It was a major shake-up for most ponies: the loss of magic from Equestria. But for Cozy Glow, it just meant swapping her enchanted stone prison for a normal ball-and-chain one. Besides, that was ten years ago. What does she care of the humbled world outside? Or that it just delivered her an uppity new cellmate?
Luster Dawn cares. A lot. It's why she's here.
(Takes place between The Last Problem and Gen 5. AU Tag because these events are probably gonna get invalidated by canon someday.)
Second place winner of the 3rd Annual Cozy Glow Short Story Contest, double-dipping prompts with "Cozy's got a secret!" and "Cozy makes an unusual friend."
Cozy Glow’s prison cell was perfectly square. Twelve paces from one corner to the opposite. Six paces from one corner to the center. The center was where she’d been reclining for several hours now. The center was where she always reclined.
The cell used to be twenty paces across. Not because it was once bigger, but because Cozy herself had been smaller. Back when she’d first arrived. Not that the difference concerned her. Her previous prison had been zero paces across. And it was impossible to put her back there. You’d need magic to do that, and Equestria hadn’t had magic since… well, since Cozy’s last prison fizzled out and she was moved to this one. Long ago. Long enough for twenty paces to become twelve.
Still relaxed in her special central spot, Cozy flared her aching wings. They were useless for flying and neglectfully unpreened, like every other wing in Equestria these days. But they moved when Cozy willed them, and that alone was gratifying. She itched her nose and whispered a deliciously naughty swear word. Simply because she could.
No one ever told Cozy why magic had disappeared and netted her a new cell, but she reveled in the freedoms it allowed. They never got old, never stopped motivating her. Confinement here had made Cozy certain of two things: First, that this cell was twelve paces across. Second, that nothing her captors devised could contain her forever. Not that she had any reason to escape. Magic was gone. Her lifelong goal was complete and she didn't even have to work to make it happen. As far as Cozy was concerned, this cell was her retirement home.
It even provided entertainment. Other prisoners who weren’t as old or patient as her, ones who lost their cool when caged. For example, the newcomer presently being tossed in. Cozy lingered where lay, eyes on her fresh cellmate. The new pony bounced slightly off the cushioned floor, but didn’t seem to appreciate the comfort. In fact, her terror was palpable.
“Huh?! No, this isn’t right!”
A blur of pink and yellow, the newcomer threw herself at the door. It slammed in her face, same cushioning as the floor sparing her from any nose injuries. It also muffled her beating on the tiny window.
“There’s been a mistake! I don’t belong in a padded cell, you hear? I’m not dangerous! I’m not dangerous!”
“Golly new friend, you really shouldn’t be advertising that on your first day in prison.”
The newcomer whipped around, noticing Cozy Glow for the first time.
“Y-you stay put, madmare! I’m not -- Guard! Guard!! Hello?! Don’t walk away! Please!”
Before speaking, Cozy had tucked legs beneath her and put on a sufficiently pouty frown. She’d discovered with age that her disarming, cutie patootie shtick was still effective. Everypony pities an emotionally stunted idiot marechild.
“How come I gotta stay put, Miss? We just met. Yelling at me isn’t fair.”
“Don’t get near me, psycho! Guaaaaaard!!”
Cozy’s blood was up, but not out of anger. Her last cellmate had been an apathetic bore. This one came with prepackaged panic. It was too good to be true, like a new toy got dropped into her idle lap.
“Say Miss, what if I said I’m not dangerous either?”
“You’re in a padded cell!”
“So are you. Like little ol’ me, you’re in a padded soundproofed cell.”
The pony slumped down, shoulders tense, but the rest of her body limp. Every bit of gusto had simply evaporated at the word ‘soundproofed.’ She looked ready to cry, but also adamant about holding onto dignity. And if dignity was the only thing she had left, Cozy was giddy at the prospect of taking that away too. She waited for the question that everypony inevitably asked her.
“How... how come you’ve got patches of rock on your coat?”
Cozy’s last cellmate, the aforementioned bore, didn’t comment on Cozy’s stone dapples until at least the third hour. Screwball had been a mousy little thing, a former chaos user utterly lost and frightened now that Equestria was cut off from magic. Cozy’d denied having any still petrified flesh, instead insisting that Screwball’s tired, spiral-patterned eyes weren’t seeing straight. To Cozy’s frustration, Screwball accepted the lie immediately, apologizing and clamming up until she was moved to a low security mental hospital several days later. Gaslighting was no fun if the victim didn’t argue back. Cozy hoped this panicky newcomer had more spine.
“Rock on my skin? Gee, I plumb don’t understand what you’re-”
“Oh… my… Faust!” The newcomer bounced excitedly, as if an internal switch was thrown from Defeated Basket Case to Giddy Fangirl. “Those are petrification scars! That must mean you’re Cozetta Glasgow, right? Right??”
Cozy nearly flinched. She wasn't often addressed by her full name. Really only when the Warden came by to belittle her. The oblivious newcomer kept blathering.
“Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, I take it all back. I’m in the right cell after all. You’re the pony who once got super close to erasing magic from all of Equestria, right?”
Cozy cleared her throat. “I… have other claims to fame than that one, but yes, I-”
“Well I’m the pony who did erase all magic! A little over ten years ago. My name’s Luster Dawn! And I’m your biggest fan!”
Twilight Sparkle, reigning monarch of Equestria, moved well for a pony whose soul was sick. Up the palace's front staircase she trod, mindful to lift only one hoof off the ground at a time. This precaution served her well when she lurched and paused irregularly, mind fogging up and limbs seizing to lock her in place. Then her ironclad force of will would push back the blankness, reclaiming her legs and managing to ascend a few more steps.
"Luster Dawn," she reminded herself as she climbed. "Give scroll to... Luster Dawn."
At the top of the stairs now, she pushed on the door and, despite her seizing up again, the momentum of her push had opened the way and revealed the foyer. It also, to her chagrin, revealed Gallus.
"Princess!" The captain of the Royal Guard had a chipper expression but a tight voice. He'd been rehearsing his greeting while waiting for her. And since he didn't know that Twilight's speed was... currently compromised, he'd been rehearsing for several hours.
