> Another Side of the Story
>  by 5u0myn0n4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: A Familiar Face
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a story that follows a young filly, Magnolia Valentina. A young unicorn who aspired to become a Royal guard. The little filly had her work cut out for her though. Mares were uncommon in the royal guard, and it was uncommon still for somepony to be so eager to train at such a young age.





Our story begins at a Royal Guard training camp. The camp was a nice little settlement in the woods built next to a large lake.

The camp is where young ponies, from young fillies and foals, to ponies in their adolescence, trained under the supervision of more experienced Royal Guards who... let's just say, they found their forte as teachers, rather than being on active duty.

Magnolia, shortened to 'Maggie', or sometimes 'Magby', or simply 'Mag', was a cut above the rest in her class. She had the spirit of a full grown stallion, and the determination to match. In fact she had asked multiple times for more advanced training, but she had to stay in her age group.

Following in the hoofsteps of her father, it was her dream to join Equestria's Royal Guard, and protect the land as they knew it. Having the opportunity to participate in training camp was her dream come true.





Anyway, today's events began when the camp saw a visitor. The site was briefly visited by fellow delivery pony Derpy. The mare dropped off a stack of newspapers with the latest issue of the Equestrian Chronicle to the porch of the largest building. With a friendly knock, she was already aloft onto her next destination.

One of the leaders retrieved the papers and brought the stack inside to the main room, with great anticipation. This one issue had every pony excited. Word on the street was that Princess Twilight Sparkle had recently celebrated a glorifying victory against some of Equestria's most formidable foes. Not just any victory though. Word had it that every creature in Equestria came together in what could only be described as a once in a generation unification of all of Equestria. But no one knew the finer details yet, which is why they were eager to read about it in today's newspaper.

When the stallion plopped the stack of papers in the middle of the cafeteria, every pony, young and old, rushed over and grabbed their own copy to read. Teachers and recruits all grabbed an issue, and were excited to read about the recent event.

It felt as if everypony in the room had their own copy. Some ponies sat at tables, others sat on the ground, but everypony was glued to that newspaper.

Magnolia sat at her own table with a friend. From the chatter, she  got a general sense that it meant that it was good news.

Harmony restored, huh? Gosh. Maggie gave an affirmative smirk. That Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends always managed to protect Equestria from even the biggest of threats. Maggie looked up to Twilight as a role model, which was one reason she was so excited to be a royal guard. She was looking forward to protecting Equestria whenever the mane 6 were not present.

"Hello? Maggie? Aren't you gonna read the latest issue?" asked a foal sitting across from her.

Maggie sat with her coltfriend, who simply was referred to as Stud. (he's a friend, who's a colt). He was crazy into her, even if she only expressed mild interest in the foal. Regardless, he followed her around. Somehow Maggie ended up with friends like him a lot in the past. He would've been a nuisance if he wasn't so helpful. 

"I know the newspaper is pretty old fashioned, but don't you wanna read about Princess Twilight Sparkle's latest victory?" he asked.

"I mean, what's there to read about? Princess Twilight Sparkle defeats some great evil creatures, and friendship prevails? Was there any doubt? Harmony always prevails. It's like, destiny or something. It's not bad, but it's kinda boring by now. This is hardly her first rodeo." Mag said.

"Well, it was her last rodeo before her coronation to full time ruler of Equestria. It may even be her last rodeo as a member of the mane 6." Stud said.

"Let's not get crazy. Surely they'll stay together." Maggie said. "I mean, why would they split?"

*PLOP* Stud dropped a copy of the newspaper in front of Maggie.

"While you were yapping, I got you a copy. Check it out, it's pretty amusing." Stud said. "Plus there are other stories in here too if Princess Twilight Sparkle's victory is too boring."

When Maggie looked down and saw the front cover, what she saw immediately surprised her, and caught her off guard.

The headline read "Harmony Restored: Equestria Unified Against A Great Disturbance". And seeing this great disturbance, rocked Maggie to her core.

When she saw the cover, she gasped.

*gasp* Cozy Glow! Maggie screamed internally. 

Without reading any words beyond the headline, Magnolia immediately recognized the filly in stone on the front cover.

Depicted on the newspaper was a pony she'd not seen since they parted ways not too long ago. The pony Cozy Glow, a filly she knew personally growing up, now turned to stone, after attempting to take over Equestria.

This revelation came as a huge shock. She never heard from Cozy, nor heard anyone talk about her, until this moment. She wondered how that filly could've ended up in such a way. Or at least she would've, but she could hardly concentrate with the chatter of all the older ponies surrounding her. Nopony around her seemed to share her sentiment. 

Based on the rattling and raving of the excited royal guards, and the fillies in training, every single pony was excited and filled with glee from this headline. Maggie was the polar opposite.

She tried to say something, but no words came from her mouth when she tried to speak. Her senses were completely overwhelmed, and she started to get dizzy. She felt an aching sinking in her stomach, and an intense ringing in between her ears. Something seemed off.

But across the table from her, her coltfriend Stud was able to read the paper with no issues.

"Serves them right for trying to divide Equestria, eh Maggie? Maggie?" Stud said.

He looked up, but his filly friend wasn't there. He caught a brief glimpse of her running outside the building.





The colt wandered outside to look for his friend. Stud found Maggie sitting down against one of the cabins with her hooves against her face. He couldn't tell if she was crying or not. He wanted to see what was troubling his friend.

"You alright?" Stud asked. "You rushed out of there without telling anyone." 

Maggie's nose was stuffed up. She cleared her throat and spoke.

"Oh, I'm fine. I just... needed some fresh air, less noise, a softer ground..." she said.

Maggie didn't look fine however. She definitely looked stressed.

"What's got you all worked up?" he asked.

Maggie didn't want to answer truthfully.

"Oh, nothing. I just don't like crowded spaces." she replied.

"That wasn't nothing. Did something about the latest issue disturb you?" he asked.

He held up the paper to Maggie, but she pushed it aside.

"Get that away from me!" she exclaimed.

"Don't you wanna read about how Princess Twilight Sparkle and friends defeated Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and... who is this? Defeated Cozy Gl-"

Maggie abruptly spoke up, interrupting her friend.

"NO! I mean, no thanks. Like, I'm sure it's just like the FIRST time Twilight Sparkle defeated Lord Tirek. Or the first and second times she defeated Queen Chrysalis. Or the first and second times she defeated King Sombra. You save Equestria once, you save it 1,000 times. Yawn." Maggie ranted.

"Okay... Well, if you need any comfort or affection, then you know which colt to ask." Stud said, standing proudly.

The colt leaned in, but Maggie stood up and pushed Stud aside.

"Well, Stud. As per usual, I don't have anything productive to gain by talking to you at this time. I think I'll just uh... I need to talk to Platinum..." Maggie said.

"Platinum? She doesn't like guests on her day off." Stud said.

Regardless, the filly wandered off, leaving her friend alone. She headed for the office of the head of camp, retired guard, Platinum Star Cross. Her friend however continued to read the story.
"An all-star ensemble of villains? Pfft. Then where's The Storm King?" Stud said aloud.





Maggie skimmed through the newspaper. Although the image was sickening, she at least needed to know her facts before she spoke with her higher up. She sat right outside the office of Platinum Star Cross. 

She was the leader of the training camp. She was the oldest, and most experienced retired guard at the campsite. And as such, her main job was... sitting in her office doing paper work. She was only seen on the field sparingly, but that didn't stop her from giving one heck of a scolding to teachers or trainees she felt were underperforming. Incidentally, she had hardly any issues with Maggie and her excellent performance. 
Platinum happened to be the head of Maggie's division. They'd spent weeks training together, and she was the one she looked to for advice. But today Maggie was about to potentially ruin the trust she'd earned from the old mare.

The filly poked her head through the front door of the office.

"Um, Captain Platinum?" she asked.

There sat the teacher, at her desk, legs on the desk, leaning back on her chair, and holding the newspaper in her hooves. She heard the soft voice of the nervous filly, and put her paper down.

"Oh, it's you. Need somethin' kid?" she asked.

Maggie walked inside of Platinum's very colorful office. By colorful, I mean the walls were decked out with all kinds of dangerous looking items. From an old styled ball and chain, a couple of swords, some spears, even a flamethrower (which seemed out of place...). Platinum had it all. Platinum had served the Royal Guard a long time ago, and today, weapons like these were no longer typically needed, so they were basically just antiques now. Very sharp antiques... 
And behind the old mare's chair was a picture of a younger Platinum with Princess Celestia.

Maggie was going to show Plat the newspaper, but she already had her own copy.

