What if Cozy Glow ended up having to do her own little test provided by the Tree of Harmony during "What Lies Beneath"?
[Spoliers for What Lies Beneath] Cozy Glow DID have a plan in the works. It was simple and it was easy. All she had to do was get it in every creature's minds that their friendship wasn't natural. A fight would occur, she would lead them all to the Tree, and then they could fix all her problems without her having to raise a hoof! With an excuse at the end~!
That was the plan, but Cozy Glow had decided that instead of them finding the place themselves, she would take them to the grate in person. In the end, she accidentally got herself wrapped up into the dark roots below that waited to see what her fears were... and if she could face them.
Today was another day of learning and friendship for Twilight's history class. On the board was a chalk diagram of the legendary Tree of Harmony itself. Something that apparently helped the Main 6 during their most difficult villain encounters.
However, as Cozy Glow listened in on the lesson and stared at this impressive sketch made by the alicorn professor herself she couldn't help but think of one thing. A nuisance. That tree had been nothing more but an obstacle that got in her way! It infuriated her. Yet despite her anger towards the magical living tree, the young pink pegasus continued to sit there looking cute and taking notes. Gotta become Twilight's right hoof pony someday somehow, right? So she stayed her innocent and attentive little self with her attention also on the creatures sitting nearby. They all seemed frustrated and annoyed, especially that griffin named Gallus. Maybe she could work with this..?
The princess and headmare of the school paced in front of the chalkboard as she went on with her lesson, "The Tree of Harmony remains one of the most powerful sources of magic known to pony(dom), and though it has been at the root of magic and friendship from the moment it was planted, it's ways are mysterious. Almost as if it has a mind of it's own~!" Twilight turned to her students and waved her hooves in a mystifying manner in order to emphasize her point.
Smolder's unconvinced voice cut in, "Mind? Pft. It's. A tree." The orange dragon leaned back, raising a brow.
"A tree that grew a castle!" Twilight refuted, gesturing to the window behind her class.
Several gasps and quiet comments of disbelief rippled through the room as they all looked through the wide window that gave them the perfect view of the magical crystal castle in the distance. If one looked closely enough they'll see the branches of the tree itself growing along the walls of the shining palace, perfectly carrying the rest of the structure up to form the beautiful sight.
"Was that before or after Discord made chocolate rain..?" Silverstream looked through her notes in confusion, her ears drooping and her brows furrowed in thought as she struggled to figure out the timeline of Equestrian history.
Cozy Glow kept herself from rolling her eyes and instead leaned forward by the hippogriff's ear, "After." It didn't hurt to assist once in a while. She was a helpful pony friend after all~!
"I'm never going to learn pony history!" Gallus shouted into the sky, clutching his notes firmly in his talons.
Then just like that, the bell rang.
"You can all show me what you've learned on tomorrow's test," Twilight announced to the dismay of her students, "Friendship's effect on the course of equestrian history!"
"Awww..." Everyone let out a loud groan throughout the classroom. Cozy Glow however? She happily clapped her hooves together. She wasn't too worried about the test. No, she had that completely covered! The young filly knew more than enough to pass that kind of thing! That wasn't the only reason she was so happy however. The three creatures who were clearly struggling through their history lessons had given her a wonderfully brilliant idea!
"Remember! Study groups are both fun and effective!" The professor chirped as the students began to leave.
Oh yes Headmare Sparkle... they'll be effective alright. Effective for Cozy Glow's upcoming plans, that is! And Twilight was going to help her get there. The bubbly filly happily walked up to Professor Twilight with a grin as the classroom cleared out, "Excuse me professor... I was wondering if maybe you'd like any help with the library today?"
The young group of six currently mingled in the school's library. Silverstream was perusing the books with interest while Sandbar and Ocellus sat at a table with Gallus and Smolder who were both struggling to understand the previous history lessons Twilight had taught them. In response to their struggles, Sandbar and Ocellus figured they could help by gathering their own notes and some pictures that were key images of historical pony events. Sandbar plucked up a picture of the Tree of Harmony itself with his mouth and showed it off to the others while the colorful changeling next to him gestured to it with a grin, hoping the other two creatures would be able to explain the past of the tree correctly.
Smolder gave a skeptic shrug, "The elements of harmony grew the tree?"
Sandbar and Ocellus let out a sigh, "No... The Pillars grew the tree." Ocellus explained with a reassuring smile, wanting them to know there was no harm in not knowing the answer.
"The tree grew the elements," Sandbar continued with a raised hoof, "And then the box with six locks."
"But our professors found the six keys and unlocked the box!" Ocellus finished.
Gallus and Smolder blankly stared at their tutors before glancing at one another. "... I'm so going to fail." The griffin grumbled while facepalming at his own shame. Smolder quietly agreed as she rubbed her arms with uncertainty.
"You guys!!" Silverstream jumped up in front of the others at the study table with unrestrained excitement, "Check this out!" The hippogriff opened a book with some drawings of pipes and sinks scrawled onto the papers, showing them off to the group with a glowing twinkle in her eyes.
The group curiously stared at the papers with puzzled expressions. Their eyes went from the pictures to their cheerfully delighted friend. After giving the pages one look Gallus decided to speak up on behalf of the group's bewildered stares, "That's a plumbing diagram on how to fix a sink."
Silverstream giggled and nodded enthusiastically as she held the book up to her chest, hugging it close.
"What does that have to do with equestrian history?" Sandbar asked, looking perplexed.
"Nothing!" Silverstream beamed, "I just can't believe that's how sinks work!" She happily tossed the book to the side, disregarding it completely.
Once the book landed somewhere behind a shelf, Cozy Glow quietly picked it up off the ground, dusted it with a wing, and intently listened in on the other's conversation as she went to place the thrown out book back in its place.
"Where's Yona?" The hippogriff chirped, curiously glancing around and forgetting sinks entirely.
Gallus looked over to a large beanbag where his yak friend currently sat "studying" with a book over her face. He made his way on over and plucked up the blue book to reveal Yona sleeping instead of reading a thing in this boring old history novel. A loud snore erupted from her to show she was living it up in dreamland with Luna.
"Hahah apparently... Yaks no love study groups!" Smolder chimed in, mimicking Yona in a more comedic and stereotypical yak fashion.
Gallus hushed Smolder and smirked. He chuckled as he flapped his wings and hovered up to Yona's side, raising a talon as he carefully inched closer to her. Then, he tapped his claws against her forehead, purposefully making it so it would feel like a little critter making its way across her muzzle. From there all he had to do was sit back and watch.
Yona grunted and pawed at her face with a hoof while her expression scrunched up with tired confusion. Then suddenly, her green eyes snapped open and she jumped right out of her seat, "SPIDER!! Oh no!" The yak cried out, flailing and freaking out as she tried to wipe the imaginary spider off her face before landing back on her beanbag. She covered her face, ready to protect herself in case those scary arachnids came back. When nothing happened she opened an eye and looked up to see her friends. The yak blinked, shocked, and then the group exploded with laughter. Yona was still shaken but she felt relieved knowing it was just her friends messing around and not an actual spider! She could only picture what her reaction must've looked like to the others!
The laughter came to a halt however as another giggle rippled through the library. They all looked up to see Cozy Glow standing on a ladder in order to get to the top of a shelf a bit away from them. It seems she was watching from a distance.
"Hey Cozy," Sandbar came up to the filly, greeting her with a warm smile, "What're you doing here?" She didn't seem like she needed help when it came to Twilight's history lessons before. He couldn't see her coming here to study.
"I volunteered to help Professor Sparkle organize these books," The little filly pointed at the shelf of books with her hoof, "So... Experts on friendship history yet?" The pegasus jumped down, using her wings to glide onto a stack of books on the floor.
"Think I'd be better off studying the plumbing book..." Gallus huffed, "This stuff is impossible..!"
Suddenly, Ocellus abruptly transformed into Twilight Sparkle, "Oh come on Gallus," She went to say, mimicking the professor's voice perfectly, "With good friends and solid study habits, anything is possible!" She hopped up onto a small table nearby as she addressed the others. This gave Gallus a good chuckle.