"Good morning," Twilight rasped. "At ease, Cap-" she wiped some spittle from her lower lip and cleared her throat. "At ease, Captain. I'm looking for Luster Daw-"
"I visited Cadance last night. Like you asked."
Twilight clenched her teeth, and not due to her ailment this time. "How bad is she?"
"Doing worse, ma'am. A lot worse. Still having memory problems and those weird muscle spasms. Oh, and I also did what you asked me to. Looked at her mouth when she talked, I mean. You were right: her spit is a really light purplish color. So light you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it. How'd you guess that?"
Twilight didn't have the dexterity to tilt her foreleg away. The one she'd used to wipe her own mouth earlier. She prayed the stain was camouflaged on her purple fur. And that her trusted but clueless captain couldn't see very well out of his comically oversized helmet.
"Thank you... for letting me know, Gallus. Anything... else?"
"I uh..." he shuffled uncomfortably from paw to talon. "I wasn't able to look at Flurry. She was away, at work. Had been all week. So I don't know how she's doing in comparison."
Twilight shut her tired eyes. She'd wanted more of a sample size than just herself and Cadance. She'd been counting on Flurry Heart, since the junior ex-princess cared more for her mother than her job. Still, the ailment also affected one's personality. Twilight was spacey. Cadance was forgetful. And if Flurry was suddenly a workaholic, then Twilight could make a fairly confident conclusion that Flurry was also in the early stages of the illness.
"Ma'am?"
Twilight reopened her eyes, which took a lot more physical exertion than it should have. She saw Gallus. And not Gallus the brave, decorated leader of Equestria's peacekeeping force. Gallus the former Friendship Student, with his worried tail coiled around his legs like a security blanket. With his shoulders hunched from armor and responsibilities too heavy for his young heart.
"Is it happening again, Ma'am? The alicorn virus thingy from when magic was still around?"
"Not necessarily," Twilight lied. "Cadance is the only one s-s-sick right now. And not to be my regular pedantic self, but Destabilization Syndrome wasn't a virus. It wasn't contagious. Just a neurological condition that manifests when a magic-attuned pony starts to unrav-"
"Its not fair!" Gallus clearly wasn't listening to her. "The Unity Crystals stopped this! They stopped all magic and kept everyone safe! It's not fair that ponies are getting sick again! Its not fair, its not fair, its not fair!"
Twilight steeled her balance and wrapped her velvet wings around Gallus in a gentle hug. She knew doing this risked her healthy facade. If she spasmed again, if she tipped over, the cat was out of the bag. But she didn't. For Gallus's sake, she held steady. And as he hugged her back, she knew the risk had been worth it.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," Gallus mumbled. "I'm sorry I lost my cool. Its just... Cadance was so sick, and I couldn't do anything to help. I don't even know what's wrong with her."
"I underst-st-stand," Twilight cooed. She wanted to say more, but her convulsing jaw told her she was already pushing her luck. Gallus finally pulled away, readjusting his helmet and managing a nervous laugh.
"Well, uh, like you said Ma'am, I'm probably overthinking it. The viru- I mean the condition probably isn't back. I mean, it can't be, right? Not while the Unity Crystals are still suppressing Equestria's magic."
Twilight didn't say anything.
"And as long as you're all good, there's nothing to worry about."
Twilight's eyes wavered. From emotion and muscle strain. The scroll rustled in her regalia's pocket as she swallowed what she knew to be a mouthful of purple saliva.
"Excuse me Gallus, I... really need to go find Luster Dawn."
The highest tower of Canterlot Castle was also its most central. It lacked windows, but still emanated a tangible radiance in all directions. In Equestria's farthest reaches, the effect was barely tactile on one's skin. To ponies in surrounding towns, the magic suppression aura felt like a thick, form-fitting turtleneck on the soul. And inside the tower itself, tri-colored prismatic light was so thick it made the very air heavy.
The differing colors came from three uncut gemstones orbiting together in the center of the room. Suspended in a pillar of arcanum, the Pegasus crystal revolved around the Unicorn one. The Earth Pony crystal traced lazy circles around siblings. The trio never stopped their mercurial motions, never repeated the same formation, and above all they never ever touched one another.
They were the Unity Crystals, a genius work of alchemy that had kept Equestria safe since their forging ten years ago. And Luster Dawn, Twilight's Faithful Student and architect of the Unity Crystals's creation, lay curled up in their cozy glow, peacefully asleep. It wasn't a planned sleep. More of an exhausted stupor cause by a night of studying, charting, and searching for answers. Observation notes, messy diagrams and etched parchment all composed her makeshift bed. The squeak of the opening tower door was her alarm clock.
"Lu...ster?"
"Princess!"
Luster sat up urgently, or as urgently as she could manage. Faust alone knew when she had finally collapsed last night, but it was definitely after the sun crept up. So perhaps calling it 'last night' was a misnomer. It didn't matter, since Luster didn't share her teacher's taste for pedantry. She was direct and concise in her thoughts. Her words even moreso.
"Did you climb the tower stairs all alone, Princess? You shouldn't do that! Not when you're..." Luster bit her tongue, suddenly worried Twilight did have an escort. She'd sworn to keep her teacher's sickness a secret.
Twilight mirthfully smiled and knelt beside her student.
"Good morning to you too, Luster Dawn. How are... you feeling?"
"Unproductive," Luster lamented. "I was tracking each Crystal to see if maybe their lattices were decayed, and that was hard to do given their unpredictable orbits. But I didn't find any changes. I don't know what's different now compared to ten years ago. I don't know why Destabilization Syndrome is back, or how to reverse it, or how to stop it, or even why the ward that the Unity Crystals have isn't working anymore because no other magic is back as far as I can tell, its just Destabil-"
"Remem...ber to inhale once in awhile, Luster."
Luster Dawn obeyed, sucking several lungfuls of the balmy tower air. After reaching a relative level of calm, she began again, pacing around the central light column. The home of her confounding crystals.
