“All right, troops! Fall in!” Several royal guards promptly lined up in the foyer of the Castle of Friendship at the sound of Flash Sentry’s authority. “Just because Princess Twilight is away in Canterlot, does not mean we can relax! I want patrols around Ponyville and the castle, we need to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and keep the citizens safe! I want this town and castle just as peaceful and safe as how the princess left it! Do I make myself clear?”

All the guards sharply raised their hooves in perfect sync and saluted. “Sir, yes sir!”

“Good! You have your schedules, report for duty at your designated stations and routes! Dismissed!”

The guards dropped their hooves and marched off. However one blue coated soldier with a bishop cutie mark saw her opportunity and broke off from the group, quickly and quietly slinking through the castle and reaching the upper floors, ducking around corners and the first sign of clanking armor. When she was certain she was alone, she quickly went to an empty room, opened the window, and gave a few quick whistles. Soon a small filly flew through the opening and landed behind the guard.

“About time!” Cozy complained. “I thought you got lost or something.”

“N-no I knew where to go,” Fuzzy Feeling said timidly. “I just had to make sure I didn’t cross paths with Captain Sentry. I’m sure he’d be able to tell I’m not a guard if he stopped me.”

Cozy rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s true. Better than you getting captured and the plan going up in smoke. It took long enough for Twilight and her stupid friends to leave town as is.”

“So, um, what are we here for again?”

“Ugh, I told you before! We need to find Twilight’s study. And if my memory’s correct from my time as her ‘number one friendship helper,’ We’re not too far away.” Cozy hovered out of the room with Fuzzy close behind her. Every so often stopping at a corner, keeping a keen eye out for any and all guards on patrol. Eventually, Cozy stopped at a large pair of wooden doors and smirked. “Bingo!”

She quickly opened the door and slipped inside with Fuzzy closing the door behind them. The study’s wall was coated with wall to wall, row upon row of books, manuscripts, and boxes and boxes of parchments. A large table sat in the center, with plenty of quills, ink pots, beakers, and shards of metal. And not too far from the table stood a mirror hooked up to a great machine. Tubes and wires stuck out like the brush of the Everfree Forest.

“Golly,” Fuzzy marveled. “This room is impressive. So this is where Princess Twilight does all her magical tinkering and research?”

“Yep. I did plenty of snooping around here while I was Twilight’s helper. Making sure all the spells Tirek taught me would work before I used them, looking up ways to sabotage annoying do-gooders. That part of the plan didn’t work out too well. But we’re not here to study magic.”

Fuzzy cocked her head. “Then why are we here?”

“I’m getting to it!” Cozy snapped. “While I was poking around, I happened to find a very special book.” – Cozy flew over to a section of wall and ran her hoof across the spines of the books, stopping suddenly, she pulled out a book with an ornate red and yellow sun pattern on the cover. –“This book to be specific, is our key to victory.”

“Oh my, it has such a pretty cover. But how does it help you?”

“Because this book connects directly to another book in another world. This is how Twilight keeps in touch with Celestia’s previous pupil. You write in one, it shows up in the other. And from what I gathered last time I was here; the other side is having an issue with magic, even though magic isn’t supposed to exist.”

“And what do you plan to do? Write to the pony that has the other book?”

“How stupid are you?” Cozy said with contempt. “I have to cover up as much of my tracks as I can! We wouldn’t want anypony asking questions, especially somepony in direct contact with Twilight.”

Fuzzy’s ears flattened. “Oh… I… guess that’s true…”

Cozy started flipping through the pages of the book. “Last time I was here, I noticed that the Twilight from another world was comparing notes with this world's Twilight. Something about building a device to track down sources of magic and magical artifacts. Aha! Here we go. ‘Dear Sunset Shimmer, tell Twilight that her design and specs are perfect, based on the information you sent, I was able to construct a working prototype. Early tests prove promising, I’ll write you the results when I have more data.’ Heh, this is almost too easy,” Cozy said smugly. She turned to Fuzzy. “Well don’t just stand there. Start looking!”