"How about you just tell us what's on tomorrow's test professor?" Smolder playfully asked, gaining a lively response from the others who began to ask the fake Twilight for answers. Cozy Glow however didn't join them in on their fun.
As the group bombarded the fake Twilight, Ocellus turned herself instead into Applejack. The element of honesty, "Now hold on a sec," A perfect imitation of Applejack's voice rung out with accent and all, "I can't give ya'll a sneak peek. That there wouldn't be honest!" She pointed to the sky to emphasize the point before looking at the others joyfully.
Everyone in the group clutched their stomachs as they laughed, finding the copies to be hilarious! Cozy Glow meanwhile gave the group a frown and made her way up over to the table in front of them. She gently bumped into Ocellus who was currently Applejack and moved the changeling aside in order to stand in her place instead.
The young pink filly cleared her throat, getting the others attention, "Golly! It's so inspiring how relaxed you all are about studying friendship... Considering your disadvantage." She lowered her head, looking between the others with a concerned expression.
"What cute pony mean?" Yona questioned.
"Just consider where you all came from!" Cozy Glow pointed at the group of creatures, "If Sandbar hadn't sacrificed so much of his time to get you up to speed, who knows how behind you'd be?" She jumped off the table, flapping her wings behind her.
Sandbar, baffled, slowly turned to his friends, "That's not what-"
"I mean," Cozy Glow continued as she flew up next to Ocellus, "Growing up as a love-starved changeling?" She asked, placing a hoof under the other's chin. "Or hiding underwater from an evil king all those years??" The little pegasus abruptly made her way up to Silverstream, cowering under her hooves as she spoke, "Trusting any creature must be so hard for you!" "And griffins?" She hovered over to Gallus, pressing a hoof against his chest, "They never want to be around any creature! Even other griffins." Cozy shrugged matter-of-factly before zipping on over to Smolder. "And dragons are so fierce compared to us! There must be days you can't wait to get away from all us cute ponies..." Her wide eyes repeatedly blinked as she adorably batted her lashes towards the dragon. She then appeared in front of Yona, "Everypony knows that "Yaks thinks yaks are best!" Cozy placed her hooves by her head as yak horns and mimicked Yona's way of talking, "Making friends with any other creature must seem like a step down..." She turned away, fluttering back over to the small table from before.
Yona responded with a long frown, unable to say anything as the words she had caught in her throat. Why was little pony saying all this..?
"It's just so impressive how you keep trying to understand friendship! Even though it isn't in your nature... " The young pegausus said smugly to the group of six as they gave each other an uncertain glance before dejectedly turning their attention to the ground instead, "Oh! I'll let you borrow my notes! It's what friends do. I'll be right back!" Cozy Glow promised before making her way off the table to prance off elsewhere.
The group of creatures stood there for a moment, looking uncomfortable and unsure. The only one to break that tense silence was Silverstream who had finally decided to speak up, "We..." She began, everyone turning their attention to her, "... Should get back to studying."
The group hesitated before heading back to their original table to pluck up books and notes to begin preparations for the test coming up tomorrow.
Cozy Glow stopped at the library's door and gave the other's a glance. She smirked at them and at the general direction of the grate in the far corner. From that grate was a blue glowing root that poked its way out through the golden bars. Just one more step and then it'll be smooth sailings from there... For her of course. She silently giggled into her hoof before fluttering away, off to gather her notes.
The library was quiet. Well, more quiet than usual. There was a tense atmosphere, especially around the six diverse friends as they all sat at a table with their books. They were all intently reading through equestrian's history with painstakingly numb concentration as they tried to cram every little detail into their head. Gallus especially was doing just that. He read and re-read and yet some things here and there just didn't make sense to him... or were too boring for him to care. What was really starting to bug Gallus however was the tapping. Silverstream didn't like to sit still too long he's come to noticed. She needed sound and movement but right now there was none of that. She tapped and tapped away at the table with her talon, not noticing how every time she did Gallus was on the brink of losing it.
Finally, it came to a point he could no longer stand it, "Would you stop that clicking? I'm trying to focus!" He fumed with his wings raised behind him.
"Dude..." Sandbar glared at the griffin after they exploded on Silverstream.
"What? We have a test!" Gallus argued, "I don't know every detail about every adventure that the professors went on like you do."
Smolder would scoff, "Right, to help us "disadvantaged" creatures." The dragon grumbled, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Yona confused." The yak piped in with a troubled look, "Why we all upset?"
"Is this friendship thing putting a strain on all of you creatures?" Cozy Glow innocently asked as she made her way back into the library with a pile of notes in her hooves, "I get it, sometimes it's not easy... but I think together we could all figure this out!"
"What should we figure out first?" Smolder growled, "Equestrian history or the fact our friendship isn't natural?"
"This is a lot to put on us for one night..." Silverstream sighed, looking back down at her book, "But we shouldn't be snapping at each other because of all this..."
Sandbar nodded, "I agree with Silverstream, we could do better together instead of getting all worked up about all of this."
"Easy for you to say," Gallus murmured, "You're a pony."
The earth pony blinked in surprise, "And- And what's that supposed to mean??"
"Okay okay, every creature calm down..." Cozy Glow jumped in, hovering above the middle of the table, "Listen, maybe it would be better if we did a quick friendship-building exercise..? Maybe that could help put all of you at ease and then we can get straight back to studying afterwards! If it helps with your little dilemmas of course..."
Smolder raised a brow at the little pegasus as Ocellus considered the suggestion, "A friendship-building exercise? Like what?"
"Oh! Yona have idea!" Yona bellowed as she stood, "Yona go climb tall book shelf! Then, Yona close eyes and fall back. You catch Yona! Just like Professor Dash's trust exercise!"
"Exactly like it." Gallus blankly stated, "But I don't think what we're looking for here is trust. I already trust you all enough..."
"Aww!" Silverstream cooed, resting her talons over her heart.
"I think what we're looking for is certainty." Smolder grumpily put in with her eyes glaring at nothing.
"Well, I have an idea!" Cozy Glow chimed in, "I did find something earlier and I was hoping that I could get some help figuring out what it is. Maybe if we all figure it out together and explored a bit we could better fix your friendship!"
The group looked at one another, blinking. Some did contemplate the idea, though.
"Okay, what's this thing you're talking about?" Sandbar asked as he stood ready to follow after the filly.
"Oh it's just this way in this library! Hehe, follow me!" The pink pegasus giggled as she made her way to the back of the library.
One by one each friend got up and trailed after the filly, curious to see what exactly she found... and hoping that this "exercise" could help distract them from their concerning thoughts. Smolder however was the last to follow. Something didn't sit right with her when it came to Cozy Glow and it was really starting to bother her. Despite these worries though, the dragon found herself hurrying after her friends as well. She could really go for a distraction too.
The young filly lead the group all to a grate of some sort in one dark corner. She propped it more open, looked to the others, and gestured to the glowing root that made its way out from the darkness below, "What do you all suppose that is?"
Silverstream crept closer to the grate to inspect the blue glow, "I only glanced at that plumbing book but I'm pretty sure this isn't supposed to be here."
Smolder then made her way over to the grate and poked her head through it, curiously examining the peculiar caverns underneath.
"What're you doing?" Ocellus gave Smolder an uneasy stare, not wanting her friend to get hurt from the strange limb protruding from the ground.
Smolder looked at the changeling like it should've been obvious, "Dragon. Strange magical cave. What do you think I'm doing?" Then before anyone could protest their scaly friend had jumped down into the unknown below.
The group looked at one another in silent consideration before Silverstream trotted forward, hopping down along with Smolder. Yona was the next to follow, hopping in hindlegs first before getting herself stuck. She struggled to nudge herself down before Ocellus came up and helped her into the caves with a good push. Once Yona was through the changeling easily followed behind.
