trying to make it better!"

"Well you threw away mine!" Rumble said, hitting Cozy hard. "I cared about you, and I thought you cared about me!"

"I do!" Cozy said, hitting him hard. "I do care about you Rumble! I care a lot!" She punched again, "You moron, I want you to be my friend, I want more than that! You mean a lot to me Rumble!"

"Pfft, yeah right, prove it," Rumble said.

"Fine, I will!" Cozy shouted, grabbing Rumble by his head and pulling him in for a big kiss.

Rumble, of course, was surprised, and somewhat annoyed. Yet strangely he didn't fully hate it, even if it pained him to admit it. He looked around a bit, not sure how to react when suddenly he gave in to the temptation. He pulled Cozy in and returned her kiss, deep down hoping that something would come and pull him away, because he wasn't finding the strength do to that right at this moment.

Maybe this could be a good thing, if he held onto the kiss long enough, it would keep Cozy Glow distracted and somepony will come along and apprehend her, using this to justify his actions, he deepened the kiss, much to Cozy Glow's pleasure, the filly now using her tongue, wanting more of this colt.

Eventually the two broke apart, panting and huffing, both with blushes on their faces.

"Golly Rumble, that kiss..." Cozy was completely love struck. "You're amazing..."

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her back and fell to the ground, cringing a bit. Rumble looked down at the filly, then ahead to see what had happened, and it was probably the worst scenario for him in this situation.

Standing across was Sweetie Belle, surrounded by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, the latter two fillies having a shocked look on their faces. But Sweetie Belle's was the worst, she had a look of pure hurt and betrayal. From the smoke emanating from her horn, it looks like she's the one who zapped Cozy Glow, leaving her on the ground in burning pain, must have been pretty hard.

"Sweetie Belle...I can explain..." Rumble pleaded.

Sweetie Belle just turned away, wiping the tears from her eyes. She didn't want to hear it right now. Rumble knew it would probably be better to tell her later once she had calmed herself, if that was possible, but he knew deep down he really messed up.

He only hoped he could get her to understand.
> Seeds of a New Start
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was an awkward walk back to the center of town for Rumble. It was much quieter than his liking, but he knew the reason for the silence. He had betrayed his marefriend's love, he had done something terrible to her.

Sweetie Belle could barely contain her emotions at the moment, she felt so angry at what she had seen, it's one thing that a filly would kiss Rumble, it's happened, fillies have snuck a kiss on Rumble, but what bothered her was that this time, Rumble seemed to enjoy the kiss, he had Cozy Glow embraced in a hug, she could even see the satisfaction in his eyes.

Cozy had mentioned earlier that Rumble was a good kisser, she just thought that the filly was making it up, trying to mess with her, but perhaps there was much more truth to that.

Regardless this has not been a great turn of events for her. She spends months missing Rumble, waited all day yesterday for him to come home, missed him again all morning long and finally got him, finally got her kiss, only for him to slowly drift away, having most of his attention focused on Cozy Glow.

Of course, she couldn't fully blame him, as he was merely trying to understand the concept that Cozy Glow was in fact villainous, something not everyone would be too quick to believe, even she could hardly believe it the first time. But it looks like this was much bigger than she thought, and now she may have lost her coltfriend for good.

Cozy slowly started to wake up and realized she was being dragged on the ground. She turned and saw that Scootaloo had her by the tail, dragging her along the ground. She then saw that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were there as well.

"Ugh, The Cutie Mark Crusaders again?" Cozy said, attempting to fly off. However she found herself being pulled back hard.

"Not letting you go anywhere!" Scootaloo said to the best of her ability, standing her ground and keeping her grip.

Cozy kept trying to fly, hoping to free herself of Scootaloo's grip when she felt herself getting grabbed by Sweetie Belle's magic. Without warning, Sweetie Belle started slamming Cozy Glow down on the ground a few times, rather aggressively too, clearly not in the mood for the filly's annoying antics.

"Stop screwing around! Sweetie Belle warned. "Next time I'll break your wings!"

"Whoa, easy there Sweetie Belle, try not to get too carried away," Apple Bloom said. "We don't want to be like her or anything."

Sweetie Belle just glared angrily at Apple Bloom, then resumed walking, leaving the farm filly rather taken back.

"She seems rather moody," Cozy commented.

"Be quiet," Scootaloo said, grabbing Cozy's tail and dragging her again.

Rumble just remained quiet, not comfortable talking just yet. He just silently went along with the Crusaders, just wanting this whole thing to be over.

As they walked, Twilight's voice was heard calling to them, "Girls! Rumble!"

"Twilight?" Apple Bloom said, looking up and seeing the Princess flying toward them.

"Oh thank goodness I found you girls," Twilight said, landing in front of them. She immediately turned her attention to the sole colt of the group, "I'm especially happy to see you Rumble! I've missed you so much!"

Without warning, Twilight rushed over to hug Rumble, very relieved to see him safe, that and she did miss having him around.

"Heh, thanks, I missed you too Twilight," Rumble said.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all this," Twilight said, pulling back a bit. "But thankfully it's all over." She turned her attention to Cozy Glow, "Looks like you managed to subdue her."

"Only because Sweetie Belle hit me with a cheap shot!" Cozy Glow said.

"Want another!?" Sweetie Belle threatened.

"That wont' be necessary, we've won and that's all that matters," Twilight said. "And I'm sure you all did it with teamwork and friendship."

That caused an awkward silence among the group, aside from Cozy Glow, who had a snarky grin on her face.

"Well, teamwork was involved, sort of," Scootaloo sheepishly said.

"Good, goes to show what true Friendship can accomplish," Twilight said, using her magic to lift Cozy. "I shall hold on to this one, everypony gather around me and I'll take us back to the others, we can reunite Cozy Glow with her friend Sonata."

"Oh good, you caught her then," Apple Bloom said. "Um, how's Tendy doing? They didn't hurt him did they?"

