> The Night Janitor
>  by Knox Locke
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was late at night, but one figure still roamed the halls of the School of Friendship. The school had been closed for hours, but this was nothing unusual. It was his job to be here after hours, after all. This was the school janitor, an odd unicorn stallion who spent all of his nights cleaning the corridors and classrooms that made up the sprawling campus. Every night, he arrived after the students and faculty had left, and he departed each morning before they returned. He hadn't even met most of the faculty. He'd only ever met Princess Twilight and the new headmare. Starlight was her name if he remembered correctly. The young stallion nearly cracked a smile as he noticed the humorous similarity in the names of the old headmare and her successor. He didn't smile, though. He hadn't smiled in a long time.

Occasionally, a student would come to the main school building after forgetting something inside earlier that day. The janitor just let them in and latched the locks again once they'd concluded their business. He would rarely strike up conversations with them. He wasn't looking to become friends with any of them. He knew better than to try. He'd learned that lesson the hard way. He didn't have many friends anymore.



[2 Years Earlier]

The janitor was roaming the halls picking up litter & cleaning up puddles of he-didn't-want-to-know-what until he reached the large doors that lead to the school's library. He heard an unfamiliar rustling sound within, and he was genuinely surprised when he opened the doors to reveal a young pegasus filly reorganizing the books.

"Golly, stranger," said the filly cheerfully, "I didn't know anypony was still here except for me."

"Well," the stallion replied in a stern voice, "It's my job to be here when other ponies aren't."

"Well, golly! I'm sorry good sir," whimpered the nervous filly.

The janitor chose this moment to drop the gloomy facade he'd been pranking the filly with and allowed a wide grin to spread across his face.

"I'm just messin' with 'ya, kid. Name's Knox."

"Cozy Glow."



Knox felt a stab of longing as he remembered the friend who had betrayed him, along with the rest of Equestria.

As his work came to a close, his spirits lifted a bit. Once again he found himself nearing a grin. He liked this part. One of the few things that brought him happiness nowadays was when he used his magic to disengage the locks on all the doors so the students could enter the main building. He didn't wait for the students to arrive. He never did. He just started on his short walk home. It was morning, and the sun shone high in the sky, but the first thing he would do upon reaching his home was go to bed in preparation for another hard night of work. He had just completed his favorite part of his job, but he he still didn't smile. He never smiled anymore.
> Chapter 1: Memories
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[1 1/2 Years Earlier]

Knox had been having late night conversations with his new friend for months now. About three times a week, he would hear a now all-to-familiar rustling of tiny pegasus wings emanating delicately from the library. He would take a break from his nightly chores and help Cozy with reorganizing the library books yet again as they talked. Most of the students hardly ever put their library books back on the shelves in the right spots, but it seemed that Cozy didn't mind the extra work. The janitor liked to think Cozy Glow simply enjoyed their long talks as much as he did. It had been a long time since Knox had made a friend he could regularly make pleasant conversation with. As an added bonus, Cozy was quite mature and well-educated for her age. She was able to carry conversation topics easily, even when Knox wasn't even sure he understood what they'd been talking about. And at the end of every one of their talks, the little filly would fly to Knox and give him a big hug. He hugs were so warm and soft, but they were brought upon you with such force that it could actually make you wince. It was kind of like being hit by an adorable, warm, fuzzy cannonball.





Knox's eyes opened abruptly. He'd had that same nightmare again. Well, it was almost sunset anyways. Time to get to work.




[1 Year & 2 Weeks Earlier]

Cozy Glow seemed startled when a charcoal-colored hoof landed gently on her shoulder. She turned around to look at the culprit and saw the familiar face of her friend, the janitor, looking back at her.

"Oh," she breathed, "It's just you."

She sounded relieved, though Knox didn't know why. Cozy seemed very on edge tonight for some reason. Only then did Knox notice the large, bulky object his friend had dropped on the floor when he'd accidentally scared her.

"What've you got there?" he asked. "It looks like some sort of yak helmet."

"It is," replied Cozy hurriedly, "The Helm of Yksler, to be precise."

"What're you doing with a magical artifact?"

He felt like he might not want to know the answer, but he had to ask.

"Good golly, I'm just taking it back to the vault," she paused. "Twilight needed it for one of her magic lessons earlier."

Knox sighed a breath of relief.

"Well," said the perfectly harmless little filly, "I'll see you tomorrow, then!"

"Night, Cozy," he hollered in response as he turned the corner.

As soon as Knox was out of sight, she fluttered her way into the school library with the first of six stolen magical artifacts.
> Chapter 2: Dayshift
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After so long on the job,  Knox was practically nocturnal, but that didn't stop him from bolting upright in his bed in the middle of the day. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep, either. The nightmare would only wake him again anyways. Since he was up anyways, he decided to go to the only other place in which he felt somewhat comfortable.

He arrived at the school in less than a half hour. As he pulled open the main doors with his magic, he hoped he'd arrived during a class period so the halls wouldn't be too crowded. Of course, he'd never been a lucky pony. His schedule kept him from making new friends, the one friend he had made was locked up in Tartarus last he'd heard, and now as he opened the door... Oh. Maybe he should've been hoping for a crowded hallway.

The hallway was eerily silent, with only a few ponies passing through on their way to class. He was used to how silent the corridors were at night, but the lack of noise during the day was... unexpected, to say the least. It was actually kind of creepy.

After checking with the new headmare (Starlight, was it? Oh, never mind...) to make sure he was allowed to be there during the day, he continued his casual walk through the hallways. He came to an abrupt stop at the next corner, where another hallway intersected with this one, for he saw something he didn't expect. There were two grown mares debating over where to take their lunch break. One, a unicorn, had an elegant purple mane and a coat as white as snow. The other mare was excitedly bouncing up and down. She had no wings or horn, but she had a poofy pink mane and a paler pink coat.

He walked up to the mares, eyes wide, and had planned to introduce himself. Instead, he didn't think before he spoke and ended up spurting out, "Great Celestia, you are beautiful!"

He face-hoofed as soon as he heard himself say it, but the mares just paused for a moment before they chuckled. Thankfully, they'd found it funny instead of creepy.

"Darling, I'm sorry," said the unicorn, "but I'm afraid you're just not my type."

Knox looked confused for a moment, but then understood what had happened.

"You're not my type, either," he replied quite bluntly. "I wasn't talking to you."

The unicorn's jaw dropped at this retort. The adorable pink earth pony that still hadn't stopped smiling spoke up next.

"Well, then who were you talking to, silly? Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and this is Rarity." She paused to gesture at her friend, still with her mouth agape.

"Nice to meet you," replied Knox, now hanging on to the little puffball of joy's every word.

"There's nothing better than making a new friend, is there?" asked the pink pony apparently named Pinkie Pie. 'Pinkie Pie' The name echoed through his mind, and although Pinkie didn't see it, he was giving a very small, nearly invisible smile. The one called Pinkie Pie then surprised Knox as she tackled him to the ground in a hug. The hug was so fluffy, so warm, so forceful. It was almost exactly like a grown mare's version of the hugs from...

Knox screamed, and Pinkie quickly retreated from from her embrace with worry on her face. 'I've gotta get outta here,' he thought to himself as he ran away from the two mares.
> Chapter 3: Outburst
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He still hadn't stopped running. Knox was bolting from one corridor to the next, his head spiraling with thoughts concerning his previous encounter:

'Well, that was rude.'

'How could you just run away like that?'

'Not only did you run away... You ran away FROM A HUG!'

'A hug from a beautiful mare, I might add!'

'Well, it would've been way more natural (and less panicky) if she hadn't hugged me so much like...'

"Cozy Glow?" he asked to nopony in particular as he was dragged forcefully out of his sprinting panic by a familiar rustling sound coming from behind the closed library doors.

It couldn't be her. Could it? Last he'd heard, she was still rotting away in Tartarus, for Celestia's sake! But, maybe... He hadn't read any newspapers or anything for months. He'd sort of given up on the world after the last newspaper he'd read. He knew that Cozy probably wasn't free. Yet here he was, about to open those same familiar doors with the same familiar sound coming from behind them. Come to think of it, the sound from the library seemed to be a lot louder than he remembered.

Nonetheless, this was the the moment! He was finally going to reunite with his friend! 'Maybe I won't be so broken once I see...'

Knox didn't know what he'd expected. Actually, that's a lie. He knew exactly what he'd expected. He hadn't truly expected Cozy Glow to be there. He'd only been partaking in wishful thinking. In all honesty, he expected to be disappointed when he opened that door. Inside the library flew, not a curly-haired little pegasus as he'd hoped, but instead a teenage blue griffon. It took Knox a moment to realize who exactly this griffon was: Gallus.

Gallus was one of the six creatures who saved all the magic in Equestria. It was them who had defeated his friend and destined her to be locked in Tartarus for the rest of her days. His eyes filled with hatred as he eyed the griffon.

This. Was. His. Fault.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he'd grabbed Gallus' tail telekinetically and pulled him to the floor in front of him. Hard. He exploded with a fiery rage he didn't even know he possessed.

"You did this!" he screamed at the griffon. "You took her away from me!"

The griffon was struggling, trying to get away from the pale pink magic that held his tail in place.

"What are you talking about?" the griffon begged. "What do you want from me?"

"She was thrown away like trash because of you! You just had to save that magic, didn't you?"

Knox's horn began to glow brightly with a pulsating magic.

"I would've given up all the magic in the world if it meant I wouldn't lose her, but I didn't get a choice!"

Gallus looked on in horror as magical power began to crackle around his tormentor's horn. Whatever spell the unicorn was preparing, it was a powerful one.

"Because of you six, I lost the best friend I ever had," continued Knox, beginning to sound progressively more mentally unhinged, "so let's see how your friends like it!"

He reared up on his hind legs, ready to cast the spell.
> Chapter 4: Family Emergency
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Gallus' Perspective]

Knox had reared up onto his hind legs as if to cast the powerful spell he'd been charging up for the last few minutes. Gallus flinched as the unicorn's front hooves quickly returned to the ground. However, he'd been bracing himself for an extremely powerful spell that would never come.

As Gallus opened his eyes, he found that instead of blasting him out of existence, the grown unicorn was crumpled up in a heap on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. A pang of guilt traveled from Gallus' tail to his head and down through each of his claws as he realized what the stallion had been talking about. This was Cozy Glow's friend.

The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. How could somepony still consider Cozy Glow a friend? She was evil! Wasn't she?

He looked on and watched as the stallion wept on the floor. In between irrepressible sobs, the pony managed to say, "Cozy Glow..." (More Sobbing) "Why'd you have to leave me?"

The young griffon, finally free of the magical constraint on his tail, walked over to the weeping unicorn. He placed one of his claws on the janitor's shoulder, and he simply said "I'm sorry."

That was all he needed to say.




[1 Year Earlier]

Work had been hard the past few days, what with the magic of Equestria disappearing and all. Knox was surprised that Cozy Glow wasn't frightened by the prospect of magic being gone forever. He knew she wasn't. She hadn't come to talk to him about it. She always came to talk to him about her worries and concerns. Actually, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Cozy for upwards of a week. It was somewhat upsetting, really. He didn't know why, but having somepony depend on him was... comforting. It made him feel complete. She'd become more than just a friend... She was the closest thing he had to family.

He pondered on this as he attempted to prepare a breakfast without using magic. It was harder that he first anticipated, so he ended up with just a bowl of oats on the table. He went to the front door and picked up his daily newspaper. When he went to go sit down, however, he accidentally knocked his bowl of oats off the table. Imagine his surprise when it floated back up to the table surrounded by a pale pink magical aura. 'Huh,' he thought to himself, 'they fixed the magic problem. What a pleasant surprise!'

He would soon receive a surprise of a much fouler nature, though. His unfolded his newspaper, and he felt as if his heart had split in two as he read the headline.

Pegasus Filly Sent to Tartarus for Crimes Against Equestria, the headline read. There was even a photograph. There was no denying it: the article was about Cozy Glow. His friend was gone.

He went to the desk in his bedroom, crying profusely, and used his newly returned magic to send a scroll to Headmare Twilight. That was the first night he had ever called off work since starting at the School of Friendship, and the only reason he'd given was 'family emergency.'
> Chapter 5: Consequences
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knox woke up in a room he'd never seen before. He was laying on a long sofa against the wall of what seemed to be some kind of office. The last thing he remembered at first was... oh. Yeah, that emotional outburst was the last thing he could recall. 'Wait, did I?' No, he now distinctly remembered NOT evaporating the young griffon he'd been screaming at. He sighed in relief as he surveyed the room once more. It was set up similarly to the headmare's office. What was her name again? Not important.

Since he knew he wasn't in the headmare's office, there was only one other place he could be. It was the only room on campus (besides the dormitory, of course) that he didn't have access to: the guidance counselor's office. He nearly gagged at the thought. The last thing he wanted to do right now was talk about his feelings. He'd already revealed way more than he'd meant to when confronting Gallus.

"Well, it's about time," came an unfamiliar voice through the doorway.

Knox looked towards the door and saw a blue unicorn mare walking into the room.

"Oh, goody," he replied in a sardonic tone. "You must be the new guidance counselor."

The mare looked offended for a moment before she said "Don't tell me you've never heard of..."

She paused to lift herself dramatically onto her hind legs. "The great and powerful TRIXIE!"

'Well, that was something special' he thought to himself as a couple minor pyrotechnics went off behind this Trixie character. He rolled his eyes heavily at the showy display.

"Why am I here?" he asked when the so-called 'guidance counselor' was done showing off.

"Well," Trixie started, "Gallus came bursting into my office, told me what happened, and brought me to your tear-soaked, unconscious body. Not very often we have a faculty member cry himself to sleep in the middle of the hallway, I'll tell you that."

"After we realized that waking you up probably wasn't the best plan," she continued, "I used my magic to teleport you here! Honestly, I probably should've asked Starlight to do it, but you got here either way, right?"

'Starlight?' Knox thought to himself. Then he remembered, 'Oh, THAT's the new headmare's name!'

"Anyways," continued the not-so-great-and-powerful Trixie, "I just got back from discussing your little performance with Gallus and Starlight."

Knox visibly cringed at the thought of how that discussion probably went.

"So, am I fired?" he asked sheepishly. He was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"No, of course not," answered the would-be guidance counselor.

"Really?"

At this point, Knox was already completely shocked.

"Trust me," said the wanna-be great and powerful counselor, "If anypony understands lashing out over the loss of a friend, it's Starlight."

He blinked in confusion. Trixie seemed to pick up on it and added, "Long story. Don't ask."

"But, if I'm not fired, there's still gotta be repercussions for ATTACKING a student, right?"

"Yeah, about that... Starlight said you're not to come to work for two months, and you need to come here every day and have therapy sessions with yours truly!" She emphasized these last two words as she bowed dramatically.

Knox sighed heavily. These were going to be a long two months.
> Chapter 6: Genuine Interest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In preparation for the next day's therapy session, Knox had elected to go to bed at around the same time he would usually be leaving for work, but he wasn't even partially surprised by the nightmare that woke him less than four hours after he'd finally drifted off to sleep. It was the same nightmare he always had.

Well, here he was, sitting upright on his bed in the dead of night. He wasn't going to fall asleep again, but you probably knew that already. Instead, he floated a random book off of his nearby shelf and began to read.



When morning finally came, the suspended janitor clambered out of bed. First, he went to his front door, grabbed the newspaper that lay there, and proceeded to immediately turn around and place it in the nearby recycle bin. He'd done this with every single newspaper he'd received since the one that broke his heart. His next stop was the bathroom. Hey, everypony does it, right? Then he combed his mane, ate an apple, and prepared to leave the house.

It would still be hours before he had his therapy session with Trixie, but he had nothing else to do at home, so he wandered the streets of Ponyville aimlessly until he heard a somewhat familiar voice say, "Hey again, stranger!"

Knox turned around to find himself face to face with an earth pony with a big, poofy mane standing less than a foot away from him.

"Oh," he stammered, suddenly stumbling over his words, "Hi Pinkie Pie."

It was then that he realized she'd just referred to him as 'stranger.' That's right, he hadn't told her his name, had he?

"I'm Knox," he said quickly.

The hours passed by as Pinkie and Knox had a very colorful conversation. He'd hardly gotten a word in edgewise, but he didn't really care. He found something about the way that Pinkie spoke to be utterly entrancing. That's on top of the fact that most ponies would carry a conversation with Knox for around three minutes before they habitually excused themselves for 'that other thing they had to go do.'

He specifically remembered a time less than a month ago when he'd been talking to a group of three fillies. He'd been enjoying the pleasant conversation, but then one of the fillies looked at her front hoof, which had no watch, and said, "Look at the time! I've got to... um... do my homework!"

She looked eagerly over at one of her friends, who quickly said, "Oh, yeah! And I've got to... go to the dentist! Yep! Go. To. The dentist."

Both of them turned anxiously to the last filly. If the schoolfillies hadn't been actively trying to ditch him, he knows for a fact that he would've busted out laughing when the little filly, definitely trying to play off of what the others had said without thinking it through, practically screamed, "I'VE GOTTA DO THE DENTIST!"

Knox was pretty sure the filly had been blushing when her friends ran off with her trailing slightly behind.

Yet here, in the present, was this beautiful pony, currently concluding her thoughts on the latest of seventeen different subjects they'd been discussing. Then she did something that made him want to run screaming again. She asked, "so, what's your family like?"

He frantically looked around, searching for any lifeline that might save him from this quickly sinking ship. He got one when he spotted a clock. "Sorry," he said, "I've got a therapy session in ten minutes."

Then he walked off towards the School of Friendship. He grinned slightly as he realized Pinkie hadn't stopped smiling since their conversation had begun.
> Chapter 7: Daily Life & Disappointment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie didn't teach any morning classes, so for the past month or so, Knox had been spending his mornings with Pinkie (swiftly dodging any attempts she made to get him to discuss family) and going to Trixie's office in the afternoon for therapy. Life seemed pretty good.

Occasionally, Pinkie would get Knox and some of her other friends together to play a game of extreme Hide & Seek. Pinkie always volunteered to seek first, and the hiders were allowed to hide ANYWHERE. Knox had been paying close attention to which hiding places had impressed Pinkie the most. That unicorn, Rarity, had hidden deep within the gem caves just outside of Ponyville, but Pinkie had still found her. A pegasus named Rainbow Dash had chosen to hide on a cloud high above Ponyville, but she had been found, too (With the help of some balloons, but found nonetheless). An earth pony named Bon Bon played with them once, and she had hidden in the far reaches of the twisted labyrinth that is Granny Smith's wax museum, but Pinkie found her as well.

As the thought of Granny's wax museum entered his mind, Knox tried to shake it off. He used to like going there, but Granny Smith had recently added a new sculpture to the 'Villains of Equestria' wing: a small pegasus filly.

Knox was currently sitting in Trixie's office, having spent that morning with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. This session started like all the others: Trixie either brags or complains for a while, but Knox had recently noticed that Trixie had a very strange way of slowly yet seamlessly going from a show off, braggart, and all-around obnoxious unicorn to what Knox had since labelled her 'cares-about-others mode,' in which she asked insightful questions that bordered on philosophical, gave halfway-decent advice, and truly LISTENED. Then, she'd make some comment about her being great and/or powerful to remind you who you were talking to, and seamlessly slip back into listening.

Right now, she was almost done with her end-of-session tooting of her own horn, but she stopped for some reason as Knox rose to leave.

"Wait," she said softly, "if you don't mind us running a little over on time, I'd like to ask you one more question."

This wasn't right. She was in cares-about-others mode. Trixie never ends sessions in cares-about-others mode. He silently sat back down and nodded his approval of one more question. He didn't expect the next thing Trixie said to be, "Are you mad at Cozy Glow?"

"What do you mean? Of course I'm mad! I lost my friend!"

"I know that, but that's not what I asked."

She was right. She already knew he was mad. They'd covered that dozens of times. She knew he was furious over the loss of his friend. She was asking if he was mad AT his friend.