Now all that was left up above was Gallus, Sandbar, and Cozy Glow. The griffin and earth pony were about to make their way in, Gallus planning to just dive bomb for it, but then paused noticing Cozy Glow had taken a couple steps back away from the grate. They looked up, confused, and saw an anxious expression on the little filly's face.
"Um... Golly, you all go without me. I'm sorry I'm just not as brave as all of you are. I don't know what's down there." The little pegasus whimpered, bowing her head in defeat.
"Well, neither do we." Gallus added, "You sure you just want to stay up here by yourself though?"
The pegasus gave a nod. "I'm sorry, it's a little... scary."
"We understand," Sandbar gave a reassuring smile, "We'll just tell you what's down there later so just wait here and-"
Suddenly, Gallus let out a surprised shout as the root by his feet moved. Like as if it had a mind of its own! The root seemed to scan the area, "looking" at both Gallus and Sandbar before its "gaze" landed on Cozy. The root gave off a beaming blue glow that surrounded itself and soon, surrounded the little filly.
"Wha- What's happening???" Cozy yelped, flailing her wings and her hooves as she was plucked up off the ground. The poor filly was now hovering, unable to get back down, "Help me! It's doing something!!"
"Cozy! Don't worry we'll-" Sandbar was barely able to finish that sentence when the young filly was suddenly tossed into the hole as well, landing somewhere in the caverns below, "Oh no, is she okay??" Sandbar yelled as he hurried into the grate along with Gallus who got by him first to swiftly check on the state of the little pegasus.
"Little pony seems fine!" Yona called as Sandbar clambered his way in from some strange crystallized root that went all the way down from the grate to the cave floor.
"Ow... Easy for you to say..!" Cozy Glow groaned as she pushed herself up, rubbing the wing she had landed on. "My wing hurts... It's not broken is it??? And wh-where are we?"
Ocellus came up to the little filly, checking over the other's hurt wing, "I'm not sure..."
"Did they know this was down here?" Silverstream asked as she examined the shiny caverns.
"I don't think anypony knows that this is down here..." Sandbar walked by a pillar of crystals of some sort before turning his attention to Ocellus, Cozy Glow, and Yona. Just as he was about to walk over to them however, the sound of hoofsteps could be heard. He paused, ears pricking as he turned his head to the source.
Everyone from the group silently watched as a figure entered the cave they were in. This figure was sparkly... shiny... and looked dauntingly familiar. In fact it looked exactly like their professor, Twilight Sparkle.
The strange magical copy of their headmare came to a stop, the echoes of their hoofsteps going quiet as they opened their eyes and stared with a blank unpony-like stare. The image smiled, and spoke with an eerily robotic voice...
"Headmare Twilight?" Sandbar blinked in surprise, "Where are we?"
"Where you need to be." The glowing Twilight smiled with an unnaturally blank tone. Her purple colors would reflect off the large crystal caverns around her making the lights dance and sparkle just like her pelt. Disoriented from the events prior however, the group barely seemed to notice.
"What's that supposed to mean??" Cozy Glow, alarmed, questioned the apparition.
"Uh. Yona Confused." Yona announced, distressed and bewildered.
The figure seemed to pause, considering Cozy Glow nearby. "There is a strain on your friendship. In fact, none at all on one side. It is as I feared. You are not one," The Twilight turned to the rest of the young six, "What has happened?"
The changeling Ocellus stepped forward, "We were studying friendship's effect on history but then..." Her voice trailed off...
"Since friendship just isn't in our nature what's the point?" The blue griffin huffed, glaring at the floor.
"You do not believe friendship is in your nature? I see that in front of me the pony who speaks this is here... You believe what she has told you? You believe this breach of friendship?" The sparkly alicorn questioned, her frown evident.
"Breach of friendship..?" Sandbar glanced over to Cozy Glow.
"Little pony??" Yona asked, "Yona even more confused!"
"I-I'm sorry I just-" Cozy Glow whimpered ready to jump in to defend herself but the glimmering image of their headmare interrupted.
"This is NOT acceptable!" The alicorn raised her wings, glaring at the group as the caverns were suddenly filled with a strong breeze. The roaring and echoing surrounded the group of students as they all looked around for the source of this tense magical current. Many came to the conclusion that the harsh wind was coming from none other than the illusion of Twilight Sparkle herself.
"Our headmare is glowing you guys." Silverstream yelped, "What is going on??"
"We should probably get back to studying for the test..." Ocellus slowly backed away, gesturing for everyone else to follow. Cozy Glow was definitely happy to hide behind the changeling, ready to leave as well.
The apparition had other plans for the seven, though. It seemed to perk at an idea and absorbed the wind back into her horn, making the caverns silent once more except for the echo of her discontented voice, "A test. Yes." Twilight's horn gave off a familiar purple glow as she looked up to their one and only exit, "By sunrise this door will be closed." The crystal roots began to grow, slowly wrapping themselves around the grate to later hinder the students and their escape. "Finish the test before then and you may go. Fail the test and here you will stay."
A flashing light began to spark from the figure, their white glow emitting throughout the caverns and surrounding the seven unlucky students before them. Each creature was completely shocked by this turn of events that no one could speak. They could only stare as one by one they were taken away.
All Cozy Glow could think before she was transported elsewhere were two words. Oh no.
The young pink pegasus shook her head and harshly rubbed at her blinking eyes. That bright white light was very blinding, after all! She let out a breath and looked around, confused... "Huh? What happened?"
Cozy Glow found herself in a large cavern of some sort. It was dark and spooky but also emitted a blue light that allowed her to see. She was standing at the top of some stone staircase on the edge of a round glowing platform. At the bottom of these daunting stone cold stairs was a big giant door. Hm. Maybe that was her way out..? Cozy narrowed her eyes and raised a hoof to shade them. She looked down at the big double doors where some movement and voices had caught her attention. Were those the others she spotted at the bottom of this cavern? The young six..? She flapped her wings to carry herself down but instead of flying she found herself cringing in pain. One of them was still injured from her disastrous entrance earlier. With a defeated sigh she was just about to climb down herself when someone cleared his throat behind her.
"Well well well... if it isn't my little prodigy." A deep voice drawled out.
The filly abruptly turned around to find herself face to face with an unknown creature she's never seen before. His lower body was a horse, but his upper body was something else entirely. A red creature with a hunched back and a greying beard. A centaur, possibly. He looked old and ragged but his eyes still gleamed with malicious intent. Luckily for Cozy, this creature was locked away in a cage unable to reach her. Still, why did she end up here of all places? With this... thing?
"Oh wowie mister! I've never seen a thing like you before! I'm a bit lost on what you mean though... Who might you be?" The little pegasus instinctively put herself in the innocently cute little pony persona. Not knowing who this creature was she found it best to hide her true colors under soft and fluff to make a good first impression. After all, don't want to go making possible useful material angry now, does she? That is if he was useful...
"Ahahah! Who might you be?" The centaur cackled as he mimicked Cozy's voice, finding it just hilarious, "Why Cozy Glow... It's me. Your pen pal, Lord Tirek."
The pegasus stiffened at that with her reddish eyes going wide. "Wait... Lord Tirek??? But you're in Tartarus!"
"Exactly. And I still am." He gestured his red hands out into the caverns around them to welcome the little filly to his homely imprisonment, "This. This is Tartarus! And you're here too. Stuck. With. Me."
Cozy Glow narrowed her eyes at the centaur and shook her head, turning around again to face the giant door, "Oh no no no Mister Tirek. I can't be here stuck with you. This is a test, right? So that means there is a way out... at least for me! Hehehe~" She giggled deviously to herself until a voice calling her name caught her attention.
"Cozy Glow! Hey! Where are you? Was that you giggling manically just now?" Sandbar's voice called out from the bottom of the staircase.