"I don't know what's wrong with them, Princess. They've worked for the past ten years. As far as I can tell, they're still working. But here you and Cadance are, getting sick again. If things progress like they did last time, the first Unicorns will start to Destabilize within a week."
Twilight nodded knowingly. She still had the scroll she'd brought. The one that would put a plan in motion that her feverish, foggy mind hoped was worth the risk. She wanted to present it, but was still working up the strength. And not just physical strength.
"Nothing but dead ends everywhere I look," Luster was saying. "If Starswirl were here, may he rest in peace, I could ask him about that spell he used to seal Stygian. But he's not. And there's nopony left in Equestria who knows more about suppressing magic than he did."
"Yes there is." It was now Twilight's turn to practice calming inhales.
"Huh?" Luster Dawn's pacing had stopped.
"I said there is. A living pony who... knows more about anti-magic than anyone. Her... name is Cozy Glow."
Not even the calming rays of the Unity Crystals could quell Luster's sudden excitement.
"Then we have to- I mean, I have to talk to her! Is she missing? Or far away? Do I need to track her down?"
Twilight shook her head, finally levitating the scroll from pocket. "Not far..." Twilight slurred out. "In Manehatten..."
In any other circumstance, Luster would have berated her teacher for spellcasting. Destabilization Syndrome did reenable the patient's horn, but using said horn just accelerated the decay. For now, Luster let it go. She simply snatched the scroll eagerly, eyes scanning the pictureless information.
"A pegasus, wow! Mages really do come in every shape and subspecies. And you're right, she's close! Cozetta "Cozy" Glasgow has a residency with a Manehatten area code!" Her excited attention left the page for a moment. "She'll help us, then?"
Twilight sighed. "No. She won't."
Luster Dawn looked like she'd just been slapped.
"No?! But if she doesn't, every magic user in Equestria will die!"
Twilight looked grave. "She'd certainly... be happy to hear that."
Never the type to tolerate mystery, Luster returned to reading Cozy's file. Just like the Unity Crystals, she knew there must be a critical detail that escaped her notice. And unlike the Unity Crystals, Luster's studying detected the detail immediately.
"Manehatten Penitentiary" she bemoaned. "Cozy is a criminal."
Twilight spasmed again, so she was unable to nod. She didn't need to though. Luster had resumed pacing.
"I could... try to appeal to her inner good nature," Luster spitballed.
Twilight managed a guffaw at that one. Luster growled and paced faster.
"I could try... bargaining."
Twilight's silence told Luster that there was nothing Cozy could want.
"I could..." the Faithful Student was getting desperate. "I could..."
"Trick her."
"Huh?"
"You'll have to trick her. Cozy Glow is a pony from a different age, and even in her own age she was... what I mean is..." Twilight's eyes were glazed and a strand of purple drool oozed from her lip.
"P-Princess!"
Luster's plea pierced Twilight's fog and the ruler of Equestria wiped her mouth.
"Sorry, my little pony. I... I'm trying to ask you to do a very frightening thing."
Luster Dawn understood. She palmed the forensic scroll in her hoof. It was full of details. Every documented moment in the eventful life of a living relic from a time long gone. But Luster's life had its own impressive batch of documented moments. One was her decision to minor in improvisational theater while attending the School For Gifted Unicorns.
"To trick this evil pegasus, this... Cozy Glow," Luster reasoned, "I probably shouldn't introduce myself as your Faithful Student."
Twilight approval was wordless but clear.
"And I should probably act as disarming as possible. Everypony pities an emotionally stunted idiot marechild."
Twilight finally smiled. Luster Dawn had always been sharp and decisive. Already, it seemed the Faithful Student had made up her mind.
"Okay, Princess," Luster was speed-reading the scroll again, ideas forming with every line she read. "I can do this. I can trick the trickster and learn how to cure you."
"Cadance too." Twilight's reminder was fatigued but firm.
"Okay, yes. Sorry. I'll learn how to cure everypony. But first, I need a warrant for my arrest in Manehatten. Second, I need an express ticket for the next train there." Luster rolled her shoulders, still stiff from sleeping on the floor. "I'd appreciate a ticket in luxury class, if its not too much trouble."
The Queen of Equestria was certain Gallus could fulfill both of those requests. She was not certain however, that her sheltered student could pose as a convincing prisoner. The fog was rolling in again, filling her with disorientation and doubt. This idea was outrageous. She'd only thought it up this morning. What if Luster's lies were seen though? What if the gambit didn't succeed in time?
A pink hoof stroked Twilight's cheek, bringing her back. Luster Dawn had a familiar fire in her eyes. The same that spurred her to forge the Unity Crystals ten years ago.
"I'm not afraid of Cozy Glow, Princess. Now get some rest."
In her time, Cozy Glow had known many forms of punishment. A cage in Tartarus, a petrified pedestal in the Canterlot Sculpture Gardens, and even this padded sunless cell.
Luster Dawn was worse than all of them combined.
"How handsome was Sombra? Is Tirek as buff as the history books make him look? Is it true you once absorbed the entire reserves of the Bewitching Bell and became a gaudy over-designed monster mare? How come you don't ever answer me? Don't you wanna be friends? Friendship is power, you know. And I know you know, because you were the one who said so."
The only saving grace, the sole reason Cozy hadn't broken off her petrified parts and stuffed them in her ears yet, was the fact Luster did, occasionally, run out of steam and fall silent. Always whenever Cozy was about to (literally) crack. Always at the very moment before Cozy tested whether her tail had grown long and fibrous enough to strangle another mare, Luster Dawn would grow bored of talking and recline against a cushioned wall. There she'd either rest her mouth or nibble on one of the flavorless bran biscuits that slid through their shared door's food slot three times per day.
In her more frazzled moments, Cozy wildly guessed that Luster was doing this all on purpose. Then she'd promptly shoo the thought away, miffed to have let a twit like Luster get under what remained of her skin. She was Cozy motherbucking Glow, Equestria's greatest criminal mind. This cell was her domain, and she sat in the center of it. Nopony could match her in cleverness, trickiness, or emotional manipulation. Luster herself said so. Repeatedly.