"Aside from a swollen eye, thanks to this little demon here," Twilight said, gesturing to Cozy. "No real harm was done."

"Only because I didn't have more time," Cozy Glow boasted.

"You, be quiet," Twilight warned, then turned back to the foals. "Alright, get ready."

The foals gathered around as suggested, though Rumble made it a point not to be too close to them, especially Sweetie Belle. Something told him they wouldn't want to be even an inch near him.

Within seconds, they had arrived near Sugarcube corner where everypony else was waiting. The moment they spotted him, both Applejack and Rarity rushed over to hug Rumble, the colt being crushed once again, this time by a different set of mares.

"Oh my dear Sweet Rumble, thank the stars you're alright!" Rarity clamored.

"We were real worried about you little guy!" Applejack said, tightening the hug.

"Girls, I'm flattered you missed me...but I need air to breath!" Rumble got out, the two mares quickly releasing the hug, each offering a sheepish smile at the slightly annoyed colt. "That's the second time today I nearly got crushed by two grown mares."

"Wow, you're really popular with the girls today, aren't you Rumble?" Twilight teased, getting an awkward laugh from the colt, who at that moment had to avoid a death glare from his potential ex-marefriend.

Wow it hurt him to consider that possibility.

"Well it just means that I have good friends, and I really appreciate all my friends," Rumble said. "Everypony here I appreciate, some more than others." Rumble eyed Sweetie Belle, "Especially certain good, nice and caring ponies who mean more to me than ponies who would trick me and pretend to be my friend when they're actually not."

"Finally saw for yourself just how bad Cozy Glow was huh?" Gallus said.

"Yeah, I did," Rumble said. "Not gonna lie, it really broke my heart, but it's fine, because I know where I can find ponies to genuinely care about because I know they honestly care about me."

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes in annoyance, Rumble was obviously trying too hard to get back in her good graces, and it started to annoy her.

"Oh come on Rumbly-boo, you know that's not how you truly feel," Cozy Glow said as Twilight placed her next to a tied up Sonata. "I mean, I'm sure there's something you'd like to tell everypony, isn't there?"

"Oh be quiet kid, you lost, deal with it," Rainbow Dash said, as she grabbed some rope. "We're not letting you manipulate anymore ponies!"

"What manipulation, I never manipulated Rumble," Cozy Glow insisted. "I really liked him, and I know he really liked me, we're such good friends and we care so deeply about each other."

"Oh puh-lease!" Rainbow Dash said, wrapping the rope around her, pretty tightly too. "You really think anypony would believe that!? You tricked Rumble like you tricked everypony else! There's no way you genuinely liked him, he was just another piece in your puzzle to conquest, well this puzzle ain't getting complete, not now, not ever!"

"Well the difference between Rumble and all of you, is that I actually could stand to be around him," Cozy Glow said. "He's not some goody four-hooves prancing around all the time with his speeches on Friendship and Harmony, he's a colt who does what he needs to do to achieve his goals, and he's quite assertive when he wants to be, I can really respect somepony like that. He's got a few faults to work out but I think it's manageable."

"Someone just get rid of her already, she's being annoying again," Smolder said.

"Yeah, tired of her talkative attitude," Gallus said.

"And how she's always talking such baloney," Silverstream said.

"Wow, To think we were all friends once," Cozy Glow said. "I don't know how I put up with you for so long."

"We'll get her back to Tartarus lickity-split," Applejack said. "Both Cozy Glow and her foalsitter."

"Uh, did you just call me her 'foalsitter'?" Sonata asked. "What are you trying to be clever, because you suck at it!"

"Don't talk to my friend like that, you traitor!" Rainbow Dash said. "Such a shame Twilight wasted time trying to help you, time that could have been used to rescue Rumble much sooner!"

"Ugh, I don't need to hear this from you," Sonata said.

"Gotta hear it from somepony, especially one that actually knows about Loyalty, speaking of which" Rainbow Dash then yanked the Elemental necklace off the siren. "This belongs to me, not you. You've done nothing to earn this."

"Uh, I think I have, because I have friends that I'm loyal to as well!" Sonata shouted. "I have friends back at Tartarus!"

"Well good for you, because you're going back to see them," Rainbow Dash said, trotting off. "While the rest of us enjoy freedom and true friendship, you and your so-called friends can chat it up in that run-down place for all I care."

"Alright, that's enough please," Twilight said. "Let's not rub it in, while I don't condone what Sonata had did, I can somewhat understand her motivation, her loyalty to her friends is somewhat admirable." She turned her attention back to Sonata, "We'll talk more about that later however, for now it's best that I let Princess Celestia know what's been happening and have you two returned to Tartarus for now."

"Actually, Twilight," Flitter said. "I was hoping to talk to you about that."

Twilight sighed, knowing what her question may be, "Is this about Cozy Glow having to go back?"

"Well, yeah," Flitter said. "I just don't think she should be in a place like that. I know she did something terrible, but she's still a child, and a cell in Tartarus is no place for a child to go."

"So what do you propose Flitter?" Twilight asked, genuinely curious.

"Well...maybe I can adopt and raise her, teach her how to be a proper filly," Flitter said. "I mean, if Starlight, Luna and Discord can get another chance, I think a filly should too."

Before Twilight could reply, Sweetie Belle was quick to speak up, "No! She did something bad, she deserves to be in Tartarus!"

"Sweetie Belle, I understand you're frustrated about what happened with Rumble, but the adults are talking right now," Flitter said.

"Don't treat me like a kid, I'm practically an adult myself!" Sweetie Belle said.

"You're barely a teenager," Flitter pointed out.

"Uh, that's close enough to being an adult, I can probably have babies right now if I wanted to," Sweetie Belle said, which freaked out Rarity and caused unease for Flitter.

"Uh...do you even know how to have babies?" Flitter asked.

"I do," Cozy Glow stated, eyeing Sugar Belle and Party Favor. "I learned so much even outside of Twilight's school."