"I see you've got a copy of today's newspaper." Maggie said, casually.

"Ah, so you've seen it too. This thing's loaded with news. A wedding in Ponyville. Rara's most recent concert. Think I'm missing something though, oh right! An epic battle, and the restoration of Harmony!" she said, sounding as ecstatic as an old mare could sound.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Maggie said.

"Oh. Why didn't you say so?" she said, in a smooth tone. "Well, you see, two mares can have feelings for each other too, so-" Plat started, but Mag interrupted her.

"No, not that story!" Maggie exclaimed. "Not that they... you know, good for them *ahem* anyway, I wanted to talk about the whole "Harmony restoration" thing..."

"Oh right. I suppose that is the headline. I mean, can you believe it? Three super powered evildoers bent on ridding the world of Harmony by dividing the creatures, and raiding Canterlot! Three of them! All at once! The Changeling Queen and Lord of Centaurs at the same time! It's just proof that there isn't any problem friendship can't overcome!" Plat said. "A close call, but they did it! Twilight Sparkle and her friends did it!"

Why is everyone so excited that Twilight "miraculously" won? It's like celebrating that the grass is green. I don't think it's actually possible for Twilight to lose. Maggie was a believer in destiny, and in good triumphing over evil. And so far, Twilight's 100% success rate against evil was a good indicator of that belief.

"With one final rainbow blast, they showed 'em the lights that stopped 'em." Platinum said.

"And turned to stone..." Mag added.

"Mmmhmm. Crazy stuff. But that's what it took to stop them for good." Plat said.

Platinum rejoiced seeing Equestria's most bad bunch sealed away in stone forever. It wasn't often that Maggie and her superior disagreed on anything. But speaking her mind was important, so she tread carefully.

Think Maggie, you gotta be clever. You can't just tell her how you feel, you gotta use logic to make a point. she thought.

After a moment of thinking, she came up with an angle to argue with.

"We've seen this kinda thing before, right? That creature, what was his name? Discord! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna turned him to stone using the Elements of Harmony."

"Yeah. Glad you've paid attention to history class. But, what about that?" Plat asked.

"Uh... I guess his release wasn't necessarily a suspension of the practice, I mean, clearly not, hehe..." Maggie said, biting her lips.

The old mare just stared at her, and made her uncomfortable.

Maybe too much logic. Reel it back and add just a pinch of feel. she thought.

"I'm just surprised, you know, that Equestria could still harbor creatures as dangerous as Discord once was." she said, very clumsily tripping on her words.

"I'm sure the princesses have their reasons, and wouldn't have done such a thing without careful consideration." Plat said.

Plat was getting on Maggie's nerves. She seemed to deflect every angle Maggie went for. So she blurted out her honest thoughts.

"It's just not how I expected the princesses to deal with a mischievous filly!" Maggie said swiftly. She closed her eyes and turned her head slightly, expecting to be berated by her teacher. But rather, she was met with a period of silence.

Platinum leaned forward and sat at her desk normally. She put down the paper and looked at the filly.

"So that's what ya think?" she asked.

"Something to that effect... maybe..." Maggie replied, sweating.

"You don't have any issues with this cover, do you?" she asked.

"Eh... egh.. uh..." Maggie could only speak unintelligible mumblings when pressured by her teacher. The last thing she wanted to be labeled as was a coward.

"Look at them. The three of 'em are monsters." Platinum said. 

Maggie looked closely at the terrifying cover once again. But in spite of what Platinum said, she didn't see three monsters.

"I mean how do you know? You ever had the pleasure of inviting them over for dinner??" Maggie said, awkwardly. She basically ran out of compelling argument points, and was just blurting out the first words that appeared in her withered brain.

"You didn't know these creatures personally, did you? did you? did you?" Platinum asked.





The answer was actually YES. Magnolia did actually know Cozy Glow personally. But more than that, their lives were so interwoven, that it could be said that each filly was responsible for where the other ended up in this present time.
> Chapter 2: Past and Present
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was nopony at the school nicer than one pegasus pony, Cozy Glow. Except, nopony called her Cozy Glow yet, because Cozy Glow wasn't her birth name.

Cozy's niceness caught the attention of nearly every student in her class. Particularly, the attention of one grumpy filly called Brenda, which was actually the nickname of the same unicorn filly, Magnolia. See, her mother and father often disagreed on many things. They couldn't even agree on a name for their kid! Her mom wanted a filly named Brenda, but her dad insisted on the name Magnolia. So rather than compromise, they just referred to their daughter with their preferred name. She didn't mind, in fact, it established a unique relationship between her mother and father.

Her mother just so happened to write the name 'Brenda' on Maggie's letter to the school, and on her first day every student and teacher was already calling her Brenda, so she stuck with that name during her time at school.

And then there was her classmate, that little blue maned blank flank pegasus who would come to be known as Cozy Glow.

Maggie, but then known by everypony as Brenda, couldn't stand that good filly Cozy Glow. Cozy was liked by every pony for no good reason she thought.

The teacher always patted Cozy on the head, and answered her questions. Cozy was the top student, despite the fact Maggie knew she was way smarter than Cozy. Just goes to show the power of favoritism.

Maggie wasn't sure what Cozy did to deserve so much positive attention from everypony. Maggie was the smartest student in class, while Cozy Glow was just a cute face in the class who did very little else!

Cozy was friendly to everyone in class, including Maggie.





On this one particular day, Cozy was excited to play with Maggie for a very specific reason. The pegasus filly was excited, and rushed up to her unicorn friend.

"Hey, Brenda! Check it out! I just beat Rhoda at Chess and look! I got my cutie mark!" she said.

Cozy lifted her flank and pointed at her new Cutie Mark! Maggie wasn't interested in staring at Cozy's flank, although the prospect of a Cutie Mark was always intriguing. It was of a symbol that is now synonymous with Cozy Glow. That of a red rook chess piece.

"A chess piece? Huh. Guess you're a natural then, kid." Maggie said, unenthusiastic .

"I never considered myself particularly skilled at Chess, but looks like destiny disagrees! Wanna play with me?" Cozy asked.

Maggie got a nasty grin on her face when Cozy challenged her.

"You know what, fine? Chess is a game of intellect, so even with your Cutie Mark advantage, I'm confident that stepping all over you should be easy."

"So is that a yes?" Cozy asked.

Maggie nodded. "You're on." she replied.

Who would win? Cozy's natural talent? Or Maggie's superior intellect?





After a surprisingly close chess game, Maggie moved her Bishop and trapped Cozy's King piece.

"And that's Checkmate." she said. "You lose, kid."

Cozy was surprised, but not even the slightest bit deterred. In fact, she was quite joyous.

"Wow. You did great, Brenda." Cozy said, with an earnest smile. "Good game. I had fun."

Cozy's optimism and bright spirit was about to be shot down by Maggie's wall of cynicism.

"So much for being a natural at Chess." she mocked.

"I mean, I suppose it doesn't mean I should expect my win rate to be 100%." Cozy said, trying to see the bright side.

"I think it means there's a chance your cutie mark is WRONG!" Maggie exclaimed.

Maggie backed her chair away, stood on her four limbs, and walked away from Cozy. She left the filly alone, and confused.

"If my cutie mark isn't for Chess, then what is it for?" Cozy wondered.

"Hopefully she'll be so busy thinking, she'll finally leave me alone." Maggie thought out loud.

Unfortunately for her, Maggie wouldn't have her way. It would take more than words to crush Cozy's spirit. 





As the week progressed on, Cozy continued to question the meaning of her cutie mark. 

In spite of Maggie's mean spirited attitude towards Cozy, it seemed to serve the opposite intended purpose. It only made Cozy more interested in Maggie.

"I told you. I don't care about your cutie mark identity crisis." Maggie said.

"But, Brenda, won't you help me solve this conundrum?" Cozy asked.

"Why do you keep following me anyway?" Maggie asked, irritated.

"Well since you're my friend-" Cozy started, but was interrupted.

"I am not your friend." Maggie said. "You don't have any friends."

"Then why do you keep starting conversations with me?" Cozy asked.

"Listen here. Let me spell out how things work. There's a hierarchy to this school, and until you figure it out, you can stay in the dark for all I care." she explained.

Cozy looked at the ground, saddened by Maggie's rough exterior.

"But... won't you help me to figure out what my Cutie Mark is supposed to mean?" Cozy asked. "I-I promise to leave you alone if you help me just this one time."

In spite of a tempting offer, and Cozy's saddened demeanor, the thought of helping that girl made Maggie retch. 