He tried to think back on this year of hatred and longing, but he couldn't remember ever actually being mad at Cozy for what she'd done. Upset that she'd done it -- yes. But never angry. The most negative emotion he could even muster towards her was sheer disappointment.

"No," he finally said after several minutes had passed, "I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed."

Trixie laughed a little to Knox's surprise. When she saw his questioning glance, she said "Sorry, it's just that, when you said that, you sounded just like a disapproving father!"

Knox actually grinned at this comment. Way back during their late night talks in the school library, Cozy Glow had often accused him jokingly of talking to her as if he were her father.
> Chapter 8: Hide-And-Seek
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today, Pinkie Pie had put together one of her extreme Hide-and-Seek games. Knox, for one, already knew exactly where he was going to hide. He'd timed it perfectly. By the time Pinkie finished counting and began her search, he'd be close enough to his hiding spot that he could reach it before she'd found a single player. Pinkie was always really impressed when somepony had a difficult hiding spot, so Knox had decided to give her a real challenge. As soon as she closed her eyes to begin counting, he was running off to board the train to Canterlot. He could still see Pinkie, counting in the center of Ponyville, from the train window as it pulled out of the train station.



Once the train had pulled into the Canterlot train station, the race was on. He took off towards the winding hedge maze that rested near the castle that now belonged to Princess Twilight. He ran through path, after path, after ever-confusing path, hoping to get deep enough into the maze that Pinkie would be thoroughly impressed. After all, winning didn't matter to him. He knew she would find him. She always does.

He just needed to last long enough to get her stamp of approval. In that moment, it was all he wanted. It was all he needed. But now, as he turned the next corner, the moment passed. He fell to a sitting position in front of what he saw. His eyes were wide. His mouth, agape. And there he sat, as still as a statue.
> Chapter 9: Prison Of The Mind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there before he felt a soft hoof on his shoulder. A familiarly happy voice came from behind him.

"Foud 'ya!" said the pony for which he had all the adoration in the world.

Knox said nothing. He couldn't even bring himself to move. Pinkie Pie moved slowly into his line of sight, seemingly trying to invoke some kind of response from him.

"You know," she said only slightly enthusiastically, "I have to hand it to you, Knox. This was a really good hiding spot!"

The stallion didn't respond. He wasn't even looking at her. He wanted to, but he couldn't seem to pull his gaze away from the towering object that loomed behind her. The object that had so quickly and so completely grabbed the attention of the whole of his mind. Tears were streaming down his face. How long had that been happening? Pinkie was still talking, trying different ways to free him from this sorrowful prison, but she eventually realized that she probably wasn't what he needed right now.

"Well, it looks like you need to be alone right now," she said dejectedly, "but you can come and find me... when you're ready to talk."

She slowly turned and walked back through the hedge maze the way she had come. That's when he noticed it. Through the unimaginably heavy haze that this object had placed over his mind, he noticed it. He'd only seen it through his peripheral vision, but he was 100% certain of it. Pinkie Pie, for the first time since he'd met her, had stopped smiling.

That single thought had enough weight in his mind that it drew back the curtain this thing in front of him had tried smothering his mind with. He was able to focus long enough to close his eyes and sprint out of the cursed clearing that held that detestable object.





He was almost out of the labyrinth now, but he still couldn't think clearly. He wanted more than anything to go find Pinkie Pie and cheer her up, but there was something still pulling on the back of his mind. He needed to know why they had made it. Why would somepony take the immense amount of time and supplies needed to craft something of that caliber... only to create that. He needed to ask somepony. But who should he ask?

'The princess,' his thoughts replied, 'She'll know.'

Knox quickly changed his course as he exited the hedge maze, which now seemed eerie and grotesque behind him. He was going to see the princess. Now.
> Chapter 10: Unexpected Development
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Twilight's Perspective]

The visit was unexpected, to say the least. When Twilight was told she had a visitor from the School of Friendship, she'd expected a student or one of her close friends. She was not expecting a grown stallion the color of graphite to walk into her newly rebuilt throne room.

"Knox?" she asked. "What are you doing here? Did something happen at the school?"

She visibly sighed in relief as the stallion said, "No, Princess. Nothing of the sort." However, she was somewhat confused yet again when he added, "I've come before you to discuss a matter of great personal importance."

"What exactly have you come here to ask?"

"I have come here to ask about a statue I came across within your hedge maze. The one with her."

The princess was now thoroughly confused. "Who do you mean?"

"Cozy Glow, that's who. I've come to ask why the statue was made. Why would somepony carve that sculpture, so readily associating a little filly with the likes of those two monsters?"

Twilight didn't understand. Did the stallion that stood before her not know the true nature of the statue he spoke of? Even so, why would this be a personal matter to him?

"Knox," began the princess, "Do you know what that statue actually is?"

Her question seemed to confuse the unicorn, so she continued to speak. If he truly knew nothing of the events that had transpired a few months ago, then she was going to tell him everything.

"Just shy of five months ago," started the princess, "Cozy Glow and Tirek escaped from Tartarus. They teamed up with Chrysalis, the dethroned Changeling queen, and attempted to take over Equestria as an act of revenge. They almost succeeded, but my friends and I were able to defeat them. Princesses Celestia and Luna, along with Discord, used their combined powers to turn the three of them to stone. That statue of Cozy is no statue, Knox. It actually is her."

Knox had long since fallen silent. He was currently sitting on the floor, head hanging down in despair. When he finally raised his head again, Twilight was shocked to see that her old acquaintance now seemed to be overcome with rage.

"How could you?" he practically screamed. "She was just a little filly! A little filly who meant the world to me! A little filly who was my best friend! A little filly..."

He paused a moment, as if pondering whether his next words would be a mistake.

"...who was my family," he concluded.

Twilight was beyond shocked. She had never even thought to consider the notion that Cozy Glow might've had somepony who would miss her after what she'd done. Yet here he was. Was it truly fair to keep this pony from the filly he considers family? It wasn't like she could just release Cozy Glow. The little pegasus could never be trusted. She was too dangerous. Twilight would still be pondering this conundrum many hours after her guards had quickly escorted the enraged unicorn out of the castle.

The concept of turning villains to stone had worked before. It was a stone prison for some tortured soul... Only this particular statue was torturing more than the three villainous souls trapped within it. There was now a fourth tortured soul.
> Chapter 11: Broken Smile
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Knox stepped off the Friendship Express back in Ponyville, there were only two things on his mind: a friend trapped in a stone prison, and another friend in dire need of cheering up. One of these things he could do nothing about, but he could at least try his best to fix the latter of the two. The first of Pinkie's friends he was able to find was Rainbow Dash.

According to Rainbow, something had really upset Pinkie Pie, and she'd holed herself up in her secret party planning cave.

'Pinkie has a secret party planning cave? Why am I surprised," he thought to himself as he made his way over to Sugar Cube Corner. He went up to Pinkie's loft above the bakery and pressed the secret switch hidden within a cupcake decoration. The floor opened up beneath his feet, and he was sent careening down a slide into the darkness below.

He skid to a halt as he reached the bottom of the slide. As he looked into the party planning treasure trove before him, he did not feel the aura of happiness he'd expected the room to radiate. Instead, the scene was darkened by the figure laying dejectedly in the center of the floor. Pinkie Pie no longer looked like herself. Her vibrant coloration seemed to have dulled, much like her spirit. Her big, poofy mane now lay perfectly straightened on the sides of her head. She was not smiling.

"Pinkie?" said Knox softly as he reached down and comfortingly stroked her mane, "Are you OK? What's wrong?"

"You're what's wrong," she said bluntly.

Knox stopped stroking the mare's mane as he sorrowfully waited for her to continue.

"No matter what I do," she said in a melancholy tone, "I can't seem to get you to smile."

Knox sighed heavily as he sat gently beside the pony he adored. He couldn't stand that he'd accidentally hurt her like this.

"Pinkie," he started, "me not smiling has nothing to do with you. In fact, you're the first pony who could make me happy in a long, long time."

"You're just saying that to try and cheer me up," said the depressed Pinkie.

"No, Pinkie. It's true. I guess, ever since I lost Cozy, I've been locking away my emotions. I was afraid that I'd make more friends only to have them taken away, too."

Pinkie's head perked up slightly.

"Cozy? As in Cozy Glow? What's she got to do with anything?"

"Well..." This was the moment he'd been dreading. Pinkie Pie was finally going to learn the reason Knox was so broken.

He sighed deeply. 'Here we go.'

He sat there in the dimly-lit party planning cave and told Pinkie the truth. He told her about Cozy Glow. He told her about the nightmare. He told her about the statue and the incident with the princess. He told her about everything.

As he concluded his tale of woe, Pinkie had begun to tear up. She lifted herself off the floor, and she began to cry profusely as she pulled Knox into a tight embrace.

A few hours later, the two ponies walked casually out of the bakery together. One was a poofy-maned earth pony who would stop at nothing to make her friends happy, and the other was a graphite-colored unicorn who couldn't have cared less that he'd missed that day's therapy session. And as they walked the streets of Ponyville with no secrets between them, they both had a smile on their face.
> Chapter 12: Nightmares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The janitor had been cleaning the hallways as he usually did every night, but he'd decided to take a break when he saw his friend a little further down the corridor. He approached her quite haphazardly, but her attentioned seemed to be elsewhere for the moment. He gently placed a charcoal-colored hoof on her small shoulder, but this apparently surprised her. She spun around quickly and dropped what she'd been holding.

"Oh," she breathed, "It's just you."

She seemed relieved, though Knox didn't know why. Cozy seemed very on edge tonight for some reason. Only then did Knox notice the large, bulky object his friend had dropped on the floor when he'd accidentally scared her.

"What've you got there?" he asked.

Cozy Glow's expression suddenly darkened to that of a diabolical grin so wide that it threatened to cut her head in twain as she let out a spine-chilling cackle.

"You," she said in a sinister tone, "are about to find out."

She screamed ferociously as she charged towards the horrified stallion. She was wielding the Helm of Yksler, aimed horns-first at his chest.

Knox sat upright in his bed, once again scared awake by the prospect that Cozy Glow had never truly cared about him in the first place.
> Chapter 13: Party All Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few weeks since Knox had revealed his secrets to Pinkie Pie, and the two ponies had been spending more and more time together. He was the happiest he'd been since Cozy Glow was sent to Tartarus. He'd finally made another friend. One he could discuss his problems with without fearing judgement. Nonetheless, still ever present in his mind was the unsettling image of a terrified little filly in a prison of stone. No matter how much Pinkie's friendship meant to him, he knew he'd never forgive himself if he ever tried to forget about the loss of the one he still considered family.

He was currently in the middle of his latest therapy session with Trixie, but even she could tell that he was anxiously awaiting the session's end.

"What in Equestria," started the counselor, "has got a flashbee in your saddlebag?"

"I'm sorry, Trixie," Knox replied, "I'm just nervous about going to Pinkie's party tonight."

This was the pure and simple truth. For the second time, Pinkie had invited him to a party. He didn't know what the party was in celebration of. He hadn't asked. To him, it didn't matter. The party was just an excuse to spend more time with his new friend.

"You know," said Trixie in response, "I've noticed you talking more and more about Pinkie Pie lately. Is there anything going on between you two?"

She ended her question with a sideways smirk and a knowing glance.

Knox didn't know how to respond. He was fairly certain everypony knew about his feelings for Pinkie, but nopony had so directly asked him about it. He began to stammer over his words as he replied.

"What? No," said the now furiously blushing janitor, "I mean, maybe... I don't know! Well, I mean, she's really nice, and she's gentle, and she's pretty, and..."

Knox continued babbling about how perfect Pinkie Pie was for several minutes before Trixie interrupted.

"Yeah, I've heard this one. Guy meets girl. Guy falls for girl. Girl remains oblivious for a long time. Am I right?"

Knox raised his hoof and opened his mouth as if to argue, but then he just said "Yeah, pretty much."

He was now thoroughly embarrassed.

"Well, then get out of here and go to that party!" concluded Trixie with great enthusiasm.





Although he hadn't really gone there for the party games and fun, the party had actually been fairly enjoyable so far.

First, they'd all played pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, and almost everypony had laughed when Rarity somehow managed to pin the tail on her own flank. Even Knox had managed a small chuckle. Then, they danced for a few hours. (Knox wasn't a very good dancer, though, so that part of the night hadn't been quite as fun as the rest.) Then, after the dancing was done, everypony just drank some cider an earth pony named Applejack had brought and enjoyed each others conversation and company.

Things hit a small rough patch when Rainbow Dash drank too much cider. She ended up flying out the window and, although it was the middle of autumn, she'd been making it snow over Sugar Cube Corner, all the while singing Winter Wrap-Up. She only came back inside when the party had started to die down.

Now, as the party was coming to an end, almost all of the guests had left. Only Knox, Applejack, and Rarity remained.

"So..." Pinkie said to the remaining guests, "Who's ready for a sleepover?!"

She gestured to Rarity and Applejack, but they both had to decline. Applejack needed to get up early the next morning to work on her farm, and Rarity had to start on an important order for dresses from her boutique.

"I'm free," Knox found himself saying. He froze for a second, having surprised himself with this declaration.

"Really?" asked Pinkie, bouncing up and down with excitement. Knox nodded in agreement.

After Rarity and Applejack had left, Pinkie excitedly escorted Knox up to her loft. Once they'd arrived, Pinkie practically squealed.

"I am so excited!" she proclaimed. Then, she seemed to slow down a bit.

"We're going to have so. much. fun," she said in a slightly ominous tone.

Knox gave her a questioning glance as she slowly closed the bedroom door behind them.
> Chapter 14: Inuendo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knox had a fun night. He woke the next morning, still laying in Pinkie's bed. He hoped that the loud banging from the loft hadn't woken the Cakes. He'd had to help Pinkie fix the secret switch that opened the door to her party planning cave, but he'd needed a hammer to do it. Although, on the off chance the banging of the heavy tool hadn't woken them, he was pretty certain the creaking of the bed frame would've. He and Pinkie had been jumping up and down on the bed like a makeshift trampoline for hours before they'd finally gone to bed!

Then again, Knox didn't really care all that much if they'd woken the Cakes or not. After all, he'd gotten to sleep with Pinkie Pie. That's right, Pinkie had allowed him to sleep next to her in her bed!

There he'd been, laying in Pinkie's bed. He felt at peace as the adorable pink pony, all dressed up in her adorable hoovsie pajamas, slept peacefully without a care in the world.

And there he lay until he finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep, free of nightmares.
> Chapter 15: The Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After his sleepover with Pinkie Pie, Knox had breakfast with her and the Cakes. When Mrs. Cake complained about having gotten very little sleep, Pinkie and Knox looked at each other and chuckled mischievously. For once, the statue he'd found in the castle labyrinth had taken a back seat to the actual joy he felt in that moment. That being said, it didn't last very long.

After breakfast, the time had come for Knox to return home. Soon, he'd be sitting in the kitchen where his heart had been shattered or laying upon the bed where he'd been woken by the nightmare countless times. It was only a short walk, so he soon found himself standing at his own front door. He decided to dispose of his daily newspaper before he went in. After all, he wasn't ready to go inside just yet. He wasn't ready for this feeling to stop. As he looked around on the ground for the newspaper, he noticed a small, rolled-up piece of parchment. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be from Princess Twilight. It even had her cutie mark emblazoned on the wax seal.

'A letter from the Princess?' he thought to himself as he gently unraveled the scroll. He read the words carefully, and then he read it again. And again. And again. He couldn't believe what the parchment had revealed to him. He didn't go inside the house. Instead, he sprinted as fast as he could towards the friendship express. He was going to Canterlot.





As he arrived in Princess Twilight's throne room once again, he had just one burning question for the wise ruler. The question sat in the back of his mind, heavy as a boulder.

"Is it true?"

"Yes," confirmed the princess, "It's true. Your last visit left me with many questions. Ones that I've thought long and hard about for the last few weeks. I've always believed that everypony deserves a second chance, and I don't think Cozy ever truly got one. Maybe, together, we can change that now."

Knox grew more emotional with each word the princess said until he was sobbing uncontrollably in the princess' throne room. This time, when he cried, they were tears of joy.

When he finally slowed his crying, he stood up and tearfully said, "Thank you."





He was escorted into the labyrinth by Twilight. Of course, they were followed closely by royal guards. After all, what was about to happen was dangerous. She was dangerous. 

The small group navigated the hedge maze quickly (Twilight had been smart enough to bring a map), and they soon reached their destination.

Knox gulped nervously, the familiar image of his petrified friend now reflected into reality as he once again found himself staring at the statue.

"Are you ready?" asked the princess.

"Are you kidding?" Knox laughed, tears in his eyes, "I've been ready for this for a long time now, Princess."

He watched in awe as Twilight charged her horn with the powerful energy of the essence of the magical element she contained. She let out an unimaginably powerful stream of magic towards the statue.

As the magic stopped streaming from the princess' horn, something small and fluffy fell from atop the statue with a scream of terror. As the small creature cowered in fear, the princess and her guards quietly left the clearing. A gentle, charcoal-gray hoof rested itself on her shoulder.

"Hey, Cozy Glow."
> Chapter 16: White Knight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cozy's Perspective]

Cozy Glow looked up at Knox.

"Oh, great, my knight in shining armor."

Her voice dripped with insincerity as she knocked the friendly hoof off of her shoulder. She'd been expecting that weak-minded Twilight to free her, not the stallion she now saw before her.

"Now I'm going to get turned back to stone, and you're probably going to be locked up in Tartarus. Here I thought Twilight might be giving me a second chance like she did with so many others, but..."

She trailed off when she noticed the saddened expression on her old friend's face.

"I'm sorry," she said, now done with her tirade. "I just... haven't had the best time lately," she gestured up towards the two remaining stone figures, "if you couldn't tell."

"I know, Cozy," said Knox. "I'm just sorry I couldn't come get you sooner."

"It was sweet of you to try," said the filly, now on the verge of crying. She really had thought Twilight was freeing her.

She was about to speak again when she heard a familiar voice coming from behind Knox.

"Hello, Cozy Glow," said the princess as she reentered the clearing.

'Wow,' Cozy thought, 'I knew I wouldn't be free for long, but this is ridiculous!'

"I know this is probably as unexpected to you as it is to us," Twilight started, "but I've decided, as ruler of Equestria, that you deserve a second chance."

The princess walked forward and placed a hoof on Knox's shoulder.

"And," she continued, "Knox here has agreed to act as your legal guardian until the time comes that you can be trusted on your own. Understand?"

Understand? She was still trying to comprehend the fact that she could feel the ground beneath her hooves. Was she really out? And why had Knox felt the urge to act like some kind of white knight, swooping in to save her from her horrible situation. Nothing was making sense, but she was slowly starting to piece together the fact that she was actually being given a second chance.

'How long was I gone?' she asked herself. To her, it had felt like years were passing by.

She looked up at the two ponies standing over her. They seemed to be speaking sincerely.

"Really?" she asked sardonically, but the overwhelming excitement she felt inside was real. This was it. She was free.

"Yes, really," replied her new legal guardian.

She was overjoyed to the point that she threw herself joyfully at Knox and gave him a big hug as she had done so many times before her imprisonment in Tartarus. She felt him lightly nuzzle her mane in response.

'You're mine now,' she thought to herself.
> Chapter 17: Welcome Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Knox guided Cozy Glow down the small path that led to his house, he was worried by the way Cozy kept looking at him questioningly.

"Is something bothering you, Cozy?"

"Well, golly," replied the little filly sarcastically, "whatever could possibly be bothering me? I've only been a statue for months! And now a pony I betrayed is letting me live with him? What could I possibly have to worry about?"

She then shifted her tone to one of sheer curiosity.

"Why were you so willing to look after me anyways? I betrayed you."

"Correction," Knox replied, "You betrayed Equestria. It wasn't a personal attack against me, and I'd probably feel differently if it had been. Besides, it's good to have ambition. Sure, your goal back then was really bad, but it's never too late to make new goals."

Reading the expression on her face, Knox assessed that Cozy hadn't truly believed he thought she could change.

"Why did Headmare Twilight suddenly decide I deserved a second chance, anyway?" she asked.