Yes, every so often a compliment would spill out alongside the endless questions in Luster Dawn's guileless drivel. Waiting to hear praise from her nitwit cellmate was slowly becoming Cozy's favorite part of the day.
Her favorite part of the week however, remained unchanged. And on the morning of sixth day of her new tenure with Luster Dawn, Cozy tipped her hoof.
"Hey," she ventured with carefully concocted innocence.
Luster, who'd seemed fast asleep moments ago, sat bolt upright and folded her hooves under her chin, eager to hear whatever info Cozy had deigned to share.
"So... its Wednesday today," Cozy observed. As she did, she opted to twirl her mane with a front hoof. The left hoof, since it had more organic bits than her right did. "Wednesday is when State-Mandated Recreation time happens. Do you know what that term means?"
Luster shook her head, ponytail bouncing. "What's it mean, Cozy? Something good, I hope."
Cozy grinned and nodded, then hastily buried her genuine cheeriness with affected coyness. "It does mean something pretty good, yes. It means we get to go outside for an hour. Mingle with other prisoners in the yard. Even look up and see the sky for awhi- ahem!" Cozy redoubled her mane-twirling efforts, and aside from a vacant tilt of the head, Luster Dawn didn't react to the slip of tongue.
"Anyway, the guards'll be here to take us outside soon. Real soon." Cozy gave an exaggerated glance at the door. "And when they do, I want you to behave, okay? No yelling or embarrassing yourself. And no mentioning your crime when we're out in the yard with the other prisoners."
Luster Dawn giggled like an oblivious school filly. Cozy hardened her tone.
"I have a big reputation in this place," she lied. "So other prisoners might be jealous when they see you're my friend."
Luster's eyes widened. "I'm your friend? For real, Cozy?"
Semi-stone teeth were grinding in frustration.
"Of course you're my friend, Luster. But remember that friends keep each other's secrets. And there's no bigger secret than how to remove magic from Equestria."
Luster Dawn's ears were going from pink to red. "And that secret is..?"
Cozy's answer was interrupted by the cell door unlatching. Two guards flanked the exit, wielding spears and scowls.
"Recreation hour," one of them announced. "Any kicking, insulting, or biting of the staff or other prisoners will result in a disciplinary meeting with The Warden. Consider this disclosure your one legally required warning."
If Luster Dawn could grade her performance over the last week, she'd go with a modest B+.
Her train ride to Manehatten had been one Tartarus of a cram session. She hadn't studied so intensely since Finals Week in the School For Gifted Unicorns. Twilight had certainly sent Luster on her way with plenty of info on Cozy Glow to take in. The forensic scroll, some old newspapers detailing Cozy's first arrest, and (most curious of the lot) plenty of peer reviews written by old School Of Friendship Students about one another. Cozy's old classmates had held very illuminating opinions on her. One (who curiously had the same name as the current Captain Of The Canterlot Guard), described Cozy as "helpful, always around, and kind of clingy if I'm being honest." Another, less legible note claimed "small winged pony makes big smiles at Yona, but smile never quite reaches up to pony's eyes."
In short, Luster Dawn had formed a pretty good image of whom she'd be meeting by the time her train rolled into Manehatten and she remanded herself to a pair of confused but compliant guards. Princess Twilight had promised to write ahead, to explain the sting operation to whichever pony was in charge of Manehatten Penitentiary, but mail moved slowly in post-magic Equestria. Slower than Luster's plan could afford. So, for the past week, she'd simply played the histrionic fool to the best of her university-honed abilities. By now Cozy saw her as a loyal pet. Which was good. Egomaniacs trusted no one, but they certainly loved their pets.
A metallic clang of heavy duty hoofcuffs snapped Luster Dawn back to the present.
"Aw, for me?" Cozy was examining her restraints like a Canterlot noble examined fine jewelry. "These are - urgh heavier than last week's pair. Worried I might fly away on these useless raggedy wings? I'm flattered, boys. Really I am."
The first guard, the one tightening the bolts on Cozy's shackles, was tightlipped and avoiding eye contact. He'd definitely learned the hard way not to verbally spar with Cozy Glow. She giggled at him anyway before setting off down the hall, hoofsteps clanging.
"C'mon, friends! The hour isn't getting any longer!"
The guards hadn't put any restraints on Luster yet. She decided not to loiter until they did. A few brisk gallops caught her up to her slow-moving cellmate, and the guards followed behind. There was nowhere to go but forward. Double doors to the courtyard ahead, rows of empty barred cells on the sides.
"There's nopony else here," Luster observed as they passed.
"All outside already," Cozy giddily guessed. "They always save the best prisoners for last." And with that, she hoofed open the doors.
Luster squinted in the midday sun. She'd once been a background character in a play about prison. Her role was to cheer as the protagonist beat up the biggest scariest pony in the yard to prove his toughness. Luster wasn't keen on doing any fighting, but as her eyes adjusted, she saw Manehatten Penitentiary wasn't at all like the jails she knew from fiction.
Prisoners mulled around the grassy courtyard. Some were chatting in groups of twos or threes. Others were grazing a respectful distance away from one another. None were big burly clydesdales with gang brands or fight scars. Just ordinary ponies that looked a bit rough. Disregarding the patrol guards on the roof, Luster felt an odd nostalgia for recess in middle school. Must've been the pair of picnic tables near the yard's center. Cozy Glow had claimed one of them, cuffed forelimbs resting on the tabletop, but hinds kicking in a carefree way as surveyed the area. With nowhere else to go, Luster trotted over.
"Hey hey, there you are. Nice patch of soil, isn't it friend?"
Luster Dawn consciously shifted into dimwit mode.
"It's... bigger than the cell."
"Forty-nine paces from one corner to the opposite," Cozy confirmed. "It also has better lighting." She tilted her head back to gaze blissfully at the drifting clouds above. Luster Dawn also peered at the sky, quizzical and feeling no bliss of her own. Then a tickle on her shoulder showed that Cozy Glow's feathers were unconsciously flaring.