"If I wanted to hear about your existential crisis, I would have asked, but in this instance I didn't." Maggie said. "If you need somepony to talk to, talk to your mom." Mag said.

Cozy paused, and hung her head. "But, I don't got one of those..." she said, with a hint of despair in her tone.

"...really." Hearing this came as a revelation to Maggie. She'd never considered this possibility, and it came as a surprise. It was something she could relate to.

"Oh, I see. Well, then. Have you at least got a dad?" she asked.

Cozy simply nodded yes. "I already asked him yesterday. He isn't big on mysticism or destiny. He said I simply need to practice more at Chess, but if Chess is my natural talent, shouldn't I be better already?"

Maggie yawned listening to Cozy's story. Just because she felt bad for the filly, doesn't mean she cared.

"Well, Cutie Marks always happen for a reason. It could mean you're better off dropping out of this school, and practicing Chess full time (Celestia, I wish). Or it could have some other meaning not pertaining to the game of Chess directly. Like, I don't know. Maybe it's not even a Rook. Castle construction? Go do that." Maggie said.

Maggie turned her nose up and walked away from Cozy.

"Fine, I'll find out myself what a Rook could possibly mean besides chess playing... Somehow..." Cozy said.

What a clingy, needy, irritating brat. Hopefully after we're done with school I don't ever have to see you again...  Maggie thought.

Maggie's vision of Cozy became blurry, as her surrenders turned dark, and heard voices echoing from outside.





Back in the present time, Maggie was lost in her thoughts as she stood opposed to the training camp's leader, Captain Platinum Star Cross.

"Hey, kid. Wake up." the old mare said.

"Huh? What?" the filly was dazed as she came back to the present.

"I asked you a question. Did you know any of the creatures here, or not? Kid are you listening?" she asked.

"Uh, no. I mean, I am listening. I mean uh... No! I didn't know her, err... them, personally." Mag said.

Maggie chose her words carefully. She didn't want to say anything to put her future in the royal guard at risk.

"I-I didn't know that pegasus, personally. But, a friend of mine did, so color me surprised to see a familiar face, in an unexpected place..."

"She's not just any other face. Take a look at the top of this paragraph. It's written right here. Crazy Filly Escapes Tartarus. Emerges as Alicorn. Takes Canterlot Captive. Talk about unexpected." Plat said.

"Yep. Never thought I'd see another new alicorn. Even though there's already been like, 3 new ones just in the past couple years?" Mag said, trying to change topic.

"An evil alicorn no less." Platinum added. "Using the power within Grogar's mighty Bewitching Bell, she ascended to levels of power reserved only for the most noble of ponies."

"So strange. I thought Equestria was past this phase. As in like, everyone's so friendly now. I thought we'd seen the last of any terrifying enemies." Maggie said, spewing out any words she thought of.

"Just goes to show what happens when you mess with Harmony. Don't ever mess with Princess Twilight Sparkle or Equestria." Plat said, proudly.

"I'm sure, it's just what they deserve." Maggie said, sweating.

"You don't sound so sure." Platinum said.

*gulp* Maggie swallowed her breath.

"I sense some uncertainty in your voice." Plat said. "Don't tell me you feel a touch of sympathy for these individuals."

"Me? No. Of course not. It's just... there's got to be more to the story..." she replied.

Platinum nodded no.

*heh heh* "I mean, this is journalism. How often is the newspaper accurate, and 100% representative of the full story, right?" Maggie said.

"That may be so. But as a matter'a fact, little whelp, I spoke with Shining Armor directly myself. And according to Princess Twilight Sparkle herself, Princess Celestia said there was no other option for her."

Platinum seemed pretty certain about the nature of Cozy Glow, despite her impression of the filly coming from a four or five creature game of telephone. But Maggie knew Cozy first hand. Normally she would've been fine with the narrative of Cozy Glow being evil. But to be that evil, and to deserve that kind of punishment, it just seemed there were too many gaps in the story for her satisfaction.

Arguing with facts was failing again, it was time to appeal to the old mare's emotions. Maggie took a deep breath before speaking.

"I just find it hard to believe that a pony could be so evil. Let alone a filly who's my age!" she said.

"Well, if you're gonna be a royal guard, you should prepare yourself to meet some of the worst ponies Equestria has to offer." Plat said, pacing circles around little Magnolia. "Take it from me, I apprehended one of 'em myself." Plat said.

Which weapon did you use? The ball and chain? Or the flamethrower? Or did you slice and dice them? Maggie said in her head.

Platinum could see the disappointment in the young filly's face. She put her hoof to Maggie's chin and lifted her head up.

"Don't feel bad. If there was any pony inside of her worth feeling solace for, would she have fired a powerful magic beam directly at Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Plat asked.

"I-I don't like that line of thinking. You say I shouldn't feel sad for her just cause she acted evil this one time?" Maggie asked.

"Filly, she escaped from Tartarus, and joined forces with Equestria's other evil creatures, and raided the sacred royal city of Canterlot. She has no place among Equestria." Plat affirmed.

"But- but she's not even my age! She's younger! She has so much more room to grow and change!" Mag exclaimed.

Platinum swiftly turned around and gave Maggie an angry glare.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure she's like, maybe a year younger than me. Just uh, speculation though." Mag said swiftly trying to cover herself.

"You're lucky Cozy Glow ain't here right now. That kind of hesitation is what they prey on. And when you least expect it, that's when they stab your back. Just like how she locked Princess Twilight Sparkle in Tartarus, and nearly drained all the magic in Equestria." Plat said.

Maggie gagged and nearly coughed her breakfast up.

"She did what? I mean, uh... that was... her doing?" she asked.

I don't believe you. Is what her mind said.
"I don't believe... it..." is what she said under her breath.

"Any moment she's free, and using that tiny brain of hers, she's cooking up her next scheme. That's why they had to stop her dead in her tracks, and silence her mind for good. I can't think of anything besides stone that could've stop her. It's what she deserves so quit drowning in sorrow, because there ain't nothing to feel bad about." Platinum said, stern.

Platinum had Maggie cornered. There wasn't any arguing against her points, at least, not with the evidence currently presented.

Maggie groaned, but admitted defeat to her superior. "You're right." she said, firm, and unmoving.

"Don't waste your energy feeling bad for her. It's for the guaranteed sanctity of Equestria. Now that she's gone, everypony else in Equestria can breathe a sigh of relief." Platinum said.

"Right." Mag said, disappointed.

"Now, little tot. I think that's about all that needs to be said. I know it's the weekend, but, you don't want to fall behind on your training. You best get a move on. And hope that the stars are on your side." the mare said.

"I suppose you're right." Mag said, looking down.

Maggie turned around, and walked out of Platinum Star Cross's office, feeling very conflicted.





It was dusk at the campsite. Ponies gathered in the cafeteria for dinner. Maggie was still grumpy about her talk with her leader earlier. She was still offended by the story that was printed. Everypony else though didn't seem to care any more. By now the chatter had died down, and hardly anyone was talking about the story. It was already yesterday's news before the day was even done.

"Long day, huh?" her friend Stud asked.

"Not really. Just, a lot on my mind." Mag replied. She was the only one still reading the paper, and she was glued to it.

"Not gonna eat your oats? I thought you weren't comfortable reading that paper." Stud said.

"Something's strange. I knew Cozy Glow. Yeah she was a brat, possibly because of me, but how does one go from irritating brat, to world ending alicorn of destruction?" Maggie pondered. "How did she meet those other two? How did they get Grogar's bell? And know how to use it? Just seems a little too convenient. It's like they were set up to attack..."

"Filly, please. You're over analyzing things." Stud said.

"Or perhaps I haven't analyzed it closely enough. I've read every word of this newspaper, but I need more evidence..."

"What you need is to ease up. Come on, filly. I'm your comforter." Stud said, flaunting his eyebrows.

"I told you, Stud. There's nothing between us. And if I had to throw you under the wheels of a carriage to save Equestria, I'd probably leave you to die." Maggie said.

"You've got the spirit of a royal guard already." Stud winked.

"Ugh..." Maggie groaned.

Maggie left the cafeteria without taking a single bite.





Late that night, Stud noticed Maggie was not in her bed. A little alarming to put it lightly. But he didn't want to risk getting into trouble by being outside past their curfew. So he went to bed hoping she'd be back soon.





Maggie stared at her reflection over the dark lake. The lake was only lit by the moon's light and the night sky. She stared at her reflection, hoping to reflect on that pegasus pony Cozy Glow.