"Well, it was anything but sudden, actually, but I guess she eventually saw the situation my way."

"Wait, you convinced Twilight to set me free?"

"Of course I did. You were my best friend!  How could I not help you out of that terrible situation? That's just what friends do: help each other. I mean, we are still friends, right?"

"Are you kidding?" she began in a tone that just dripped of condescension. Then she looked at the door of the house they'd just arrived at. She looked down at her hoof, now free of its stone casing. She looked at the now saddened janitor who had come crashing back into her life like some kind of knight in charcoal-gray armor.

Knox was shocked when Cozy suddenly cracked a small, purely genuine smirk.

"Of course we're friends," she said calmly, without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

The two ponies entered the house they'd be sharing for the foreseeable future.

"Well, you should probably get some sleep," Knox said after he and Cozy finished setting up the guest room for her. "You've got a busy day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" asked the little pegasus.

"Well, tomorrow is you first therapy session," answered Knox. "The princess insisted that you meet with the guidance counselor at the School of Friendship at least once a week."

Cozy gave an exasperated groan.

"Trust me, you'll like her. She's even more narcissistic than you," he jested.

"Yeah, we've really got to go over the rules of my parole. But first, do you have anything to eat?"

"Of course. The kitchen's over this way."

Cozy eagerly followed Knox into the kitchen. She hadn't eaten anything in months!

"You know," Knox said as they prepared some dinner, "we can visit Sugarcube Corner before your therapy session tomorrow! Pinkie Pie will be absolutely ecstatic that we're friends again!"

"Yeah, sure..." she replied with feigned happiness, a worried expression finding its way onto her face. She gulped heavily at the thought of one of Twilight's friends finding out she'd been set free.
> Chapter 18: Easy As Pinkie Pie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cozy's Perspective]

It was the next morning, and Knox was leading an extremely distraught Cozy Glow through the streets of Ponyville towards Sugarcube Corner.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked worriedly.

"Of course," Knox replied. "Although, you might want to let me talk to her first. After all, this'll be quite the shock for her."

The closer the duo got to the nearby bakery, the more nervous Cozy grew. Before she knew it, she was clenching her teeth as Knox slowly opened the bakery door... and BANG!

A torrent of confetti burst out of the bakery as Pinkie, along with a few other ponies, shouted "Surprise!"

"Welcome back, Cozy Glow," continued Pinkie as she ushered the two utterly shocked ponies into the building.

"Pinkie," Knox questioned, "You already knew about Cozy Glow?"

"Well, duh, silly," replied Pinkie. "How else would I have known to plan this party? I got a letter from Twilight about it last night! I'm so happy for you, Knox!"

Cozy Glow was just watching the scene unfold. She may have been a criminal mastermind, but even she had been surprised by the party. There was punch, baked goods, and a few party games set up as well.

"Good golly, professor," she said to Pinkie, "all of this is really for me?"

"Sure!" exclaimed Pinkie. "After all, if Twilight and Knox think you deserve a second chance, then so do I!"

She proceed to hit Cozy Glow on the crown of her head.

"Hey!" Cozy exclaimed, but she soon noticed that the overexcited party host had only been putting a party hat on her head.

The party was small, thankfully. Cozy wasn't exactly ready to reenter the Equestrian social scene quite yet. The guests were just Pinkie; Knox; Pinkie's sister, Maud; the Cake family; and Cozy Glow herself. She introduced herself to the guests she hadn't already met and proceeded to talk only to Knox and Pinkie for the rest of the party.

Pinkie truly had thought through everything for the party. The bewitching bell pinata may have been in poor taste, but the rest of the festivities were quite enjoyable. She'd even gotten Mrs. Cake to display the sprinkle shakers Cozy had once gifted to her. Honestly, Cozy was just surprised Mrs. Cake had kept them, especially after her second attempt at world domination.

Pinkie spent most of the party asking Cozy seemingly random questions out of the blue. Most of them were easy to answer, but then Pinkie asked her what it was like being turned to stone.

Cozy visibly cringed and remained silent for a long moment.

'Imagine standing perfectly still for months, frozen in an eternal scream. Imagine thinking you'll never see another sunrise or sunset, or anything for that matter. Imagine being trapped in your own mind, constantly tormented by the sins that plague your past. Imagine coming face-to-face with your inner demons because they're the only ones you can talk to.'

This was what she wanted to say. This was the truth. Instead, she said "Cold... Cold and stiff..."

Overall, the party wasn't nearly the waste of time Cozy had expected it to be. She'd even gained a new ally in Pinkie Pie. If she was to be accepted after all she'd done, she would need every ally she could get.

'And to think,' she thought to herself as she and Knox made their way towards the School of Friendship for her therapy session, 'I thought it would be hard to gain the trust of Princess Twilight's friends. Now, I have one more pony I can trust. Now, hopefully things keep going this well for my master plan.'
> Chapter 19: Necessary Risk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy had a plan. One that would get her exactly what she'd always wanted. To make it work, though, she'd have to take some risks.

[Cozy's Perspective]

Cozy had just gone to bed, and she was pondering ways to further her plan when her thoughts were interrupted by Knox.

"Did you remember to take out your hairpins?" he asked.

A couple weeks ago, Cozy had accidentally left in the pins that held her adorable mane curls together. One of them had gotten stuck on her pillowcase, binding it to her thick locks. It took quite a while and a lot of painful pulling to remove the pillowcase from her head, and Knox had been reminding her every night ever since. She wasn't sure why he was asking tonight, though. Her mane lay straight on her head. Not a single curl remained. Obviously she'd removed the pins.

Nonetheless, she gestured halfheartedly to the neat stack of hairpins that lay on the table beside her bed, and she proceeded to fall asleep.





A couple hours later, Cozy bolted awake with a scream. She was breathing heavily and trembling under her covers. Her eyes were held firmly shut, but they jerked open when she felt something touch her shoulder.

"Cozy, are you OK?" Knox was now beside the bed, comfortingly stroking her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Cozy replied quickly, "Nothing!"

"Cozy..." Knox was obviously prying for the truth.

Well, this was one of the risks she had to take. If she was going to keep her master plan on track, she had to open up to Knox.

She sighed heavily before she spoke again.

"I had a nightmare," she said softly. "I've been having it every night."

"I know what that's like," Knox said. "Trust me."

"In the nightmare, I'm turned to stone, but when they release me, you aren't there. Neither is Twilight. All that is there is some scary shadow-thingy. It tells me to do such horrible things. Then, when I refuse, it jumps inside me and starts controlling me like a puppet. That's when I always wake up."

"Hmmm..." Knox seemed to be contemplating something.

"You know, Cozy," he finally continued, "you shouldn't let nightmares rattle you like that."

"I know, I know... They're not real."

"That's not it at all," continued Knox.

Cozy perked her head up a bit. She hadn't expected more in the ways of an explanation.

"You shouldn't be afraid of nightmares," Knox resumed, "because nightmares should be scared of you! I mean, you're Cozy Glow! You almost took over Equestria... Twice!"

Cozy giggled at that last part. She enjoyed the way Knox just accepted what she'd done. He didn't act like it had never happened. In fact, he embraced it.

"Any monster foolish enough to show his face in your nightmares has no idea what he's in for."

Cozy smiled in a half-elated, half-maniacal way that she hadn't previously known was possible.

"Thanks, Knox," she said.

"Any time, kid. Any time."

She gave him one of her cannonball-like hugs, and she had a bright smile on her face as he left the room. There was only one thing Cozy had ever wanted more than power, and that conversation had just gotten her one step closer to it.
> Chapter 20: Hearts & Hooves, Part 1: An Old Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was the day. It was Hearts & Hooves Day, and Knox had decided he was finally going to tell Pinkie Pie how he felt. He'd already left nothing to chance. He'd scheduled a picnic with Pinkie at lunchtime, and he was already sitting there among her favorite baked goods. About twenty minutes after Pinkie should've been there, however, Pinkie's pet alligator Gummy seemingly materialized out of thin air behind him. He had no idea how long the toothless alligator had been there or how he'd gotten there to begin with, but Gummy was always so quiet. He could've been sitting behind Knox the whole time, and he wouldn't have even known it. Clenched in his toothless maw was a note from Pinkie Pie.

The note read:

'I'm so, so sorry Knox, but I can't make it to the picnic.
An old friend just got into town, and they'll only be here for today!
You understand, right?
Sorry again! Happy Hearts & Hooves Day!
Your Friend,
Pinkie Pie  





"Let's just see who this friend of yours is," said Knox to nopony in particular. He was currently hiding in the bushes outside Sugarcube Corner, waiting for Pinkie to come out with the friend she'd ditched him for. He had to know what he was up against.

"Ponyville has changed quite a bit since you were here last," he heard Pinkie Pie's voice saying, "Let me show you all the new sights!"

The door opened, and out walked Pinkie. She was followed closely by somepony Knox had never seen before. His coat was a really weird shade of yellow, and his brown mane was somewhat similar to Pinkie's poofy, pink one. He was wearing a yellow shirt, too.

"C'mon, Cheese Sandwich," shouted Pinkie, "Don't you wanna have some fun?"

"Of course!" her yellow-ish friend yelled in response.

'Cheese Sandwich...' This was the name of the stallion who had stolen Knox's spotlight. This was the name of his adversary.

Knox continued following the two ponies, making sure to stay out of sight as Pinkie led Cheese zipping around from one location to another. They visited the School of Friendship, the princess' old castle, and Maud's cavern. Then, they went to Sweet Feather Sanctuary.

They were laughing and smiling with each other the whole time. This was worse than he thought. Cheese Sandwich was worrying. Spending time with him seemed to be making Pinkie so happy. And he was so much like her... So unlike him.

While they were sitting on a ledge overlooking the animal sanctuary, Cheese wrapped one of his hooves around Pinkie's shoulder.

Knox had planned to ask Pinkie to be his special somepony that very morning! And now this stallion who didn't even live in Ponyville was trying to steal away his chance. Well, he wasn't going to just stand here and take it! He was seething with anger. He felt that same fiery rage he'd felt when he attacked Gallus. It was welling up within him.

However, he knew better than to attack Cheese. For one thing, if he attacked her friend, he could forget about any chance he had with Pinkie. More importantly, if he lashed out like that, they could take Cozy Glow away from him!

'Cozy Glow...' he thought to himself. 'That's it!'

If Knox was going to get past the seemingly insurmountable obstacle that was Cheese Sandwich, he was going to need a plan... and he knew exactly who could help him.
> Chapter 21: Hearts & Hooves, Part 2: The Plan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cozy's Perspective]

Cozy had been making full use of her alone time at home to plan out the next steps of her master plan. That is, she had been. It was about an hour before dinnertime when Knox came running into the house.

"Cozy," he said quickly, "I need your help."

"With what?" she asked. She would've rather stayed home planning her next move, but doing Knox a favor would strengthen his loyalty to her. Knox answered her question with a torrent of information.

"I was going to ask Pinkie to be my special somepony, but now this stallion named Cheese Sandwich is going around town with her and making her laugh and putting his hoof around her!"

He was rattling off information as if the words would burn his tongue if he didn't say them quickly enough.

"I need to get Pinkie away from him long enough to tell her how I feel before he steals my chance! I need a plan. Can you help me? Pleeease?" 

Cozy walked over to Knox's side and gently nuzzled his shoulder.

"No worries, Knox. I've got your back."

'That way,' she continued in her head, 'I'll know for sure that you've got mine.'





Now there were two ponies stalking Cheese and Pinkie from the bushes. The two earth ponies and their shadows were now attending one of the Great and Powerful Trixie's biweekly magic shows at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Cozy was staring intensely, trying to formulate a plan to separate them. Knox, meanwhile, was trying not to let his anger boil over.

Cheese's ears perked up as if he'd heard something. Cozy looked in the direction Cheese was now walking. For the first time since they'd begun watching them, he didn't seem at all focused on Pinkie. What had drawn his attention away from her so entirely?

As Cheese walked up to a young colt, Cozy realized why he'd been so distracted. The colt was quietly crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked the colt.

"My balloon floated away," the colt replied. "It was supposed to be a gift for my mom."

"Well," said Cheese Sandwich happily as he pulled a balloon out of who-knows-where and blew it up, "Why don't you give her this one instead?"

The kid smiled brightly and graciously accepted the gift.

"Gee, thanks mister," he said as he galloped off towards what Cozy could only assume was his mother's picnic blanket.

A mischievous smirk spread across Cozy's face.

"I've got a plan," she said.

Knox looked at her with a confused expression.

"Just be ready to go talk to her once I have his attention."

She walked out a few feet from the bush Knox was in, and she began to think about about her time trapped in stone. Before she knew it, she was crying. Cheese had almost made it back to Pinkie's side, but he came running to Cozy's side within moments. Now all she had to do... was not smile.





[Knox's Perspective]

Knox saw that Cozy had Cheese distracted, so he sprinted towards Pinkie.

"Pinkie," he said hurriedly, "I need to ask you something."

"Oh, hi Knox!" Pinkie said. "Sorry again about earlier. What's up?"

"Well..." he hesitated for a moment.

'Just get it over with,' his thoughts convinced him.

"You see, I really like you, Pinkie. So... Will you be my special somepony?"
> Chapter 22: Hearts & Hooves, Part 3: Response
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie didn't even blink when Knox asked the question.

"Well, it's about time you asked!"

Knox was stupefied.

"Wait," he said, "you knew?"

"Yeah," she replied enthusiastically, "it was super obvious."

"Then why did you never say anything?"

"Well, duh, silly. That would've spoiled the secret! And sharing a friend's secret is the easiest way to lose a friend's trust, and losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend. FOREVER!"

Pinkie emphasized the last word quite ominously.

"But... But I... Huh?" was all Knox could say in response.

"Why'd you decide to ask me now? Trixie's magic show is a pretty random choice of location."

"Well... You see... The picnic earlier..."

"Oh, no!" she interrupted. "You were going to ask me then, weren't you? And I cancelled! I'm so sorry Knox. If I'd known how important that picnic was to you, I definitely would've been there."

"It's not that big of a deal, Pinkie Pie. I'm just glad I got to ask you."

"Whew... Thank goodness! Hey, wait a second..."

She looked directly into Knox's eyes.

"Is that why you were following me and Cheese in the bushes all day?"





Meanwhile, not very far away, Cheese asked the little crying filly, "What's wrong?"

"Everything is wrong," Cozy replied. "But right now it's just that, well... My best friend had plans with a mare he likes today, but then some bigshot came to town and completely stole his thunder."

Cheese was about to say something, but Cozy interrupted.

"Also, I was a statue up until a few weeks ago, so there's that."

Cheese didn't seem to know how to respond to all that. That was just what Cozy had wanted. Knox shouldn't take long, so all she had to do was not smile at whatever Cheese did to try and cheer her up.

It was harder than she'd originally anticipated. She had to hand it to Cheese, he was good at what he did. He almost broke her multiple times, but Cozy had a foolproof countermeasure in place. Every time she felt like she was about to smile, she thought about her horrible past. She thought about her time locked in Tartarus. She thought about her time as a glorified lawn ornament. She thought about what would become of her if her master plan were to fail.

Every time she did this, she'd begin bawling her eyes out. And they weren't crocodile tears, either. She'd had the feeling Cheese could tell when somepony was faking tears. These tears were 100% genuine.

After her fifth time bawling her eyes out, it seemed like Cheese had finally given up on making her laugh. He was laying on the ground, head hung in defeat. Then, Cozy glanced over and caught sight of Knox and Pinkie nuzzling their muzzles together.

She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. Cheese took notice of her sudden change in temperament, so he also looked over and saw the happy couple. Then it hit him.

"I was the somepony who stole your friend's spotlight, wasn't I?"

"Yeah," Cozy giggled, "but that's OK. Everything worked out for him in the end."

"So, this was all a trick? You weren't really sad at all?"

"Oh, I was sad alright. I just channeled it in a productive way... to help a friend."

"You two must be really good friends if you were willing to do this for him."

She sighed and looked down toward her legal guardian. She was teary-eyed.

"Practically family," she said.

She wiped her eyes and snapped her attention back to Cheese.

"Sorry I had to trick you like that, Cheese. But you know the lengths we good friends will go to for the ponies we care about."

She held up her hoof towards the super duper party pony.

"Friends?"

Cheese looked at the hoof for a moment before smiling.

"Absolutley!" he said, "I never turn down a new friend! Isn't that right, Boneless 2?"

He glanced over to the side. Cozy followed his gaze and was shocked when she saw the rubber chicken sitting on a spinning stool less than three feet away from them. How had she failed to notice that?

She laughed at the absurdity of the moment, and Cheese gave her a hoof bump as he began to laugh as well.

Overall, Cozy was really happy that her plan had worked. Knox looked so happy, and his newly romantic relationship would make earning Pinkie's loyalty far easier.

'Everything's going according to plan,' she thought as she watched fireworks go off over Trixie's wagon.
> Chapter 23: The Challenge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You know, Cozy," Trixie said, "I've noticed something."

Cozy was at her weekly therapy session, and they were almost out of time for the day.

"What's that?" asked Cozy nervously.

"You've been free for almost a month now," began the counselor, "and you haven't reached out to any of your friends. You know, from before."

"What?" Cozy almost sounded offended, "What about Knox? And Pinkie?"

"You were legally required to reconnect with Knox, and you didn't seek Pinkie Pie out," Trixie replied bluntly. "Knox did. Besides, I'm referring more to friends your own age."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Cozy cynically.

"I'm saying I have a challenge for you."

"A challenge, eh?" Cozy's tone was now one full of intrigue.

"It's simple, really. Choose somepony you used to be friends with... somepony closer to your own age... and become actual friends with them."

"What?" Cozy almost screamed. "How am I supposed to do that! They all hate me!"

"Well, I suppose you could turn down my challenge," Trixie interrupted tauntingly, "if you don't think you can do it, that is."

She ended her taunt with a mischievous grin. She knew she'd won in spite of Cozy having not responded yet.

"What? Of course I can do it," Cozy yelled angrily. "Fine! I'll do your stupid little challenge!"

The little pegasus flew out of Trixie's office in a huff.

A few moments later, she peeked her head in through the door again with a stern expression.

"Don't think I don't know what you did there."

She left the office behind her once again as she pondered what to do.

"Which of my old friends do I want to be my new friends?" she asked herself as she flew down the hallway.

Her thoughts first drifted to Ocellus, Silverstream, and the other non-pony students. They were always such great friends to each other, oftentimes to the point where Cozy was jealous. However, they'd also been directly responsible for her first defeat, and she'd left them all to die in a giant sphere of magical energy. That ruled them out... for now, at least.

She decided to think back further, looking for moments when she'd felt a bond with somepony.





[Approximately 2 Years Ago]

Cozy was in real trouble. If things didn't change for the better soon, she could forget about her aspirations of taking over the school she'd recently been enrolled in. Not that any part of that plan was actually figured out yet anyways, but still. She'd been struggling in Headmare Twilight's classes, and you can't overthrow the Princess of Friendship if you're bad at friendship!

She'd only made one friend since she'd been in Ponyville, and he hadn't even been at the school last night when she'd really needed a friendly shoulder to cry on. Something about a molting dragon burning all of his cleaning supplies to ash.

So here she sat, feeling alone in the world, bawling her eyes out and sobbing uncontrollably under the shade of a tree. Now she'd never reach her goals! Now she'd never be crowned empress! Now she'd never have...

"Hey, are you OK?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. She looked up and saw three fillies standing nearby.

"Oh," she replied. "Thank you for asking. But no. I'm having real trouble with... the School of Friendship."





[Present Day]

"Yes," she said, a wicked grin on her face, "They'll be perfect!"
> Chapter 24: Off The Mark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well... This was unexpected.

Cozy Glow had been confident in her ability to befriend the Cutie Mark Crusaders again. After all, they were always so friendly and caring! They'd been hanging out outside their clubhouse when she'd arrived, but she never would've expected the violent reaction that came in response to her offer of friendship.

"Are you kidding me?" screamed Scootaloo.