Pegasi had, ten years ago, come together as a tribe and agreed to give up their power to fly. It was a necessary side effect of the Unity Crystals, and Luster herself was an encouraging public icon, being the unicorn who willingly proposed giving up her tribe's own power to spellcast. The lives that got saved were deemed to be worth it.
It only just now occurred to Luster, here at this picnic table, that Cozy Glow hadn't been privy to that old agreement. Cozy was a mare out of time, kept boxed and oblivious to the noble sacrifice of her ilk. All Cozy knew was that one hour per week, she was allowed outside to gaze up at the place her deepest instincts told her she belonged. All while the ward of crystals and the weight of iron kept her rocky body firmly on the ground.
Luster Dawn felt... regret? Responsibility? Some sort of complicity for Cozy Glow's stagnant life in a padded cell?
Why?
Cozy was a bad pony. And the Unity Crystals had been necessary. Giving up magic had been necessary, since there was no other way to cure Destabilization Syndrome. Except Luster's mission here was to see if there actually was another way to cure Destabilization Syndrome. In which case, she needed the ignorant aid of the pony who was arguably the biggest victim of her life's work. In which case, Luster's feelings of guilt really were warranted. In which case, maybe she should go with the original proposal of coming clean and appealing to Cozy's sense of decenc-
"As I live and breathe, is that Luster Dawn down there? A prisoner of my humble little cellblock?"
The crowing, condescending call interrupted Luster's private guiltfest and Cozy's quiet cloudgazing. But while Luster was struck with stunned confusion, Cozy had snapped to grim, bitter awareness.
"Oh golly. I guess Warden Flurry Heart felt like showing up to work today."
A wide shadow went over the prisonyard, cast by the giant wingspan of the Warden. Though flightless as any modern pegasus, Flurry Heart was a full-fledged Alicorn, with feathers long and thick enough to slow any descent. Presently, her leering predatory glide began amid the rooftop guards and ended atop the tables in the recreation yard. She was short and young, but her head was still highest thanks to her perch. The other prisoners had quietly but urgently moved to the walls, as far away from their tyrant as possible.
Only Cozy Glow refused to flee from Manehatten Penitentiary's supreme authority. She simply sat in her spot, eyes narrowed and wings refolded to be tight and tense at her sides. Luster Dawn stayed put too, but less from bravery and more from sheer dumbfounded disbelief.
"F-Flurry Heart? I haven't seen you in-"
"Ten years? Yeppers, I believe that's how long its been. Back when your science project got greenlit and a certain magically protected northern Empire had to be abandoned."
Sweat was beading on Luster Dawn's neck, shoulders, and armpits. This had to be a nightmare. A horrible, impossible nightmare. Flurry Heart continued lording over Luster and Cozy, wings fully extended and trembling at the edges with an emotion that definitely wasn't fear.
"But hey now, antimagic mare, it all worked out in the end. Real shame that my birthright kingdom is lost to the snows of time," (if words could cut, Luster would currently be saddled-up sashimi) "but this Penitentiary is sort of like the Crystal Empire, isn't it? Ya know, a big patch of grass with walls all around? What'd you do to get tossed in here anyway? Other than ruin my life, I mean?"
"Oh gee willikers," Cozy cut in, trying to reclaim attention. "You're not normally this chatty, Warden. Must be plumb awful meeting the pony who hurt you so bad so long ago. Do you need a friend? Somepony to help you through this tough old time?"
"Not in the bucking mood, right now, Cozetta!" Flurry Heart wiped a strand of purple drool from her mouth. "I've been feeling really under the weather lately."
"Mm-hm. More 'under the weather' than your old Empire, though?"
Flurry Heart aimed stomp at Cozy's forelegs, but a timely muscle spasm and Cozy's own quick reflexes made sure it missed.
Luster Dawn was a helpless bystander in her own story. Her prying open of Cozy's shell, her carefully concealed real self, all the hard work of the last week was being torn to shreds by Flurry's disastrous Destabilized ranting.
"Flurry, please... like Cozy said, you're not yourself right now."
"And what do you know about me, antimagic mare??"
Cozy harrumphed at losing attention again. "You already used that insult, Warden. Plus, she knows plenty."
Luster locked eyes with Cozy, wordlessly pleading for silence. However, when it came to keeping a friend's secret or making a cheap jab at a perceived bully, Cozy's priorities were clear.
"Be nicer to us, Warden. Like you said, it was Luster Dawn who did what I couldn't. She's the pony who got rid of magic from Equestria."
Murmurs kicked up amid the other prisoners. They were not friendly murmurs. Flurry Heart wasn't the only pony whose life had been derailed by the Unity Crystals.
"One more word, Cozetta," Flurry's purple saliva was laced with venom, "and I'm revoking your weekly hour out here."
For the first time since Luster met her, Cozy Glow looked genuinely horrified. The Pegasus glanced longingly skyward, then back at Flurry's sadistic mug.
"But... I have rights..."
"That was four words, Cozetta. No more yard for you. Ever." Flurry wiped her mouth and cleared her throat. "Guards! escort Miss Glasgow back to her cell." Several spearholders on the roof began moving. They couldn't glide down like Flurry Heart had, but stairs were nearby.
Cozy's face had gone pale. It almost matched her petrified skin patches. Eager to twist the knife, Flurry leaned in.
"Oh, and about Luster getting rid of all magic? She didn't do a very good job, did she?" The Alicorn's horn sparked to life.
"Flurry, no!" Luster had given up all pretenses by now. Once a pony was Destabilized, the absolute worst thing they could do was attempt to spellcast. Flurry had already lost her sanity. She might soon lose her life.
"I'm not talking to you, Luster!" Flurry threw an angry glance at her nemesis. "You and I can have a on-on-one chat after Cozetta is out of my-"
Flurry was wracked by a muscle spasm and lost control over her horn. Her blast of stun magic hit Luster point blank.