Fuzzy flinched like Cozy smacked her with words alone. “B-but what am I supposed to be looking for?”

“Any clue that points me to the magic tracker.”

Fuzzy made little circles on the floor with her hoof. “Um. Cozy Glow. You know, w-we don’t have to do this…”

“What?” the corner of Cozy’s mouth twitched.

“I… I was just thinking,” Fuzzy continued. “We can just leave. You know. Go back home, and we can put all of this stuff behind us. You’re out of Tartarus and we can just forget about all of this revenge stuff and… just go back…”

Cozy’s face shifted from anger, to annoyance, to her trademark smile. “Gee, that does sound great,” she said in her typical faux sweetness. “But I already put so much time into this plan, I’d hate for it to go to waste.”

“But Cozy-“

Cozy’s expression became harder in an instant, along with her voice, “Maybe we should go over this again. Who am I?”

Fuzzy bit her lip, body becoming rigid. “Um… my… little sister….”

“Right. And you’re my big sister. And big sisters do whatever they can to make sure their little sisters are happy. That’s what mom said, right?”

Fuzzy felt her blood freeze in her veins. “Y-yes… she did…” she said shakily, doing whatever she could to not break down.

“Well. You know what would make me very happy?” Cozy paused for a moment to look directly into Fuzzy’s fear riddled eyes. “What would make me the happiest pony in Equestria, is getting revenge and RUINING TWILIGHT’S LIFE AND THE LIVES OF HER STUPID FRIENDS! And nopony is going to stop me. Not the royal sisters and especially not you. Now. Start looking.”

Fuzzy Feeling hung her head in defeat. Dreams of going home were destroyed in a blink. She just wished Cozy didn’t bring up… Fuzzy dragged her hooves and started searching around for whatever it was that Cozy was looking for. She quickly skimmed over some papers she found but nothing looked promising. She trotted around the edge of the table, her hoof got caught on a chair leg and tripped. As Fuzzy was standing up, she noticed a drawer. She tentatively opened it and inside was a blueprint and a small wooden box with gold trim. She removed the contents of the drawer and inspected the box. There was a latch on the side with a button and with a single press the box sprung open, revealing a compass. The compass began to glow and a beam of blue light shot out from the top. The light fanned out into a grid and manifested a map.

“Cozy,” Fuzzy said dumbfounded. “I think I found it.”

Cozy darted over and snatched the compass from her sister’s hooves. “Well, well, well. Looks like you did something right. Now the question is, how do we get it to work?”

“Maybe this will help,” Fuzzy held out the blueprint. Cozy read it over and mumbled out any key words or features.

“So if this is right, if I push this tab here-“ Cozy pressed down on a small tab and the needle spun wildly under the glass dome of the compass and the projected map became distorted. After a few seconds, the needle stopped and pointed in a direction and the map started projecting a blinking dot. “-we got a lead!” Cozy laughed like she spotted a foal getting their hoof caught in a carriage door.

Fuzzy was sweating. “Uh, Cozy Glow. I-if this map is correct, then it’s leading us to-“

“The Everfree forest,” Cozy said matter of factly. “Heh, didn’t think our first prize would be so close.”

“B-but it’s the Everfree,” Fuzzy stammered. “Isn’t that too dangerous?”

“I don’t care if it takes us to a lava cave in the Dragon Lands,” Cozy spat. “We go wherever this compass tells us to go!”

The Everfree Forest was just as scary as Fuzzy Feeling thought it was. She’d never willingly enter the dangerous wilds of the dark wood, but Cozy can be quite… persuasive. Fuzzy twitched and flinched every time she heard a twig snap, a leaf rustle or saw something slink in the undergrowth.

“The compass says we’re getting close,” Cozy commented as she hovered through the brush.

“Oh thank the stars,” Fuzzy muttered.