The pegasus perked up and ran up to the side of the platform, "Just a minute! I'll be down soon! And uh- nope! That wasn't me! It must've been-" The little filly began with another tale to spin as usual but suddenly felt something heavy and cold snap around her neck. She let out a yelp as she was suddenly yanked back towards Tirek's cage with her hooves nearly stumbling over and her wing aching once again as she tried to right herself back up. Cozy looked down in shock to see a chain of some sort. It wasn't connected to anything... but it felt bulky and awkward. There was also something there. Some magical element that made raising her head a strain.
"What... What is this?? What did you do to me Tirek???" Cozy Glow questioned, giving the centaur a furious glare.
"Oh I didn't do that~!" Lord Tirek hummed as he examined his nails, "It seems you just did that to yourself..."
"What's that supposed to mean???" The little filly huffed, marching up to the cage bars until the sound of hoofsteps and the clicks of talons sounded out behind her.
"There you are Cozy!" The changeling, Ocellus, sighed in relief.
"We were getting so worried! We all disappeared and then reappeared here! But we didn't see you!" Silverstream yammered on, "Oh we're just so glad you're okay! Hey- who's that?" The hippogriff pointed at Tirek with claw.
"Do you know who that is, Cozy?" Gallus was the next to ask, raising a brow at the caged centaur.
"Uhhh... Nope! Don't know a thing about him!" Cozy Glow chirped but then suddenly felt another heavy weight wrap around one of her front hooves. She jumped in surprise with her round eyes now staring down at the new chain. The others however didn't seem to notice Cozy's new dilemma. All their attention right now seemed to be on Tirek.
"Oh I think she's knows plenty." Tirek chuckled as he clutched onto his prison bars, "Maybe more than you think."
"Is scary creature saying truth, small pony?" Yona asked while tilting her head towards Cozy.
"Yeah, if you know more than we think... could you maybe tell us where we are?" Smolder huffed, crossing her arms.
"Uhhh..." Cozy hesitated, glancing between the group members surrounding her. "Umm. I'm not exactly sure where we are right now-" Snap! Another chain found it's way around her other front hoof.
"Ohh~! What about you tell them what you really think about them all little prodigy~? I'm sure they'd LOVE to hear that! After all, you are their friend aren't you?" The centaur gave a dark and sinister chuckle.
"What does he mean by that?" Sandbar questioned, looking back towards Cozy.
"Uhh..." The pegasus hesitated, biting her lip.
"Oh! Yona know small pony definitely has good things to say about Yona! Don't you small pony?" The yak smiled, excited to see what the pegasus would say.
"Oh- uh... I'm sorry, but are we just going to ignore the chains wrapped around my hooves??" Cozy questioned, gesturing to one of them with her wing.
"Oh oh! I want to see what you have to say about us!" Silverstream butted in, looking excited.
"Me too, I think that would be nice." Ocellus beamed as she sat next to her hippogriff friend, waiting to see what Cozy Glow would say.
"How about this, you tell us what you think about us then we'll help you right out of those chains of yours." Gallus suggested, smirking.
"Um... Okay I guess? But why can't you just help me now???" The pink pegasus was starting to get frustrated and confused. Why were they all acting like this? They should be helping her!
"Eh, we have some time to kill before sunrise!" Smolder decided to add in, walking up to Cozy Glow and awaiting what she'd say, "Here. Start with me. Come on, I'm easy."
"Well..." Guess it couldn't hurt to gain some more trust... "Smolder, I think you're a great friend and a great dragon! I look up to you and someday I want to be just as strong and brave as you are!" Bam! Another chain! Right around her hind leg! Cozy Glow yelled out in surprise and struggled to raise her own back hoof.
"What about me?" Silverstream curiously asked, "What do you think about me?"
"Um- You- I think you're a very intelligent hippogriff. Not only are you funny and caring but you're really smart too!" Cozy Glow beamed before another chain appeared around her other hind leg, making her raise her uninjured wing in alarm. "Ah! I don't think this is working!" The pegasus panicked, not sure what to do.
"Awww..! All that stuff you said about us was so nice of you!" Silverstream giggled, clapping her talons together.
"Oh! How about me?" Sandbar asked, "What do you think about me?"
"Or Yona?? What small pony think about Yona?"
"I'm always curious to know what others think about me... If you don't mind..." Ocellus nervously smiled under a hoof.
"And maybe me? I guess I'd like to know too at least." Gallus slyly asked with a raised brow.
The group was starting to get closer now. They were asking questions and rambling. Tirek was laughing and just egging them all on. They pestered and they asked and they questioned and all Cozy Glow could do was stare in shock as the young six continued. What in Equestria was going on and what in the world has gotten into these six??
Under the school unbeknownst to Cozy Glow, Each friend actually found themselves elsewhere within the roots of the tree. The real Silverstream wasn't asking for compliments; she was hiding in a cavern's pool from the eyes of the Storm King. Sandbar wasn't pestering the little pegasus; he was instead trailing after an illusion of Rarity and Rainbow Dash with the hope of impressing them with their assigned friendship mission. Gallus wasn't bothering Cozy with questions; he was actually in a cramped room reaching for blue lights while avoiding purple ones in order to escape. Ocellus wasn't talking in a sweet and soft voice to get everyone's attention; she was instead in her hive with unreformed changelings coming up to her and calling her queen to her dismay. Smolder meanwhile wasn't ranting about friendship but instead was having a tea party with two lovely ponies in a dress and all.
Then there was Yona. Her screams reverberated throughout the caverns as she ran as fast as her yak hooves could take her. She turned a corner only to see red glowing eyes staring her down. Another ear-piercing cry later she was running through the tunnels and hopping up onto a pile of rocks, hoping it would at least keep the critters that were chasing after her at bay. She looked down and watched as a big pile of black spiders began to make their way to the rock pile, inching closer and closer to her hooves. Yona freaked out and stomped against the pile while bellowing out a loud, "NO!"
Then, the worst happened. As the yak was keeping her hooves away from the spiders on the ground, one suddenly decided to slowly make its way down from the ceiling above. It carefully landed on her muzzle, making her eyes widen with fear as she stared up at the eight-legged creature riGHT IN FRONT OF HER!!
"AAAAH!!" Yona shrieked before dashing off once again, panicking as she made her way into another area of the caverns only to come to a screeching halt as more spiders appeared in her path. Her breathing quickened as she took a step back, thinking she could run the other way but instead found more creepy crawlers circling her and blocking her exit out. How was this a test for Yona?? This was a living nightmare! Yona cowered, whimpering and clutching at her muzzle as she closed her eyes. If Yona can't see them, they can't see her right???
Even with this tactic, she could steal hear the arachnids inching closer and closer as one- "YONA NEED HELP!!!" The yak screeched, "WHERE'S YONA'S FRIENDS WHEN YONA NEEDS THEM??"
She opened her eyes for a moment, seeing the spiders were DEFINITELY closer than they were last time! She jumped up and swung her hooves in the air while letting out another fearful scream. Thankfully this made the spiders back off for one moment allowing her to land and cover her eyes once again. As the moment passed she didn't hear the pitter patter of spiders crawling closer to her like before. Yona peeked out from under her hooves and looked around at the scary arachnids. Why weren't spiders attacking? She glanced at the crowd of black and red before one decided to make itself known.
The small spider quietly moved up to her and let out a cute little squeak. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Yona blinked in surprise, realizing she could understand what the spider had just said.
It squeaked again, "You screamed really loud for your friends..."
Yona sat up while considering the concerned spider, "Y-Yona no mean to scream..." The yak apologized as she glanced at the rest of the spiders all showing the same concern this little one had too, "Yona loves making friends... Spiders friends?" She lowered a hoof flat against the ground for the spider to hop up onto. Once the little thing had hopped aboard, she raised them up to her face.
It let out another chirp, "I could help you find your other friends."
"Wait-" Yona, surprised, raised the little spider up to her ear. "What little spider say?"
"I can help you find your friends!" The spider squeaked happily.
"Oh! Yona would love that very much!" The yak beamed as she sat the spider on her shoulder, "Let Yona and spiders go find others! What little spider's name? Yona is Yona!"