"Why is she staring at us?" Party Favor whispered to Sugar Belle.

"You don't suppose she, you know, work up at all last night, do you?" Sugar Belle replied.

"Is there something you two wanna say to everypony?" Cozy Glow asked, shifting her eyebrows up and down.

"H-hey, this is about you, not us!" Party Favor said, somewhat suspiciously too, at least suspicious enough to Apple Bloom and Applejack.

"Well, depending on how this ends, might need to call Miss Cheerilee and see if she's still single," Apple Bloom muttered.

Twilight wasn't sure what to make of these recent comments, so instead she pushed on, wanting to get back on track. "Flitter, I can ask Princess Celestia, but I can't guarentee anything."

"Well I'll talk to her then, make her see my point of view!" Flitter said. "That filly needs a good parent, I don't know where her real parents are but until they show their faces, somepony's gotta take good care of this filly, and I'm ready to step into that role!"

"You can't be serious," Rainbow Dash said. "Even Fluttershy probably wouldn't be too willing to parent that demon foal, what makes you think you'll be able to pull it off?"

"Um, I never actually said that," Fluttershy said.

"Regardless of whether or not Fluttershy would be willing, I want to try," Flitter said, then turned her attention to Cozy. "Don't get me wrong, I am not happy with what you did, but I still want to help you and be the best parent I can be for you."

"You're wasting your time," Cozy Glow said. "I'm already dead set in my goals, no amount of parenting will change that."

"Don't be so sure," Flitter said, then turned to Twilight. "Just give me a year at least, that's all I request!"

"A year might be too long for Princess Celestia to agree to," Twilight said.

"Ugh, fine, make it half a year, a month, a week, a day...an hour!" Flitter said. "Just give me the opportunity and I promise you I'll make the most of it!"

Twilight could tell Flitter was serious, she really wanted this chance. As Princess of Friendship, she technically had an obligation to give Flitter the chance she so desired, "Alright, I'll talk this over with Princess Celestia, but no promises on her agreeing to this.

"That's fine, I just need the chance, that's all," Flitter said.

Twilight turned to the two trouble-making fillies, "For now, you two are going back to Tartarus, whether or not Cozy Glow comes out is up for debate.

"Wait, before you send me back...can I see Flurry Heart again?" Sonata asked.

"My niece? You mean that same niece that if you accepted our friendship you'd get to see more of?" Twilight asked. "You want to see her?"

"Hey that's my only regret just so you know," Sonata said. "Come on, don't be a jerk, let me see her again."

Twilight shrugged it off, "If it's alright with her parents."

"It's fine," Cadance said. "But only at a distance."

"And if you try anything, we'll destroy you on the spot," Shining Armor warned.

"I'm not gonna hurt Flurry, like I said, I have a policy against hurting foals," Sonata said.

"She does," Cozy confirmed.

"I can vouch," Rumble admitted. "She was the only one who was concerned when her friend broke my wings."

"Much appreciated Rumble," Sonata said, then turned her attention to the Alicorn toddler. "Hi Flurry, my sweet little Princess, I wish we could have spent more time together, but don't worry, soon we'll be reunited and be the best of friends."

"Sonata friend," Flurry said as she trotted over, "Want Sonata."

"Aw, she wants me!" Sonata said. "Well if you want me-"

"I don't think so," Shining Armor said, using his magic to lift up Flurry, "Alright you got to see my daughter, now it's back to Tartarus with you!"

"Wow, rude much?" Sonata said. "I know I'm the 'villain' here, but none of you are behaving like so-called heroes."

"Really makes one think, doesn't it," Cozy Glow said.

"Alright, that's enough," Twilight said, approaching the villains. "I'm gonna take them back to Tartarus, the rest of you stay here."

"Wait you can't go alone, it's not safe," Shining Armor said.

"I'll be fine big brother," Twilight insisted. "It's much faster and less of a strain if I do this alone." Twilight readied her magic, ready to teleport herself along with the villains back to Tartarus. Before leaving, she turned her attention to Tender Taps, "Don't forget our little arrangement Tappy, I'll be back soon."

"I won't," Tender Taps said.

Twilight nodded and then finally transported the two villains away, leaving the rest behind, this while situation just about over.

"Well glad we finally got that taken care of," Applejack said. "Anyone hungry for some pie?"

"I am! I am!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing toward her friend. 

"What type of pie?" Sandbar asked.

"Banana..." Gallus sarcastically responded. "What do you think? They're the apple family, it's gonna be Apple Pie!"

"Anyone else want pie?" Applejack asked. "Rumble, Starlight..." Applejack eyed Sugar Belle. "How about you Sugar? Maybe you can tell us about everything you've been up to lately, I'm sure ah brother would love to know."

"Oh I have nothing really to say," Sugar Belle nervously said.

"Ya sure about that?" Applejack said, suspiciously eyeing the mare. "Ah mean, it seems like you have a lot of interesting things to say. Maybe you wanna bring one of yer friends along too."

"I don't know, I really should be getting back home," Sugar Belle said, nervously taking a few steps back.

"What's the rush?" Applejack said, taking a few steps forward. "Come and join us."

As this little interrogation was going on, Rumble decided to quietly slip away, hoping nopony would notice him. Unfortunately one was very quick to see his attempt at escape.

"Going somewhere, best friend?" he heard Dinky say. He turned around and saw the filly who would never stop reminding others who her best friend was.

"Just, want to be alone for now," Rumble said.

"Alone time huh? Guess I can't blame you," Dinky said. "I mean, getting dragged around Equestria by a manipulative filly, one you thought was your friend, I guess it would take a toll on a pony."

"It's not just that really, I kind of did something stupid," Rumble admitted.

"You mean like flying head first into danger?" Dinky asked. "Kind of used to that from you. Honestly I kind of admire that, though at the same time it also annoys me because then I start to worry about you."

"It's not that, I did something much worse," Rumble said.