"So that's what you did after our fight, huh? While I chose to devote my life to saving others, you sought to destroy it. Funny how things flipped around like that. Never would have guessed based on your innocent demeanor and my cold attitude." she wondered aloud. "Even if you wanted the absolute destruction of everything in Equestria, how did you do it? How did you escape from Tartarus and find Grogar's bell?"

Hope the stars are on your side. Plat's words echoed.

"Stars... stars? Nightmare Moon was said to have escaped from the Moon when the right stars aligned. So perhaps..."

Maggie looked at the observatory over the dark lake, and she got an idea.
> Chapter 3: Mixed Messages
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the last day of the school's semester. Students were chattering and saying their goodbyes. Maggie herself couldn't wait for the day to be over. After today, Maggie was expecting that she and Cozy Glow would split off onto their own separate paths. And although that is what will technically happen, neither of them would be heading down what was at the time their intended destinations.





Cozy Glow was anxious about the future, but she was nevertheless optimistic because she had her 'friend' to help her.

"Brenda! Brenda!" Cozy came rushing to her classmate with something exciting to share. "I figured out what my cutie mark means!" she exclaimed.

Unfortunately, Maggie still did not consider Cozy Glow to be her friend. She wanted to have as little interaction with the energetic little pegasus as possible before day's end.

"Ugh. Can't this wait until after today?" Maggie asked, irritated.

"But we may not see each other again after today." Cozy said.

"My point exactly." Mag said, tapping her cranium.

"Well, anyway, it's my cutie mark. I don't think it's Chess necessarily. I think it could mean, leadership. Like how the Rook's the quiet one in the corner who's really the master strategist. Sounds a bit like me. I have some big ideas going through my head." she said, with a flitter of glee.

Cozy thought she was onto something, but Maggie couldn't care less.

"You? Quiet!? Might want to refine your theory." Mag said.

Cozy looked down, but she picked her head back up and spoke again.

"I know you're not always the most open, but I think you're really pretty, and I've had a fun school year with you. Lastly, I just wanted to say that I'm going to miss you." Cozy said, with a big grin and a little sparkle in her eyes.

Maggie stared at Cozy. She fought against her any urge she may have had to open herself to the filly, and kept her heart cold.

"Hmph. NOT likewise." she replied.

To Maggie's surprise, Cozy giggled at her response. "That's funny. Exclaiming 'not' like that." *heh heh*

This filly's nuts. I've done nothing nice for her since we met. Yet she's been so nice to me. How? It doesn't make sense...

Cozy tilted her head. "Hello, Brenda? Thinking of something? Here. Let me lend you a hoof."

Cozy held out her hoof. Reluctantly, Maggie held out her hoof, and gave Cozy a hoof bump. Maggie felt sick, while Cozy gave her a warm smile.

I guess if nothing is she is sort of cute, if anypony's into that sort of look of hers... Maggie thought.

As if that wasn't enough, without warning, Cozy hugged Maggie. She tried her best to not flip out.

Just keep your cool, Magnolia Maggie Mag Brenda Valentina. It'll be over in just a sec-

She felt something warm press against her cheek. She knew it was Cozy, and it made her mad.

"That's it, squirt!" she exclaimed.

Maggie flipped, and shoved Cozy away from her. When Maggie pushed Cozy, she unexpectedly landed against the bookcase, and had a rough landing.

*gasp* Every pony in the classroom gasped.

Cozy on the ground hid her face from everyone else.

"Uh, I-I. I didn't mean it, kid! I-" Mag said.

"ARGH!" Cozy exclaimed.

Cozy leaped up and tackled Maggie to the ground. The two of them traded punches and got in a big fight. 

The teacher rushed in and pulled them apart.

"STOP IT YOU TWO! STOP!!" they exclaimed. "I don't care which one of you started it! To the office, now!"

"But teacher, she-" Cozy and Maggie said simultaneously.

"I don't care! NOW!"





In the detention room, Cozy and Maggie sat at desks at opposite corners of the room. They were both filled with lots of mixed emotions.

Why'd she do that? What's wrong with her?! Mag thought.

Maggie could only imagine what Cozy was thinking in her head. She wondered if Cozy regretted her actions as well.

Cozy, in her frustration, could only relieve her stress by scribbling some notes directly onto her desk. Maggie was upset at Cozy, but nevertheless curious about what she was doing.

"What'cha writing in there? You know if you press that pencil any harder into that paper, you'll go through to the center of the..."

Cozy didn't reply, she only kept scribbling. Maggie caught herself and didn't say another word.





Their time had lapsed, and Maggie's mom was outside. The filly grabbed her bag, and left the room. She gave one more glance at the pegasus Cozy Glow, before turning her head. On her way out, Maggie just so happened to overhear the conversation between Cozy and the teacher.

"Aren't your parents coming for you Ms..."

"Trust me. They've never picked me up for school, and they ain't gonna start today!"





That night, Maggie had explained to her mother what had happened, and broke the unfortunate news that she would not be moving onto the next grade level. Her mom was disappointed, as expected, but tried her best to still be supportive and understanding. Rather than take the teacher's recommendation of summer school to make up for it, Maggie and her mom both agreed it was probably best to take a break from learning for now. Maggie was so smart anyway, she didn't really gain anything productive from typical school. It was just busywork in her view.

Although her mom wasn't upset, that didn't stop Magnolia from being grumpy at dinner that night.

"You're not going to eat your oats?" her mom asked.

"Not hungry, Heather." she replied, staring at her food. "I mean, mom..."

"Don't beat yourself up, Brenda. I know you're disappointed that you have nothing to show for those months spent at school, but I'm not mad. You've still more than proven yourself to be a smart little cookie to me." she said.

"Hmph..." Maggie mumbled.

"You know, there's plenty of other districts to enroll in. Plus, you were the head of the class. Just think of the opportunities waiting for you." her mother said.

Maggie's future was no doubt bright, but at this moment, it wasn't that that was bothering her. In spite of her initial plans, she couldn't stop thinking about that one pegasus filly. Maggie had planned to forget about her after today, but now she couldn't stop thinking about her.

Maggie couldn't even stomach the idea of eating, so she stood up and headed for the door.

*sigh* "I'm going to take a walk outside." she said.

"It's dark outside!" her mom exclaimed.

"So what? I'll be fine." she replied.





Maggie walked through the dark woods alone. She kicked rocks out of anger.

"Stupid girl. Stupid school. Why does everything have to be so stupid?" she said under her breath.

Maggie wasn't careful watching her step, until she noticed the ground changed texture.

"Eugh. What'd I step in?" she wondered.

She looked down and was horrified when she saw-

"What the?!"





Magnolia had found Cozy Glow's unconscious body and her saddle bag in the woods that night. She had a large gash on her head. In a panic, she rushed back home to tell her mom of the horrifying discovery. The two of them brought the filly to the town's medical center for the urgent care she needed. The pegasus filly spent the course of several days there. She spent most of the time sleeping while she recovered.

Despite staying at the hospital for a week, nopony came by claiming to be her guardian to pick her up. So for the time being, she was effectively an orphan.

When Maggie's mom Heather was made aware of this, she felt they had to do something. Maggie had mentioned that she knew the filly while in school, and with nopony to step forward to help her, she felt there was no other choice than to help her themselves.





One morning in the hospital room, Cozy woke from one of her many naps, and was greeted by her former classmate Magnolia, and her mother. Although, they may as well have been strangers. Cozy didn't seem to recognize Magnolia. Despite mentioning their time in school, and the recent fight, Cozy appeared clueless. Maggie couldn't tell if she was for real or not, since she couldn't conceive of how she would lose those memories so suddenly.

Heather wrapped a blanket around Cozy, and fed her some hot cocoa. She appreciated their kindness. It was this day where the filly was referred to as 'Cozy Glow' for the first time by anyone, during a conversation where she thanked Maggie and Heather for the cozy blanket, and warm welcome.





Once Cozy Glow was well enough, and could walk again, she agreed to stay under the supervision of Heather and Maggie for as long as she needed.

One of the items in Cozy's saddlebag was a notebook mentioning that she wanted to enroll in Twilight's newly opened School of Friendship. Mentioning this to Cozy seemed to spark something in her mind, because just like that, enrolling at Twilight's school was all the filly ever talked about.

Although Cozy was excited, and her health seemed well enough, there was something undoubtedly different about her compared to before. She was a lot more talkative, and expressive, but there was something different about the way she smiled compared to before. Maggie's guard was constantly up every moment she and Cozy Glow occupied the same vicinity. Cozy Glow was a lot more inconsiderate than before, and that only begins to explain it.




One day, Maggie confronted Cozy Glow to try to see what was up with her.

"Something's changed about you. Did some of your brains fall out when you hit your head?" Mag asked sarcastically.