"Spindle!" The spider then gestured to the others with a leg and Yona watched as the army of black spiders raced to one side of the cavern and began to go down another tunnel, "This way Yona!"
"Yona thank Spindle!! And other spider friends!" The yak cheered before trailing after the large collection of arachnids. She went through dark tunnels and raced around cobwebs until finally the spooky caverns from before turned into crystal walls and shining roots.
They all continued throughout the tunnels until they passed a large door of some sort. Yona came to a halt and curiously stared up at it while the spiders urged her to continue. "Wait! Yona confused, why is there giant door here?" The yak asked, glancing at the cluster before making her way over to the gates of who-knows-where.
"Wait! Yona, that isn't the way to your friends!" Spindle squeaked as it gave Yona a small tug on her ear.
"Then why is big door here?" Yona questioned, looking confused, "Is part of another friend's test?"
The spiders all gave each other a look that Yona understood was uncertainty. Maybe they weren't sure what was behind the door itself? At this, the yak let out a huff and began to scrape against the floor with a hoof. A chattering erupted from the spiders as they tried to convince her to stop, but the yak was already rushing forward and banging her horns against the large door.
BANG!
"What was that??" Cozy Glow managed to ask in the middle of the chaos.
BANG!
"There it is again!" She yelled, pushing her way through the other six to get a good look of the door. The very source of that loud noise.
BANG!! CR-RACK!
A piece of the door fell right off. It was a small piece, definitely not big enough for Yona to fit through, but that didn't stop her from seeing the chained pegasus, her friends, and her clone on the other side!
"YONA'S FRIENDS!!"
"Yona??" Cozy Glow questioned with surprise as she looked up at the other Yona much closer to her, "But then who is-??"
"Yona curious, did small pony know about what was down here?" The possibly fake Yona questioned as she continued to pester Cozy Glow. The rest following suit. They all seemed to ignore the yak banging at the doors down below.
"DO NOT WORRY! YONA GET ALL OUT SOON! EVEN OTHER YONA! Wait- other Yona??" The yak narrowed her eyes in confusion before backing away, "YONA COMING IN ANYWAYS!"
The pegasus nudged herself forward, trying to get to the large door at the bottom of the staircase, but was stopped by Gallus who put a talon down on one of her chains. She huffed, looking back and realizing... this group might not be the real deal. "Hurry!" She called out to the door below as another loud clang resonated throughout the caverns. However, the tree of harmony took notice and was slowly patching up the cracks Yona would make.
Smolder had long escaped her test, ran into Gallus who separated to look for the others, and was now helping her friend Ocellus through hers. The poor changeling had turned into Chrysalis and was unable to transform back. She believed that her past was so horrible that it'll stick with her forever. That she'll never be able to change from what she once was. The dragon however admitted that even she could change.
"I like cute silly stuff!" Smolder announced as she hovered up to Ocellus' eye level, "Ever since school started... I realized sometimes I kinda don't mind cute stuff."
Ocellus exploded into laughter and sat back, covering her mouth and coughing into her holey hooves.
Smolder gave the changeling a look before landing on the ground floor to continue after her friend had her fun, "If a dragon like me can admit she likes tea parties then that's proof we can change!" She put her claws on her hips and smirked playfully at the other, "I was going to invite you to a top secret tea party with me but if you want to stay down here..."
"Oh! No! I want to come!" Ocellus smiled, glad to find another creature who understood her. Who could change just like... Just like she could! In her joy she transformed back into her old self. As Ocellus! This was her! This is who she always is.
"I thought that might work," Smolder chuckled smugly as Ocellus clapped her hooves together, "Come on! Lets go!"
The two ran off through the hive together with Smolder in the lead. The dragon went to guide her friend through the tunnels to find the grate once again, but instead heard a loud bang in the distance. They both bumped into one another as they came to an abrupt pause. Their attention went towards one tunnel where another thunderous sound echoed through the darkness.
"DON'T WORRY! YONA COMING!" The familiar voice of their yak friend Yona yelled out.
Ocellus and Smolder gave eachother a concerned glance before dashing away towards their loud friend, "Hold on Yona! We're coming to help!" Ocellus cried out as they both flew towards the yak- only to be greeted by a large crowd of spiders instead, "Eek!" The changeling flew back in surprise.
"Okay- spider army." Smolder huffed, "Yona! Do you need help with these spiders?"
"No no!" Yona called out from somewhere behind the menacing critters, "Spiders Yona's friends! Wait- Yona's old friends?? But old friends stuck behind big door too!!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Smolder questioned as she carefully made her way through the spiders, flying over them along with Ocellus. It was then that the two saw the giant door. It was huge! Which one of them could've possibly had a test like this that involved such a big door??
A heavily fortified one, too. Each time Yona broke a hole into the door, roots would begin to cover it all up again. "Yona! Yona calm down!" Ocellus raced up next to her yak friend, "We can't just go through this with brute force!"
"But Yona's friends are in there! Just like Yona's friends out here- Wait. Now Yona confused!! Why is there two Yona and two Ocellus and two Smolders??"
"What?" Smolder raced up to the door and peeked into one of the large cracks that Yona had made. From the door, she could see in the distance the young six- even herself- crowding around one pink little filly in chains. She perked up, realization hitting her.
"That isn't us... It's part of the test! This is Cozy Glow's test!"
The copies of the young six continued to question and pester young Cozy Glow. She flapped her uninjured wing in annoyance as she turned her attention back to the giant doors, "How do I get out of here??? I'm chained up!"
"Do not worry little pony! Yona and friends will get you out!" The yak assured as she took several steps back and scraped her hoof against the floor, ready to charge once again.
The dragon raised a claw in Yona's way, "Wait! Are you sure banging your head against it over and over is going to do much for you?" Smolder asked, concerned that her friend might just give herself a concussion.
"Maybe not for Yona..." Ocellus considered as she examined one of the holes now closing up, "But maybe for us two? Maybe you and me can get through Smolder!"
"Got to try something! Little pony is in there with fake friends!" Yona huffed as she waited for the go-ahead.
"You go first," Ocellus urged, "I'll go second! If the hole starts to close I can transform into something smaller!"
"Got it." Smolder raised her wings and turned to the door.
Ocellus hovered just behind her draconic friend, "Okay. On three. One... Two... Three!"
Yona abruptly rushed for the giant doors. Another loud BANG resonated throughout the area as she went full force into the crystal-like material. She pulled back to yank out a good chunk of debris with her horns, “Go!"
Smolder had dashed through, throwing herself into the tight opening before the roots of the tree began to close in on it. Ocellus followed after but found herself getting snagged by the Tree itself. The changeling let out a yelp and tried to transform into something smaller like a blue squirrel. Even then though, something was holding her down and keeping her firmly in place. It seems the tree didn't want her to interfere with the test. "Ah! Smolder! You're going to have to get Cozy out yourself! I can't get through..!"
The orange dragon went up to her friend and tugged at the other's small squirrel paws as hard as she could before the roots reached out and started to swipe at Smolder as well. She shouted out in surprise and let go, pulling away just before the tree could snare her too.
"Yona will help!" The yak assured as she went up to Ocellus, tore through some of the branches with her horns, and managed to pull her squirrely friend out and back into the crystal hallways outside of the test. When the two looked up the hole had been completely covered once again... well, except for a small jagged fissure.
"Should Yona try again?" The yak asked.
"No-! I don't think we should break the test more than we already have..." The squirrel squealed in Yona's hooves, "Smolder! Are you alright in there?"
As Ocellus transformed back into her changeling self, Smolder's eye peeked through the crack, "Yeah I'm fine! I'm going to get Cozy, okay? Be back in a moment!"
Ocellus looked up with a concerned expression, "Stay safe, okay?"
"If anything happens, you yell for Yona!"
Smolder briskly nodded at the door before looking back up at the large caverns that hosted Cozy Glow's test. She narrowed her eyes and jumped up into the air to fly over the many steps that took her to the top of a glowing blue platform where a group of seven students and a caged creature now sat.