Cozy stopped just before a wall of bushes and pressed the tab on the box, the map of light vanished, but the compass needle was focused at a point just beyond the foliage. She held her hoof up to silence her sister and the two peered through the leaves. On the other side was a clearing, there were webs of green goo between the trees. Littering the ground and a few stumps were logs with carvings of what looked like snarling heads of changeling drones. At the center of the clearing was a tall dark creature with holes puncturing her legs and horn, long sinister teeth lined her mouth and green eyes bearing pure hatred.

“One day! You’ll see!” Queen Chrysalis announced to a log. “I will defeat Twilight Sparkle and her friends!- Nyeh ha!” she laughed as if her brain blew a small fuse. “And they will PAY for stealing my kingdom!” Chrysalis lifted another log and burned another drone into the bark. She looked around frantically. She tossed a few more “drones” around and began to twitch. “More. Need more soldiers!- Heh, heh, heh! More wood, more soldiers!” Chrysalis hovered away from the clearing and was out of sight. Cozy and Fuzzy waited a few more seconds and released their breath.

“She is so scary,” Fuzzy said through chattering teeth. “That was the Queen Chrysalis!”

“Yeah, but she didn’t really seem right in the head,” Cozy remarked. “But this is a perfect opportunity to grab whatever the compass is pointing to.”- She looked in the direction dictated by the needle and among the numerous “drones” was a rather peculiar log. It was thinner than the rest and lavender in color. –“Look over there.”

“Oh, I think I see it,” Fuzzy said, squinting. “You think that purple wood is what the compass is pointing at?”

“Only one way to find out. Go and get it.”

Fuzzy started sweating profusely. “B-but, what if Chrysalis comes back? If she spots me, I’m a goner!”

“I can’t believe we’re related,” Cozy said with disdain. “Just run out, grab it, and run back. Even you can handle something that simple.”

Fuzzy gulped as she did her best to stop her legs from shaking. Then without warning, Cozy shoved her sister out of the safety of the bush and into the clearing. Fuzzy yelped, then quickly covered her mouth with her hooves. Nervously searching the area, like a lost lamb fearing a wolf. She mustered up as much courage as she could and darted out for the lavender log, then spun on her hooves and dashed back to the brush at a speed that would’ve rivalid a Wonderbolt.

“That… wasn’t… very… nice… C-Cozy…” Fuzzy panted.

“Oh stop whining, you’re all right,” Cozy said. “And you got this… thing. So it all worked out.” Cozy inspected the piece of wood gripped in Fuzzy’s hoof like a vice. No matter how she looked at it, it was nothing more than just a weirdly colored stick. Even though the compass Cozy was holding begged to differ. The needle spun wildly, every so often pointing directly at the wood before spinning like an excited dog.

Fuzzy took a deep breath. “Well, at least Chrysalis didn’t notice-“

Just then the brush the pony siblings were hiding behind was torn apart as leaves and splinters scattered wildly. Revealing a very livid changeling queen, eyes burning with rage as she pulled her cheeks back and bore her impossibly sharp teeth to the trespassers. In one fell swoop, Chrysalis rushed Cozy and Fuzzy, pinning them to a tree with both her hooves in a death grip. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t drain you both till you’re nothing but husks!” she hissed.

“Uh, I-I really wish you wouldn’t do that?” Fuzzy stammered as she was locked into staring death in the face.

Despite this being a rather… abrupt change in her plans, Cozy was nothing if not a great improviser. She put on her sweetest smile and most disarming eyes and said, “You wouldn’t want to hurt your new friends, would you?”

“New friends?” Chrysalis gawked as if she didn’t understand whatever language the small pink filly was using. “I don’t need friends!”

“Oh pshaw! Everypony needs a friend,-“ Cozy’s eyes narrowed, yet her smile never faulted. “- especially a friend who can… I don’t know, help you get back at Twilight Sparkle?”

Some of the fire was extinguished from the changeling’s eyes, but her grip on the two ponies was still firm. “Why would you want to help me in my revenge?”

“Let’s just say we have a common goal,” Cozy said in a chipper tone. “I’m awful sorry if we took something important to you, but we need to collect magical artifacts for my plan. If you let us have it, I can help you in toppling Twilight, her stupid friends, and get your kingdom back. Easy peasy!”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then you can drain us of love and whatever other emotion you want and go back to ruling over this small patch of dirt and trees. I see you’ve got a few subjects already, but I doubt they’ll help you with much, other than kindling.”