"Worse that endangering yourself?" Dinky asked. "This I gotta hear."

"Promise you won't be too mad? Or think less of me when I tell you?" Rumble asked.

"Rumble I'm your best friend, I would never think less of you," Dinky said, stroking his mane. "When it's all said and done, I'm the one who cares about you the most, even more than Sweetie Belle, because relationships can end, but true friendship is forever."

"You almost sound like Twilight," Rumble joked, getting a chuckle from Dinky. "Alright, I'll tell you." Rumble cleared his throat, ready to confess his sins. "I may have...kissed Cozy Glow..."

Dinky's eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what she had heard, "Wait, you and Cozy Glow...you two kissed? Like...smooch kiss, the same type you and Sweetie Belle do?"

"Y-yeah, we did..." Rumble admitted.

Dinky wasn't sure what to make of this, given how lovey-dovey Rumble was with Sweetie Belle, she never would have imagined him even thinking about being with another filly, yet here he was admitting having kissed one. Truthfully, she expected Sweetie Belle to be the one to cheat someday.

"So...you and Cozy..." Dinky repeated, feeling incredibly awkward. "How..."

"Just so it's out there, she kissed me first," Rumble said. "I just didn't, resist. Fully at least."

"So. she made the first move, and you just didn't deny it," Dinky said.

"I may have actually kissed back, like, I don't even know what I was thinking at that moment, I mean part of me only did it to keep her distracted, but another part...I really don't know how to explain it, the situation was so surreal," Rumble said.

"Hm...maybe you're getting tired of Sweetie Belle?" Dinky suggested. "I mean considering how possessive she is of you and the fact that all you two have done was make out as a couple, I'm not too surprised if maybe you want to move on."

"But that can't be it! I missed Sweetie Belle every day at the Flight School, she was my main motivation for doing well!" Rumble said. "I can't be tired of her, I'm still in love with her!"

"Are you really?" Dinky asked. "What about her are you in love with. Honestly there are times where I feel like you just like her for her looks, which is fine, but maybe you need to move on."

"Come on Dinky, you know it's always been more than just her looks," Rumble said. "She's kind, very caring too, so I know it's not just because of how pretty she is."

"Well, why did you return Cozy's kiss then?" Dinky asked.

"I...honestly don't know," Rumble said. "Look the point isn't just that I kissed Cozy Glow, but that Sweetie Belle saw me kissing her."

"She what!?" Dinky asked, then briefly glanced at the filly. "Dang, no wonder she looks so ticked."

"Well now I have to make this up to her, but I don't know how!" Rumble said. "Please Dinky, as my best friend, please tell me what I should do!"

"You want my opinion?" Dinky rhetorically asked. "Go to her later and just pour your heart out. Tell her it was a foolish mistake, a heat of the moment type deal. Also throw in that distraction bit, not sure if she'll believe that but it's worth a shot."

"You really think this will work?" Rumble asked.

"I don't know, it could work, it could fail," Dinky said. "What matters is that you give it your best effort. But, also consider the possibility that you and Sweetie Belle may not last much longer. I know it sounds hard to accept, but it's a possibility nonetheless."

"You know what sucks?" Rumble said. "That you're probably right. I screwed up, and I gotta face the consequences, but I'm not giving her up without a fight."

"I know you won't, because it's against your nature," Dinky said, stroking his mane. "Gotta say, one good thing about you dating Sweetie Belle is how much you've grown since becoming her coltfriend. You used to be so shy, you never felt comfortable talking to anypony, you were always nervous, I even remember when you had such a high pitched voice. Now, you're bolder and much more confident, and your voice is much deeper and more masculine sounding," Dinky started to blush. "Honestly Rumble, you've become much more attractive, so even if things don't work out with Sweetie Belle, you have plenty of options to pick from."

"Funny, Flitter was telling me that I changed a lot too, though I never really noticed it," Rumble admitted.

"Well we have, you've changed, but for the better," Dinky said, then pulled Rumble in for a hug. "The best part is that, you're still the kind and caring colt that we all know and love. I know things are rough for you now, but I will always be by your side."

"Thanks Dinky," Rumble said, returning the hug. "I just hope this works out well."

"Be strong Rumble, I know you can handle whatever happens, for better or worse," Dinky said.





In the depths of Tartarus, Twilight was walking Cozy and Sonata back to their cells, having been joined by Flash Sentry along the way.

"Flash, do me a favor, take Cozy to her cell," Twilight said, then turned to the siren beside them. "I need to have a word alone with Sonata."

"You got it Princess," Flash said, then made his way toward Cozy. "Let's go little filly, don't even think about trying anything funny either."

Cozy feigned a step forward, causing Flash to flinch as she started walking to her cell on her own, "Wimp."

Flash turned awkwardly to Twilight, "Uh, I swear I wasn't scared."

"Whatever you say Flash," Twilight replied, not really that concerned. "Just please go keep an eye on her, and the rest of the villains while you're at it."

"Uh, yes Princess," Flash said, going with Cozy toward the other cells.

"He was totally freaked out," Sonata commented.

Twilight had no reply to that, instead she had something else on her mind, "Sonata, you really disappointed me today."

"Ugh, yeah, I think I get it by now Twilight," Sonata said, getting somewhat annoyed. "

"Do you really?" Twilight asked. "Because I'm not sure you fully understand the gravity of this situation."

"I do!" Sonata said. "I'm not stupid like everypony says I am!"

"I never said you were, I never once questioned your intelligence, I'm just questioning your heart and judgement."

"My heart is with my fellow Sirens!" Sonata said. "Twilight, I know what I did may be wrong to you, I know I betrayed your kindness and the kindness your friends have shown me. Believe it or not,  I am capable of guilt, and I feel pretty rotten for disappointing your friends, especially Flurry Heart, but I couldn't live with knowing I left Adagio and Aria down here!"