As Yona and Ocellus stood outside the giant doors their attention suddenly went to the floor as little black spiders began to crawl by their hooves. Ocellus jumped up in surprise and hovered above the clustered arachnids while Yona stood there, confused by their actions.
"What little spider friends doing?" She asked, lowering a hoof so she could give Spindle a lift back onto her shoulder.
Once Spindle hopped back up, it squeaked into the yak's ear, "Your friend is not supposed to be in there."
"Smolder?" Yona questioned, "Smolder can't be in big room with little pony?"
"But why not?" Ocellus turned to Spindle, "Smolder helped me out with my test, why can't she help Cozy?"
The spider seemed to hesitate, "Not sure. The tree however does not like the pegasus. Not one bit."
"Spindle says tree does not like little pony." Yona explained.
"The tree..? So we're..." Ocellus blinked at that. Could they mean the Tree of Harmony itself?
Just as the two were considering this revelation the spiders had caught their attention again. They were suddenly crawling all over the door and making their way to the cracks that were left behind.
"Spiders helping friends?" Yona asked Spindle.
"No. Spiders stopping friend. Lying pony must go through test on her own."
The waves of black spiders began to pour their way into the Tartarus replica. Though luckily for Smolder, the process would be slow since the large cluster had to go through one at a time.
The dragon found herself landing at the top of the stairs being greeted with a laughing old centaur, a cowering Cozy, and the fake young six surrounding her with wide smiles. Smolder wasn't even sure how to help at first. What exactly was Cozy's fear that'd make up a test like this..?
"Hey hey hey! Back off!" Smolder jumped in, shoving a Sandbar and a Silverstream out of the way.
"Back off? You back off!" The other Smolder turned to her original with her fists clenched and her shoulders squared.
"Excuse YOU?"
"Excuse ME!"
"Why I oughta-"
"Not til I oughta first!"
"Can we PLEASE do this later?" Cozy bleated from where she was, "Smolder get Gallus off! He won't let me go!"
Smolder instantly tackled the Gallus copy and both of them went flying off to the side, banging into Tirek's cage, "Run!"
She didn't have to tell the pegasus twice! Cozy instantly hobbled down the stairs in chains and all as she tried to get away from the others as fast as possible. She made it halfway down before the Ocellus clone decided to hop in front of her path, "Where are you going Cozy? Please don't leave! You have to tell us what you think!"
"What you know!" Sandbar urged.
"We want to hear what you have to say!" Silverstream chirped.
"Yona need answers! Tell Yona! Tell Yona!"
"Tell you all what??" Cozy Glow whimpered as the others circled her.
"The truth! The truth! The truth!" They began to constantly chant, "Tell us the truth!"
The orange dragon hopped off of Gallus just as Tirek made a grab for her. Instead of Smolder however, his grasp caught onto the griffin’s leg. The clone let out a screech of surprise as the possibly fake Tirek began to absorb whatever “griffin magic” the clone had. He began to grow bigger, younger-looking, and now had a nice build of muscles to compliment him. The centaur let out a hearty laugh as he began to break through his cage through brute strength alone, “Time is running out, cheaters never win, and trespassers learn their place!”
Smolder was completely shocked by what she was seeing but found herself on the move once again as the other Smolder charged at her from above. She blew fire against her double, managing to knock them right out of the sky, "The truth huh? That's it? Cozy Glow this is a cake walk! Maybe if you're honest with them they'll let you go?"
"I-I... uh..." The pegasus hesitated, her pupils shrinking as she stiffened with fear and uncertainty, "Um..."
"What's the problem Cozy? Tirek is after us, the clones are trying to kick me out, and now there’s spiders pouring in! It's not that difficult, is it?"
"No! It's not difficult at all!" SNAP! Another chain wrapped around her body, firmly holding her wings together. She nearly fell over by how much weight was now dragging her down. The little pegasus let out a cry and covered her face with her hooves.
Smolder jumped and raced down towards Cozy, grabbing a chain and attempting to pull the little filly up with her. No luck. No matter how hard she tugged she just couldn't get the pegasus airborne! The clones weren’t helping either as their smiles turned to frowns once they finally noticed Smolder. So she let go of the heavy chain and hovered above the little pony just before the Yona clone tried to make a reach for her, "It is difficult, isn't it?" She asked again, "If it weren't, you'd already be out of here by now! Is that what your fear is? Telling us the truth? I get that! I'm scared of that as well! But you can do it. If... If I can admit I like cute silly stuff to Ocellus then you can admit whatever's on your mind to me!"
Cozy looked up at Smolder with wide eyes, "S-Smolder?"
Under all the nonstop chanting Smolder's voice could still be heard, "Cozy, you can't keep lying forever! I don't know what it is you're lying about, but clearly if this is your fear then... you haven't been completely honest with us have you?"
The cluster of spiders began to make their way up the staircase. Ocellus considered them for a moment before transforming into a black spider herself. She threw herself into the middle of the crowd and began to make her way through the cracks. This effectively confused the others as they tried to stop her. With her cleverly hidden in their midst however their search ran dry as she continued with the rest making their way into Tartarus.
"It's funny, actually, you had a chance to tell the truth to all these copies earlier but now the real deals are here. I'm sorry if me being here makes it harder but-"
"Truth! Truth! Tell us the truth!" The chanting was becoming louder as they attempted to drown out Smolder.
"This is the only way out now Cozy! Time is running out, we need to leave! You need to tell us what you're thinking!"
"I can't!" Cozy hid under her hooves, "I can't tell you the truth!"
"Why not??"
"Because... Because you'll all hate me! You won't agree with me! I need everything to be perfect- I can't have you knowing what I know! What I... What I have to do!"
The loud clang of a metal bar rang out as Tirek tossed a piece of his cage to the side. His deep laugh made itself known throughout the caverns before the centaur’s attention diverted over to the Smolder clone. She was just starting to get up from the original’s attack when Tirek marched right up to her to collect more magic that a dragon could possibly hold.
"Then at least start small!" Smolder insisted, jumping back into Cozy's view by hovering behind the fake Sandbar, "Take little filly steps. Tell me one true thing that's here. Right now. Right here."
"Th- My... My biggest fear is telling the truth." Poof!The chains around her wings vanished.
"Good! Good, what else?"
"We're in a replica Tartarus." The chain on one of her hind legs? Gone.
Smolder pushed the fake Sandbar out of the way, "You're doing great! Keep going!"
"I don't actually look up to you as a role model but right now- I'm glad you're here." Cozy Glow found herself saying to her own surprise and watched as another chain that wrapped around her hoof soon disappeared.
"Eh, I'm not really the best dragon to look up to anyways." Smolder shrugged, "Okay what's next?"
"The caged creature is a powerful magic-absorbing being named Tirek." Surprisingly nothing happened until Cozy turned her head and spotted a growing Tirek several steps away, “Oh no... the now free powerful magic-absorbing creature is named Tirek, and he’s getting stronger!” Bam! Another chain on her front leg gone.
"Oh no- quick! Think up some more true stuff! We need to leave!” Smolder urged but was soon interrupted by one of the fakes.
"Oh oh oh! How does Tirek know about you?" The Silverstream questioned.
"The fake him, right? In this test? Um. He just did." Cozy Glow answered, but nothing happened. "I guess this test just... makes them know?" She tried again, attempting to be more specific. Again, nothing happened... but at least she wasn't being chained up. Maybe because she was talking about the fake one, not the real one.
"Uh oh. Looks like small pony is keeping more to herself!"
"Can you all NOT crowd her?" Smolder attempted to push the group of clones away again but to no avail. They were staying and they were intensely staring at the little pegasus with plans to continue their rapid interrogation.
Tirek's horns began to curl as he absorbed the fake Smolder's magic. He laughed as he dropped the orange dragon to the ground before flexing his muscles with vigor. Then, after he had a good look at his now amazing physique, he turned his attention to the staircase where the rest of the fake six, the real Smolder, and Cozy now sat. Right smack in the middle of him and the charging army of spiders.