She and Apple Bloom had taken a remarkably defensive stance, while Sweetie Belle had been cowering against the trunk of the tree which acted as the clubhouse's foundation. She appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"After all you've done to us?" continued the enraged filly.

"When you think back," retorted Cozy in a calculated tone, "what all did I specifically do to you?"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom rang out in a cacophony of overlapping misdeeds.

"You almost got us banned from the school!" Apple Bloom said.

"You betrayed our trust!" proclaimed Scootaloo.

"You made us think you were our friend!"

"And you tried to take away poor Sweetie Belle's magic!"

Sweetie's ears perked up slightly at the mention of her name, but she didn't speak.

"You locked us in a closet!" continued Apple Bloom.

"Yeah," screamed Scootaloo, about to deliver the Coup de Grace, "if that magical feedback whatchamacallit actually had destroyed the school, we would be dead!"

Cozy had been frozen in shock, but she visibly cringed at Scootaloo's final exclamation. She tried to regain her composure, but her voice, betraying her true feelings, trembled as she spoke.

"Now hang on, Scootaloo," she began, "Obviously I didn't plan on being defeated. And if I had succeeded, the magical feedback loop wouldn't have happened at all. I thought you three were perfectly safe in that closet! I think you're letting your emotions get the better of you. Now, if you'd just try to look at this logically..."

She was cut off by more angry yelling.

"Logically?" yelled Scootaloo. "This isn't an issue of logic! This entire situation is an issue of emotion! We. Could've. Died. My friends could've died! How can I not be emotional?"

Cozy had fallen silent again. Scootaloo made a valid point. One that even Cozy Glow couldn't contradict. This was an emotional situation.

When Cozy looked up towards the crusaders again, she found that Sweetie Belle, still laying against the tree, was looking straight at her. It almost looked like she wanted Cozy to convince her.

"Come on, girls," Scootaloo continued. "Let's go."

She turned away from Cozy Glow for the first time since she'd arrived, and she slowly walked away.

Cozy began to cry. The tears only started coming faster when Apple Bloom turned to follow Scootaloo. She had never failed so entirely before. Even when she'd attempted her takeover of the school, then all of Equestria, she'd almost succeeded. Now, all she'd been trying to do was make some friends, and she hadn't even come close. She'd only wanted to be friends again. She'd only wanted to apologize. She was now crying uncontrollably on the ground.

She turned her attention to the last remaining crusader.

"Sweetie Belle, please!" she desperately pleaded.

Sweetie stood up, still looking directly into Cozy's eyes. For a moment, Cozy was hopeful, but Sweetie shut her eyes tightly and ran after her friends. Cozy began to cry so much that she couldn't see Sweetie Belle stop and glance over her shoulder, tears in her eyes, before continuing the pursuit of her friends.
> Chapter 25: Griffon The Rush Off
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a while, Cozy had left the Crusader's clubhouse in hopes of finding somepony else to befriend. Scootaloo's words still echoed through her mind, though, reminding her what her former "friends" thought of her. She closed her eyes and held a hoof to her head, desperately trying to purge her mind of the tornado of hurtful words which pervaded her thoughts.

Her attempt was cut short when she literally walked right into somepony on the street. Well, not exactly somepony.

"Hey, watch where you're going, would... Cozy Glow?"

Cozy Glow was suddenly an even bigger ball of nerves. In front of her was an all-to-familiar figure: Gallus.

She almost whimpered when she thought of what the griffon might do to her, but she quickly snapped back to reality when Gallus quickly flew away from her, seemingly terrified of the little filly.

"No, Gallus, wait!" she found herself yelling.

The griffon came to a screeching halt as her voice reached his ears. Cozy could see him facehoof (faceclaw? facetalon? I don't know.) before he slowly started to descend back down towards Cozy.

"What do you want?" he asked, clearly still on edge.

"I was hoping we could go someplace and, you know... catch up."

Gallus looked lost in thought for a moment, but he seemed to quickly reach some type of conclusion. He flew away from Cozy, leaving her in the dust. Cozy's ears drooped as she realized she'd failed once again.

To her surprise, Gallus came back just a few moments later.

"Well?" he said with a sly smirk on his face. "You can fly. Are you coming or what?"

Cozy laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes before flapping her tiny wings and following Gallus through the sky towards the Everfree Forest.





Meanwhile, elsewhere in Ponyville, Knox was at the Quills & Sofas store trying to get a replacement for the sofa Pinkie had accidentally set on fire.

(Bet you'd like to know that story, wouldn't you?)

However, he was quickly becoming annoyed.

"What's the deal, Davenport? How can you be out of sofas? The store is called Quills & Sofas! You only sell two things!"

"What can I say?" replied the store's owner, "Ever since Rarity gave me those excellent sales strategy tips, our sofas have been flying off the shelves!"

Ironically, some of the sofas he'd had actually did fly off the shelves! Discord had been in here, looking to refurnish some part of his chaos dimension.

"Good news is," continued Davenport, "we get a new shipment in a couple of days. If you get here early enough, you might be able to get one before they're gone! In the meantime... Need to buy some quills?"
> Chapter 26: The Griffon's Roost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy continued to follow closely behind Gallus as they delved deeper and deeper into the Everfree Forest. Eventually, they reached the ruined castle Celestia and Luna had once shared. As they landed within its walls, Cozy stared in awe at the crystal mansion she saw before her.

"Is that the Tree of Harmony?" she asked with audible wonder in her voice. "I thought Sombra destroyed it."

"He did," replied the Griffon, "but me and my friends were able to bring it back as this Treehouse. I thought it might be a good, safe place for us to talk."

Cozy rushed ahead of Gallus towards the door of the Treehouse. She threw open the door... and came face-to-face with a monster. She quickly closed her eyes. She knew better than to look at it.

She heard Gallus enter through the door behind her. Her voice quaked.

"I-is th-that a cackatrice?"

"Oh, yeah," he replied. "That's Silverstream's."

"It's alright, Edith." He now seemed to be addressing the chicken-snake. "She's with me."

Cozy slowly opened her eyes as she heard the terrifying creature retreat across the room. She was still very wary of it, though.

"Come on," Gallus called to her as he ascended a nearby staircase. "I'll show you the griffon's roost. It's a bit more..."

He seemed to pause as he glanced back around the room they'd just left, almost as if searching for something.

"private up there," he concluded.

Cozy followed him up the rest of the staircase, happy to be leaving the seemingly still enraged cockatrice he'd called Edith behind her.

"Of all the things it could've been," she muttered under her breath, "why'd it have to be something that can turn ponies to stone."

"What was that?" asked Gallus.

"Oh," she quickly responded with a bright smile, "nothing!"

Once they'd entered the large room at the top of the staircase, Gallus closed and latched the door behind them.

"So... let me guess," he began, "somepony asked you to make up with some of your old friends."

"Golly, no!" she said in her feigned syrupy sweetness voice. "I decided to go around to everycreature I'd betrayed and beg them for forgiveness all on my own!"

She then dropped her broad smile into a mischievous grin. In a now very sarcastic tone, she continued, "Have you met me?"

They both shared a pretty good laugh over this, and they continued to pick each others brains for a few more hours. Cozy mostly asked about things she'd missed while she was *cough cough* "away." Meanwhile, Gallus seemed interested in finding out what devious things Cozy'd had to do in the past, whether it was to keep her secrets or get rid of an obstacle.

Eventually, dinnertime neared, and Cozy had to get home. Otherwise, Knox would get worried.

"Sorry, but I've really got to get home," she said, cutting Gallus off mid-sentence.

"Oh, yeah. You're living with that janitor, right?"

"Oh, golly, yes!" she responded with great enthusiasm. "His name is Knox."

"Well, tell him I said hi. And tell him I don't hold him trying to kill me against him," he said with a smirk.

Upon seeing Cozy's quizzical expression, he simply elaborated with, "Story for another day."
> Chapter 27: Suspicions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gallus followed Cozy Glow down to the ground floor of the Treehouse. Upon seeing Cozy, Edith the cockatrice came straight at her, only stopping once Gallus was in view. Gallus glared at the creature in a fashion which Edith recognized as the "try anything like that again, and I'll tell Silverstream" look. The fowl creature (See what I did there?) quickly retreated past a coffee table to its perch in the far corner of the room

"I'm sorry about Edith," Gallus apologized. "She's usually much more well-behaved."

Once Cozy was safely outside, flying through the Everfree Forest all by herself as the sun was setting, Gallus finally turned his attention away from his friend's unusual pet.

Upon turning around, he found himself face-to-face with a mysterious figure who'd become a staple in the lives of Gallus and his friends. It looked almost exactly like Twilight Sparkle. If Twilight Sparkle were made out of glitter, that is.

"Why was Cozy Glow here?" asked the spirit.

"Everypony deserves a second chance, Harmony," he replied.

At one point, Gallus and the others had grown tired of calling this being "the Tree of Harmony," especially since it was probably just a hallucinatory manifestation of the Treehouse's essence (Ocellus' words, not his.), so they'd all agreed to simply call it "Harmony."

"I'm just giving her one," continued the griffon.

"Are you sure that's wise. She tried to destroy you," said Harmony matter-of-factly.

"That's why it's called a second chance, Harmony. They wouldn't need it if they hadn't screwed up their first one."

"So you aim to befriend her?"

"Right now, I don't see any reason not to. This doesn't mean all is forgiven. I'm just giving her a chance to earn forgiveness."

"As you wish. I will not interfere," Harmony said as she slowly deteriorated back into the nothing she was made of.

Gallus went back up the staircase leading to the griffon's roost. It had been exhausting trying to stay calm when Cozy was here, so he was in desperate need of a nap.





As Gallus climbed the staircase, he failed to notice a small flash of magical energy behind him as a small rock under the coffee table turned back into his friend Ocellus.

Ocellus remained under the table, scratching her head with one of her forelegs. She was trying to process all of what she'd just witnessed: Cozy's visit, Edith's aggressive behavior, Harmony's conversation with Gallus, all of it. It was just so much to take in all at once. Gallus was trusting Cozy? It didn't make sense! Of all of her friends, except maybe Smolder, Gallus seemed to be the least likely to make friends with former enemies. Something about this didn't seem right.

She slowly slid herself out from under the table with a determined look in her bug-like eyes.

"Something's going on here," she said aloud to nocreature in particular, "and I'm going to get to the bottom of it."





When Cozy returned home from her trip to the Treehouse, she instantly noticed something strange.

"Ummm... What happened to the couch?" she asked, referring to the giant scorch mark in the middle of the rightmost cushion.

"Yeah, about that," said Pinkie, who was in the kitchen making cupcakes with Knox.

She giggled sheepishly.

"It's kind of a long story..." she continued.
> Chapter 28: Cutie Mark Quandaries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"C'mon, Davenport! Seriously?" ranted Knox, clearly upset. "You said you were getting another sofa shipment today!"

Cozy Glow was standing a few feet away, watching intently as Knox leaned into the couch/feather salespony. Then, a familiar voice came from outside.

"Cozy? Can we talk?"

Cozy's blood ran cold as she recognized the voice. She hadn't heard that voice since before she was locked in Tartarus.

"Sweetie Belle," she said with awkward enthusiasm, the discomfort of their last encounter still fresh in her mind. "How are you doing?"

Sweetie ignored the question and instead chose to repeat herself.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure," Cozy replied as she turned to Knox. "I'm going to go with Sweetie for a while, OK?"

Knox took a short break from verbally beating Davenport and nodded his head in approval before returning his attention to the yet-to-be-phased salespony.

"Well," said Davenport calmly, "you should've had me hold one for you."

"You never told me that was an option!" yelled Knox.





Cozy followed Sweetie outside, and she was about to say something, but Sweetie beat her to the punch.

"I'm sorry... about the other day," she said.

"It's just..." she trailed off once again. "I get really worried when I don't agree with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom."

"Why?" Cozy asked, genuinely curious. "What are you so worried about?"

"If I lose their trust," she started, "I run the risk of losing them as friends."

"I understand that," said Cozy, "and I know you're all great friends, but it doesn't seem like it would be the end of the world."

"Don't you see?" asked Sweetie as she began to cry. "Look at my flank. All three of us have the same special talent, and we can only succeed at it if we work together. That talent is what makes us who we are. If I lose them as my friends, I literally lose my destiny."

Cozy sat in stunned silence as Sweetie continued.

"I wouldn't be me anymore. It would be like taking my Cutie Mark and ripping it off of my flank! I'd be nothing!"

She slowed her rant as Cozy placed a supportive hoof on her shoulder.

"It's the fear that keeps me up at night," she concluded.

After taking a minute to calm down, she shifted the subject.

"You know," she said, "after we left you the other day, we started discussing your Cutie Mark."

"What about it?" Cozy asked as she gazed towards the chess piece on her flank.

"Well," Sweetie started, "you're obviously a master manipulator."

She playfully slugged Cozy in the shoulder.

"And that makes sense with a chess piece," she continued, "but as we talked more, we ended up agreeing that there was an underlying message hidden somewhere in the type of chess piece: the rook."

Cozy sat quietly, not wanting to miss a single word her friend uttered.

"Scootaloo & Apple Bloom both thought it had to do with rook meaning 'to scam or cheat.' After all, you did an awful lot of that."

"And what did you think?" Cozy interrupted, fearful of the response.

"It took me a long time, and I thought a lot about it. You nearly got us banned from the school with one of your schemes, but you were only trying to help us. And you did everything you could to protect us when it backfired, even though you might've gotten in trouble. Then, you locked us in a closet. However, you thought we were perfectly safe in there. You said it yourself. You thought you were actually taking us out of a dangerous situation."

"So... what does all that mean?" Cozy asked.

"Well, rook might mean to scam or cheat, but that's not what it means in chess. Think about it, Cozy. Each time you nearly screwed us over, the ponies you truly considered your friends, you still did everything you could to keep us out of harm's way."

Cozy looked at her wide-eyed. She'd never been thought of like that before.

"You're not just a schemer, Cozy," she paused for dramatic effect. "You're a defender."
> Chapter 29: Guy's Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After placing an order with Davenport at Quills & Sofas, Knox went home for a while. Cozy had run off with Sweetie Belle, but he knew she knew her way home. He wasn't about to interrupt Cozy's attempt at renewing her friendship with Sweetie.

Besides, he'd been invited to meet Spike, the princess' assistant, at the School of Friendship tonight for some fun activities. Spike hadn't let him know what their plans were, but Pinkie was out of town tonight, so he had nothing better to do.

Upon reaching the school that night, Knox found three creatures waiting for him: Spike, the purple dragon, an earth pony stallion he'd never met, and one creature impatiently tapping one cloven hoof. The air caught in Knox's throat as he stood in the presence of Discord, one of the powerful entities who'd turned Cozy to stone.

"So," Spike said as Knox came closer, "are you ready for guys night?"

The campus had been closed for hours at this point, so the dormitory was the only inhabited building. The group walked into the main building and made their way towards the library.

Knox gulped. This would be his first time stepping hoof in the library since Cozy's return. Prior to her release, entering the library brought with it a torrent of memories of his lost friend, which typically resulted in him wallowing in depression for the rest of his work shift.

Imagine his relief when the heavy weight of depression didn't come as they all entered the library. Memories still came flooding into his mind, and they were the same memories, but they felt different now. Instead of being a reminder that he'd never share those moments with Cozy again, they were now a reminder that there were plenty more moments like that yet to come. He smiled slightly at the mere thought of it.

"So, what are we doing exactly?" he asked his hosts.

"We're going to play a game," Spike answered. "Since tonight's your first time joining us, we won't do Discord's version quite yet."

"What kind of game is it?" Knox questioned as the group worked its way past bookshelves to a table near the back of the library. Knox's eyes lit up as he noticed the table was littered with graph paper, dice of assorted side numbers, and cardboard cutouts of fictional characters.

"Ogres & Oubliettes!" Spike and Knox cried out in unison.

"Eeyup," said the earth pony that accompanied them. Knox realized at this point that he still hadn't asked for his name.

"You've played before?" Spike asked, interrupting his train of thought.

"Yeah," explained Knox, picking up a d20 from the table with his magic and spinning it in the air. "I used to play O&O all the time when I was a colt."

Based on his experience with this game from his childhood, Knox realized they'd probably be playing well into the next morning. Luckily, he'd prepared. He'd asked a friend to stay at his place tonight in case Cozy needed help with anything. Not that Cozy wasn't perfectly capable of handling things on her own, but it was always a smart idea to have somepony to watch over her. Just as a "just in case."





"So, how'd you do with my little challenge?" asked the great & powerful Trixie, who was in Cozy's house for some reason.

"What the... Trixie?" Cozy said, thoroughly confused. "Golly, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Knox had some plans tonight, so he asked me to hang out here in case you needed anything."

"So... He got me a foalsitter," she said with the smallest bit of spite dashed into her tone.

"Absolutely not!" proclaimed the great & powerful foalsitter. "I'm not here to pamper you, or follow some weird list of instructions, or anything like that! I'm only here because he wanted somepony to help you if you need an extra hoof for something."

"Whatever," Cozy sighed. "If it helps you sleep at night."

"And," Trixie continued, "you didn't answer my question. How'd it go with your old friends?"

"Well, I went to the CMCs first, but Scootaloo and Apple Bloom yelled at me and Sweetie Belle was afraid to disagree with them."

"How do you know that?"

"She told me as much when I befriended her earlier today," she replied with a slight grin.

"So you did regain one of your old friends!"

"Two, actually. After the crusaders chased me off, I ran into Gallus. I'm not completely sure if he considers me a friend again quite yet, but he's at least willing to give it a shot."





"Ocellus, I know what you've been up to."

"What?" asked the changeling as she turned around to face the Treehouse staircase. "Oh, Gallus. It's just you."

"I know you've been spying on Cozy Glow," Gallus continued, ignoring Ocellus' iterruption. "What are you trying to do?"

"Oh, come on, Gallus! You've gotta admit something fishy's going on. Some guy who works at the school randomly decides to talk to the princess about releasing Cozy Glow? I think there's something else going on here. Something nopony else seems to see!"

"Ocellus, do you remember when I told you the school janitor attacked me?"

"Of course I remember! What does that have to do with anything?"

"Cozy's new guardian is that janitor! And do you wanna know why he attacked me?"

Ocellus didn't respond right away, so Gallus continued, his anger rising more and more as he spoke.

"He was Cozy Glow's friend! Like, a real friend. So much so that he still considered her a friend even after everything she did."

"I..." Ocellus stammered. "I didn't know that."

"His decision was anything but random, Ocellus, and I really think Cozy's trying to be better. I think he's a good influence on her."

Gallus saw something he hadn't seen in his friend's eyes before. Was that... anger? Either way, he wasn't going to stop leaning into her. He couldn't let this stand.

"Gallus, just because his intentions are pure, doesn't mean hers are. She's planning something. I just know it!"

"Ocellus, you need to stop! She deserves a second chance!"

"She stopped getting what she deserved when they released her from that statue!" she screamed, bursting into tears.

Gallus stood there, utterly appalled by the usually-shy changeling's act of aggression.

"Cozy is up to something, and I'm going to find out what it is!"

With that, she stormed out of the Treehouse, leaving Gallus there in stunned silence.
> Chapter 30: Roll The Dice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The guys were taking a short break during their O&O session. Spike had gone to get the group more refreshments, so Knox decided now would be a good time to ask the question that'd been gnawing at his mind ever since he'd noticed how calm everypony seemed despite his presence. He'd expected a little bit of unrest, or at least some questions. He had freed Cozy Glow, after all!

He turned to face Discord and the earth pony. He never had quite gotten around to asking for the earth pony's name, had he?

"Did Spike tell you who I am?" he asked before his mind could wander too much.

"Ehh... Nope," answered the earth pony.

Meanwhile, Discord answered in a rather nonchalant tone, "Why, no, in fact he didn't."

He was currently flipping through a magazine, which he was holding upside down, and Knox was highly doubtful that he was getting the draconequus' full attention. Discord turned the page, and a swarm of bats flew out of the magazine and out the library doors.