Chrysalis growled and dropped the pony sisters. Fuzzy collapses as soon as her hooves touch the ground, trying her best to keep from passing out.

“You have my attention. Now start talking,” the changeling queen ordered.

The mini-Machiavellian’s charm didn’t falter as she hovered before Chrysalis without a shred of fear. She took the compass out. “See this here? It tracks strong sources of magic. It’s how we found you. All we have to do is continue to collect artifacts and soon we’ll have enough firepower to overwhelm anypony. Even Twilight and her friends.”

“What makes you think I won’t just drain you and take this tracker for myself?”

“Well gosh, I didn’t think of that,” Cozy said innocently.

“You didn’t?” Fuzzy asked in horror.

“I guess you could do that,” Cozy continued, seemingly not hearing a word of Fuzzy’s concern. “But then, what would you even do with it?”

“I’d exact my revenge, obviously!” Chrysalis snarled.

“Yes, but how? Are you just going to go fight Twilight with whatever trinket you found and hope for the best? I think we both know how that’d turn out.”

Chrysalis was thrown. “N-no, of course not! I wouldn’t be that predictable!”

Cozy’s smile shifted; she knew she was mere inches away from capturing a very powerful pawn. “Buuuuuuut, if you were to help me, I could guide us to victory. After all, I came up with this plan with my good pal Tirek.”

Chrysalis cocked a brow. “You know lord Tirek?”

“Well yeah, who do you think helped me drain magic from Equestria?”

The queen’s eyes widened slightly. “Wait, that was you? Even I lost my powers for a time.”

Cozy nodded. “Yep, yep! So, whattaya say? Wanna be friends?” Cozy held out a hoof. Chrysalis glanced at it out of the corner of her eye. She reached out her own hoof, then quickly swiped the lavender log off the ground and held it to her chest.

“I don’t need friends! But I will help you. And this stays with me,” she motioned to the wood in her hooves.

Cozy grinned ear to ear. “Okie dokie! It’s a deal! Now, why don’t we move on to our next stop?” Cozy popped the lid on the compass and pressed a tab. The needle began to spin and the map projected out again. A dot began to flash on the projection after a few more seconds, the compass needle was locked onto a direction. “Heh. Just as I thought.”

“What does it say?”

“When I was princess Twilight’s number one helper, I read about a certain place deep in the Everfree. Where a cache of artifacts could be found. Friends, we’re going to the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

Even with a map, navigating the Everfree was still a fool’s errand. The forest of hidden dangers and beasts; where fables and wives tales are grown, did everything it could to deter the three intruders. The brush and trees were so thick that flying felt like being stuck in a spider web. The swamps and bogs daring anypony to navigate the forest floor without getting trapped in muck and slime. Despite these hurdles and pitfalls, the trio of Cozy Glow, Fuzzy Feeling and Queen Chrysalis forged a path forward.

“This had better be worth the effort!” Chrysalis glowered as her magic tore up another patch of foliage. “I’m the Queen of the Changelings! Not a lawn mower!”

“H-how much longer is it?” Fuzzy whimpered. “another plant just tried to-to eat me!”

Cozy rolled her eyes. “You know you’re the reason this is taking so long. If you were a pegasus, you could fly over the forest like me.”

Fuzzy’s ears flattened. “Um… I-I’m sorry…”

“It doesn’t matter. According to the compass, we’re almost there.”

“About time!” Chrysalis said as she cut down another row of bushes with a blast of sickly green magic. “This is starting to get tiresome!”

No sooner had Chrysalis finished voicing her gripe, did the trio finally stumble out of the forest. Before them laid a rickety rope bridge and beyond the bridge on the other side of the ravine stood a great castle, now weathered and overgrown with ivy and worn down by the winds of time. A sense of relief resonated between the party as they marched onward to the Castle of the Two Sisters. Each of Fuzzy’s steps on the bridge were gentle and cautious, expecting each plank of wood to give out from under her while Cozy and Chrysalis flew safely across.