"Sonata, if you felt that way, you should have told me, I would have done something for you!" Twilight said. "I could have given them a chance too, I get that you feel loyal to them, I actually admire that, but that doesn't excuse what you did!"

"Well I was desperate!" Sonata said. "You want to hear it, fine. I'm sorry, I really am! I know you were trying to be nice, and I really appreciate that but..." Sonata sighed, "I just couldn't abandon them, even if for a brief moment, I actually considered putting this behind me."

"It's not too late," Twilight said, catching Sonata by surprise. "I can tell that you've got good in you, I don't want that to go to waste. I can offer a chance not only for you but for the rest of you friends."

"You'd really offer me that?" Sonata asked. "After I betrayed you? I really don't get it, why are you being so nice? Is there a catch?"

"No catch, if me and my friends can forgive Discord for betraying our Friendship once, I think I can offer that to you, after all, while what you did was bad, I can understand your motivation," Twilight said. "If you want to be with your friends, you can, but maybe you can have more than just them. What do you say?"

Sonata looked unsure, "I don't know, this is too generous. Especially after how treacherous I was."

"Please, I insist," Twilight said. "I just want to help you and the best way to do so is to offer you my friendship. Now it won't be easy, but if you stick with it, then it will be very much worth it."

"Can we really coexist?" Sonata asked. "Sirens feed off of negative energy, that might be harder to share than the positive energy Changelings feed off of."

"We can make something work," Twilight said. "So, what do you say?"

"Well, if it means a better life for my friends, then yeah, I'm in...but can I make one tiny little request?" Sonata asked.

"Depends on what it is, but sure," Twilight said.

"Please, give this same chance to Cozy Glow," Sonata said. "Honestly I'd say she deserves it more than I do. It's actually bothered me knowing that a filly like her is stuck in a place like this. Please, she deserves the priority even more than I do."

Needless to say, Twilight was a bit impressed to hear this from Sonata, "That's very selfless of you Sonata, this is why I believe you have potential for true Friendship. Maybe you can influence your friends to think this way too, and maybe Chrysalis and Tirek, but somehow I feel like it's a long shot for the both of them."

"Work with what you can for now," Sonata said. "That's my advice really. So, do we have a deal about Cozy Glow?"

"Yes, we do," Twilight said. "Maybe I'll take up Flitter's offer, unless you want to be the one who watches over her."

"I still need to convince my friends, and I want Cozy out as soon as possible," Sonata said. "If you think that Flitter girl can guide Cozy well, then I say to trust her with Cozy's care."

"Alright, I'll talk with Princess Celestia," Twilight said. "This is a really nice thing you're doing Sonata."

"Well I did need to redeem myself a little, I do feel a bit guilty about betraying all of you," Sonata said. "Just promise that Cozy Glow will get a fair chance."

"I'll do my best," Twilight promised.

"You are the Princess of Friendship, so I expect your best," Sonata said. "But I think you'll do great, Cozy did say you're good with foals."

"Speaking of foals, may I ask why you seem so interested in my niece Flurry Heart?" Twilight asked.

"Well duh, she's super cute, and I wish she was my daughter," Sonata said. "But I'm pretty sure I ruined my chances of being her friend when I pulled the stunt I pulled. Like I said, it's my biggest regret."

"And like I said, others have pulled through from this," Twilight said. "I believe everypony should get a second chance, I mean for you it might be a third chance, but Trixie has been adamant that ponies deserve a third chance as well, so my advice, try to befriend Trixie, I think she'll be able to help you out a lot."

"Thanks...wait which one's Trixie?" Sonata asked.

"She's a pony with a wizard hat, she occasionally talks in the third pony," Twilight said.

"Oh...that's kind of weird, but to each their own," Sonata said. "Well I should get back to my cell, Adagio's gonna be mad when she finds out I failed."

"If you want, I can go over there and make a big deal, like you were so cunning and we got lucky," Twilight offered.

"That's really nice of you, but I can handle this on my own," Sonata said, smirking a bit. "Thank you Princess Twilight, maybe one day we really can have that sleepover."

"I look forward to it," Twilight said. "Also, for what it's worth, I'm sorry I had to beat you up before."

"Don't worry, I let you do that," Sonata boasted, trotting away toward her cell as Twilight giggled to herself.

"I hope she can turn herself around, she seems like a pleasure to be with, when she's not evil at least," Twilight said, then teleported away.





Back at Ponyville, everypony was still waiting around for what's to come next, with Rumble still sulking in a corner, being tended to Dinky, as well as Flurry Heart, who had made her way over to him upon noticing his saddened state.

Sweetie Belle was off by herself, obviously in a bad mood, though not many ponies, nor the Friendship Students had approached her, she was in no mood to talk, even Rarity had trouble getting her to open up. Many just guessed it had to do with everything that happened with Cozy Glow, but Rarity suspected something much more. Also Applejack was still somewhat suspiciously eyeing Sugar Belle, the mare trying to find comfort among her friends.

Twilight had landed back in Ponyville, everypony quick to gather around her, expecting to hear some potentially important info.

"So, things go peachy Twi?" Applejack asked.

"They didn't give you much trouble did they?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Everything went fine, Cozy and Sonata are back in their cells and there will be no more trouble from them anytime soon," Twilight said. "However there is still one last thing we need to attend to. I need to see Princess Celestia about something, and I think it's important that Spike, Starlight, my brother, Princess Cadance, my fellow elements and Flitter all join me."

"Uh, run that last part by us again," Rainbow Dash said. "It sounded like you wanted Flitter there too."

"I do," Twilight said, turning to the mare. "Flitter, I need you to come with us to Canterlot."

"Wow really? Didn't expect that," Flitter said. "Any reason? I'm not an element, your pupil, or your family. I'm not even royalty, or a Wonderbolt, I'm just Flitter."

"Well you're a key pony for this meeting, so I'd really appreciate if you came," Twilight said.

"Well if you really want me, then alright, I'll join you," Flitter said.