"You think you're so slick. But frankly, you're losing your edge." Cozy said.

"Okay, what's gotten into you? Besides, whatever parasite entered your brain at that gash mark?" Mag asked.

"Oh, nothing's entered my brain like that. Let's just say this experience have given me a chance to look at things with a different perspective. Such as..." Cozy trailed off, looking at her cutie mark.

"Why are you staring at your butt?" she asked.

"Isn't it just wonderful?" Cozy asked.

"I'd rate your flank a 6 out of 10 honestly..." Maggie said, awkwardly.

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what my cutie mark is for." Cozy said.

"And that's...?"

*boop*

Cozy touched Maggie's muzzle with her hoof. This made Maggie very irritated.

"Mom! She's touching me again!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Sweetie, I know you don't like our guest, but that's no reason to be so rude!" Heather yelled from the kitchen.

"What but I didn't-" Mag said.

Cozy smirked. "That."

"Hmph. Brat." Maggie said.

The maniacal filly was at work at last. The simple acts of mischief were hardly the end. In fact, Cozy Glow was just getting started.





After waiting a week or so for a reply letter from Twilight's school, today was the day. Heather looked in her mailbox and saw an envelope with a seal in the shape of Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark.

Heather opened the envelope with her magic, and started reading the letter inside. She wanted to read the news for herself before getting Cozy Glow excited. But thankfully, there was good news.

"Cozy Glow! We received a letter back from the Princess of Friendship." Heather exclaimed.

"Coming!" Cozy came rushing to the doorway.

"Golly. You don't say. What'd Twilight Sparkle have to say?" she asked.

"It says that there are no requirements to enroll, other than a desire to learn about friendship! It say she'd be more than glad to welcome a young pegasus such as yourself to her parameters." she paraphrased.

Cozy Glow grinned and beamed with excitement. Princess Twilight's School of Friendship. What an opportunity! 

"I can't wait to go! Quick, let's start packing!"





Maggie's mom Heather was helping Cozy to get ready for her departure. Cozy didn't have much to pack, just a few essentials in her saddle back. 

"I'm so excited for this! I'm going to be learning about friendship from Princess Twilight Sparkle directly!" Cozy said. "All we have to do after packing is sign both our names on her acceptance letter."

"I've never seen you so excited. Is this what you really want, Cozy?" Heather asked.

"Yes. Things are finally going my way." Cozy said.

Cozy was pretty determined to go to that school. But during the time she'd spent under Heather's watch, she'd been thinking of something else Cozy might want instead. Heather had plans to offer Cozy Glow something special.

"Well, I know you're excited about enrolling into Twilight's school. But, allow me to offer you something."

Cozy already decided she wasn't the least bit interested. She couldn't imagine anything more that the mare could've offered that would've been relevant. Regardless, Heather put a different piece of paper on the table. Cozy took a look at the she had presented.

"A-D-O-P-T-I-O-N? That's not how you spell Acceptance letter." Cozy said.

"Cozy Glow, I'll be honest. Moving to Ponyville and enrolling into a big school like that all by yourself has got me a little nervous for you." Heather explained. "No one came to claim you from the hospital besides us. It'd be a shame to send you off, and leave you with no supervision once again."

"What are you getting at?" Cozy asked.

"Cozy Glow, would you like to officially be Brenda's sister?" Heather asked.

"WHAT?!" Cozy furiously exclaimed.

"I know Brenda hasn't been the friendliest to you, but you two do share a lot in common, and I think you have a lot to learn from each other."

Cozy's eyes twitched as she was irritated. "You're seriously suggesting I spend the rest of my life with your sorry flanks instead of enrolling into my dream school!?"

"Well, if you're not interested then..." Heather said, attempting to keep calm.

"This paper is utterly irrelevant! I want you to never mention this again!" Cozy said, pushing the paper off the table.

"Cozy Glow. If you don't want us, that's one thing. But I simply can't send a filly to a far away town all by themselves! At the very least you need a chaperone to look after you." she said.

"Yeah, that's not what's going down, lady." Cozy said.





Cozy removed Heather's blindfold, and the mare discovered she was tied to a chair. Cozy was in full psycho mode. However, Heather wasn't too worried because she couldn't imagine a small filly being the least bit threatening.

"This seems a little... excessive. If you disagree with something I said, all you have to do is-" Heather said, but was interrupted by Cozy.

"Listen, Heather. I have very lofty goals on my agenda. And spending more time than I need to with you and your daughter, or finding a suitable chaperone is not on my list." Cozy said.

"But, I thought you'd be thrilled by the news. Maybe a bit anxious, sure. It's a lot to take in I understand. But, I didn't think you'd react with such hostility. Cozy, I thought you'd be glad to have a family..." she said.

Cozy wore a confused expression on her face, which quickly morphed into an even angrier face.

"I don't care about family! Or feelings! This is merely a liminal stage! I'm not in this to have a family! I'm in this for power! I have a clear and direct plan, and that requires that I attend Princess Twilight's School! No family! And no chaperone!" Cozy exclaimed.

Cozy put the acceptance form on the table in front of Heather.

"But you know what? Who am I to force a mare to do something she doesn't wanna do? You have the choice. Sign this form to send the little orphan filly to Twilight's school. But if you sign this other form, then there will be two orphans." Cozy said.

*gulp*





Maggie was about to knock on the door where the two were packing, when suddenly Heather opened the door. She trotted out of the room with an uneasy fast walk.

"Cozy Glow leaves by the end of the week." she said, deadpan.

Heather had looked like she'd seen a ghost, or like she had flown to the sun and back.

"Really? What happened to the...?" Maggie asked.

"You know, Cozy's a smart filly for her age. She's capable of making decisions for herself, and she decided that there was no place in Equestria more suited for her than Princess Twilight's School! She won't need us because she'll be making so many friends. Heh Heh..."

Maggie was concerned for her mother. She'd never seen her look so spooked.

"You upset? Disappointed? Or..." Maggie asked.

"I uh... I don't feel like talking about it right now..." Heather said, with a nervous haste.

The mare walked outside, presumably for some fresh air. 

Cozy walked out of the room, looking very pleased. It was very unnerving.

"What'd you do to her?" Maggie asked.

"What? All I did was explain to her what I wanted to do with my life." Cozy said, sounding innocent.

Maggie stared at Cozy Glow discontent. Cozy had been acting intolerable ever since they started looking after her.

"What in Equestria happened to you in those woods?" she asked.

"It's an interesting story you've told to me, Maggie, but I told you, my life began anew just a few weeks ago. I can't for the life of me remember any such fight we were in prior." Cozy said.

"That's impossible." Mag said.

Cozy shrugged. "Golly me. Sounds to me like you have some issues."

"Oh that's it!" Maggie pinned Cozy against the wall and made her horn glow.

"I'm not afraid of you. I pummeled you once, and I'll do it again if you do anything to my Mom!" Maggie exclaimed.

Cozy laughed at Maggie's threats.

*giggle "You've got that magical horn, Brenda. You could probably cast some horrible curse onto me. But even with all that magic, you'll never be as powerful as me. Even if anything catastrophic happened to your Mom, killing me wouldn't bring her back. And killing me now certainly wouldn't bring back your Dad."

*gasp*

Now this conversation was personal.

"If you're not afraid, why are you sweating? I'm not afraid of you, because I know that there's nothing you can do to stop me." Cozy said.

Maggie's horn glowed brighter. But no matter how much she threatened Cozy Glow, the filly didn't so much as flinch.

"How can you stare at an immanent threat and not show any fear?" Maggie asked.

"It would take something truly terrifying to happen to me for me to be scared." Cozy replied, confidently.

"What happened to you?" Maggie asked. "Who did this to you?"

Cozy shrugged. "I'm just an opportunist, and I'm very excited to learn Friendship from one of the most powerful alicorn princesses in the land." she  said deviously.

Maggie concentrated her magic harder, but by this point, she was depleted of energy, and ceased her magic.

"I give up..." Maggie was out of breath, and released Cozy.

Cozy walked off, confidently.

"Knew you'd crack before me." she said.

The devious filly trotted off, to continue her packing.

"I'll be glad when you're gone, you little monster." Maggie whispered under her breath.





At week's end, Heather and Maggie were at the train station to say goodbye to Cozy Glow. They waited patiently for the train to come and pick up Cozy. Cozy had her bags with her, and was ready to attend Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship. Cozy was as joyful as ever, but both the caretakers were exhausted. Heather tried her best to put on a smile, but Maggie didn't bother.