"... You're- you're going to hate me." Cozy whimpered with a lowered head.
"But it's the only way out!" Smolder urged, now looking back and forth between the incoming forces.
"If... If it's the only way out then..." The pegasus shook her head and continued, "Tirek and me are... pen pals. I talked to him through letters. He knows me through that." Another chain receded, disappearing out of sight from her left front hoof. Just one more to go. The chain around her neck.
"You what-" Smolder blinked in surprise. This little filly is talking to Tirek???
"It's a long story, I'm sorry!"
"Listen, I don't hate you for it right now. I'm just surprised and confused." Smolder assured, "And freaking out right now because every bad possible thing is getting closer!!"
"I'll tell you more if you keep helping me- but only to you!" Cozy insisted with a raised hoof.
"Okay. Fine. Now we need one more truth and- What the?!" Smolder abruptly jumped up in surprise, narrowly avoiding a crowd of black spiders that began to surround her. They chirped and squeaked as they tried to make their way to the dragon through webbing and sticky snares.
Ocellus transformed back into her changeling self and fluttered above the rest of the arachnids. She made her way over to Cozy, "The spiders are trying to catch us with their webs!"
"Then we'll have to avoid them! Just get that last chain off, Cozy! You need to tell a truth!" Smolder hollered before dashing into position, using her flames to scare off the spiders that tried to get too close to Ocellus and herself.
"A truth... Right. A truth." She looked down at her last chain as she contemplated what else she could say.
"Oh! Oh! What do you think about me?" The fake Ocellus asked, making the real Ocellus jump in surprise.
"What can you tell us about magic?" "Yona curious if small pony have more planned for professors." "How do you feel about friendship?"
"Or how about me?" The Tirek chuckled as he made his presence known. His hooves heavily fell on each step he climbed down as he made his way to the group, now reaching for another of the fake six. "The moment I get strong enough, I'll be the most powerful being in Equestria! And you... You will have nothing!"
As Cozy struggled with what to say in the midst of the chaos, Ocellus jumped in so she was the only thing the little pegasus could see, "Hey... It's okay. Your secrets are safe with us, okay? We won't tell any creature. Promise."
"... I- I don't actually think Silverstream is smart." Boom! The last chain down! Cozy was relieved to find the weight of the chains now gone and happily hopped on her hooves. "Yes!! Now lets get out of here!"
Ocellus was taken aback by that truth Cozy had told her but did not hesitate to pluck up the little pegasus and carry her off just as Tirek slammed his hand down next to them.
"Oh Cozy! You really are playing with fire! Whose to say when I come back... I come back with you left in the dust?" The evil copy cackled before attempting to blast Smolder out of the sky with a beam of orange and black colors.
The pink pegasus abruptly jumped off of the changeling and lunged towards Smolder to ram straight into the orange dragon and push the other out of harm's way. Hah... Why did she do that? The dragon clutched Cozy close to her and looked up at Tirek in surprise then at their exit. It was completely covered with spiders and webs! How in the world were they going to get out of here??
Tirek chuckled and reached over to the real Ocellus, attempting to pluck her right out of the sky. That was when Cozy had enough, "Stop it Tirek!" She yelled out.
"Excuse me? What did you say little pony?" The beast questioned as he turned his attention back to Cozy and Smolder.
"I. Said. Stop it! Leave them alone! I'm your target here! I'm the one this test is for! Why do you keep going after the others?"
There was a significant pause, "Because unlike you Cozy they are too good to be in my presence. While yes, you're weak... You could also prove useful out there. You're a villain. Just. Like. Me. Is that right? Or am I wrong?"
"I-" Cozy hesitated, looking between Ocellus and Smolder, "I..."
The centaur laughed out, "You can't even give me a proper response! I will let you decide then. Do you want to leave or not?" He questioned before reaching for Ocellus once again.
"Cozy listen to me," Smolder began, "I don't know the history between you and him but you already show that you're concerned about us. He isn't. Whatever it is you have to say, we understand that you had to say it. It's part of the test... we won't hate you for it, okay?"
"Yes you will..." Cozy muttered out before raising her voice as loud as possible for Tirek to now hear, "Because you're right Tirek! I'm a bad pony!"
The creature paused, now turning its attention over to Cozy once again.
"I lied to and I manipulated every pony and creature around me! I caused disputes. I caused fights. I caused arguments. I did that all on purpose to make things go my way! I look up to you, Tirek, because I want power just like you! You're my teacher... and I'm your prodigy..." The little pegasus spilled out, her exhaustion making itself more known as she did... but a strange weight also lifted off of her shoulders. One she didn't notice before.
Tirek seemed to perk up in alarm as he began to shrink, "What? NO!"
The trio blinked at one another before Cozy decided to continue, "I wrote to you out of curiosity! When you responded I kept writing! We're pen pals, Tirek! You taught me everything there is to know about power-absorbing magic! You answered my hundreds and hundreds of questions I had!"
"Stop! You're a lying filly! That's all you'll ever be!"
"Well what if for once I wanted to tell the truth?!" The pegasus shouted, causing Tirek- now frail and old- to fall over in surprise. He looked to the fake six and charged for them, attempting to steal their magic away as well, but instead was thrown back by an invisible force and tossed back into his cage where he belongs. The fake Smolder and Gallus got it up with smiles on their faces before disappearing in a flash of light. Soon, the rest of the fake six followed suit. Disappearing as well as they made their leave.
A loud noise was then produced from the door. It sounded like grinding stone and invisible gears. The process was slow but they could already spot Yona on the other side in the crystal-like hallways outside of the test.
"Spider friends! Join Yona back in hallway, other friends will be out soon!" She assured, convincing the rest of the black spiders to make their way back outside the test with their webs slowly falling apart behind them.
The trio sat in the air for a silent moment with their gaze to the door before finally looking at one another.
"Wow, you don't think Silverstream is smart? That's very rude!" Smolder commented but couldn't help a small smirk, "Sorry- I'm not saying I agree with Cozy I just think it's hilarious that you struggled so much just to tell us that! I think that shows just how much you care about our feelings at least."
"That's still a lot to unpack though..." Ocellus muttered out, "You... You teamed up with Tirek? You're his student?"
"... Yes. I am." The pegasus averted her eyes elsewhere, "I was just curious at first. I didn't think he'd actually respond... but when he did, I kept writing. Kept learning more. I... I wanted to be as powerful as he was."
"So you went power hungry, huh?" Smolder asked with a raised brow, "Well we're going to have to put a stop to that! No little filly villains in this school on my watch no thank you!" The dragon playfully noogied the villain-to-be, causing a few surprised noises from the pegasus.
"You have to stop writing to Tirek." Ocellus considered seriously, "And... And we really need to talk about this-"
"Friends!!" Yona yelled out from the doorway.
"-Later..." The changeling sighed before making her way to the giant double doors, "We're running out of time. We need to leave."
"Agreed! Come on Cozy. And don't worry- we won't tell the others yet. We'll talk to the professors first and when you're ready... then you can tell every creature else, okay?" Smolder assured.
"... Okay."
The trio made their way through the large opening and threw themselves onto Yona. Ocellus and Smolder hugged her while Cozy hesitated. However, as she glanced back at the fake Tartarus behind her she couldn't help but take notice of how different she felt. With something new now in mind she decided to join in on the hug as well.
After their quick embrace Smolder urged them to continue, "Okay! Lets get out of here! Hopefully the others will be there by now!"
"Right!" Ocellus set Cozy on top of Yona's back and the four headed off together through the tunnels underneath their school.
"Did you just tell our professors you were DISAPPOINTED IN THEM?" Silverstream questioned Sandbar after Gallus and her had managed to find him together.
"Something tells me those weren't actually our professors," The green earth pony smiled, glad to have gotten through his frankly tiring test. The two apparitions of Rarity and Rainbow Dash made him run through the hallways all night! "Besides! They tried to get between me and my friends! Hey, where are the others by the way?"