“Are you absolutely certain we need her around?” the changeling queen whispered. “So far she’s done nothing but whine and slow us down.”

“She’s more useful than you think,” Cozy replied. “She’d do just about anything to make sure her little sister is happy. Honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better family.”

A smirk graced Chrysalis’s lips. “Treating your own blood like a tool? I just might like you yet.”

The ramshackle castle welcomed the three creatures with cold floors and winds echoing through the lonely halls; a hollow greeting to the three trespassers from the ancient fortress and whatever lurked within its walls. The party slowly advanced, every new creak or rustle of fabric putting them on edge; the feeling of fight or flight building up like a shaken bottle of soda. The compass in Cozy’s hoof guides them deeper and deeper into the castle, with Chrysalis lighting the way. The gangrenous magic makes the dark corners ever more haunting and the staircases more horrific.

“So where’s your little toy taking us?” Chrysalis asked. “Keep in mind, I’m still considering draining you both if you’ve wasted my time.”

“Don’t you worry none,” Cozy replied, doing her best to maintain her sweet persona in the face of the queen’s pestering. “the compass is leading us into the right- woah!”

All of a sudden the compass needle began to spin wildly and the projected map broke out in spots, flashing wildly as if on high alert. Cozy closed the lid with a snap and pushed open a door. “I guess we made it. Check to see if there are any lights.”

Fuzzy began to feel around the dim and gloomy room for a torch, a candle, heck even a box of matches would suffice. She groped around, sifting through discarded parchment and rotting books. Until finally she came across an odd-looking switch on the wall. Curiosity and her disdain of the dark got the better of her and she pulled it. Suddenly a current ran through the room, lighting the lamps strewn across the walls, the flames dancing and giving off all the illumination one needed. With a better look, Cozy noticed all of the books and beakers. Strange objects laid about, some on tables, some on shelves, some in old piles of rubbish. But nopony could deny that the filly seemed to have found exactly what she was looking for.

“Looks like a magic lab,” Fuzzy said. “Wow, I wonder what ponies were working on here a thousand years ago.”

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Cozy said. “Let’s see if we can find anything of value.”

“Wait, I think I found-! Ugh, nope. Just another dead end,” Chrysalis scoffed as she carelessly tossed another book onto the growing mound of failure.

“And these ‘artifacts’ are useless. This one makes your mane change colors. This one plays the sounds of the ocean, and this one-“ Cozy picked up the odd-looking wooden box. She opened the lid, and the box fell apart into nothing but rotting splinters and rusted gears. “- is broken. Great stuff Celestia. Didn’t know you created so much junk! Hey Fuzzy, have you found anything yet?”

Fuzzy poked her head up from behind one of the tables. “Um, I found this pretty locket.” She held out a necklace and dangling on the end was a gilded heart shaped locket. Cozy rushed over and looked it over.

“What does it do? It just looks like a regular necklace”- her hoof pressed on a small button and the locket popped open. She looked inside, but all she could see was herself. –“Ugh, just a mirror. I didn’t know Celestia was so vain. If you want this junk, you can have it Fuzzy.”

“Oh, thank you,” Fuzzy said as she slipped the necklace over her head. She took a moment to inspect the locket’s interior. Strangely enough, she didn’t see her own reflection, she could still see Cozy Glow in the mirror. Perhaps there was more at work here than meets the eye, but Fuzzy liked her prize so she decided to shelf her curiosity and just be happy that she got to keep it. “You know, I was thinking,” Fuzzy said as she polished her new accessory. “Don’t you think it’s kinda weird that we aren’t finding anything? I mean, this is where the Royal Sisters created magical tools all those years ago, and all that’s left is… well nothing special. Maybe Celestia collected all of the better artifacts when she moved to Canterlot.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Cozy replied. “If I learned anything from Celestia’s mistakes, there’s always something she had a hoof in ages ago and didn’t foresee coming back to bite her in the flank.”