"Is that something we should know?" he asked absentmindedly.

"I'm..." Knox hesitated for a moment. Did he really want Discord to know? Discord was one of the beings that turned Cozy to stone in the first place, so he might not be happy that I undid his handiwork. Then again, secrets and lies were no way to start a friendship.

He let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "I'm Cozy Glow's new legal guardian."

Discord somehow did a spit take, spraying orange juice everywhere, without drinking anything. His voice took on a somewhat darker tone.

"Oh, really..."

Knox gulped, "Yes."

Discord's next words were in a cheery tone: "And how is the brat doing?"

Knox was very rattled by this sudden shift in demeanor. Less than five seconds ago, he'd sounded like he was about to take off Knox's head, but he now seemed genuinely curious about what Cozy had been up to.

"She's, uh, doing fine... Discord. She's been trying to earn back the trust of her old friends, and I think it's working rather well."

Knox squirmed in his seat as the Lord of Chaos looked him up and down.

"I see," he said. His tone betrayed the disappointment in his voice.

Knox was about to speak again, but Discord somehow appeared from behind Knox and interjected with another question.

"What'd she ever do to deserve such unwavering loyalty?"

Knox contemplated his response. What had Cozy done for him? It didn't take long for him to decide on his answer.

"Everything," he said.

Discord was taken aback.

"W-what do you mean, everything?" he stammered. "She betrayed you! She betrayed everypony! She..."

"She was also there for me whenever I needed her," Knox interrupted the god-like entity. "Helping, listening, talking; whatever I needed. She taught me what it was like to have a family again! She was my only true friend when I had nopony else. At least, she was until somecreature decided to turn her to stone!"

He glared pointedly at Discord. The all-powerful creature did not interrupt as Knox continued.

"She always helped me out before, and that still hasn't stopped being there for me now. In fact, if it weren't for her, I might not have had the courage to ask out the mare of my dreams."

This last bit peaked Discord's interest immediately. An exclamation mark popped up over his head as he quickly tried to divert the conversation to what he considered the more interesting topic.

"Ooh, do tell," the chimerical demi-god implored. "Who's the lucky mare?"

Knox blushed furiously at Discord's blatant question about his love life.

"It's Pinkie Pie," he informed the draconequus.

"Oh, really?" Discord said as he tapped his assorted finger-like appendages together rhythmically. "How did somepony like you end up with such a chaotic pony? You seem quite the opposite of each other."

Knox recounted the tale of the previous Hearts & Hooves Day, when he'd had Cozy help him break up a friendly get together so he could have her all to himself when he asked her out. He also mentioned Cozy's amazing acting and the light stalking they'd been doing for the entire day before the execution of their plan.

"Oh, how splendid!" chimes Discord. "You know, a good friend of mine once said 'Love is about spying in the bushes.'"

That actually got Knox to laugh. Other than Cozy and Pinkie, he couldn't even think of the last time somecreature had made him laugh.

Spike returned shortly thereafter with the snacks, having missed a wonderful bonding experience, and the game resumes.
> Chapter 31: Done With Discreet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Sandbar's Perspective]

"That's it! I've had it!" yelled Sandbar.

Yona, Silverstream, and Smolder looked up at him in shock. They'd been trying discreetly to get Ocellus and Gallus to talk to one another, which they hadn't done in a while. It'd even gone so far that Gallus was spending more and more time with "other friends" lately. Apparently, Sandbar had grown tired of being discreet.

Sandbar looked around the room, first at Ocellus looking absentmindedly out the window, then at Gallus silently scowling at her from across the room. He walked right up to Gallus, pushing Smolder out of the way as he did. Gallus' scowl turned to confusion and shock as Sandbar took the griffon's ear in his mouth and began dragging him forcefully accross the room towards Ocellus.

"Ow, OW!" cried Gallus as his friend continued advancing towards the changeling with him in tow. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

He tried to break free, but a determined earth pony is nothing to scoff at. Sandbar didn't let go of Gallus until he was less than a foot away from Ocellus. He stomped his hoof loudly to get Ocellus' attention. Not that he needed to. The spectacle unfolding in the room behind her had dragged her attention away from the window already.

"Talk it out," Sandbar said firmly. "Now."

Gallus and Ocellus both stared at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head. A few more moments of determined glaring from the pony made them look away.

Gallus gulped, then turned to face Ocellus.

"You need to stop. Until you do, I..." he choked on his words. "I can't trust you."

The changeling whipped around to face him.

"You can't trust me?" rage filled her voice. "What about her?"

She gestured towards the window. Sandbar had no idea who she was referring to, but apparently Gallus knew. The griffon sighed, and his voice was calm when he spoke.

"I don't trust her, either. At least, not yet."

"Then why are you still so protective of her?"

"Because she deserves a chance to earn that trust. Just like everypony else."

Smolder interrupted, "Umm... Who is 'she'?"





[Gallus' Perspective]

Gallus froze. He knew his friends would find out eventually, but this was not how he'd wanted to tell them. The awkwardness of the moment permeated the room like a fog. Time to bite the bullet.

"We're talking about Cozy Glow," he said, not letting his voice show his hesitation.

A quick gasp from Silverstream and a few nervous glances from friend to friend followed, but Yona was the only creature to speak.

"Cozy pony make Yona friends fight?" she asked.

"No," Gallus answered quickly so Ocellus couldn't, "we're fighting because Ocellus has been spying on her!"

"Really?" asked Sandbar. He turned to Ocellus. "That's not cool, you know."

"B-but she's planning something!" Ocellus stuttered as the room's focus turned towards her.

"You don't know that for sure!" Gallus snapped.

"Yes I do! I just need more proof! Then you'll have to believe me!"

"Ocellus," asked Silverstream, "what proof do you have now?"

"Well..." she trailed off.

"Yeah," Sandbar stated matter-of-factly, "she's got nothing."

"Hard to justify Yona friend stalking nasty pony when nasty pony not doing anything nasty," said Yona, adding her two bits on the subject.

"What?" Ocellus asked the room with concern in her voice. "You're all taking her side?"

Her gaze shifted to the only friend yet to share their mind.

"Smolder, back me up on this," she half-begged.

"Look," the dragon said, "I dislike Cozy as much as the next creature, but Gallus does have a point. Everycreature deserves a chance to prove they can be better."

She pauses to gesture a claw towards Ocellus.

"The changelings should know that better than most."

Ocellus teared up as she looked around the room from friend to friend. She knew she'd been beaten.

"Look," she said to everycreature, "give me one more day. If I don't find any proof..." she trailed off and hung her head in defeat. "I'll give up. I promise."

Gallus stood up and moved a few steps so he was right next to his disheartened friend. He gently placed a claw on her shoulder.

"Alright," he said. "One more day."
> Chapter 32: Huge Risks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the past couple weeks, Cozy & Sweetie Belle had grown much closer as friends. They now hung out together regularly, much to the other crusaders' chagrin. Luckily, they didn't let it come between Sweetie and themselves. Cozy was extremely grateful for that. After all she'd been through, she had no doubts that accidentally hurting Sweetie would've been the straw that broke the camel's back.

She'd also been spending more time with Gallus, although she continued to insist on meeting anywhere other than the Treehouse. She wanted nothing to do with any place that housed a cockatrice. Therapy sessions with the Great & Powerful Trixie were also going well. Cozy was able to answer questions vaguely enough that Trixie still had no idea what she was planning, and she'd carefully dodged any prodding from Trixie, and anypony else for that matter, about her time trapped in stone.

She didn't want anypony to know how much it still weighed on her. In reality, the memory of that time loomed over her mind like a menacing shadow. She no longer feared her nightmares, or the monsters within them, but this? These memories? They were a different story.

This morning, Sweetie had come to Knox's house unexpectedly and taken Cozy out to the ice cream parlor. It was a pleasant surprise, for Sweetie had previously planned to help Rarity fill a big order today at the boutique. As they'd been eating their cones, though, Sweetie had seemed... off. She had been asking Cozy seemingly mundane questions about her past and what she wanted to do in the future now, despite Sweetie knowing she didn't like to discuss such matters. They both finished off the last of their cones, and that's when it hit her. She knew exactly what was going on, and she was about to take a huge risk.

"Hey," she said in a perfectly even tone, "if I promise to answer some of your questions, will you drop the facade, Ocellus?"

"What?" Sweetie exclaimed as energy warped around her, leaving Ocellus where she once stood. "How did you know?"

Cozy just chuckled lightheartedly before saying, "I know my friends better than that. So, what do you want to know?"

Ocellus didn't even think before she asked her question.

"Are you planning something?" she asked.

"Yes," Cozy said. "I am."

Ocellus was taken aback by the bluntness of her response.

"Why are you admitting this to me?"

"Because I can't have you following me around and learning my secrets. Instead I'm telling you. Yes, I'm planning something, but it's not evil or anything."

"And why would I believe that?" asked the changeling, still in awe at how openly Cozy was answering.

"Because," she looked Ocellus straight in the eyes as she spoke, "if you're ever willing to believe anything I say for the rest of my days, Ocellus, I am begging you to let this be it. It's not evil. It may be somewhat mischievous and manipulative, and it's way more than a little bit self-centered, but I promise you I'm not doing anything evil."

Ocellus paused for a moment, still matching Cozy's stare. Then, she turned around and began to walk away. She stopped after a few steps and spoke without looking back at her.

"Just this once, Cozy, I'll trust you. But if you're lying, trust me when I say I will find out, and the princess will turn you back to stone."

Turn you back to stone. As Ocellus left, her words echoed through Cozy's mind, bringing memories of her stone prison to the surface. She immediately began to tear up and ran out of the ice cream parlor.

She needed a friend to talk to right now. That always seemed to calm her down. Since Sweetie Belle was busy as the boutique, Cozy set off in search of Gallus.
> Chapter 33: Trauma
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy had been unable to find Gallus anywhere in Ponyville, so she had no choice but to fly into the Everfree to see if he was at the Treehouse. When she arrived at the crystal mansion, she noticed a light coming through the Griffon's Roost window. Good, that means Gallus is here. She walked in the front door... and screamed in terror.





[Gallus' Perspective]

Gallus was studying for a test up in the Griffon's Roost when he heard a blood curdling scream emanate from the Treehouse foyer. Then, utter silence.





[Cozy's Perspective]

Cozy wasn't sure what'd happened. Her mind was going a billion miles a minutes, making it impossible for her to focus. There was a voice yelling something, but she could hardly hear it over the sound of her own rapidly beating heart. It sounded kind of like Gallus, but why was he yelling?

"No! Bad, Edith, bad! Turn her back right now!"

Edith? The name sounded familiar, but her maelstrom of thoughts prevented her from focusing on it. She tried to ask Gallus who he was talking to, but no sound came from her mouth. Actually, did her mouth even move? She definitely felt like it'd moved, but when she paid attention to where her jaw was, she realized it hadn't moved at all.

That's weird. She moved her hoof up to touch her jaw and see why it wasn't moving. At least, she tried to. Much to the contrary, she felt herself not move her hoof up to meet her perfectly still chin. She tried to look down at her perfectly still hoof, but her perfectly still neck wouldn't seem to let her. Not that it would've worked anyways. Her attention was now drawn to the fact that she couldn't see anything.

Wait, her mind's wild tornado of thoughts cleared up and let a single message through.

Edith. That was the name of... oh, no.

'No! No, no, no, no, no!' she screamed, but her jaw didn't move, and no sound came forth. Now, though, she knew why. She'd been turned to stone.

It was only a few moments later that she felt her body relax from its tense position. Another feeling she was all too familiar with. She looked around, now able to see. Gallus was still scowling at the cockatrice, but he turned to face her once he realized how heavy she was breathing.





[Gallus' Perspective]

Cozy didn't look so good. He didn't know what he'd expected from somepony just freed from stone, but he still felt worried as Cozy moved a hoof up and held it against her chest, which was rising and falling almost too fast to keep track of.

Sweat was coming off her in waves, and she looked unfocused and disoriented. Growing more worried by the second, Gallus walked over to Cozy.

"Cozy?" he asked, but he got no reply.

"Cozy, are you OK?" he asked again, fear permeating his voice as he reached out a claw.

No sooner did he touch her shoulder than exactly when she fell hard to the floor.

"Oh, no! Cozy!" he yelled, reaching his claw towards her once again.

He shook her shoulder, but it was no use. She was out cold.

He glanced over his shoulder at his friend's pet. He'd have to deal with it once he got Cozy somewhere safe.





[Cozy's Perspective]

Once again, she had no idea what had happened. She'd felt a tightness in her chest, and she'd been disoriented, but then everything had gone dark.

She could tell she'd been aslepp for a while now, but she could hear some voices around her. One of them she didn't recognize, but the rest were familiar and comforting.

"Won't be long now. She should wake up soon."

A voice she didn't recognize.

"Thank goodness."

Knox.

"Don't worry about a thing, Cozy."

Pinkie.

"Please be alright."

Sweetie.

"She'll be fine, Sweetie."

Knox... again.

She slowly slipped back into sleep for a while, then woke up with a start.

"Where am I? What happened?" she asked frantically.

"Calm down, kid," answered Knox. "You had a panic attack. A pretty bad one at that. Gallus brought you to the hospital to get you checked out."

Cozy looked from face to face around the room. Gallus was nowhere to be seen, but Knox, Pinkie, and Sweetie were all here. She seemed to be in a hospital room like Knox had said.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"Less than two hours," said a nurse as she entered. Her voice matched the unknown one she'd heard in her sleep. "But I'm afraid we can't let you go just yet."

"Is something wrong?" asked an obviously very worried Pinkie Pie.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with her physically," she explained while looking down at the chart she was carrying, "but we'd like her to meet with one of our therapists down in psychiatric."

"Absolutely, Nurse Redheart," said Knox. "Right, Cozy?"

'Oh, goody,' thought Cozy with as much sarcasm as her internal voice could muster. Out loud, though, she said "Sure," in a feigned cheery tone.





After speaking to the therapist, Nurse Redheart had led Cozy and Knox to a waiting room. Talking with the therapist hadn't been very comfortable. Since he was a professional, she knew patient/doctor confidentiality, or whatever it was called, applied to her session. He couldn't tell anypony about the session unless there was a serious detriment or danger to her health, but she still hadn't told him what her experience in her stone prison was really like. That feeling of moving your body in your mind, but knowing your physical body hasn't moved an inch in moons. The feeling of seconds passing like weeks, years even. She'd had an eternity worth of torment within the stone, and she'd shared none of it with the therapist for fear he would give her a...

"We have a diagnosis," said Nurse Redheart as she walked into the room.

"What?" Cozy practically screamed in surprise.

"Cozy... You have PTSD."

"No," she stated as a fact. She began to pace across the floor, losing herself in her thoughts.

"No, this can't be happening. I can't have PTSD! I can't be having panic attacks any time something reminds me of my past! No, this can't be happening! How would that therapist even reach that conclusion? I didn't tell him anything! This wasn't supposed to happen! THIS WASN'T PART OF THE-"

She caught her tongue as she realized she'd been talking aloud this whole time.

She looked towards Knox, who was teary-eyed and had an apologetic expression on his face. She turned her head to look at the nurse, who was looking extremely worried. She felt her breathing quicken as she quickly tried to piece together something to say. She had to say something, right? But what could she say? She'd just barely caught herself before exposing her plan to these two. Sweat dripped from her forehead as her vision became blurry and her thoughts detached from her.

'Well,' thought her mind to her as she quickly felt a tightening in her throat and chest, 'I guess this is one way to end an awkward conversation.'

She didn't even try to fight it as she succumbed to the panic attack.

Later that day, she left the hospital with a very worried circle of friends and diagnosed PTSD. Well, it could've gone worse.

'Just another thing I have to account for in my Master Plan,' she thought. 'Who knows? Might make things more interesting.
> Chapter 34: Cognitive Dissonance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Gah!" exclaimed Cozy, "Why do my friends have to be so... friendly all the time? It makes me feel guilty for manipulating them!"

She was currently venting to her lone confidant, who'd met with her in Pinkie's loft at Sugarcube Corner. She'd been sharing her thoughts on everything with her confidant since the week Knox and Pinkie started dating. Little did she know, every word she'd ever uttered in his presence was permanently captured in his memory. In fact, her confidant had, unbeknownst to her, figured out all 637.5 ways Cozy's Master Plan could turn out. If he wanted to, he could recount the details of every last one right now.

'But is it truly manipulation,' thought her confidant, 'if everycreature gets what they want?'

"I don't know how Knox is going to react if he ever finds out what I'm planning," Cozy continued, "and I'm pretty sure poor Sweetie Belle would be crushed if she found out I was keeping secrets again."

'No need for you to worry about that,' her lone confidant said without noise, 'Knox is as forgiving as they come, and Sweetie is one resilient little filly. She can take it, and she'll most likely forgive you. Besides, if you think about it, they've already caught you keeping secrets, haven't they? You didn't tell anypony but me what you were going through with your trauma. Now look at you: diagnosed with PTSD and lovingly supported by everypony you care about.

'For what is trauma, really, but a single moment and a choice. The choice is as such: choose to remain trapped and tormented within that moment forever, or try to overcome it! The choice is yours, Cozy Glow. You simply have to work towards the ending you choose.'

"I don't even know how I ended up with so many ponies caring about me," Cozy stated. "I thought it would take longer. Then again, I don't get why Knox was so deadset on freeing me either."

'It's a complex matter. Knox cared about you deeply before you were imprisoned, and you know what they say: 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.' Then again, Knox tried to distance himself from anything that reminded him of you for a while, and that seemed to make him happy. Nowhere near as happy as he is now, but happy nonetheless. I guess it's like they say: out of sight, out of mind. He even went so far as to spend the night here once.

'Speaking of spending the night here, that brings us to Pinkie Pie. She's growing more present in your life by the day now that she and Knox are romantically involved. Makes you wonder, though... What do they see in each other? Pinkie is energetic and nearly happy to a fault, while Knox is rather secluded and still something of a ticking time bomb when he's under a lot of stress. Just goes to show, opposites attract.

'I believe they're good for each other, though. Pinkie helps Knox to step out of his comfort zone, while Knox helps keep Pinkie grounded in reality. Pinkie helps Knox to occasionally stop worrying, while Knox helps keep Pinkie calm when she gets upset. There's an anomaly in this 'opposites attract' theory, however: the relationship between Knox & you.

'Here you both are, severely broken individuals with enough emotional baggage to break an elephant's back and hairtriggers more sensitive than Fluttershy. I suppose you either simply enjoy each other's company due to your somewhat similar personalities, or, perhaps more likely, your similar shortcomings and struggles put you both in a unique position to be able to help each other to overcome them. Either way, you two seem to stick to each other faster than birds of a feather! I guess that makes sense. After all, the broken take better care of the broken. Knox would do anything to protect you, Cozy. I can only hope you know how true that is.'

Her confidant continued to say nothing, as always.

"Well, thanks for letting me vent, Gummy," she said as she reached over and stroked the alligator's head. "You're a great listener."

'Anytime,' he thought. 'Always a pleasure.'
> Chapter 35: Wax Figures
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy had not yet noticed that her shaking had stopped, for she was filled with rage. She couldn't just stand here and witness the destruction of this object. It was so much like her: so realistic, yet so fake. Eternally suffering through the endless stillness Cozy herself had suffered through for so long. Her heart yearned for it to move, to avoid the flames that threatened to destroy it, but she knew it was not going to happen. She felt herself begin to tear up as she spread her wings.





[Cozy's Perspective: Earlier That Day]

When Sweetie arrived at Knox's place earlier that afternoon, Cozy was relieved. Sweetie was about an hour late, and Cozy had been worried her friend had forgotten they were meeting up today.

"You're late," she said darkly as she opened the door to join Sweetie outside.

Sweetie looked shocked at the rage-tinted tone used by her friend. Then, her face brightened up and she laughed.

"Oh, you got me!" she said through bursts of laughter.

This broke Cozy's resolve. She rolled over onto her back and started laughing too.

They just stayed there for a minute, two little fillies just laughing away. After a while, though, they both began settling down.