"Golly, I can't thank you two enough. I don't know quite what happened before just a few weeks ago, but thanks for setting me on my desired path." Cozy said.

"Our pleasure, Cozy Glow." Heather said.

Maggie was silent, so Heather nudged her daughter to say something.

"Sure thing, Cozy." she said, deadpan.

The train had arrived and Cozy stepped aboard with her luggage.

"You sure you'll be okay on your own? Heather asked.

"I'll be fine. I'll make so many friends while I'm there. I'll have more friends than any other pony in Equestria!" she exclaimed.

"That's the spirit!" Heather said.

"And once I've made all the friends, there will be no one to stop me as I'll be the Empress of F- *door slam*

The door closed before Cozy finished her speech. The train chugged, and was on its way for the far away town of Ponyville.

"Are you worried about her?" Heather asked. "Leaving her out in the big wide world alone?"

"Not one bit. I could care less what happens to her next." Maggie replied.

Watching the train leave the station, the two of them felt a huge sense of relief. The past few days were miserable thanks to that crazy filly. Although they weren't sure what Cozy was going to do about her living situation, she expressed little interest in returning, so for all intents and purposes, they were done with her.

"Well, that's a relief. Finally we got her out of our manes." Heather said.

"Relief barely begins to describe it." Maggie said under her breath.

"So then,  what are we gonna do about you, Brenda?" Heather asked.

The filly thought for a moment. Now that she was out of school, and had Cozy Glow out of her mane, now seemed like the time to start a new chapter.

"Mom, call me Magnolia, like father called me. And you know what? Speaking of him, I think I know what I want to do. Mom, I wanna be a royal guard, just like dad."

Heather paused. It wasn't too surprising a thing for Maggie to say, but this time, she seemed serious.

"Sweetie that's... sweet." she replied. "It's just that, um, it could be dangerous."

"But I really want to do it. I can't think anything else that'd be more fulfilling." Maggie said.

"Well, if that's what you want. You know there's lots of vigorous training involved." her mother said.

"Mom, I'm up for it." she replied.

And that was that. The two filly's paths had officially diverged. Cozy Glow was on a train to Ponyville, and would soon begin learning at Twilight's School of Friendship. And Magnolia had every intention of training to become a member of the Royal Guard. One of the two fillies would grow up and save the lives of many, and the other would not.





Back in the present:

It was night time at the royal guard training camp. Inside the lake observatory, Maggie looked through the big telescope, and jotted the stars in the sky, tracing their path, and estimating the location they would have been all the way back when she said goodbye to Cozy Glow at the train station.

"Who would have thought you'd go to such lengths. Who could have seen this coming? And how did you do it?" she wondered out loud. "My research so far is drawing a blank. In fact, what I've uncovered is startling, and the conclusions reached based on my personal experience with Cozy Glow paints a horrifying picture. But hopefully when I finish this chart, things will start to make a little more sense."
> Chapter 4: Drowning in Information
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The head of camp, Platinum Star Cross had requested the appearance of Stud to her main office. She had a number of questions she wanted to ask the young colt.

"Stud, have you seen your friend, Magnolia lately?" Plat asked.

"I haven't. She's missed several days of training already. You know where she might be?" he asked.

"Have you checked the observatory? I've been hearing some rustling at the lake observatory all week. If Maggie is inside, then do us a favor and get her out of there." Plat said.

"But what if she doesn't want to?" Stud asked.

Plat leaned in with a sour face.

"If she doesn't want to come out, then she doesn't belong at the royal guard camp!" Platinum exclaimed.





Stud was concerned about his friend, Maggie. She'd skipped training multiple days in a row. He'd barely seen her since that newspaper arrived at camp about a week ago.

At the shoreline of the lake was the little wooden observatory building. It was a newer construction, but it didn't serve much purpose in regards to royal guard training. The remote location was just incidentally a good place to build an observatory.

Stud walked across the wooden bridge to the main door, and knocked, but he got no response. There was no lock attached to the entrance, so he entered anyway.

Inside it was dark, but definitely occupied.

"Maggie? You in here? You've missed like 7 days of training. You're gonna fall behind and possibly flunk out of camp." Stud said.

Stud lit a candle, and saw the full extent of what was inside.

"Sweet Celestia!" Stud exclaimed.

He saw his friend face against the wall facing opposite of him. When she heard him come in, she turned around, wearing an enormous grin, and eyes twitching. Clearly symptoms of sleep deprivation.

"Studzy!" Maggie exclaimed. "It's good to have company again!"

Stud inched forward and took a look at what Maggie had been doing all this time. The wall of the observatory was a giant chart with pictures, pages ripped from the newspaper, notes pinned to the walls, and red thread connecting everything together. The wall was divided in four quadrants, with arrows denoting it as a circular pattern, describing the life, uprising, and downfall of Cozy.

On the floor under the chart was a potato sack decorated to look like Cozy Glow.

"Impressed with my work? I've spent the past couple of days putting this all together." Maggie boasted. 

"It's been a week." Stud said.

"A week? Huh? Must've missed a Sun cycle or two... Anyway! I thought about what PSC said to me, and I gotta be honest and kindly disagree. There is MORE to this story than she or this newspaper let on. And that's what I've been investigating!" 

"But why do all this research? Her story seemed pretty clear from the newspaper." Stud said.

"Something just doesn't add up. I knew Cozy Glow personally. I said goodbye to her at the train station. How does one go from that, to THIS!" She exclaimed, pointing at the front of the newspaper showing the stone statue.

Stud was equal parts impressed, and terrified of the scope of Maggie's dedication to this.

"You made all this in 7 days? It can't be that thorough if it was made so quickly." Stud commented.

"You underestimate me! It's been a grueling week! Last night I had a terrible dream that this whole place caught on fire and burnt down! Luckily it was just a dream. That's besides the point though. I think I've just about done it! I think I've solved it!" she said, excited.

"Do I dare ask?" Stud wondered.

"I'm glad you asked. Where do I begin? Let's start at the current stuff, 'cause that's what's got me riled up, and then work backwards."

Ready to hear Maggie's complete theory on the history of Cozy Glow?

"First of all, Platinum told me Cozy's fate was decided after careful consideration by Equestria's leaders. But I failed to find sufficient evidence for that! In fact, I found quite the opposite! Nothing in here mentioning any sort of trial, or any documentation on any final words from Cozy. In fact, the picture of the statue happens to be at the EXACT same location as the battle shown on the next page! Which would suggest that she was cursed very quickly after her defeat. Cozy's curse couldn't have been anything but a rash decision!"

"Uh..." Stud wasn't sure how to respond. But Maggie was only just beginning.

"As a result, this entire fourth chapter of her life where she could've lived as a changed pony is left blank. It didn't have to be this way. And to be honest, I still don't know why... *sob* The only justification anyone's given me has been "she's evil" but nothing more. But I'm about to prove to you that she was assisted every step of the way."

"Everypony says that Cozy Glow "escaped" from Tartarus, but this is where my personal experience with Cozy comes in handy! The last time I saw her, she was heading for Twilight's School. So she must've done something REAL bad while there to warrant something like that! PSC says it was because Cozy Glow was responsible for the great magical disturbance. And while I haven't been able to rule out Cozy Glow as the one responsible, I've yet to identify a mechanism that could've enabled her to do such a thing."

Stud raised his hoof, but she didn't call on him.

"Regardless, Cozy Glow was in Tartarus. So how did she escape?!  Well, I've come up with a couple of possibilities. Nightmare Moon was said to have escaped from the Moon when the right stars were in alignment. Could Cozy Glow and Lord Tirek have done something similar to escape? While I thought I was pretty clever for coming up with the hypothesis, by watching the stars and retracing their path, it turns out the same stars that would've been in the sky at the time of Nightmare Moon's escape, were NOT in the same positions this time around! Therefore she couldn't have escaped via the stars!!"

"Stars, huh?" Though it was day time, Stud looked through the telescope, but strangely, there were no mirrors inside. He wondered if the telescope was just a prop, and if Maggie's data was invalid.

"So I don't know how they escaped, but they did, and joined forces with Queen Chrysalis, armed with Grogar's bell. But this is where things start to get strange." she said.

"This is when it gets strange?" Stud asked.

Maggie leaped onto a table and used a stick to point at her chart.

"Why Grogar's bell specifically? Why not the Rainbow of Darkness? The Elements of Disharmony? The Alicorn Amulet? How did these three happen to unite? It all seems a little too convenient." Maggie wondered. "How did Cozy Glow and Lord Tirek and Queen Chrysalis even know what Grogar's Bell was? And where it was?! Only those highest at Canterlot and top historians would've known those details! Trust me! I looked around, I couldn't find any definitive record of the bell's whereabouts."