It wasn't a strong spell, but it was stronger than anything cast in the past ten years. Mana flared through Luster's vulnerable body like hot water through a cold unready pipe. Luster splayed out in the grass, flat on her back with her horn reflexively sparking to expel as much of Flurry's invasive tainted magic as possible. There was yelling. Likely from other prisoners. The guards had arrived, steadying a mercifully alive Flurry Heart while herding a catatonic Cozy away. Luster's body was numb. All she had was her sight to confirm that she too was moving in the direction of the indoors.
Then, Luster felt cushions. The stun spell was wearing off. Nausea and vertigo gave way to awareness. Mostly of Cozy, because Luster Dawn's cellmate looked gutted. As if she'd left her soul back in the courtyard.
"You..." Cozy's voice cracked like a pubescent teen. She stumbled to cell's center. Too stubborn to cry, but not tough enough to stay collected. It was the hysteric persona Luster had gone for when she'd first arrived. But for Cozy it was achingly, nakedly, real.
"You... and I..." Cozy made it to the center and collapsed, legs folded beneath her. That was her comfort spot, Luster had deduced. Right now, it seemed to be Cozy's only source of strength.
"You and I are escaping from this place. Tonight."
Luster and Cozy Glow’s prison cell was perfectly square. Twelve paces from one corner to the opposite. Cozy had been trotting its length for several hours, her hooves moving fast, but her thoughts moving faster.
"Flurry Heart still has magic," she marveled aloud. "But nopony else does. At least, no prisoners or guards do. Might just be an Alicorn thing. Luster! Is this just an Alicorn thing?"
Luster Dawn hadn't heard the question. She'd been powernapping to recover from being shot.
"Huh?"
"You said," Cozy paused her pacing to speak clearly as she could,"that you took magic away from Equestria. But that's definitely not the whole story. You didn't get all of it, did you? The Alicorns still have theirs. Somehow. I bet that's how they caught you. I bet that's why you're here."
Luster Dawn looked away. "Yes. Alicorns still have magic. That's why I'm here."
Cozy kicked up her fetlocks in satisfaction and resumed pacing. "Those cheats. Y'see, ponies like you and me, we know that the world is better off without magic. That's why we're breaking out tonight. I've been staying put because I thought things were fine on the outside. That there wasn't any more work to be done. But now I know there is, and without any more Wednesdays to look forward to... golly, Luster. I'm sure you did your best, but its time old Cozy took her turn. Need to get out there and show my number one fan how real magic suppression is done.”
Luster Dawn staggered to a swaying standing position. "You need to?" Her hopefulness was raw and raspy. "So... so how is real magic suppression done?"
Cozy shrugged coyly. "I'd hafta see what sort of dampening artifacts we're working with. What you do depends on what you have. In my day, I got a decent rig going with orbiting antiques and advice from a real good friend of mine named Tirek. Fun story, but you've probably already heard it."
"Three crystals," Luster Dawn reported hastily. "One for Unicorns, one for Pegasi, one for Earth Ponies."
Cozy Glow's pacing sped up. She felt giddy, like the eager ambitious young foal she'd been so long ago. Before this cell, before the sculpture gardens, before Tartatrus.
"Mm, okay. These crystals... I bet they're orbiting each other in a force field."
Luster Dawn nodded.
"Good girl, Luster. You came real close to getting everything right."
Cozy kept moving, antsy for nightfall and apparently uninterested in elaborating any further. Luster wracked her exhausted mind for something else to say. Something to draw out the secret Cozy clearly loved withholding. Then something else rippled through Luster Dawn, dispelling every previous concern: a full body muscle spasm.
"Whoa, what was that?" Cozy had stopped pacing, startled by her cellmate's sudden shivering.
Luster's head hurt. Her horn especially. The horn that hadn’t been fast enough to expel Flurry Heart's tainted magic. Colored saliva was already pooling in her mouth.
"Nnn.. no..." Luster Dawn straightened up and swallowed. She couldn't break down now. She could Destabilize sure, but not break. Not when she was so close.
"Sorry... 'bout that," Luster managed. "It just... hit me all at once. I can't believe I'm going to help the one and only Cozy Glow break out of prison. I don't... I don't even know how we're going to do it."
Cozy tilted her head and Luster held her breath. Then Cozy Glow laughed. Loud and pure.
"You really are too good to be true, Luster. Alright. I was going to wait til nightfall, but buck it. We'll get going right this minute. I'm just as eager as you are, if I'm being honest. And you know that friends are always honest with each other."
Luster Dawn was readying more flattery, but it died in her mouth as Cozy Glow stooped down and pried the cell's central cushion away. There, beneath Cozy's special spot, was an escape tunnel ten years in the making.
Luster Dawn limped over, jaw agape.
"You... dug that yourself? But the floor is solid rock!"
"So are my legs," came Cozy's reminder. "Makes 'em good for chiseling. For real, just the fact my body's like this should've clued me in that magic wasn't all the way gone." She giggled darkly. "Think these chunks'll turn back into real hooves after we fix your trio of crystals?"
Luster Dawn didn't know how to respond.
"Heh heh. I'll hug you with them if they do. Now let's move."
The escape tunnel wasn't long. After barely a meter, it emptied into a forgotten crawlspace from back when Manehatten Penitentiary was still Plain Mane Public Storage. Dropping into the dark, the two escapees shimmied like loathsome rodents. Cozy was guided by memory. Luster was guided by Cozy.
"Where do you want to go after we're done with the job, Luster? I bet the Everfree Forest'll be nice and safe with all the magic removed. Maybe we'll build a little log cabin and live happily ever after. That's a peachy ending to shoot for, I think. Whaddya say? Yay or neigh for a peachy ending?"
Luster Dawn wiped her mouth, burdened more by shame than sickness. "Cozy, I... really don't want to make plans like that right now."
"Aw, still haven't gotten over your nerves? Don't worry, Cozy's here for ya. I'm in a real crackerjack mood that this tunnel finally has a use. All thanks to you, ya know. They way you plopped out of nowhere to give me and my works some purpose again. You're too good to be true, Luster. I said that already, didn't I? Pff, it's worth repeating either way. You're just too... good... to be true."