"So," said Cozy, still chuckling lightly, "why were you late, anyways?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was helping out at Sweet Apple Acres and lost track of time. Speaking of which," she paused as if trying to remember something, "Granny Smith asked if we'd meet her at the wax museum."

"Granny has a wax museum?" asked Cozy, genuinely intrigued.

"Yeah, and she wants to see us there in a little while."

"Well, golly, I haven't been to a museum in a while..." she trailed off. "Sure, why not."

Not long afterwards, the duo had made their way to Granny Smith's Wax Museum. Granny had met them at the front door, but had surprisingly led them around the back of the building to a small back door.

"Well, come on in," she said as she held the door open for the two young fillies.

Inside, there was a small balcony-type platform overlooking a somewhat small room. They were too close to the door to see into the room right now, but they could see Applejack leaning her head over the railing to observe the room below.

Applejack turned around when she heard the door shut behind Granny, and she seemed very surprised to find Cozy and Sweetie standing beside her grandmare.

"Granny, what were you thinking?" she said, walking up to Granny.

She gestured towards Cozy as she continued, "You know how sensitive Cozy Glow is right now!"

Granny knocked Applejack's hoof down before proclaiming, "That's exactly why I thought she'd want to see this!"

"See what?" asked Cozy as she stepped to the edge of the balcony to look over the room. In the room below, there was what seemed to be some kind of furnace, with a large opening in the front. Attached to the furnace was a short conveyor belt, apparently meant to move objects into the furnace. She could tell that there were flames within the furnace, for there was a slight glow emanating into the dim room. A few feet away from the opposite end of the conveyor belt, there was an object draped in a brown tarp. She couldn't quite make out the shape.

"What's going on?" asked Sweetie as she appeared by Cozy's side.

"Well, you see," started Applejack as she descended the stairs into the room below, "this here is the furnace we use to melt down old figures so we can make new ones."

She went over to the conveyor belt and started it up.

"And we have a figure we haven't got rid of just yet," added in Granny, "and I thought you might like to see it."

Cozy was still watching Applejack's actions intently. It seemed to her that Applejack still wasn't convinced she should be here.

"Why would I want to..." she was cut off by her own gasp of shock as the brown tarp was pulled back to reveal: her.

Under the tarp was an exact replica of Cozy Glow, from head to hoof. It shared her happy smile, which was currently not on her face. It's mane was nearly identical as well. From here, she couldn't even tell if a single curl was out of place. Even its position was one she commonly found herself in.

'At least it got frozen in a more comfortable position than I did,' Cozy thought to herself, 'but why would they bring it down here? Unless...'

She felt her hooves start shaking and her breathing quickened.

'They can't be planning what I think they're planning. Can they?'

Her hooves started shaking even more as Applejack reluctantly placed the sculpture Cozy identified with so much on the conveyor belt. The belt was still running, so the sculpture was slowly moving towards the flaming furnace.

'Keep yourself together, Cozy'

She watched in horror as the object she couldn't look away from inched closer and closer to its imminent destruction. Then, the one emotion that could quell her panic came at full force: anger.

'How dare they.'

Cozy had not yet noticed that her shaking had stopped, for she was filled with rage. She couldn't just stand here and witness the destruction of this object. It was so much like her: so realistic, yet so fake. Eternally suffering through the endless stillness Cozy herself had suffered through for so long. Her heart yearned for it to move, to avoid the flames that threatened to destroy it, but she knew it was not going to happen. She felt herself begin to tear up as she spread her wings.

Before anypony else knew what hit them, Cozy had taken off like a shot towards the wax figure. She flew dangerously close to the flaming furnace as she gently lifted the figure off of the belt and set it on the ground a few feet away. Tears were streaming down her face as she hugged the sculpture she'd just saved. She was careful to not put to much pressure on it, though, for wax is somewhat pliable, even when not heated. The last thing she wanted to do was harm the wax figure in any way.

She sat there in the dimly lit room, hugging a wax version of herself defensively, for a good ten minutes before she calmed down.





Later that day, Cozy was sitting with Sweetie in her bedroom at Knox's house. They were chatting about stuff neither of them actually cared about. She casually glanced over to her closet a few times, taking comfort in the fact that an inanimate replica of herself was safe beyond those closed doors.
> Chapter 36: My Friend The Witch Doctor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

These panic attacks were becoming a problem. Cozy had another one earlier this morning, and she was so delirious that she almost started discussing her Master Plan with herself out loud! She needed to find a way to keep herself calm. She'd asked Pinkie for advice on who to ask about magical advice, and she'd referred her to the hut she now found herself knocking on the door of.

Not a few seconds later the door opened to reveal the hut's occupant, a zebra named Zecora.

"Why hello," said the zebra, "come in my dear, and tell me... what has brought you here?"

"Pinkie thought you could help me find a way to stop having panic attacks," she said bashfully as she stood at the door.

Zecora lost herself in thought for a moment before turning back to Cozy and smiling sweetly.

"It seems I may be able to help you, young friend, but I must first know the cause before helping it end."

"Well, I have PTSD if that's what you mean..."

Zecora scratched her chin as she looked among her shelves of curatives and tonics. Then, she noticed Cozy still standing at her doorstep.

"Please, little one, come inside," she said in a reassuring tone. "I won't bite. There's no reason to hide."

Cozy let out an embarrassed sigh as she entered the hut and closed the door behind her.

"Golly, I'm sorry, Zecora. I'm just a little self conscious about this stuff. So, do you have anything to cure me?"

"I'm sorry, my friend," replied the zebra as she returned to shuffling through her tonics and elixirs, "but there is no cure. Though I have something that will at least help for sure."

"You mean it'll help me not have panic attacks? Terrific! How will it work?"

"Find an object which reminds you of the past, then bring it to me and a spell I will cast. I'll coat it with this," she holds up a small vial of pink liquid from one of her numerous shelves, "a medicinal balm. Then touching the object should help you stay calm."

"So, an object that reminds me of my traumatic experience?" Cozy asked.

'What reminds me of my trauma?' she asked herself. 'Well, the first things coming to mind are the bewitching bell, which I'm completely sure I can't get a hold of, and...'

"I think I know just the thing," she said triumphantly.

'But how am I going to get it back?' she continued in her head.

"I must warn you, this is not a flawless fix. Sometimes a panic attack comes and it sticks!"

"Not a problem. I can handle a few, but I've been having way too many recently."

"If you bring me the object, the treatment is here," Zecora said as she followed Cozy to the door. "I hope to see you soon, my dear."

"Thanks a lot, Zecora," Cozy said as she exited the hut. "You've been a huge help."

She took a few more steps away from the hut before taking off into the air. After all, flying was safer than walking when travelling through the Everfree Forest.

'How am I going to pull this off?' she asked herself. She knew exactly what object to get. It wasn't too big, and it was light, so she could carry it with her wherever she goes. It didn't stand out too much, either, so it could remain unnoticed most of the time. The only problem was the issue of accessing the object. It wasn't as hard to get a hold of as the bewitching bell, by any means, but it wasn't that much easier.

As she flew back to Ponyville through the forest, she began to formulate a brand new scheme.

"Oh, golly, this is going to be so fun."
> Chapter 37: Graveyard Shift
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knox was walking through the corridors of the School of Friendship late at night. This would've been strange, if not for the scroll he'd received earlier that day while Cozy was out "running an errand." The scroll had been sent by the new headmare, asking if Knox was ready to return to his duties as janitor. After his mandatory time off had ended, he hadn't felt comfortable leaving Cozy alone at night, so he'd requested a few more weeks off to adjust. Now, though, he felt like he was ready to return to work. He now felt more comfortable leaving Cozy home alone. He knew he could trust her. After all, she hadn't done anything nefarious for quite some time now. It wasn't like she was hiding something.

Something about that last thought tugged on the back of Knox's mind as it passed, but he paid it no mind.

Anyways, he'd gone to the school and discussed his return to work with Sunlight (or whatever her name was), and now here he was.

To everypony else, it looked like he was just casually strolling through the halls. To him, this was the first part of his job. He walked around the school to make sure nocreature would get locked in. After he finished this step, he'd move on to his favorite part of the job.

As he came to a stop near the front doors, having completed his surveillance of the building, he smiled broadly. He'd missed this part. He lit his horn, and his magic enveloped every lock on every door, window, and skylight in the building. Then, he activated them all, sealing him in for the night. At this point, he'd been doing this long enough that he didn't even need to think about where the locks were or what kind they are. He simply used his magic the exact same way he had every night for over two years.

Something seemed different about it tonight. On a typical night, he'd felt pleasure in securing himself within the school's walls. It had made him feel safe and secure. This was not what he felt now. Now, all he felt was a strange sensation of having cut himself off from something. Something he couldn't be closed off from. Something else he needed to secure. Something else he needed to keep safe. Somepony else he needed to keep safe.

'Cozy can handle herself,' he tried to reason with himself, 'she almost took over Equestria, remember?'

'Yeah, but she wasn't traumatized back then,' his mind countered. 'What if she has a panic attack? She could be falling into a heap on the floor right now, and you just completely sealed every entrance she could use to get to you.'

'Cozy is creative,' he thought with finality. 'She'd find a way in if she had to. And she has others who care about her, too.'

With that, the debate with himself came to a close, and Knox moved on to the typical sweeping of floors, dusting of shelves, and cleaning of puddles of disgusting unknown substances.

He turned the corner into the hallway where he'd first met Pinkie... and his heart skipped a beat as he very nearly ran into an all-powerful draconequus.

"What the?" he asked to the air where the draconequus stood just seconds before. "Discord?"

"Knox, my friend!" exclaimed the lord of chaos from behind him. "I heard you'd be working tonight."

He turned around and found Discord standing less than two feet behind him.

"I didn't even know until this afternoon," said Knox. "How in Equestria did you hear about it?"

"Why through the grape vine, of course!" exclaimed Discord as he pulled a grape vine from a crack that spontaneously formed in the ceiling and held it up to his ear.

Knox facehoofed.

"Why are you here, Discord?"

"Well, I had a question only you could answer. Since you had to work tonight, that means Cozy is all alone, right?"

"Why do you ask?" questioned Knox, suspicion rising in his voice.

"Why, it's just because I know how much she's been depending on you. I wouldn't want her to think you didn't care about her well-being."

"She knows perfectly well how much I care. I'd stake my life to protect her if I needed to, but that doesn't mean I always have to be there."

"Who are you trying to convince?" Discord asked. "Me... or yourself?"

"You, obviously." he replied. "Cozy can handle herself. I have no need to worry."

In all honesty, he wasn't sure if that was true. Perhaps he really was trying to convince himself.

"But what about her panic attacks?" Discord countered as he pulled a calendar out of nowhere and began glancing over it. "Haven't those been getting more frequent lately?"

Knox visibly gulped. "I... have doubts, I'll admit. But that doesn't mean leaving her alone was the wrong choice!"

"And those nightmares she used to have? What if those decide to make a comeback?"

"Please," he dismissed with a wave of his hoof, "those never stopped to begin with. She simply learned to deal with them. Besides... Wait a second! How did you know about those?"

"Oh please," said the demi-god as he gestured a claw down the hall where a grape vine was still slowly growing from the ceiling.

"You know you're cleaning that up before you leave, right?" Knox asked jokingly, sneakily trying to change the subject.

His attempt worked, and he continued his work for most of the night uninterrupted. Discord, for some reason or another, had decided to follow him around and maintain somewhat pleasant conversation. Occasionally, he'd stop following Knox and simply stare at the floor for a moment. Then, he'd smile wickedly and teleport back to Knox's side.

Overall, even with Discord around, it had been a fairly uneventful night. Knox's thoughts kept drifting back to Cozy and the possibility of her needing his help, but he tried his best to ignore it.

Then, he heard it. As soon as the sound reached his ears, he went into a full sprint towards the room he knew the sound was coming from, leaving a very surprised Discord in his dust.

He quickly weaved his way through the corridors until he was standing directly in front of the library doors. Emanating from inside, he could hear what was undoubtedly the very familiar sound of little pegasus wings flapping in the large room. He swung open the doors with his magic... and found it empty.

"Hello?" he called into the room. He couldn't have imagined that, right?

His suspicions were confirmed when out from behind one of the bookshelves near the back of the library came none other than Cozy Glow.

"Cozy? What happened?" he asked frantically as he ran over and hugged her. She winced as his hooves wrapped around her, and he soon saw why.

Cozy had scrapes and cuts all over her body. Her hair was tousled, and she had a large bruise on her foreleg.

Rage filled his mind as he cradled her injured form in the library. Not rage at Cozy, for having somehow broken into the school. Not rage at Discord, for having disappeared right when Cozy needed assistance. Not even at whatever or whoever had done this to Cozy. It was at himself. After all, none of whatever happened to her would've happened had he been with her. He'd failed to keep her safe. He'd failed to protect her.

"Knox?" asked a weak voice from his arms.

"Yes, Cozy?"

"You can let go of me now. I'm fine, really. Nothing broken or bleeding."
> Chapter 38: Splinters, Part 1: Turn Back
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Ocellus' Perspective]

Ocellus had kept her word. She'd stopped investigating Cozy Glow, but that doesn't mean she wasn't wary of her. She trusted her as far as she could throw a bugbear. But she does trust Gallus, and Gallus trusts Cozy (at least mostly), so she's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt... for now.

Currently, she was looking out her dorm room window at the night sky. That janitor had apparently decided to start working again, for she'd seen him enter the main building about a half hour ago. Wait, what was that?

Ocellus turned her attention to the small shadow she'd noticed passing over the gardens. Then, who should descend from the sky but Cozy Glow.

She watched curiously as the young pegasus attempted to open one of the side doors. When that didn't open, she went to a nearby window and attempted to open that. No luck. After trying a couple more windows, Cozy sat on the ground and scratched at her chin as if contemplating something. Ocellus facehoofed.

'Of course,' she thought to herself. 'It just had to be her doing something suspicious, didn't it.'

She trained her attention back towards Cozy just in time to see her flutter over to a tree in the courtyard. She went around to the other side of the tree, worked a grate in the ground free, and quickly disappeared inside.

"What is she doing?" Ocellus asked the empty room, knowing that she'd have to find out.





[Cozy's Perspective]

This was supposed to be the easy part. Sneak into the school and "borrow" the book that holds the answers she needs. With the Key of Unfettered Entrance gone, she needed some other way to gain access to the object she sought.

At any rate, it turned out this wasn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped. She'd tried multiple windows and a couple doors, but it seemed Knox was quite the stickler for securing every entrance.

"Every entrance, you say," Cozy said as her mind reached a solution. "We'll just see about that."

She knew a lot of different ways to access the catacombs under the school, though she hadn't been there since her first defeat. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Going through the catacombs, she could easily access the library, which is where she needed to go anyways!

'It's probably really similar to how I remember it,' she thought as she removed the grate leading to the catacombs.

'After all, Sombra may have destroyed the tree, but it regrew, so its roots probably did too.'

She couldn't have been more wrong. The tunnels, formerly lit beautifully by thick crystal roots winding across the walls, now resembled a dark cavern with dim light emanating from what looked like shards of the roots embedded in the walls. The stark contrast from how it once looked was positively eerie.

"What happened to this place?" she asked aloud. Her voice echoed through the space as if trying to escape the terrifying scene.

"C-cozy Glow," said a crackly voice behind her.

She turned back towards the opening she'd just come through and came face to face with a strange figure.

"Wait a second... You're Harmony!" Cozy said, recognizing her via Gallus' descriptions. The figure looked like Princess Twilight, but it seemed to be made of some kind of shimmering light.

There were some obvious differences from what Gallus had described, however. The figure seemed to continuously have parts of its form fading in and out of existence. Its movements were sporadic, somewhat reminiscent of a malfunctioning robot. It's words were filled with tremors and gaps, but Cozy could understand what she was saying for the most part.

"C-cozy Glow, you m-st turn -ack. The cat-combs are n-n-n-no longer safe! Sombra d-stroy m-my connection wi-with the roots! Th- splinters are all th-t remain. You must turn back!"

"I can't do that!" proclaimed Cozy. "I have to get into the school!"

The spirit then seemed to lose connection to its own thoughts. Its next words seemed almost preprogrammed.

"Y-yes, a test. Pass the test, and y-you may go. F-fail fail the t-test..." her words faded into nonsensical murmurs before she broke out in a dark and menacing tone Gallus hadn't said she was capable of. "Here you will stay."

In a flash of light that seemed to fizzle and pop, the fractured spirit disappeared.

"Well..." said Cozy after a few moments of just standing there, staring at the spot where Harmony once stood. "That was ominous."
> Chapter 39: Splinters, Part 2: Imperfect Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy was still rattled after her encounter with Harmony, but she knew she couldn't go back. She had to make it to the library, and the only way to do that was to go through the catacombs.

She walked along the tunnel until she came across something peculiar. There was a beam of light being emitted from a crack in the ceiling. It was the color of the light that was even more strange, for the light was blue. As she looked further down the passageway leading to the first of the larger chambers, she noticed more oddly colored lights penetrating the darkness at odd angles. Some of them were blue, like the one right in front of her, while others were pink.

"Hmmm... How peculiar," she said to the pillar of light before her.

She reached forward to investigate it further. Suddenly, a small stone flew past her head and went through the beam of light. As the stone passed through it, a column of stone heavily encrusted with crystal spikes erupted from the ground and slammed into the ceiling.

Cozy stared for a moment before whirling around to see who threw the stone. She looked around, but found nopony hiding in the tunnel behind her.

Still not knowing exactly what had just transpired, but acknowledging the fact that these lights were triggers for dangerous traps that threaten to squash her, she made her way carefully through the hallway of lights.

After finally arriving in the large opening beyond the maze of lights, Cozy was honestly surprised to find it empty. After a hallway full of deadly traps, you'd expect some kind of trap or perhaps a giant monster. Nope, nothing here.

"Well, that was easy," Cozy said, confused by just how easy this was. She crossed the room, being very wary of traps, but nothing happened. She made it to the opening into the next passageway, once again full of lights, without problem. She turned to look back into the open area she was about to leave.

"Good golly, that's strange. I guess there's nothing in here."

She'd spoken too soon. She turned to face the passageway again, only to see the walls and floor of the tunnel were now crawling with spiders. They were all coming towards her, so she quickly backed away to the center of the open area.

This seemed to have been a bad idea when she noticed the walls in here were also lined with the arachnids. They all seemed to be crowding around her, leaving a circle about two feet in diameter for her to sit in since the rest of the floor had been overrun with the pesky bugs.

She was still looking around the room, astonished by the sheer number of spiders in the room, when one of the creatures starting to come towards her. Thinking back to the stories Gallus' friends had shared with her after their adventures in the catacombs, she deduced that this must be another construct of the roots. Specifically, Spindle, Yona's spider friend.

"H-hello," her voice stammered as she reached out a hoof towards the spider, "You must be Spindle. It's nice to meet you."

She looked at Spindle as he approached her outreached hoof, but she noticed something peculiar. This spider only had six legs.

'That doesn't make sense,' she thought to herself. 'The tree was intelligent enough to predict exactly who was needed for friendship quests. I'm pretty sure it knows how many legs to give a spider.'

Her mind drifted back to Harmony's words: "Sombra destroyed my connection to the roots. Only the splinters remain."

'Splinters... Of course! Sombra shattered the roots, so these tests are being created with incomplete information. Wait, wasn't Gallus' test different colored lights that triggered a single trap? Then, why are there so many traps here now? With a single trigger for each? It seems way more dangerous to me. Wait, if that's the case...'

She tried to jerk her hand away from definitely-not-Spindle, but she was too slow. Spindle bit her hoof but the sudden hand motion sent him flying. He squealed as he soared through the air, landing not far from where he'd started.

Cozy was now very wary of the non-spider's actions. Not-Spindle returned to a standing position on his six legs and let out a bloodcurdling screech. Cozy had to cover her ears, but the rest of spiders seemed to gather more closely around their leader.

As the cluster of arachnids continued to grow, Cozy was horrified by the sight of several of them fusing together. The more of them fused, the bigger Not-Spindle grew. He also was becoming more and more monstrous with each addition to his new form.