"Good, we'll leave as soon as possible," Twilight said.

"Yeah, I like the idea Twi," Rainbow Dash began. "But any chance it can wait a bit, Applejack promised us some pies and I need a break."

"I could use one as well, all this stress is not good for my complexion," Rarity said.

"Plus we're gonna need time to find somepony to foalsit Flurry," Shining Armor said.

"Um, I can do that," Sunburst said. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Or I can, I've got experience with foalsitting," Cloudchaser said.

"Ooh! How about me!" Dinky offered. "I can do it!"

"Dinky I still foalsit you, how can you foalsit another pony?" Derpy said.

"Hey, I'm growing up aren't I?" Dinky said, then did a foreleg flex. "Besides me and Flurry are pretty tight by now."

"Tight!" Flurry followed up with the same type of flex.

"We'll take some time to decide," Cadance said. "Right now, let's just relax a bit, if that's alright with Twilight."

"Sure, it's fine, works out well to," Twilight said. "Because I have a date to get to."

"Uh...a date?" Shining Armor asked.

"You heard me big brother," Twilight said, turning her attention to Tender Taps. "Let's go Tappy."

"Y-yes Princess Twilight!" Tender Taps said, following Twilight toward her castle.

"...I feel like she's getting carried away with this flirting she's doing to that colt, I hope she doesn't get his hopes up too high," Shining Armor said.

"Have some faith, I don't think she would do that maliciously, maybe she's interested in him," Cadance said. "She's just grooming him a bit more so he'd be the ideal coltfriend, maybe even more."

"I still find it pretty odd," Shining Armor said. "I mean I guess I can try to trust her decision but, sometimes she can make weird choices."

"Well she always has good intentions, even if it's playful flirting, at least she's giving him attention, who knows, she might just be trying to make him more confident when talking to fillies," Cadance said. "If mares saw that he was 'dating' Twilight, they'd likely become more interested, and as time passes and he gets older, she might just fall for him herself. It's important to look at the positives more than the negatives."

"Yeah I guess," Shining Armor said as he and Cadance walked off to find their daughter.





At Twilight's castle, the Princess had let herself inside with Tender Taps following afterwards. "Since we only have a short time, we'll just settle for spending time in my castle, I'm sure you won't mind."

"Not at all," Tender Taps said, huge grin on his face.

"Come join me in the room where the Cutie Map is, we'll have some cookies," Twilight said. "Spike just baked a batch, it was intended for Rumble, before Spike forgot that Rumble rarely eats sweets."

"Well it was still nice of Spike, maybe we should save at least one for Rumble," Tender Taps said.

"Aw, so thoughtful," Twilight said, using her magic to teleport the cookies, continuing on trotting to the table. The two sat at the table, with Twilight at her seat and Tender Taps sitting where Spike would normally sit.

Twilight took one bite of her cookie, moaning in delight. "Wow, Spike really did well with these!"

Tender Taps also took a bite, sharing Twilight's sentiments, "Spike's a great cook, I should try his food more often."

"He's especially good at sweets, maybe because he himself is so sweet," Twilight said, then rubbed Tender Taps's mane. "Just like you."

"You're always so nice Twilight," Tender Taps said, then tried to think of something else to say. He finally had a date of sorts with Twilight, yet now he was practically speechless.

"Say Tappy, may I get your opinion on something?" Twilight said.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Tender Taps asked.

"Tell me, what's your opinion on Cozy Glow?" Twilight asked. "Should she stay in Tartarus, or should she be given a second chance?"

"Huh? Why are you asking me? I barely really knew Cozy," Tender Taps said.

"I just want your perspective, that's all," Twilight said. "I mean if you don't have any opinions at all, that's fine, I can figure something out myself."

"Well, in my opinion, if she has a chance to change, then she should be given that chance," Tender Taps said. "I think she's probably a little misguided, I don't know how she grew up or why she's so bad but I can't believe she's irredeemable...even if she did hit me in the eye," Tender Taps rubbed the eye where he got hit. "But if you think there's a chance for her, then she should get that chance."

"You really think that?" Twilight said. "Well then, thanks for helping me in my decision. I do feel somewhat responsible for Cozy Glow, since she was one of my students. I should have gotten through to her better, maybe she needs a chance to change, everypony deserves one. Even Sonata desires the opportunity for Cozy Glow to change, I admire how selfless she is about it."

"Wow, that's nice of Sonata to say," Tender Taps said. "Too bad she couldn't change either."

"She tried, but she has her own struggles," Twilight said. "It's my little project now, to help Sonata, her fellow Sirens and Cozy Glow."

"If anypony can do it Twilight, it's you," Tender Taps said. "Because you've shown me that there's no goal that's unreachable, and that's why you're my favorite pony, that's why I praise you as my Princess, that's why...it's why I fell in love with you."

Twilight was a little surprised by Tender Taps's choice of words. "Fell in love? Wow that's stronger than having a crush."

"I know it sounds weird coming from me, but I really do think I'm in love with you," Tender Taps said. "And right now, I have to be honest about it. I love you Twilight Sparkle, and one day, I want to marry you, I want to have foals with you one day, and honestly, I know how to have foals, and I want to even do that with you!"

That just left a huge blush on Twilight's face, then a huge blush on Tender Taps's face, who now feels like he might have gotten carried away.

"That's...quite something Tappy," Twilight said.

"...Ignore that last part, but I'm serious about the first part, I really do love you Twilight," Tender Taps said.

Twilight shook off the awkward and focused back at the foal, "Well, I appreciate you telling me."

"I know you probably don't feel the same way since I'm still pretty young," Tender Taps said. "But I had to get it off my chest."

"Hey, don't count yourself out," Twilight said, leaning down to Tender Taps, looking right into his eyes. "One day, I am gonna want you, because I can tell you're special. Tender Taps, I promise, I will wait for you, and the moment you become a stallion, I will become your mare."