At this point in her explanation, Stud laid on his belly and twiddled some of Maggie's extra red thread.

"Seems like an odd number of circumstances to just come together like that. That's why I figure this can't be a coincidence, and could be a result of one of the greatest cover ups in Equestrian history!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Get ready, Stud this is where things get a tad more speculative, but I think I'm onto something!" she added.

Stud was growing worried for his friend. She became more and more ecstatic the longer she explained.

"Maggie, I think you ought'a just call it quits, I think..." he said.

But she kept on explaining to her friend anyway.

"I think this was all a set up! Someone who must hate Cozy Glow broke her and Tirek out of Tartarus, teamed them up with Queen Chrysalis, and armed them with Grogar's Bell, KNOWING they'd lose to Twilight, and knowing that the princesses would likely inflict a punishment worse than Tartarus! Case, and, point!" she said, pounding on the newspaper cover pinned against the wall.

"Maggie, please..." Stud said.

"So the next question is, WHO?! Who would have the power to free Cozy Glow from Tartarus, just so she would get inflicted with an even worse punishment? Now that I say it like that out loud, that sounds like a really mean thing to do! What kind of jerk would do that!? Like she was already imprisoned, was that not good enough!?" she exclaimed with a heated tone. "She was plenty contained in Tartarus, this whole stoning spell is totally unnecessary! Platinum said that Cozy escaped from Tartarus herself, but based on my research, she was fed a LIE! Everyone was! Some external force broke Cozy Glow out of Tartarus, told her about the bell, knowing in advance she'd lose to Twilight Sparkle, and that the princesses would turn her to stone!"

Stud clapped his hooves together. "Impressive work. But why do you care so much? They're evil." Stud asked.

"These two are evil. The Changeling Queen can be seen here not giving up until the bitter end. Lord Tirek... I don't know, something about him just looks kinda desperate. I almost pity him." she explained. "Now Cozy Glow, she's a tough one to read. I've seen her behave good, and I've seen her behave badly. But I've come to realize there's one surefire way to read her. Her face never lies. Even her fake cutesy faces are distinctly different from the cutesy faces made by the filly I knew in school."

Maggie harkened back to her memories of knowing Cozy. So called "Nice Cozy Glow" that came about after she was brought in under the watch of Maggie and her mom,, had a totally different demeanor than the nice Cozy Glow from school. No matter how nice the evil Cozy tried to seem, it was never an exact match, and Maggie could tell the difference.

"So I can say with the utmost confidence that this! This is the face of fear! I know that because I knew her!" Maggie exclaimed.

It was at this moment Stud realized what motivated Maggie to go to all this trouble.

"So that's why you care so much about this." Stud said under his breath.

"That's where I turn your attention to the beginning of this chart depicting the nice filly I met in school. She might've been a completely innocent filly before I messed with her! My bitter attitude may have led her to this, and then ultimately onto the path to become a crazy power hungry filly." Maggie explained.

"Maggie I... I understand why you may feel this way, but..." And then Stud remembered. Platinum had strict orders. Get Maggie out of this rut. So while he saw her perspective, he had to be reasonable.

"But, I still find this all to be very unlikely. If she wasn't evil, she wouldn't have done any of this, no matter how much she may have been set up into it. But she did anyway. How can you be so sure she's still innocent? I mean, look at what she did." Stud said.

"It's this! The face of fear! It's REAL fear! She wouldn't have that face if there wasn't at least some innocence still left in her!" Maggie exclaimed.

"How can you know for absolute certain?" Stud asked.

"I can't. Not without asking her." Mag replied. "I have to head over to Canterlot and inform Twilight Sparkle. Even if the curse can't be undone, perhaps I can make a case for her."

Finally it seemed as though Maggie had finished her presentation. Stud looked at the evidence once again. The only thing that was certain in his eyes, was that Maggie was really invested in this topic.

"I sort of get it now. You knew Cozy Glow, and seeing her end up like that, must've been hard for you to see her..." Stud said.

Maggie simply nodded with a stern face.

Stud was fine with Maggie having these feelings. It's her opinion after all. But it didn't change the fact that she had missed days of training. He had to reel her back in.

"I mean, all of this is pretty compelling, I guess. But now that your theory is complete, ready to start training again?" he asked.

"Not just yet, Stud MacGuffin. Even if I can't help Cozy, I think I've uncovered startling evidence that Equestria may still be in danger. Who's the mastermind behind the attack on Canterlot? For all we know it could be Grogar, and he could still be out there, and seeking to claim his bell back! And if not him, then this could all be the work of someone who's close to the Princess! She may be in danger! They might've assembled the Legion of Doom as a diversion, and the real disaster is yet to come. 

Stud paused to process all of this information. "T-This is all very hard to believe." 

"Please, won't you take a chance? Won't you help me?"

Maggie held out her hoof to her friend.

"You're really passionate about this, huh..." he said.

"I believe she's a filly in need. I have to help her. That's what a royal guard's job is." she said.

Stud slowly extended his hoof. But before their hooves touched, the floor gave out from under Maggie's hoof and it fell through the floor and touched the water underneath. 

*OW* "What the?" 

Stud grabbed Maggie and helped her climb out, but the building had become very unstable. The floor in the observatory started to break, and the walls started to shake.

A very large crack split through the floor of the observatory as one of the four support legs completely gave out. The fissure sent shockwaves through the structure, and it became unstable. Bits of the ceiling started to fall, and water came rushing in and was lining the floor.

Stud ran for the entrance, but Maggie was stubborn. She stood up and leaned against her board of evidence. She used her magic to pick up pieces that were falling down.

"Maggie, come on!" Stud cried.

"NO! My hard work!" she exclaimed, leaning against her board.

"Maggie are you-"

Stud was about to run forward to try to save Maggie, but ceiling debris fell in front of him and separated the two.

The filly stayed inside while the remaining support legs gave out, and the building fell into the water. 

The water came pouring in, and Maggie was waist-high submerged. All she could do in this state of panic was pressed herself against the wall. The water came rushing in, but her emotions were rushing in even quicker.

The Cozy Glow doll drifted in front of Maggie, and stared at her. She was so angry at her, she lit up her horn and screamed. "I did all this for you, and this is how you repay me?! AAHH!!!!"





Members of the camp all gathered to see the damaged observatory. Fillies and older colts looked at the damage in awe. The support legs all gave out and the building was partly submerged in the shallow lake.

"What's going on here?" Platinum asked. "There's nopony in there, right?"

Platinum looked at Stud, who was not accompanied by his marefriend, meaning she was still inside. But before he could go back inside, the inside started to glow very brightly. And then all of the sudden-

*BOOM*

The wooden building exploded in a bright magical flash. Bits of wood flew from the epicenter. One of the guards put up a magical shield to protect everyone from the debris. With the shield down, they could see that all that was left was broken boards of wood, and a mess of stuff that was inside. What used to be the camp's lake observatory was now just a pile of broken pieces of wood floating in the shallow lake shore.

Everypony at the camp, the counselors, recruits, and foals, all stared and were in awe at the damage.

"Back it up, everypony. There's not much to see here. Just a faulty structure." a captain said.

"Maggie! Where are you!?" Stud cried.

Stud ran past everyone and leaped into the lake to look for his friend.

He moved some wood aside and found Maggie's body floating at the surface of the water under the debris.

He carried the unconscious filly to shore, and laid her down on the lake's edge as she gasped for air.

Overhead he could hear the adults arguing about what had just happened.

"What happened?" Platinum cried.

"One of the legs collapsed, and the rest followed." a male counselor said. "Which is strange. It's a brand new structure. How did the wood rot away so quick?"

"Forget that. That magical burst..." Plat said, amazed.

While the adults wondered what made the building collapse, Stud comforted his filly friend.

"Are you okay, sweet pea?" he asked.

Maggie coughed up water, and opened her eyes. Stud held her close.

"My hard work! It's all gone..." she wept.

"You almost drowned, and all you can think about is your research?!" he asked.

All the papers and all the threading was among the wood debris from the collapsed structure. But that wasn't the main reason for her sorrow.

"No. I just..."

The Cozy potato sack she made drifted next to her. She reached for it, but unfortunately, its head had ripped off, and Maggie broke into tears. 

"Oh. Her..." Stud said.

Maggie pushed against Stud to try to get away from him.

"Maggie! What are you doing?!" he asked.

She was trying to jump back into the water to recover her soaked evidence.