“Besides, neither princess employs anypony truly competent,” Chrysalis snarked. “Canterlot’s ‘elite’ guards were so easy to dupe, I almost felt sorry for them. Almost. I’m sure they flubbed moving everything important, so some things must have fallen through the cracks.”

“Guess I never thought of that,” Fuzzy ducked back behind the desk and checked a few drawers. Just old papers far too faded to make out anything legible. She pulled out the next drawer and was greeted by a pair of glowing eyes. Fuzzy’s breath froze, then a rat jumped out with a feral hiss. Fuzzy screamed and fell back, slamming against the wall, knocking books off of a nearby shelf, sending a cascade of dust into the air.

“What happened?” Cozy asked, not really caring.

“Rat,” Fuzzy gasped as she supported herself on the wall. “Big. Angry. Hissing-“Just then she heard a light ‘tink’ sound. She looked to her side; a small piece of the wall; cut in a perfect square, had fallen out. She looked at where the piece could’ve fallen, and found a section of the wall with a hidden compartment, and inside was a ring attached to a chain. Curiosity got the better of her and Fuzzy pulled the chain. There was a rumbling sound and the room began to shake, vibrations toppling any loose glass wares to the floor.

“What’s going on!?” Cozy demanded.

“I-I don’t know!” Fuzzy panicked. “I found a chain and pulled it and-!” Before Fuzzy could continue, the wall closest to her began to slowly open, centuries of dust and dirt fell from the ancient door like a rainstorm. After Fuzzy, Cozy and Chrysalis finished coughing and sneezing, they were able to look and see that behind the wall was a wooden door with gold bands covering the top, middle and bottom. Crossing over the door and behind the four corners were thick chains, and connecting the chains together was an ornate lock with a plethora of symbols carved into it.

“What the hay is this?” Chrysalis asked.

A smug grin graced Cozy’s lips. “This must be where Celestia is hiding all the good stuff.”

Fuzzy trotted up to the door. She raised a hoof and touched the lock, quickly pulling it back and shaking her hoof as a powerful shock ran through her body, standing her mane and coat on end. “Ow, ow, ow! I don’t think we’ll be getting in here anytime soon though. Not without a key anyway.”

“Then quit nursing your hoof and help us look for a key!”

Fuzzy gingerly lowered her sore hoof to the ground and trudged around the room, searching around for the way to gain entry to the alluring door.

“With any luck, the answer to all my problems are in there,” Chrysalis said as she turned over a vase. “And then I can exact my revenge on Twilight Sparkle, and that wretched Starlight Glimmer!”

“You got a grudge against Starlight too?” Cozy asked.

“Of course! She’s the one who turned my own drones against me with that ridiculous ‘friendship’ nonsense! Robbing me of my kingdom, and my army! I swear when I get my hooves on her-!”

“Yeah, Starlight is an annoying goody-goody,” Cozy said, shaking another wastebasket down for possible treasure. “I had to deal with her also. Can’t be careless with her though. She’s about as strong as Twilight and twice as clever.”

“Peh!” the royal spat. “When my time comes, I’ll make sure to crush her underhoof till she’s nothing but mulch.”

Fuzzy found no luck in the second or third cabinet she searched. She was about to move on to the adjacent file cabinet when she thought of something. She turned her eyes to the piles of rubbish that littered the room. For whatever reason, she felt like she had to look through it. She trotted over to the nearest pile and sifted through the moldy books, tarnished parchment, broken beakers, and worn-out quills.

“What the hay are you doing?” Cozy asked. “This isn’t the time to be playing with garbage.”

“I just thought-“ Fuzzy Feeling said as she moved on to the next pile, tossing a broken charm over her shoulder. “-maybe, just maybe the key is somewhere that even Celestia was unsure of. That might be the reason why that door is still locked up tight. “There’s a chance she misplaced the key in a less obvious place, like the trash.” She moved on to a third pile and after tossing a few torn-up manuscripts aside, Fuzzy caught a glint of something shiny. She reached out and pulled out a tarnished key, with Celestia’s cutie mark carved into the head. “I think I found it!”