"Not sure. Maybe Smolder found them by now. Lets see if we can meet them back up at the grate." Gallus offered before running off through the halls again with Silverstream and Sandbar by his side.
After Gallus had helped Silverstream fight off the Storm King through the power of words they had gone to the grate to wait for the others. After several minutes of nothing however the two decided to go out and see if they would happen to run into any one else during their test. Luckily for them they ran into Sandbar who had just completed his by fighting off the professors in order to go look for his friends once again.
After some backtracking it wasn't long before the three made their way back. Sandbar spotted the closing grate and ran atop the branches that grew up to it. He pushed against the growing roots and attempted to drive them apart, "It's closing!!"
At that moment the other half of the group appeared, "There you all are!" Silverstream jumped up besides Ocellus and threw her arms around the other, hugging the changeling close to her.
"What's with the spider army??" Gallus questioned, looking down at Yona and her new friends.
"Yona face fears and make new friends!" She held up a black spider, "This is Spindle!"
"That's great and all- but the grate's about to be sealed off!" Smolder piped up before attempting to help Sandbar dig through the roots as well.
Cozy let out a gasp and pointed upwards as the glowing, sparkling apparition of their headmare appeared once again, "Look!"
Sandbar turned and was the first to address her, "You! You're not headmare Twilight are you?" He stomped his hoof down onto the branch.
The little pink pegasus felt that it was obvious by now but consciously noticed she was calling Sandbar stupid. For some reason, this emerging thought almost made her feel... guilty. She tried to ignore it as her eyes stayed glued on to the glowing Twilight who responded with a shake of her head and a simple smile plastered on her face.
"You're the Tree of Harmony!" Ocellus blurted out.
The luminous figure nodded.
"The Tree of Harmony turned into a sparkly version of our headmare to talk to us..?" Silverstream questioned with a baffled expression, "Did I miss a chapter in class?"
"Like all living things... I change as I grow. As I have grown, so have my abilities. As you have grown, so have your thoughts on one another." The apparition went on to say.
"I'm a bit rusty on pony history..." Gallus began in a calm tone at first, "But SINCE WHEN does the Tree of Harmony trap creatures in a cave with their biggest fears??"
"You chose what you saw in my roots... Not me." The apparition pointed out to Gallus before turning its head over to the rest of the group, "Though these tests were difficult for a reason. To test your friendship and the truth. You were more concerned with each other's well-being than your own. You were strong when your friends were weak. You let each other in and showed that you would be there for each other no matter what. Friendship is in your nature." A flash of light then brightened the caverns and surrounded the group. Magic danced across their eyes as a loud noise was heard just behind them. When they all looked up they would see the roots of the tree uncovering the grate to allow the group their exit... However, the gleaming apparition of Twilight was still there. She gently made her way to the cavern floor where her hooves clicked against the gleaming stone cold ground. "There is still one thing I wish to share before you leave." The illusion continued in her robotic voice, "A concern that needs to be known."
Cozy stiffened and tried to hide behind Yona's mane.
"What is it?" Sandbar wanted nothing more but to leave and go to bed. The way the Tree of Harmony spoke however made the situation sound more dire and serious. Something he and the others should definitely take into consideration.
"I'm afraid that one of you from this group, if she decides to continue down a path, is an endangerment to friendship." The Twilight turned her blank gaze to Cozy Glow.
The little pegasus gulped but kept quiet.
Smolder perked up at this and looked over at Ocellus who gave her a worried glance as well.
"I can not allow something as evident to go unchecked. Your mind is troubled with conquest and control little filly. Why?"
"..." Cozy averted her gaze from the rest of the young six. They were staring and The Tree of Harmony was not letting up! It wanted her to speak!
"Cozy Glow???" A puzzled Silverstream flew up to the little pony, "This one?? But she's so nice! And kind and caring!"
"But she is not honest." The apparition continued, "And she craves my power."
"I don't believe that!" Silverstream crossed her arms as she stood firmly next to Yona and Cozy.
"I... I don't think you're very smart, Silverstream." Cozy Glow suddenly found herself saying as she pulled herself off of Yona's back.
The hippogriff blinked at this, "What?!"
"Earlier in my own test... I lied to a copy of you and said I thought you were really smart. I got punished for it. So I had to tell the truth, and I'm telling it to you now. I'm sorry. But what I actually think of you all isn't... what I show." Cozy Glow's ears fell back as she looked down at the ground.
"There's more than just that though, and you know this Cozy." The Twilight walked up to the little pegasus and raised the filly's chin with its hoof, "Some of them know what you know now. So it's up to you on how you want to go about this. Will you be honest with them? Or will you continue as a liar? Will you let them be your friend? Will you let them help?"
Cozy hesitated, unsure how to respond... "I... I don't know."
"Ah. You are exhausted." The figure decided, "Then you will have time to decide. However..."
Smolder and Ocellus perked up as the Tree's attention went up to them instead.
"All I ask of you now is to help. Help the little filly and let her in as a friend." Then just like that, the vision of their Twilight vanished in a spark of blinding light.
Everyone stood there staring down at Cozy Glow. There seemed to be a tense few moment before Sandbar let out a sigh and gestured for everyone to follow him up out of the grate.
As they left, Gallus shook his head in tired disbelief, "I can't believe that all just happened."
The group finally found themselves back in the library. They sighed, relieved... but Silverstream looked troubled and upset. Cozy saw this and walked up to the hippogriff, "Um... Silverstream? I'm- I'm sorry about that. I wish I never said that but... I'm not as good as you think I am. I'm not as innocent either. I just wanted to prove that to you. I'm not sure why I wanted to I just... I just did. But I still shouldn't have said that. I didn't want to say it because-"
"Because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?" Silverstream asked with a small smile, "It's okay. I get it. Still hurts but I understand some of us need to keep some things to ourselves sometimes. Like... how I think your hair looks like a bunch of cinnamon rolls glued together with cotton candy..!"
"Wha-? That's just mean!" Cozy argued with a hurt glare but then gave off a cheerfully genuine giggle, "But uh- I guess I deserved that."
"So... Should we tell somepony about the giant magical hole in the library?" Ocellus asked just before a root closed the gate behind them.
"Yeah, we have to tell our professors about this!" Sandbar insisted, "They won't believe what-
Cozy Glow suddenly felt the urge to interrupt, "You can't!"
"Why not?" Yona turned to the little pegasus.
"Because... Because-" Cozy hesitated as she spotted Smolder's stare, "I... I don't want them to know. Not only might I get suspended or expelled but..."
Smolder crossed her arms, "We're telling them." The dragon insisted.
"But..."
"Nope. You heard the tree. It's time to start being honest. So, we're going to the professors and-" Yawn... "We're going to tell them everything, okay? After we talk, too... if that makes you feel better..."
"We can talk to them later..." Ocellus muttered on wobbly legs, "I'm too tired right now..."
"Yeah me too... but we can't go to sleep now, we'll miss the test!" Sandbar groaned in realization.
Gasp! "The test! I almost forgot!" Gallus flapped his wings in surprise before slowly lowering himself onto the ground, exhausted.
The changeling let out a tired yawn, "We're all going to fail..."
Slowly but surely each member of the young six found themselves curling up next to one another on the library floor as they collapsed in exhaustion. Cozy Glow wanted to say more but found herself too burned out as well. Her body was sore from the heavy chains.
She shook her head and found herself joining Ocellus and Smolder in a cuddle pile with Yona, "Maybe we can get an extension..." The little pegasus murmured as her eyes drooped close, "I'm sure life-threatening friendship-learning harmony stuff counts as a good excuse for... for missing a test..."
"Yeah- that'd make sense... That'd be nice..." Sandbar drowsed as he dropped down besides Gallus and Silverstream.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." Cozy muttered out before dozing off, falling asleep alongside the rest of the young six.
As the group peacefully slept through the morning, the glow within the grate would gleam with a soft blue glimmer. Hopefully they'll all find new harmony after today.