In the moment of all hope being soaked, all she could think about was the legitimately nice version of Cozy Glow. The filly whose name wasn't even Cozy Glow yet. The filly she assumed must've been innocent at that point in her life.

"I have to rebuild! I have to help Cozy Glow! Cozy Glow isn't even her real name! It's my fault she bears the name Cozy Glow! And I'm the reason she's in stone!!" Maggie wept. "She was a normal filly, but it's my fault she was expelled from my school and enrolled in Twilight's School! I sent Cozy Glow down the path she took that led her into Tartarus and eventually a permanent stone sentencing! Her fate is my fault! I owe it to myself to help her!"

Stud held Maggie in his arms and she leaned against him, crying.

"Maggie. Listen to what I'm about to say." Stud said.

The crying filly looked up at her colt friend.

"You told me you wanted to join the royal guard to help ponies. But you're not helping anyone by doing this." Stud said.

"No, I... *sniff* I suppose I'm not..." Maggie said.

"You're not responsible for what she chose to do. If Cozy Glow wanted Friendship, she would've done that instead. I think it's pretty clear." he said.

"No, but... but..." Maggie looked up at Stud, and all the other recruits and counselors at the camp were looking at her.

What if he was right? Maggie wanted to argue with logic, but Stud out did her. There was no arguing against that. She figured there was no point continuing her research. Twilight was probably safe against any alleged traitors anyway. Maggie realized she wasted every moment she spent attempting to defend Cozy Glow. She had a moment of vulnerability and humility when she realized she was all wet.

*sob* "I'm sorry I got carried away..." Mag wept. "I just... I couldn't stand what I saw..."

"I know it's hard to accept, but it's over. It's not worth worrying about what somepony else did at this point."

"I just- I-" Maggie was so choked up with lake water, and tears, she could barely get another thought out.

"It's okay. What matters most is that you're safe." Stud said, rubbing his head against her face. "You're not responsible for what somepony else chose to do. You need to start looking out for yourself first."

Maggie had just about run out of breath. She closed her eyes again, and embraced her friend as hard as she could. She was lucky to have someone like him to look out for her. 

Some of the older ponies finally rushed over to help Maggie. They lifted her onto a stretcher board, and carried her away. Stud followed to make sure she was okay.

But the older mare, Platinum Star Cross stayed behind to assess the damage.

"You coming, ma'am to inspect the filly?" one of the counselors asked.

"I ain't no medical expert. You guys have got it." Plat said.

Platinum stared at the debris field on the lake.

*sigh* "A costly loss..." Platinum said with sorrow. 

She looked inside of her saddle bag to make sure her contents were accounted for.

"But at least we saved the most expensive bit inside." Inside Plat's saddle bag was the missing telescope lenses.

She looked at the lake. The shore was a mess of papers and thread floating in the lake. The building was totally destroyed. That flash of magic was the same color as Maggie's magic and eyes. She may have had a pure heart of gold, but she also had raw magical potential. 

"Perhaps the filly does have a future here after all." Plat said. "Hmm?"

She saw a picture of Cozy Glow adrift, and decided to pick it up. She held it up, crumpled it with her magic, and tossed it back into the water. "She just needs less distractions..." 

The mood was so eerily quiet, the old mare overheard some of the chatter from the crowd behind her.

"Do you think statues cry on the inside?"

"Maggie, who cares?"

*sob* "Not me. That's for sure..."
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

They say history is written by the victors, and that was certainly the case when it came to Equestria. Cozy Glow is a difficult pony to describe. It would've been much easier for Twilight's sake if she didn't have to explain to everypony who Cozy Glow was. What's funny is, immediately following Cozy's stunt at the school of friendship, keeping Cozy's name out of the public consciousness was exactly what the princesses had in mind.

Here's the thing about the magic incident. Virtually no one in Equestria (besides those directly involved at the school) attributed the incident to Cozy Glow, because virtually no one even knew about her. In fact, the anomaly was mostly thought of as a magical mishap with no underlying cause.

Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia chose to keep the fact that the great calamity was the work of Cozy Glow under tight wraps. There wasn't any reason to publicly identify the pony responsible. Hardly anyone would've probably believed it anyway. But this led to some awkward situations. Cozy's anonymity to most is what allowed her to be so effective in plotting her new scheme for total domination using Grogar's Bell. Feather Flatterfly didn't know who Cozy Glow was during the Summer Sun Celebration. He didn't recognize the filly who was responsible for the great catastrophe that nearly erased all of the magic, because it was never publicized that she was to blame.

But as for the final showdown versus the Legion of Doom leading up to Twilight's coronation, there was no keeping that a secret from any creature, because practically every creature in Equestria was already there. To every creature, this was their introduction to Cozy Glow. A raging alicorn filly.

After her defeat, word about Cozy Glow was not flattering. But it was what wasn't conveyed to every creature in particular that painted a narrative not in Cozy's favor.

Any word that Cozy Glow was released by Discord, and united with Lord Tirek and Chrysalis by Discord, and tasked with retrieving Grogar's bell by Discord himself was completely non-existent among anyone but those closest to Twilight.

Every creature ran with the idea that Cozy Glow and Lord Tirek "escaped" from Tartarus, joined with Queen Chrysalis, and used Grogar's Bell that they found. They didn't question how the villains united, or why they chose Grogar's bell specifically, or how they mastered the bell's powers.

Magnolia knew Cozy Glow, so she was the only one who cared enough to ask these questions, and uncover the holes in the popular belief that the Princesses chose not to reveal.

The truth was that those in charge chose to lie by omission. The less everypony knew about this final incident, the better. Word that this was all the work of Discord, someone extremely close to the princesses, could've created a huge mistrust in Equestria's leadership. Nothing in any publication was necessarily incorrect, but it wasn't the full picture. And thus every creature was none the wiser.

But with these missing details, and an incomplete story, it made defending Cozy Glow extremely difficult. It was impossible for anypony to see her as anything but insane, and always seeking mischief. A filly who chose the path of villainy, and ultimately got what she deserved.

But Maggie had assumed there was more to her. Cozy might've once had a good side, and at one stage in her life only wanted to win over the friendship of her friend in school.

When she saw how terrified Cozy Glow looked as a statue, she saw the innocent Cozy who kissed her.

But then there was the anomaly that was the Cozy Glow that nearly broke Maggie and her mother. The Cozy Glow who was so laser focused on getting to Twilight's school, and little else. The Cozy that eventually came so close to ruling Equestria twice.

What in Cozy Glow changed after their expulsion? Was she truly innocent, or had her true ambitions emerged after her injuries? Was innocent school Cozy Glow the real anomaly?

But with no way for her to undo the curse, and talk to Cozy Glow herself, it was impossible to do anything but guess.

Not that any of these factors excused what Cozy Glow did, but everypony deserved to have the extra context. Knowing that Discord was responsible for setting up the Legion of Doom to attack, might've changed some minds, but maybe it wouldn't've. Maybe if Magnolia could talk to Cozy Glow after she was shown humility, and ask her what she wanted, maybe a part of her that was once thought to be lost would've come back to light. But that was just hopeful thinking.

Evil or not, Cozy Glow was a pony, and one Magnolia Valentina used to know. So, Maggie personally couldn't see this incident as anything but a tragedy regardless of Cozy's moral compass. It was tragic that a filly would be conditioned to carry out such an incredible act of treason for the sake of power. But Maggie wondered what conditioned her to be this way. That was the real mystery that Maggie had nightmares about.

The reason Maggie cared so much about finding out the truth about Cozy Glow, was because Cozy Glow reminded her a lot of herself. And if a pegasus like Cozy could go insane and do crazy evil things, then what was stopping a powerful unicorn like Maggie from doing something similar? Or any other filly for that matter? But without uncovering her true nature, then how would anyone know what to look for in order to prevent another incident like this from happening again?

Cozy Glow was defeated, but it didn't seem like anyone learned anything from her defeat. Twilight Sparkle merely learned that fillies can be evil, but didn't learn the reason why fillies could be evil.

Magnolia had made up her mind. As the years went on, the mare continued her training in the royal guard, and later in her life would eventually serve full time. She used to look up to Twilight Sparkle as the ultimate bringer of friendship, and vowed to protect the land she commanded. But after learning of Cozy's fate, she had a different motivation. She may not have been able to help Cozy Glow, but she could still help other fillies in Equestria. If a filly like Cozy could rise up, surely it could happen again some day. But it wouldn't happen under Maggie's watch. The sole reason she stuck with the royal guard was to make sure that no filly ever ended up like Cozy Glow ever again. And should a pony like Cozy Glow ever rise again, may Celestia have mercy on their soul...

The End.