“Well what are you waiting for?” Cozy barked. “Open the door already!”

Fuzzy winched at her little sister’s orders. She trotted back to the door and tentatively approached the lock. Her hoof was shaky as she did her best to aim the key at the lock. She took a deep breath and thrusted the key forward. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t feel a painful shock run through her body. She slowly turned the key, hearing a soft clicking sound, followed by a ‘ka-chack.” The lock popped open, the chains binding the door dissolved magically, and the door swung open.

Cozy and Chrysalis wasted no time in rushing past Fuzzy Feeling and into the vault. They looked around in awe, as pedestals and shelves with objects and books were shown under a soft light in rather good condition, save for the dust, but for artifacts locked away for a millennium, they looked as if they were created yesterday. This was certainly the treasure trove Cozy was looking for.

Said filly couldn’t resist a wicked smile stretching across her face. She chuckled, “Well, well, well. Look at all the fun things we found. Everypony, start looking around for anything that looks promising.”

Chrysalis trotted to a table and spotted a strange obsidian crown with silver accents and a perfectly cut, oval diamond set in the band. Curious, she picked it up and blew away some of the dust. She placed the crown on her head and instantly was overcome with a sense of hyper awareness as her eyes shined as strange symbols appeared around the band and an odd dot appeared in the center of the diamond, darting around the borders of the gem as if it were looking for something.

Chrysalis’ magic seeped out from the crown, as glowing green tendrils to feel around the open air. And the most incredible thing about it, was that the Changeling Queen was conscious of it. She was aware of every tendril's movement and controlled each of them in tandem. Chrysalis reached out with her magic and started searching through books and papers nearby, and she was able to read them all. A multitude of information on multiple subjects of magic poured into her mind like a bubbling spring. Chrysalis removed the crown and rubbed her head.

“My. Isn’t that interesting?” she said with a smirk.

“What did you find?” Cozy asked.

The queen held out the obsidian crown with a smugness of a foal who just nabbed the last toy on the shelf. “This magnificent crown. Goes well with my colors rather fetchingly I’d say. It’s called, ‘The Crown of Many Eyes.’”- Chrysalis put the crown back on, and multiple tendrils emerged, one of which plucked a book off the shelf and tossed it to Cozy. -“It was made to help unicorns use their magic to multitask on different things while still being aware of everything they did.” Chrysalis removed the crown and rubbed her head again, wincing in pain.

Cozy skimmed through the book in her hooves. “Says here, ‘prolonged use is not advised. Subjects experienced migraines, fatigue, and exhaustion. Subjects would need extended rest to replenish their magic.”

“How typical,” Chrysalis scoffed. “Of course something as powerful as this would be wasted on Celestia’s weak and puny subjects. But if somepony as strong as I were to use it…”

Cozy grinned. “You could really put that crown to good use. And you’re right, it looks very fetching on you.”

Fuzzy kept inspecting the books scattered about the vault, most of it written in a language of formula. code and some in old Ponish. She placed another impossibly dense book back to its proper resting place when she noticed something peculiar. She slowly trotted over to a pedestal with a bell-shaped glass cover, protecting a slender object from the outside. As she got closer, Fuzzy noticed that beneath the glass was a dark colored mirror. It looked no different from any other mirror hoof mirror one would use to style their mane in the morning. But the surface was very well polished. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but something about this mirror felt otherworldly.

“What in the hay?” Fuzzy said curiously. She noticed a small black book lying near the glass bell. Dusty, but still in perfectly good condition. Though there was a prominent red band around the book that did not look like it was part of the decoration. Fuzzy broke the band and started reading the first few pages.

“What’s this?” Cozy said.

Fuzzy jumped. “O-oh, Cozy! Um, I’m not sure yet. This book calls it the ‘New Moon Mirror.’”