Luster Dawn had no response. Was her fogged perception giving a hard, venomous edge to Cozy's voice? The crawlspace was so dark. She no longer knew where they'd come in. Panic simmered in Luster's stomach, making phantom images of a maddened Flurry Heart pursue her in the gloom.
Luster wanted to go home. She wanted know the secret of magic already. She wanted to call the guards, to end the lie, to save the lives of every Alicorn and Unicorn, herself included. But instead she was here, lost in the abyss with no one to rely upon but the perpetually dangerous Cozy Glow.
Up above, muffled through concrete and metal, alarms began to blare.
"Oh fiddlesticks, I guess somepony noticed us missing." Cozy was awash with satisfied glee. "Too late though. Let 'em run around looking for us. We've made it. One hurdle left. Let's go, friend."
Luster's hoof was grasped by Cozy's, and the heave of a hatch dumped them both into a rainwater drainage ditch. The setting sun hurt Luster's eyes, and the slimy water chilled her bones. Destabilization had fully overcome her. Cozy meanwhile, was more alive than she'd ever been.
"We're here! The last wall!" She was shouting over the deafening alarms ringing all around, but no spotlights from the watchtowers swept near the ditch barrier, and none of the frantic rooftop guards were even looking this way.
"This is it, Luster! This thing is too big for a lone pony to get over. I figured that out ages ago. But now there's two of us." Cozy reared onto her hinds, forehooves ready for the task before them. "C'mon! Gimme a boost! To freedom!”
The final wall loomed impossibly high above Luster Dawn. Her lips were coated in drool. Light purple was dissolving in the grayish brown runoff of the fetid flooded ditch.
"I... can't."
Cozy's face distorted. "C'mon, superfan. Help your hero. You know you want to."
"No..." Luster slipped further under the muck. "I can't do this anymore."
Cozy Glow made a noise Luster couldn't comprehend. Then two partially living hooves hauled her to dry land. They moved to Luster's face, mashing her cheeks with movements more clumsy than malicious. Face to face, Luster saw Cozy Glow more closely and clearly than ever before. She saw a pegasus young beyond her years, with a once curly mane marred by crawlspace dust and a decade without any grooming mirrors. Cozy's eyes were wild, like a preyed upon predator to proud to beg. And her voice was soft. Honeyed. A smothering strain of sweetness that could only come from the very most fake of affectations.
"Stand tall, Luster Dawn. My greatest fan. My bestest friend. We have three orbiting crystals to slot together. Once we do that one little trick, all Alicorn magic will be stopped."
Luster shut her eyes. Mission complete. And not a moment too soon, given the massive unmistakable wingspan hurtling down from the sky.
"Luster Dawn, you crazy, reckless maverick!" Flurry Heart wiped her mouth with one hoof and brandished an envelope in her other. "What is this? Gods above and below, what is this fancy illuminating letter from Aunt Twilight about you that just arrived on my desk?! I swear, I'm always the last to know everything. Mail moves so blasted slow without magic nowadays."
"Oh hiya, Warden." Cozy Glow opted for a playful toss of her mane, but her casual affect was brought down by having to still yell over the alarms. "As you can see, my rascally little cellmate made a break for it. Good thing I chased her down, though, huh? You and me make such a good team."
"Cozetta, put a bridle on it! Your escape ends here!" Flurry Heart didn't have a height-boosting table this time, but she did have her horn at the ready. Worse, Luster Dawn was in no shape intercept another bullet. Flurry waved the envelope like a victory flag.
"I'm in the know, and you aren't. But maybe I can change that. Maybe you want to hear some soul-crushing news? Huh? You want to hear what Aunt Twilight's letter has to say about your number one fan?"
"Flurry..." Luster Dawn croaked out. "Please don't..." She was either ignored or drowned out by the surrounding sirens. Cozy Glow's bemused eyes stayed fixed on her longtime captor.
"I don't really want to hear anything from any Alicorn. Not you, not Twilight." Cozy batted her eyelashes as if the dirt on her face was the finest prima donna makeup. "You see Flurry, I'm getting out of here. So a little pony like you doesn't scare me."
Several veins in Flurry's youthful neck bulged with grotesque rage. They were just as purple as her drool. "Don't you talk down to me," she threatened. Distant rooftop guards were gesturing in the direction of Flurry and the prisoners. "Don't you dare talk down to me. I'm foiling your escape! I'm the Warden! I'm the Warden!"
"Only cuz you're not a Princess. Luster here made sure of that." A searchlight had swung towards the wall near the drainage ditch. Cozy squinted playfully. "Aww, my own spotlight? You guards do know how to make a mare feel special."
"This is not a game!" Flurry was outright roaring now. "You have nothing left, Cozetta! Your only friend is a liar! A narc! She's Twilight's Faithful Student sent in to trick you! This letter is proof, you smug spawn of a broodmare!"
For a flash of a fraction of an instant, a look of pure, wordless devastation rippled across Cozy Glow's features. Then it was gone, and her self-same diva expression was back. She paid no heed to the searchlight scalding her skin or the distant but approaching thunder of a guardpony battalion. She simply looked at Luster Dawn. The cellmate she'd relied on. Shared shared secrets with. Saved from drowning in a filthy ditch. Her knees shook as she saw Luster for who she really was.
Then her attention was back on Flurry Heart.
"Luster? A liar? That's a whopper of a claim, Warden." Cozy’s back was to the wall. In every sense. "A whopper of a claim, indeed." Cozy rubbed her tearful eyes and let a nihilistic grimace distort her face. "I say that if... heh heh... I say that if Luster Dawn isn't my best and truest friend in all the world, then..." Cozy clasped her hooves and leaned dramatically against the barrier. "Then may Faust strike me down where I stand."
"Cozy!" Luster was screeching with strength she didn't know she had. "What the hay are you doing??"
Cozy winked. It was the most defeated, despairing wink Luster had ever seen.
"I'm escaping. The only way I can now. Bye bye, Luster Dawn. Like I said, I knew your friendship was too good to be true."