Tender Taps responded in a way Twilight would never forget. He grabbed Twilight and planted a huge kiss on the mare, really getting in deep with it. Twilight felt a bit awkward though and gently pushed away, though did feel flattered at his displays of affection.

"Sorry, I had to," Tender Taps said.

"It's fine, I didn't mind it too much," Twilight said. "Just keep the passion down a little, save it for when we're both good and ready."

Tender Taps nodded, "Yes Twiley."

Twilight then kissed his muzzle, "Though some kisses I don't mind."

Tender Taps giggled, then returned the kiss to her muzzle as the two embraced in a hug.





Later that night as Twilight and her friends went to Canterlot, Sweetie Belle was alone for the evening. Rarity wasn't sure how long this would take and already planned a place to stay overnight. Most of the other ponies celebrated a bit too long, which led to the delay of going to Canterlot.

Starlight's friends went home with Sunburst, Flurry stayed with Dinky and her family and Sweetie Belle was home alone.

Rumble knew this was his best chance to talk to her, so after dark, he went to the Boutique, knocking gently on the door.

Sweetie Belle answered, but not to Rumble's surprised, looked quite unhappy. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah I guess you wouldn't be too happy to see me," Rumble nervously said.

"What is it Rumble?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Here to boast about your other marefriend?"

"Cozy's not my marefriend, I swear I don't like her that way," Rumble said.

"That kiss said otherwise," Sweetie Belle replied.

"She kissed me though, I didn't initiate the kiss," Rumble said.

"But you held onto it," Sweetie Belle said. "Rumble, I've seen other fillies kiss you and I forgave those because I could tell you didn't care for it. This time you looked like you enjoyed it, you were even hugging her!"

"I...I don't know what came over me, but...but..." Rumble couldn't think of an explanation.

"Rumble, you cheated on me, you betrayed me, do you have any idea how I felt at that moment!?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Of course, you felt...you felt..." Rumble started thinking and in a way, this was close to how he felt when he found out Cozy Glow was in fact evil. "You felt hurt, betrayed, like your feelings were nothing. You thought you could trust someone, you thought you knew someone, and they weren't being who you thought they were. You feel hurt and simple apologies aren't going to be enough." Rumble sighed in defeat, he knew he messed up and now he has to face the consequences. "I understand exactly what you're going through Sweetie Belle, funny within the span of like an hour, I went from feeling quite betrayed to becoming what had hurt me, and to know I had hurt you that way, it's unforgivable." Rumble gently stroked Sweetie Belle's mane, though she had her head turned away. "I truly am sorry, I know an apology not enough but it's something I feel like you deserve, in fact you deserve much more than that, you deserve better. You deserve better than me Sweetie Belle."

"Better than you?" Sweetie Belle asked, curiously glancing at Rumble, who was about to make the hardest choice of his life.

"Sweetie Belle...maybe we should break up," Rumble said, taking the filly by surprise. While she wasn't exactly thrilled at what Rumble did and while she started having second thoughts about him, she didn't expect him to be the one who ends this relationship.

"Wait, break-up?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I hurt you, and I can't forgive myself for that, I don't want you dating somepony like me who can do something like that to you. I care about you too much to leave you feeling unhappy, so I'm gonna set you free to find somepony better," Rumble said.

Sweetie Belle was at a loss for words, he's not even trying to beg for her forgiveness, he's just ridding himself away from her. "Rumble wait..."

"No, you don't need me Sweetie Belle, you're a very beatiful filly with such a kind personality, I'm just a jerk who messed up badly," Rumble said. "Maybe we were too young for this, maybe I wasn't ready to have a marefriend. It's been a great run, this past year and a half has been the greatest in my life, I got to spend time with you. I mean yeah the last half of a year I've been away but that kiss we had, totally worth the wait. Nopony could match that type of magic like you. So thanks for sticking by me Sweetie Belle, and making my wildest dreams come true. I may not find a mare as great as you, but I know you'll find a stallion better than me, one who won't forget how happy you make him. If not a stallion, maybe a nice mare yourself, I've seen some fillies eyeing you, kind of made me jealous."

"But, Rumble..." Sweetie Belle tried to say.

"It's fine, don't worry about me Sweetie Belle," Rumble said, about to turn around. "I'll leave you to your new life."

Before he could turn fully, Sweetie Belle had rushed out in front of him, tears streaming down her eyes, "Rumble, please just wait!"

"Huh? What is it?" Rumble asked, wiping her tears. "Why are you crying?"

"Rumble, you can't just end it like this!" Sweetie Belle said. "I know you did something bad, but I think we could still work something out...what you just said reminded me of why I fell in love with you! I mean yeah, you messed up big time, but you were willing to accept responsibility! Not many colts would do that! Please, I can't just let this end!"

"Sweetie Belle, I'm sorry," Rumble said. "I don't trust myself anymore, I don't want to hurt you again."

"Rumble, if you leave, it would hurt ten times as much!" Sweetie Belle insisted. "Look, I forgive you alright? Don't break this up, I can't...I waited so long for you to come back! I..."

Rumble stopped Sweetie Belle, then brought her in for another kiss. This one he felt more passion for, and Sweetie Belle could tell, oh how she loved his kisses. "I'm sorry, I do love you, I don't think I'll stop loving you but..." Rumble wiped some of his own tears. "We have to do this, it's for our own good."

"Please, don't Rumble," Sweetie Belle sobbed. "I don't want you to go..."

"We can still be friends at least, might be awkward but a break would do us good," Rumble said, then stroked her mane. "Besides, it doesn't have to be forever."

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle said, looking up with hope in her eyes.

"Look, maybe 'break-up' wasn't a good phrase, more like, let's take a break," Rumble said. "If we're meant to be, we'll get back together, but it's important that we know for sure. Let's face it, we got together by accident, and it was an awkward transition for us. Maybe it was too soon for us to settle right now, so we'll take a break, maybe date other ponies and really see if whether or not we're made for each other."