“The New Moon Mirror?-” Cozy pulled off the glass bell and picked up the mirror. It was expertly crafted, with an ornate handle of onyx and pearl. The back of the mirror was black and had a large silver crescent symbol. She sat down on the pedestal and gazed into the surface. “-What the heck is so magical about a regular old...?” Just then the glass of the mirror began to glow as if it were being bathed in Moonlight. Cozy couldn’t tear her eyes away as small sparkles of light reached out, as if beckoning the filly . Cozy felt herself falling down at great speed, her screams being swallowed into the dark void. She flapped her wings frantically, but it didn’t seem to matter.

She finally began to slow down, but not through her own efforts, it was as if this world set her down gently in an open space. Cozy looked around. There was nothing. Just her in an inky abyss. Suddenly, strange spheres appeared before her, first a few, then many more. And within these spheres, she saw ponies. Some in fantastical settings, some doing impossible feats, others in totally absurd situations, but none of them seemed aware of each other. Or Cozy for that matter. Suddenly the filly felt herself being pulled back, as if a rope was dragging her up through a pit. She shook her head and found herself back in the vault with a panicked Fuzzy Feeling doting over her.

“Oh thank goodness!-“ Fuzzy wrapped her hooves around her little sister. “-I was so worried! You were just staring into that mirror and I didn’t know if you were ok!”

Cozy brushed Fuzzy off her. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. But what the hay is that mirror? One minute I’m in a void and the next I was seeing ponies in bubbles or something.”

Fuzzy held out the book she was reading. “That makes sense. I wasn’t sure what to do when you, um, zoned out. So I tried to look up what this mirror actually does and I found this passage Princess Celestia wrote.. ‘…After the tragedy of Nightmare Moon, I felt the need to help my little ponies calm their minds, soothe their dreams, and grant them blissful sleep. The New Moon Mirror sends whoever peers into the glass to the realm of dreams, where one might help to quell nightmares. But I must abandon this project immediately, as the mirror…” Fuzzy trailed off, looking like she just read a work of horror.

“What? What does it do?” Cozy Glow demanded.

“Oh, um, nothing,” Fuzzy blurted. “the writing just ends there, I guess Celestia-“

“You’re lying,” Cozy’s eyes burned into Fuzzy with a glare that could set the entire Everfree ablaze. “Read the rest. Now.”

Fuzzy flinched and reluctantly read, “…As the mirror warps minds. An extremely dangerous drawback causes whoever uses the mirror to have full access to a ponies subconscious, and could very well influence ponies as they sleep… E-effectively brainwashing them…”

Cozy took everything Fuzzy said in. The corners of her mouth began to slowly tug upwards as Fuzzy’s explanation played over and over in her head. Soon Cozy was cackling in a way that even made Queen Chrysalis unnerved. “This is it! This is the key to my whole plan! I never would’ve imagined that I would ever stumble across something so perfect!”- Cozy swiped the mirror and held it close to her chest. –“Grab anything and everything that looks promising.-“ Cozy marveled at the mirror in her hooves. “- I can’t wait to make more ‘friends’ with this.”

Author's Note

Well we had sweet Auntie Chrysi and now we're back to nasty ol' Chrysalis classic. I bet you all thought I forgot about Cozy Glow, but I didn't. It was just never a good time to bring her back until now. What dangers lie ahead of Equestria and our favorite ponies now that Cozy and Chrysalis have teamed up? And what of the New Moon Mirror? That's another tale for another time.

I have to admit that Cozy is a really fun character to write, my proofreader even said that I write her very well. I guess I just find Cozy Glow fascinating. How is it a pony so young can have such a twisted view of the world with little to no empathy? It also helps that I stumbled on Machiavellianism and found it to be a very interesting condition. I always thought that Cozy was more of a sociopath, but she checks more boxes on Machiavellian traits. (I.E. low empathy, goal oriented, uses charm and manipulation to seize power). So that helped in writing this chappy.

I had these last three chapters brewing for some time, I'll try to post more soon as this is my baby, but I have other obligations to fulfill and a side story to work out, so look forward to that.

Let me know what you guys think of this chapter, I love reading the comments.

As always, thanks for reading. See you next time

Silver Wit