Luster gasped while Flurry snarled and fired. Raw magic ravaged the hornless body of Cozetta "Cozy" Glasgow, searing her spots where there was fur and pitting her parts where there was rock. She slammed against the wall, stone clanging against metal from the concussive impact of Flurry's spell. Finally, Cozy sagged to the dirt in a broken smoking heap. She lay motionless where she she fell. The surrounding alarms fell silent.
Somepony was crying. Luster realized it was her.
The guards arrived, late as usual and unsure how to deal with the scene they found. Luster was on her knees, bawling. Flurry stood swaying on her hooves, so purged of magic she was lucid enough to realize she'd done something bad. And of course, there lay a once colorful mess of fur and feathers pooled up against the drainage wall, mere meters from having made it to freedom. With still no orders from their traumatized Warden, the guards took up an idle perimeter, pretending that any of the three ponies had any intention to flee on foot.
The air was suddenly pierced by Cozy Glow's laugh. Its sound was raucous, triumphant, and full of strength. Still heaving, Cozy rolled over to let her wings beat the air. They were old limbs. Atrophied, unplucked, and even inorganic in a few places. But they also surged with freshly metabolized magic. With each subsequent wingbeat, Cozy rapturously ascended higher into the air.
"I knew it would work!" she gloated to her stunned audience on the ground. "I knew it! Cozy always wins, you hear? Cozy Glow always wins in the end!"
"Impossible..." Flurry managed. Cozy cackled and swooped in effortless out-of-reach circles.
"Toldja I was escaping in the only way left. Gee, Luster, it sure woulda been hunky dory to actually go on that antimagic adventure with you. But hey, you helped get Flurry mad enough to juice me up. That makes you a true friend in my book. Ooh, maybe someday you'll meet a less clever pony you can backstab for real. I'm rooting for you! I promise that backstabbing is actually really fun once you get the hang of it!"
"Thanks," Luster mumbled. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Young lady," a guard spoke up, "Come down and submit yourself for arrest immediately." He waved his spear menacingly but impotently, and Cozy made a show of pretending to mull over his demand.
"Hmm, I dunno... how about one of you guys fly up here after me? Any takers? Flurry?"
The Warden of Manehatten Penitentiary was red with humiliation. Every beat of Cozy's ramshackle wings was a gift delivered by the biggest sucker in Equestria. Flurry couldn't even fire her horn again, since she was thoroughly out of juice. However addled her mind was, however thick and obscuring her haze of rage, she still understood she'd played right into Cozy's fossilized hooves. All she could do was silently curse herself for it.
"Ah well, 'fraid I'll have to be on my way." Cozy Glow twirled as she rose, savoring the moment she surpassed the outer wall. "Buh bye for good! Was terrible knowing you all! Oh, and Flurry? Luster? You guys might wanna brush your teeth more often. Not sure if you know, but mouths aren't s'posed to drip purple."
With a flick of her tail and a final resounding laugh, Cozy Glow fled from sight in the darkening night sky.
Predictably, it was Flurry who broke the ensuing silence.
"Drip purple..." she slurred. Flurry looked at Luster Dawn, possibly for the first time since arriving. She looked right at Luster Dawn's mouth, which Luster covered in embarrassment.
"We need to get back to Canterlot," Luster managed. "Cozy told me how to... finalize the Unity Crystals. We need to get cured. No tracking Cozy until... after we have our wits back."
"Cured..." Flurry Heart kicked at a stray rock, not wanting to look at Luster, and especially not wanting to look at her surrounding guards. "So something is wrong with me. I thought there might... no, I wasn't thinking. So hard to think lately. Angry. I feel so angry I can't think..."
The guards were still milling around, so it was Luster Dawn put a sopping, smelly hoof around Flurry's shoulder. Flurry held on like that hoof was a life raft in a storm.
"We're taking train ride to Canterlot?" Flurry ventured. Luster confirmed and motioned a nearby guard to help them inside. As a herd, the unit of stallions guided the sick mares. Flurry was still drawling.
"Can... can we ride in luxury class? Maybe I'd be more... relaxed there."
Luster tousled Flurry's mane. "Sure thing, kiddo. I bet my ticket from last week is still good. When we see your Aunt Twilight, I'll tell just how great of a Warden you are."
"Aw c'mon Luster, I blew your cover. You don't have to lie anymore."
"Oh? In that case, you honestly run the worst prison I have ever been in."
Flurry Heart bristled, but composed herself. She'd be sane again soon. Jokes could fill time until then. Jokes between friends.
"Thanks, Luster. That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
Cozy Glow flew until the sun began to rise. She lighted down in a wide open prairie, with not a creature in sight in any direction. She breathed deep. In and out. And then she took a step.
One pace.
She took another step.
Two paces.
Prairie grass swished in the breeze. Clouds rolled unhurriedly overhead. Cozy counted her twelfth pace. The maximum that her old cell allowed. With relish, she took a thirteenth step.
There were no more walls for Cozy Glow. Only the horizon in all directions. Cozy trotted forward, no longer counting her steps. She knew she'd never have to count them again.
Despite her newfound freedom, Cozy's thoughts drifted back to Luster Dawn. Both of the strange purple mouth disease and of Luster's cryptic quest to get close to her. Were the two related? Why did Cozy still care? She was done with Equestria, after all. Done with other ponies and their constant obsessions over magic. The world was hers now, and Cozy could go anywhere she wanted.
Maybe she'd fly to Farasia. Find a Zebra tribe who'd believe a tall tale that she was a half-stone demigoddess. Maybe she'd go to Mount Aris and mingle with the carefree Kirin. Oh golly, were Kirin even still around? Cozy had so very much to explore and rediscover.
She tore a mouthful of prairie grass, savoring a taste that was different from penitentiary bran biscuits. Almost in afterthought, she pulled a tuft of grass from her mouth, examining a strand of saliva.
Clear. Like that of any nonspellcaster.
Satisfied, Cozy stuffed the tuft back in her mouth and swallowed. It was the best meal she eaten in ten years.
"Good luck with those crystals, Luster Dawn.” Cozy’s mutterings were impish and contented. "...friend."
That last word had come out of her mouth unbidden. It made Cozy bite her lip and peer around, but of course there was nonpony to hear her.