Cozy watched in utter horror as the spiders continued to conglomerate with the faux Spindle, until all that remained of the spider army was a monstrous amalgamation of spiders at least eight times bigger than Cozy. There was now no visible sign that this thing had ever been more than one creature. It was, for lack of a better term, a monster Spindle.

The monster roared ferociously at Cozy, and she knew it wouldn't be long before it attacked. She looked around frantically, searching for any semblance of a plan. She found it when she looked into the corridor the spiders had originally come from.

"You want me so bad?" she cried out as she took off and flew towards the monster. "Come and get me!"

She flew straight toward the creature's monstrous maw, only to veer to the right at the last second and soar directly past its head. She then continued her straight shot to the passageway entrance.

The monster roared in fury as it turned to pursue Cozy's taunt. Cozy flew into the passageway, narrowly avoiding a beam of light stretching directly horizontal across the tunnel entrance. She hovered in the air a few feet down the tunnel as the monstrous non-Spindle entered the passageway... and took a stone, splinter encrusted pillar straight to the side of the face. The spider-like creature wailed in agony as its head was bashed into, and through, the opposite wall. It clambered weakly through the hole it'd just made with its face and disappeared.

Cozy let out a huge sigh of relief once the beast departed. She couldn't have beaten that monster physically, so she was glad her scheming mind could help her defeat it mentally.

She turned around and took flight through the second maze of lights, and she accidentally brushed against one. She cried out in pain as a stone pillar bashed into her leg, sending her veering off course and flying through two more beams of light. She narrowly avoided another pillar and ducked just in time as a spear of crystal shot forth from the wall, directly where her head would've been.

"Golly, this is dangerous. Harmony wasn't kidding."

She carefully made her way through the rest of the hallway and entered the main chamber of the catacombs, the room where she'd created a mystical magnet to drain all of the magic from Equestria.

She walked through the area where the artifacts had been placed, but for some reason the balcony overlooking the room wasn't here. The openings were still visible, but there were sheets of sharp crystals blocking every entrance to the balcony. The balcony that attached to the library.

"What?" she asked the air. "How am I supposed to get to the library now?"

She heard a slow crackling sound and turned around, only to find the opening she'd come through being covered by rapidly growing crystal vines.

"NO!" she cried as she dived for the door. Her attempt was in vain, for the vines had locked themselves in place mere moments before she reached the opening.

A place that traps you with your worst fears. That's what this place had been, and that's what it still was. The time had come for Cozy to face her worst fear, and she wasn't doing very well at it.

Cozy flew around the room, scraping and scratching herself as she rammed against the spiky barriers keeping her from the outside world.

After trying this for a while, she resorted to sobbing on the floor as she tried to think of a way out.

'How do I get out of here? THINK! These were tests, right? There has to be an answer. Let's see here. Gallus originally had to select the right lights to activate, but I had to avoid all the lights. Yona befriended a group of spiders, and I smashed a monster's face into a wall with nothing but my wits. Things seem pretty backwards here.'

She looked around the room at the barricaded doors and openings.

'How would the tree want me to get out of this? Probably by trusting a friend to get me out. So how do these splinters want me to get out of this? Probably by trusting an enemy to get me out. But how will anypony even know I'm here?'

Something in the back of her mind clicked into place.

'Who threw the stone? The stone that saved me from that first light. Who would follow me down here in the dead of night? Who could disappear that well that quickly?'

As soon as she asked, she could come up with only two possible answers. One of them was currently hard at work in a building directly above the cavern, and the other was just what she needed right now.

"Ocellus!" she screamed into the empty chamber. "Ocellus, I know you're there! I really need your help. You're the only one who can get me out of here!"

As she finished screaming, she began crying again.

"Please," she added softly as she fell into a crying heap on the floor. If Ocellus didn't come, she might be trapped down here forever, forced to live out her worst fear.

She looked up as she heard a large bang and some cracking. Something was on the other side of the crystal vines separating this chamber from the previous corridor, and they were ramming them. Hard.

Two more huge crashes later and a bugbear with a familiar color palette came bursting into the room.

It picked up the crying filly and charged towards one of the spiky crystal plates standing between them and freedom.

In her rather monstrous form, Ocellus easy burst through with a couple swift hits from her gigantic stinger. She set Cozy down on the other side.





[Ocellus' Perspective]

At this point, Cozy was beginning to calm down. They were just casually walking together towards the library vent.

"Hey, Cozy," Ocellus asked, "if you were facing all of our old tests, whose fear was that?"

Cozy looked at the floor for just a moment before saying, "It was mine."

"Well, what exactly was the fear? Being trapped in that room?"

"It wasn't about me being in the room. It was about what else was in the room."

Ocellus thought back to the room they'd just escaped from. There hadn't been anything there except Cozy.

"What do you mean?" she inquired. "Nothing was there. No traps, no villains, no monsters..."

She was cut off by Cozy who had suddenly stopped walking, "No friends. No family. Nopony."

That hit Ocellus like a train. "You're... afraid of being alone?"

"There," Cozy said with finality. "Are you happy now?"





[Cozy's Perspective]

After exiting the catacombs, Ocellus had left out the window. Cozy, meanwhile, had gone in search of the book she needed. She flew around the room, trying to make sense of the new organization method they'd been trying out lately. Once she found the book she sought, she lifted it off the shelf... Only to drop it back onto the shelf as pale pink magic enveloped the door handles.

She quickly hid with her back pressed against the bookshelf as Knox entered the room. She couldn't get to the window without him seeing her. She'd have to get creative.

At least the throbbing pain coming from her injured leg would make it easy to put on a good performance.
> Chapter 40: Excuses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cozy's Perspective]

"Knox?" Cozy asked weakly as her guardian cradled her bruised and battered form.

"Yes, Cozy?" Knox asked.

"You can let go of me now," she said as she winced again, another wave of pain rushing over her injured forehoof.

"I'm fine," she continued, quickly regaining her composure, "really. Nothing broken or bleeding."

She looked up at her friend. He was looking down at her in return, still keeping her cradled protectively in his hooves. His ears were drooping, and Cozy could see tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Reluctantly, he placed her gently back down on the floor.

"What happened, Cozy?"

She froze. She couldn't very well tell him she'd broken into the school in order to steal the book.

'Gah!' she thought to herself. 'Why'd he have to come in now?'

She'd had it in her hooves! She'd almost made it out without problem.

Nope, now she was forced to weave an excuse that would satiate her friend while not worrying him to the point that he'd stay with her all night.

She began to cry gently.

"I-I had another nightmare," she stammered.

"Cozy, I thought we discussed this," Knox began calmly. "You don't have to fear any monsters..."

"I KNOW THAT!" she snapped at him, "but there were no monsters! In fact, nopony was there at all!"

It was Knox's turn to freeze.

"Cozy, I..." he trailed off, glancing down at his hooves.

After a silent moment passed, Knox went to Cozy's side and placed a supportive hoof on her shoulder.

Cozy looked towards Knox's hoof and smiled slightly before hugging him. It wasn't nearly as forceful as her usual hug, but that was to prevent further injury to her leg.





[Discord's Perspective]

From outside a nearby window, a draconequus peered through the glass, watching his friend embrace the injured filly. He'd known about Cozy's journey through the catacombs. He'd even been watching it through the floors of the school.

"O-o-o-oh!" he exclaimed, knowing Cozy wasn't nearly as afraid and defenseless as she now seemed. "Well played, brat. I like your style."

Now, as the two ponies hugged, he saw her innocent smile spread out until it was a mischievous grin.

"Positively chaotic," he said as he melted into a puddle of strawberry-flavored soda and disappeared.





[Knox's Perspective]

The embrace didn't last long, but it was something both ponies had desperately needed.

"How about," Knox began, sounding much calmer, "we head back home and..."

"NO!" he was suddenly cut off by Cozy.

He raised an eyebrow at the filly.

"No," Cozy began again, sounding much calmer the second time around. "You have a job to do. I-I already feel a little embarrassed for coming here in the first place."

Knox watched as she shambled over to a nearby chair.

"I'll just stay here until you're done. Don't worry about me."

'I always worry about you,' he thought to himself as Cozy sat herself in the seat.
> Chapter 41: Game Of Tomes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took quite a bit more convincing before Knox finally left the library.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Cozy took off to grab the tome she'd sought after. The book that could tell her how to get her object back for Zecora's spell. The book that could tell her how to safely open the gates.

Her flight was thrown slightly askew by the pain emanating from her leg, but she still made it to where the book still sat on the shelf. She'd have to improvise a new plan to get it out of the school. After all, she couldn't very well walk out with school property if Knox was around.

She quickly scanned her surroundings, finding a backpack under one of the nearby tables.

'Perfect,' she thought. 'One of the students must've left it here.'

It was exactly what she needed. Now, she could grab the book and hide it out in the school courtyard until she can come back to get it. The backpack would keep it safe from the elements until then, and she could just put the backpack in the lost and found bin after she was done with it.

She opened the backpack and gently slid the tome inside. Of course, true to form, that's when bad luck chose to strike. An aura of pale pink magic wrapped itself around the doorknob yet again, and Knox casually walked into the room.

"Just thought I'd make sure you weren't hungry or anything," he said. "I forgot to ask earlier."

"No, I'm good," said Cozy nervously, the backpack still lying in plain sight right next to her.

Knox drifted his gaze from her to the backpack.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"Oh, I just... found it over there!" she said, gesturing towards a random part of the library.

"Well, I'll take it to the lost and found for you," he said.

"No, I'll take it," she said.

"Ummm... Your leg," he said, as if Cozy was supposed to know exactly what he meant.

She did.

It was true. Her injured leg should probably be used as little as possible. However, this didn't deter her.

"Ummm... My wings," she rebutted. "I'll just fly it there while you finish your work for the night."

Knox muttered something under his breath as he opened the door, holding it open for Cozy to follow him out.

Once they were both in the hall, they split up and went in opposite directions down the corridor. Both of them turned corners at their respective ends of the hall. A few moments later, however, Cozy came flying lopsidedly back towards the library door.

She opened the door carefully, so as not to make enough noise to attract Knox's attention. She made her way towards the window Ocellus had left open, but her lopsided flying finally got the best of her. Her shoulder collided with a bookshelf less than ten feet away from the window, knocking one of the larger books off of a higher shelf.

This wouldn't have been much of a problem... if the falling book hadn't directly hit Cozy's injured forehoof. She cried out as pain shot through her leg with the impact.

The pain was blinding, and forced her to fall to the floor. Nonetheless, she knew she had to act fast. Knox was sure to have heard her scream, and he'd be there any moment. As pink magic enveloped the entire door and it came flying open, Cozy managed to throw the backpack out the open window.

After that, Knox made her come home with him. She didn't even argue this time. The book was safely outside, and the pain in her leg had now become more than she could bear.

The next day, after a quick checkup for her leg with Nurse Redheart, Cozy flew back to the school courtyard. She immediately went to the space directly outside the library window.

She gasped, and her heart began racing as she slipped into yet another panic attack.

The backpack, and more importantly the book inside, was gone.
> Chapter 42: Change Of Pace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cozy's Perspective]

This was a major problem.

The disappearance of the backpack and the tome it contained would make it extremely difficult to reach the item she needed to retrieve. The book had been stolen. She was sure of it. Why else would it have disappeared? Now, she had to deduce who stole it, and determine whether it was worth the risk involved in stealing it back.

This was something she'd have to finish pondering later, for the doorbell had just been rung.

"I'm coming," she grumbled as she left the still-damaged sofa and fluttered over to the door.

Opening the door, she did a double-take. She wasn't sure who she'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't the changeling standing on Knox's doorstep.

Cozy momentarily chided herself mentally for once again thinking of it as "Knox's doorstep." She lived here too, and that wasn't anything liable to change anytime soon. Sometimes it was just hard for her to accept that Knox had completely opened up his home to be her home as well.

"Um... Hi," murmured the soft-spoken changeling, drawing Cozy's thoughts back to the matter at hand.

"Hey," replied Cozy, failing to contain the awkwardness of the moment as it permeated into both of their voices.

"I just..." started Ocellus. "I wanted to talk about last night. You know, at the school."

"Y-yeah," Cozy stammered. "I s-suppose that makes sense."

"So, may I come in?"

"Uh, sure," she replied, only now realizing her unexpected guest was still standing outside.

Ocellus made her way over to the couch and sat down. Looking at the scorched cushion, she gestured with a hoof.

"What happened there?" she asked, her natural curiosity kicking in even in the midst of this awkward encounter.

"Long story," Cozy said, making her way to the couch and taking a seat next to Ocellus. "So, you wanted to talk about last night?"

"Y-yes!" Ocellus said, obviously louder than she had meant to, for she lowered her voice quite a bit before speaking again. "Yes, I wanted to ask you why you were there."

Cozy groaned as she fell backwards against the back of the couch. She had really hoped Ocellus wouldn't be this direct. Now, she couldn't even work to steer the conversation. Instead, she'd have to keep her answers as vague as possible.

"I needed something," she said, regaining some of her composure.

"By any chance was that 'something' the book I saw you grab before Knox walked in?"

"Somepony give her a prize!" she said with a voice coated in sarcasm.

"Why did you need the book?" Ocellus asked her, ignoring the sarcastic comment.

"It had information I needed," she said.

'This isn't going so bad,' she thought to herself, 'but if I'm forced to go further into this, though, I might have to actually open up to her.' She glanced at Ocellus. 'Let's hope it doesn't come to that.'

"Well, yeah," Ocellus said, already getting tired of this kind of answer, "I kind of assumed that. What I meant was, why did you need the information?"

"I need to get something of mine," Cozy replied, desperate to give as little information as possible. "Something I haven't seen in a long time now. The book would've told me how to get it back."

"Why do you need it?"

'Dear Celestia, she's going to keep asking questions until she's satisfied,' Cozy thought, bring a hoof to her forehead.

She looked to Ocellus, the determined look in the changeling's eyes confirming her suspicions.

'Maybe this will be for the best,' she thought, seeing no way out of this. 'At least if I open up, she won't think I'm up to no good again. Besides, it's not like she's asking about my Master Plan.'

"Cozy?" Ocellus questioned, watching the young pegasus squirm uncomfortably under the pressure she was unknowingly putting upon her. "You OK?"

Cozy took a long deep breath and sighed. 'Here we go.' 

"I'm assuming you know about my panic attacks, seeing as you're friends with Gallus. Not to mention the whole spying thing."

She watched Ocellus' cheeks flush with pink at the mention of her not-so-friendly behavior and the changeling gave a slight nod. Cozy simply smirked. It'd been a while since she'd had leverage against somecreature, but she didn't plan on using it against Ocellus. She simply wanted to watch her squirm a little bit.

"Well, a friend of Pinkie's thinks she can help me," she continued.

"She can cure your panic attacks?" Ocellus asked, skepticism coursing through her words.

"No," Cozy answered bluntly. "She can just help me manage stressful situations better, but she needs an object that reminds me of my past."

"And that's why you need to get to this hard-to-reach item of yours," Ocellus stated, having put the puzzle together in her head. "You wanted the book so you could get the item so you could give it to Pinkie's friend so you could have less panic attacks, and that's why you broke into the school instead of just going in with Knox. Is that about right?"

"Yep, that's about it."

"Well, why is this 'item' of yours so hard to get to?"

"Sorry, Ocellus, but that's all your getting out of me," Cozy responded decisively, having determined what she'd shared to already be more than she was comfortable with. "You want to know more, help me get that book back!"





After Ocellus left, Cozy had run through the conversation again in her head.

"That's strange," she said to the empty house. "She never asked me what happened after she left."

No matter how long she waited, the house refused to respond, so she started pondering her earlier quandary of whether or not she should steal the book back once she knew who had it.
> Chapter 43: Change Of Perspective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Ocellus' Perspective]

As she flew through the forest, heading for the Treehouse, Ocellus couldn't help but think about the course of events that had led her to Cozy's door earlier this afternoon.





[The Previous Night]

After escaping the catacombs with Cozy, she left out the window, leaving it open for Cozy. After waiting outside for Cozy for a couple minutes, she decided to check on her. She flew back into the library as a common housefly only to find Cozy cradled in Knox's arms.

She watched the two as they conversed, a literal fly on the wall, until the duo had brought each other into a tight embrace. She watched as the small smile on Cozy's face spread into a mischievous grin, just outside of Knox's view.

'Good work, you manipulative little filly,' Ocellus thought to herself, relieved that her partner in crime had evaded suspicion. If her housefly form were capable of it, she would've grinned.

Instead, she made her way under one of the library tables and transformed into one of the most inconspicuous things she could think of: a backpack.

Imagine her surprise when Cozy had begun carrying her around with a large book placed inside her.

She had mentally cringed when Cozy had been struck in the leg by a falling book, and she was about to reveal herself and help when Cozy suddenly chucked her out the open window!

She landed on the ground outside with a heavy thud. Transforming back, she found herself looking down at the large book she held in her hooves.

She was thoroughly confused by the title she found the book to have, for she thought Cozy had wanted to take it.

What would a former villain want with "The Tome of Tartarus"?

Taking the tome back to her dorm room, Ocellus shuddered to think what she'd have to do. She'd have to basically condemn the young pegasus back to her inprisonment by revealing what happened to Headmare Starlight.

She thought for a moment. No, she wouldn't do that without giving Cozy a chance to explain herself. That would be giving in to her paranoia again, and that would alienate her from her friends. An image of Gallus floated through her mind, and she let out a heavy sigh.

'Besides,' she looked out her dorm room's window towards the grate leading to the catacombs, 'maybe she's not that bad.'





"But she was able to explain it," she said to herself, bringing her mind back to the present as she continued her nighttime flight through the Everfree. "She had a very good reason."

Nearing the Treehouse, a plan of action forming in her mind, she smiled.
> Chapter 44: Change Of Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Gallus' Perspective]

"Gallus?"

The griffon perked his head up from the arm of one of the many chairs inside the Treehouse and looked to Ocellus at the mention of his name.

"What's up?" he questioned upon noticing the crestfallen expression on his friend's face.

"I was wrong," she paused for a moment to give him an apologetic glance. "About Cozy, I mean."

Gallus felt his jaw go slightly slack. Had Ocellus just admitted that he was right?

"And," Ocellus continued, still nervously shuffling her feet, "I think I have a plan on how to make it up to her."

Gallus looked closely at her expression, checking for her tells that showed whenever she was lying. Finding none, he smiled and gestured to the seat beside him.

With this, Ocellus' nerves seemed to dissipate. She sighed in relief as she sat down.

"So," Gallus said once his friend was comfortable, "what's the plan?"

Ocellus reached towards one of the nearby end tables and pulled a large book into her lap. "Well, this is a good place to start."

Gallus eyed the book curiously. What would Cozy want with a book called the "Tome of Tartarus"?

As if reading Gallus' thoughts, Ocellus elaborated.

"Cozy said she wanted this book so she could get back something she lost. I think that means the item she's looking for was left in Tartarus when Discord pulled her out!"

Gallus suddenly looked at his friend as if she'd transformed herself into a chimera with an extra head. Was she thinking what he thought she was thinking?

"Cozy wants whatever it is back," Ocellus continued, unimpeded by Gallus' expression. "For very good reason, at that."

Gallus finally shook himself from his stupor and found himself able to speak again.

"You want to break into Tartarus?" he yelled. "That's crazy!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I want to do," she replied bluntly.

Gallus just sat there, mouth once again agape.

"And this," she continued, picking up the book in her lap, "is going to help us."





It was no use.

The two friends had been pouring through the pages of the Tome of Tartarus, again and again, searching for a way to safely get in and out for hours now. It was getting late, so they'd soon be forced to either call it quits for the night or sleep here at the Treehouse. Nonetheless, they still scoured the book again.

Every possible way they'd found involved powerful unicorn magic, something neither of them had, or a magical artifact. They'd done some research into the magical artifact idea, but, with the Key of Unfettered Entrance having been destroyed during Cozy's attempt to take over the school, it had been fruitless.