Sweetie Belle still looked unconvinced, "But...what if..."

"Sweetie Belle, just trust me, alright?" Rumble said. "Look if I can kiss Cozy Glow, or rather, if I can return her kiss, then it shows I have some growing up to do still. I want to be able to do this without making you stand by and feel hurt. I won't do that to you. Please, let this end, just for the moment, and one day, it can happen all over again, but better."

Sweetie Belle still felt a pain in her heart, but reluctantly she had to agree. Rumble was doing this to better their relationship and make sure they'd both be happy. It was a huge risk, but if he had some faith they'd get back together, she had to as well. "Alright...but can you break up tomorrow, let's have one more night together as a couple."

"One more night huh..." Rumble said. "Funny, there's actually something I've wanted to do with you for a while, I mean I never asked because we were so young, but I feel ready now."

"Whatever it is, I'll do it," Sweetie Belle said.

Rumble blushed quite a lot as the thoughts passed through his head, "Alright, one more night together...I'm gonna make it your greatest night you've experienced. Let's go inside."

Sweetie Belle nodded and followed her soon to be ex-coltfriend inside, where the two would show one last bit of their love to each other, at least for the time being.





The following morning came, Rumble had made his way out of the Boutique. He's really fortunate that Rarity wasn't home last night, less to explain. Sometimes he wonders why Sweetie Belle even stays at Rarity's so often, how often could their parents possibly be traveling after all. He still felt some hurt, knowing he had to let the mare he loved be free, but maybe this could only strengthen their love should they reunite.

And he had a good feeling about that.

As he walked down the street, a certain friend got his attention. "Hey Rumble!"

Rumble turned to see Dinky and Flurry, the two very happy to see him. "Hi girls."

"So how was it with Sweetie Belle?" Dinky asked. "Did you work anything out?"

"Yeah...we're breaking up," Rumble said. "Or rather we broke up, officially this morning."

"You actually broke up with her!?" Dinky asked. "Holy crap! I can't believe it's over!"

"Just for now, maybe I need to experience being with other fillies," Rumble said. "Maybe we'll get back together, but right now, I'm a free colt."

"Well, whatever you go through, I'll be right there by your side best bud," Dinky said. "I'll do everything in my power to make you feel less lonely until you're ready to find love again."

"Aw thanks Dinky, you're the-" Rumble was interrupted when Dinky pulled him in for a kiss. This Rumble did not expect, since the two had stressed quite often that they were not going to start dating, so why Dinky was kissing him he didn't know. Once she broke away, he only had one question. "Uh...why?"

"I said I'd help you feel less lonely, didn't I?" Dinky asked.

"But we said we wouldn't date each other," Rumble reminded.

"But we're not though," Dinky explained. "Look, we don't ever have to be coltfriend and marefriend, but that doesn't mean we can't kiss or something like that. Let's face it, you're a growing colt and I'm a growing filly, we both have desires now and you make me feel all funny inside. Sorry bud, but I have the hots for you, but I've accepted that we'll never date." She then wrapped her forelegs affectionately around Rumble, "But that doesn't mean we can't pretend. Whenever you want, I'm there as a make-out buddy, or anything else you'd like to do."

Rumble began blushing, this was a weird turn of events, "Uh..."

"Just think about it, see the best thing is that even if we do these things, I won't get mad if another filly tries to flirt with you, I'll step aside and let you have fun," Dinky said, stepping back.

"Rumble," Flurry said, wrapping her forelegs around him. "Love Rumble."

"There's your first filly, give her a nice big kiss," Dinky said.

"She's a toddler," Rumble reminded.

"I won't tell anyone," Dinky said with a wink.

Rumble rolled his eyes, "That's not the-" Rumble felt distracted when Flurry moved closer to his face, trying to kiss him. "Hey cut that out!"

"Well give her a few years, then you two can make-out yourselves," Dinky said.

"You're not helping!" Rumble said, trying to keep Flurry away.

"Kissy! Kissy!" Flurry said, moving in to kiss Rumble's face, much to his annoyance.

"How cute, want me to join in?" Dinky asked. "I'm up for that stuff just so you know."

Rumble just started pitifully as Flurry continued to pepper his face with kisses, "I swear, you've become really weird lately and I don't know if-" He then felt himself locked in a kiss with Flurry, the toddler taking him by surprise. It took him a few seconds to react, and he did so by forcefully separating himself. "Come on Flurry!"

"Love Rumble, want more Rumble," Flurry said, all lovestruck again.

Rumble handed Flurry over to Dinky, "Try to keep her hormones under control, yours too." Rumble then flew off, "I need a break."

"Don't worry Flurry, he'll come around," Dinky said.

"Love Rumble," Flurry stated, hearts still in her eyes.

"Me too Flurry," Dinky said, positioning the Princess on her back. "Come on, let's grab a bite to eat."

Rumble flew off, still weirded out by Dinky and Flurry, "Well at least my morning can't get any weirder."

Suddenly he was tackled out of the sky by an oncoming Cozy Glow, "Surprise!"

"What the heck!?" Rumble turned to the filly. "Cozy Glow!?"

"Yupperoni!" Cozy Glow said. "Princess Twilight let me come out of my cell again, now I'm living with your foalsitter Flitter. In fact she's right over there!"

Cozy pointed to Flitter, who happily waved at Rumble, "I convinced Princess Celestia to let her stay with me!"

"She's trying to reform me, we'll see how that goes," Cozy Glow said. "But I can behave as long as I'm with you Rumbly-Boo. So what should we do first? How's Sweetie Belle doing? Are you two still together? Did you break-up? Can I be your new marefriend?"

Rumble sighed in annoyance, "Well, this is my life now..." Deep down, he just wanted to be with Sweetie Belle again, but one day, he knew it would happen. He still longs for her affection, and he'll prove himself worthy to her soon.

He is not one to just give up on something so precious.