"I don't think this is going to work," Gallus said. "Maybe we should just give the book to Cozy. She's been in Tartarus. She'll probably see something here that we don't."

Ocellus sighed dejectedly.

"I just really wanted to do something for her, you know? I wanted to make a grand gesture to apologize for all of the spying and mistrust."

She slowly closed the cover of the Tome of Tartarus, but still stared at it longingly.

"It's a shame we couldn't pull it off," Gallus said, placing a talon on Ocellus' shoulder while keeping his eyes on the closed book as well. "This really would've made her happy."

"Well why didn't you just say so," said the Tome of Tartarus.

Ocellus and Gallus both screamed in shock. Ocellus jumped at least three feet, while Gallus scuttled back away from the book.

They both looked towards each other, exchanging looks of confusion, before the book opened on its own to a page full of text and a certain familiar being slithered out from in between the lines.

"Discord?" Gallus half-asked, half-yelled.

"Well, you certainly don't sound happy to see me," said the chaos deity.

"Why are you here?" Ocellus cried out, still not fully recovered from the previous fright.

"Why, I'm here to help you help her of course," he pointed to a wall, where a mural of Cozy's face with a wicked grin and fire in her eyes, cradling marionettes of Princess Twilight and their professors in her hooves, had certainly not been three seconds prior.

"Umm..." Gallus said, raising a questioning talon. "Why?"

"Well, Knox is a friend of mine now," started the draconequus, "and whether I like it or not, that little brat being happy seems to make him happy. That's why I'm giving you this."

He pulled a purple cloth with orange polka dots out of a nearby toaster that had suddenly materialized and placed it over Gallus' still-raised talon.

"Ummm..." started the griffin, now even more confused. "Thanks?"

"Oh, sorry," Discord said. "I forgot a step."

He retrieved the cloth from Gallus and flicked it with his lion's paw, leaving a cone-shaped crystal object with metal filigree in its place.

Gallus was still just as confused as Discord gave the object back to him, but a spark of realization seemed to dance through Ocellus' mind. She let out a sharp gasp.

"The Key of Unfettered Entrance!" she nearly squealed. "How did you find this? I thought it'd been broken?"

"Well, I could say I fixed it, but that would be a lie," Discord said. "Truth is, that thing was only extremely rare, not one-of-a-kind. Not that I couldn't have fixed the original or anything, but, really, where's the fun in fixing something?"

At these last two words, a dog appeared in front of Discord, and he did something unspeakable to it. Gallus reached toward his groin out of sympathy.

Once the poor dog disappeared once again, Discord bid the two friends farewell and spontaneously combusted, leaving Gallus and Ocellus alone with the Key of Unfettered Entrance.

"Dang it," Gallus said.

"What?" Ocellus asked, obviously wondering what could possibly be dampening his mood right now.

"He left it there," he said, gesturing to the same wall Discord had gestured to earlier. Upon it, there was still a mural of Cozy with a diabolical grin, fiery eyes, and marionettes of Princess Twilight and the other element bearers cradled close to her chest.

Ocellus looked at it, then locked eyes with Gallus. Then, they both broke out laughing and agreed to take care of it later.

Gallus looked down at the magical artifact he held.

"Well," he said as they each went to their respective wings of the Treehouse for the night, "I guess I know what we're doing tomorrow!"
> Chapter 45: Closed Doors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Ocellus' Perspective]

It had taken quite a while to get to the gates of Tartarus, but Gallus and Ocellus were nothing if not determined. The changeling reached into her bag and retrieved the magical relic Discord had given them. As she approached the gateway with the magical key held in her mouth, she stepped on something sharp. 

"Ow!" she yelped, dropping the key.

She quickly looked to see what she had stepped on. The Key of Unfettered Entrance. The first one, that is. The one the she and Gallus had brought with them had simply fallen to the ground in front of her.

"Well," she said, drawing her companion's attention to the shards of magical relic, "I guess we know for sure now."

Gallus picked up the magical key from the ground.

"Yep," he confirmed. "One use only. How are we going to get back out once we get in."

"Don't worry," she replied, a scheming glint in her insect-like eyes. "I've got a plan."





[Gallus' Perspective]

Gallus stepped up to the gateway and put the key in place. As was expected, the gates made quite a show of such a simple task as opening. Once the show was over, however, it was time for action.

"Which cell was Cozy's?" he asked Ocellus as he walked through the opening. She surveyed the space for a moment before gesturing to a couple disproportionate cells near the top of the cliff overlooking whatever nightmare fuel lived in the bowels of Tartarus.

"They would try to keep prisoners as dangerous as Cozy and Tirek far away from the other dangerous creatures," she explained. "Those are the only cages distanced far enough away. Also, look at the size of them. One big, one small. One for an evil, magic-eating centaur, one for the youngest mastermind Equestria has ever seen."

That was enough for Gallus to go off of, so he flew off towards the two cells she had pointed out.

He was almost there when he heard the most heart-wrenchingly terrifying sound he'd ever hear, before or since. Giant metal doors slowly scraping across the stone ground. The gates were closing.

He skid to a halt in the air and flipped around. He was startled by the absence of his friend behind him. He hadn't even noticed she wasn't following him. His heart sank as he finally spotted her. She was standing in the gateway, smirking. Why was she smirking? He flew as fast as he could towards the gates, desperately trying to make it back before they would lock him in forever.

He was too far away. He'd never make it in time! His friend was still standing in between the doors, maintaining eye contact with him as he desperately flew for his life. She was still smirking. What he saw next froze him in place. His jaw hung open in shock as he watched that familiar changeling magic wrap around his friend's body. Had she planned this?
> Chapter 46: Open Doors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Ocellus' Perspective]

Gallus was flying frantically to reach the gates. Ocellus, on the other hand, had a plan. She looked him in the eyes, wanting to comfort him. She smiled, although the sadness she felt from seeing her friend so scared dragged it down a bit. It couldn't have been more than a smirk, but she still held it, hoping it would give her friend some amount of comfort.

She knew her plan would work. It had to. She allowed the familiar changeling magic she'd harnessed her whole life to envelope her and change her shape.





[Gallus' Perspective]

Gallus watched, slack-jawed, as his shy little changeling friend suddenly transformed into a mighty bird of prey that could easily eat a dragon in one bite. She'd transformed into a roc!

He found himself staring as the gigantic bird gripped each of the doors in one of its powerful talons and, with a powerful push, wrenched them back open. The doors then started slowly sliding back towards their closed position. The bird then seemed to tense, obviously trying to hold the doors in place, despite their screeching rebellion.

Gallus shuddered when the blazing glare of the roc met his gaze. He got the message through the strained expression on her face. This wouldn't hold forever.

He had to work quickly.

He rocketed back the way he had come, keeping a fast pace despite his exhaustion from what was basically the equivalent of aerial sprinting. He reached the cells Ocellus had pointed out to him and frantically started searching for anything that might be the mysterious object they'd come to collect. That's when he heard the pained screech from his friend. As he looked out towards the roc, he could see that its legs were starting to bow under the pressure the doors were putting on them. He saw the changeling magic envelop her again, this time leaving a different monster in the roc's place. He didn't know what this monster was called, but Ocellus had shown him this new form once before. Said something about it being "Pharynx' go-to transformation," whatever that means. He began searching again once he saw the monster catch the doors and keep it from closing, seemingly using its tough carapace as some kind of shield.

He finally found the object they sought sitting a couple feet outside the cage. He picked it up, wondering why Cozy had wanted this back so badly.

"Question for another time," he said under his breath as he flew back towards the doors, prize in tow.

His wings were exhausted from the constant back-and-forth, so the return to the gateway took longer than either Gallus or Ocellus would've liked. By the time he had gotten back through the doors, it was being held open by a bugbear with a familiar color palette because the space between the doors had become too tight a squeeze for Pharynx' monster.

As soon as he was through the doors, Ocellus transformed back to her normal form and jumped back throught he opening. The gates closed with a mighty CRASH! behind them.





[Ocellus' Perspective]

Ocellus gasped for breath as she tried her best not to move her ridiculously overexerted limbs.

"Well, that was climactic," Gallus said jokingly.

She glanced curiously at the object clutched in his talons.

"You think that's it?" she said, hoping she already knew the answer.

"It was the only thing I could find in her cell," he responded. "This has to be it."

"Good."

As the two rested their weary limbs outside of Tartarus' gates, Ocellus found herself staring at the fractured remains of not one, but two, magical keys scattered across the ground. She wasn't sure why she wanted them yet, but she decided to collect the shards and put them in her currently empty bag before they left. An idea was forming in her mind, and she didn't want to come all the way back here for the shards once the idea was fully formed.

The two weary adventurers left the gates behind them and slowly made their way back to Ponyville.





[Cozy's Perspective]

Another panic attack earlier today had prompted Cozy to decide that searching for the book that was stolen from her would be worth the risk of getting caught. She couldn't handle how frequent these attacks were becoming, and they were quickly becoming a burden on those around her as well. She would just have to go out there and find out who stole the book. She had to get it back. She had to find a way into Tartarus. She had to get back her...

Her thoughts were cut short when she threw open the front door and saw something sitting on the front step. The same something she'd needed to retrieve from Tartarus. There was a note sitting next to the object that had caused her so much grief in recent days. She gently picked it up and read it:

I'm sorry I didn't trust you.

Your friend,

Ocellus

Cozy set the note down on the table next to the door and reached down to retrieve what was rightfully hers. She shuddered in relief as she lifted her gift high into the air and slowly lowered her homemade Empress of Friendship crown onto its rightful place atop her head.
> Chapter 47: Father Figure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy had just left Zecora's hut after having the zebra enchant the crown she now wore upon her head. Reaching up to touch it, she could feel the soothing magical aura work its way through her body. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," she said to the forest around her. "Now if I get anxious, this can help calm me down."

She smiled to herself as she made her way back into Ponyville. However, she flew right past Knox's house as she entered the town. She had one more stop to make before heading home.





[Knox's Perspective]

Today was Father's Day, but Knox hadn't had his father around to celebrate with for a long time now.

"Stupid holiday," he muttered to himself as he wrapped a mug of cider in his magic and made his way into the living room. His mind drifted to a tale he had once read, about a powerful unicorn who'd tried to erase Hearth's Warming forever with a magical spell.

'If only it were that easy,' he thought to himself. He was always miserable on these types of holidays. His family wasn't around to celebrate with him, so why should he be happy?

He'd asked Pinkie not to come over today. He knew she'd try to cheer him up. He also knew she'd fail, and that would break her heart.

There he sat, wallowing in self-pity on a sofa with a burned cushion for another solid hour before the front door swung open.

"Knox, I'm home!" called out a cheerful Cozy.

'Great,' Knox thought to himself, 'even the former statue is in a chipper mood today.'

He instantly felt bad for thinking such things about Cozy, but he still didn't get up to greet her.

"Hey, kid," he called from his spot on the couch, still cradling his now-empty cider mug. "How's it going?"

"Well," she said, fluttering over to him. "It's Father's Day, you know."

"So?" he said, letting a small hint of his annoyance show through his tone.

"So..." Cozy said, revealing something she'd had hidden behind her back, "I got you something."

Knox' eyes filled with tears as he looked at the rolled up scroll Cozy held in front of him. He gently unrolled it, taking a look at the spell within.

"I know how obsessed you are with all things security, so I got you a..."

"A lock-pick spell," Knox finished for her. He already knew the spell, of course, but Cozy didn't have to know that.

Knox gently rolled the scroll back up and placed it beside him gently. Tears were still trying to fight their way out of his eyes. Cozy had gotten him a present... for Father's Day.

"Thank you Cozy," he said, his throat scratchy as he began to cry with a wide smile on his face.

Cozy saw the tears rolling down his face and immediately catapulted herself into one of her signature cannonball-like hugs Knox liked so much.

"No, thank you," she said.

'I guess Father's Day isn't so bad after all,' Knox thought as he held Cozy in a tight embrace.

Knox didn't know it, but a few tears of joy trickled down Cozy's face as well. After all, her plan was working perfectly.
> Chapter 48: Checking In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cozy's Perspective]

A couple days after Father's Day, Cozy and Knox were lounging on the sofa when the doorbell rang. They looked towards the door, then towards each other.

"Were you expecting anyone?" they asked each other in tandem.

After a few seconds of laughter between the two, Knox went over to the door. Cozy could see his eyes widen as he opened it.

"Princess," he said as he stepped aside to let Twilight in, "to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Cozy gulped heavily as the alicorn entered the house.

"Oh, please," said the princess, "we're friends, aren't we? There's no need to be so formal."

She looked to Knox, who hesitantly nodded his head.

"Anyways," Twilight continued, "I'm here to check in on how Cozy Glow has been doing."





Soon enough, the three of them were gathered around the coffee table with a fresh pot of tea in the middle. Knox had also made some Hot Chocolate for Cozy, knowing she preferred it over herbal tea.

With Twilight being her former headmare and all, Cozy felt like she was in some distorted version of a parent-teacher conference. She sipped her hot cocoa for comfort.

"So," Knox started, "what would you like to know?"

"Well, I must admit that Pinkie has been keeping me up to speed on a few things here and there," Twilight replied, "like Cozy's PTSD, her budding friendship with Sweetie Belle, Trixie's therapy sessions, and a couple other things. Nonetheless, I'd like to hear some more about this straight from the horses mouth, so to speak."

"Ummm..." Cozy spoke up for the first time since the princess had arrived. "Where would you like to start?"

"How about we start with the happier of the topics we need to discuss," she suggested. "Friendships."

"Well," Cozy started, "I made friends with Sweetie Belle, as you already know, but I've also made friends with Gallus. I also have reason to believe Ocellus is willing to give friendship a try as well."

She took a moment to appreciate the very slight weight of the crown upon her head. Yeah, Ocellus would definitely be a good friend to have.

"That's wonderful, Cozy!" said Twilight. "I'm so happy for you!"





"Do you have any more questions, Twilight?" Cozy asked as the princess' little check-in drew to a close.

"Well, there is one thing," the alicorn replied.

"What is it?" asked Knox.

"You see..." Twilight started, but she seemed to be hesitant about something.

"Please, Twilight," said Cozy, "just tell us."

Twilight took a deep breath and held her hoof to her chest, then let the breath out as she moved her hoof away from its place on her chest. It was a breathing exercise Cozy recognized from her time as Twilight's friendship assistant.

"I want Cozy to enroll in the School of Friendship."
> Chapter 49: Enrollment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cozy's Perspective]

'She wants me to do what?' Cozy's thoughts struggled to cross the mental hurdle former-headmare Twilight had just chucked at her.

She felt her hooves begin to tremor slightly, and Knox looked over towards her with a sympathetic expression. She slowly and carefully raised a hoof to her head and touched her Crown of Calming, allowing the soothing energy to flow through her body.

She winced as her breathing evened out, and her hoof tremors slowly stopped.

"I'm OK," she said.

Knox let out a breath that it didn't seem he knew he'd been holding in. Twilight also had a worried expression, but she also noticeably calmed at Cozy's words. Looking back at Knox, Cozy noticed he was looking at the top of her head curiously.

"I never noticed," he started. "What's up with the crown?"

"I..." Cozy trailed off. "I made it."

"Why are you wearing it?" Twilight asked, her attention now drawn to the crown as well. Unlike Knox, though, Twilight was staring at it with clenched teeth and daggers in her eyes. Cozy shrunk under the unwanted hostility. She understood it, though. The last time she'd worn this crown, she'd tried to rid Equestria of magic.

"It's..." she started, tearing up slightly. "It's a reminder of my past."

At that, Twilight's expression softened quite a bit.

"Cozy..." she started.

"I may be trying to become a better pony," Cozy interrupted, "but that doesn't mean I can let myself forget."

Knox and Twilight remained silent as Cozy spoke, not daring to interrupt her as tears came streaming down her cheeks.

"This," she continued, gesturing a hoof up towards her crown, "is a reminder of the old me. The one with no real friends. The one that was all alone, even when she was surrounded by ponies. I won't let myself end up alone again!"

Knox came over to her and pulled her into a tight embrace, while she maintained teary-eyed eye contact with Twilight.

"I won't let that happen either," Knox said soothingly, just as Cozy knew he would.





After the three ponies had calmed down, the princess decided to elaborate what she had meant earlier.

"As you know, a new semester is starting shortly," she began.

"Yeah, it's in two weeks now, right?" Knox said.

"Yes, it is. Well, when that new semester starts, I want Cozy to become a student of the School of Friendship again."

"Is that allowed?" Cozy asked. "Can a student who tried to take over the place by force really just... come back?"

"Well, it doesn't happen all that often," Twilight chuckled, "so I think it'll be alright. Besides, you'd be surrounded by other students most of the time anyways. There are far more students this year than there have been in prior years."

"Are you sure the new headmare will be alright with this?" Knox asked.

"I've already spoken with Starlight," Twilight replied. "She's given me permission to enroll you in the school. If you're willing to learn, that is."

"Starlight! That's her name!" Knox shouted, obviously a little louder than intended.

This was met with light chuckles from Cozy and Twilight.

"Twilight," Cozy said, catching the alicorn's attention again. "I'll do it. I'll go to the School of Friendship."

While she was keeping a straight face, the little Cozy Glow in her head was running around in a frenzied panic at the declaration she'd just made.

'Well,' she thought, 'This could be worse... I guess.'

This was going to be a long semester.
> Chapter 50: Before And After
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Twilight's Perspective]

After living in Canterlot for a while and establishing a routine as princess, Twilight had made sure to schedule specific times every week to spend quality time with each of her best friends. Yesterday, she'd helped Applejack harvest some apples and make cider. Tomorrow, she'd be going to the spa with Rarity, which often included bumping into Rainbow Dash there. Today, Twilight and Pinkie were having their weekly get together, which was a sleepover at Sugarcube Corner this week.

"Pinkie, can I ask you something?" Twilight asked, still thinking about her meeting with Cozy and Knox earlier today.

"You just did, silly!" replied Pinkie, making Twilight facehoof. "But, really, go ahead."

"What do you think about my idea for Cozy Glow?"

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin and furrowed her brow.

"Well, I've gotta say, I don't really understand why you want her to go to the School of Friendship again," Pinkie said. "I mean, the lessons didn't exactly take last time."

"Well, I know that," Twilight said. "I just think Cozy needs a place to connect with others her own age."

"But why?" Pinkie queried. "She already has friends her own age."

"She's got two," Twilight stated bluntly. "Sweetie Belle and Gallus. Ocellus might be added to that list soon, but that doesn't change the fact that Cozy spends most of her time with either Knox or you."

"I guess that's true," Pinkie mumbled.

"And I don't think a regular school like the Ponyville Schoolhouse would be right for her," Twilight continued. "She's too smart for that. In fact, the only thing she seems to not know as much about is friendship."

"Yeah," Pinkie said. "She is pretty smart."

"Smart enough to almost take over the school right under our noses," stated Twilight.

"But, Twi," Pinkie said. "Are you absolutely super-duper sure that this is a good idea?  What if it's too much for her?"

"Then all she has to do is let me or Starlight know, and we'll let her drop out," Twilight explained.

Pinkie pressed her hoof to her chin once more, contemplating what Twilight had shared with her. After a few moments, she lifted her head into her familiarly cheery smile.

"Okie Dokie Lokie!"

Whew! Well that was a load off Twilight's mind. Now the slumber party could really get underway!





[See Author's Note] Slumber Party Games





[Knox's Perspective]

Knox was looking through his bookshelf for a book to read when he noticed a strange glow emanate from the scrapbook pinkie had made of them. He took the scrapbook from the shelf and opened it up to the glowing page.

The glow faded away once he opened it, revealing the page containing the special "hall passes" Pinkie had made for them. One of Pinkies now had the word "EXPIRED" stamped across its surface in large, red lettering. Below it was a red hash mark.

Knox... was unsure how to react to that. He just closed the scrapbook, placed it back on the shelf, and went about his night. He would talk to Pinkie about it tomorrow. He didn't want to disrupt her slumber party with the princess tonight.

...Oh.