Komm, Süßer Schein

The doors had closed behind Celestia. Cozy herself had asked for her presence, after Sunburst had put a stop to the trial, and she'd sent her holographic projection faster than Twilight would have expected her to. It was always strange, having to look down to see her. She wasn't nearly as tall now that she wasn't moving the Sun herself. She seemed to like it, actually.

Twilight had other things to focus on. She'd made a mistake. A very bad one. One Cozy had planned for her to make, and she had to admit it had worked. Sunburst's words still echoed in her ears. She'd claimed Cozy had been an alicorn, and claimed she could prove it. Now she had to do it. Otherwise, Cozy would claim she'd lied during a formal trial, and void her position as a Princess.

There was one major problem with proving that was the truth. In Order to turn Cozy into an alicorn through the bell, an alicorn was needed. She'd done her experiments and studies on Grogar's Bell, unicorns wouldn't do the trick. And the only other alicorn there had just left the room. The biggest problem wasn't giving Cozy Glow her powers. It was the risk of her claiming Twilight's title had been passed along with them.

Which, in all likelihood, she would do. There was no working around that. Twilight would lose if she backed out, and none of those present in the room would trust her afterwards. And that left only one alternative. Give Cozy her powers. Prepare for her to attempt to take over Canterlot again. It wouldn't be the end. She had been stopped once, others would stop her again. Twilight had to play the mentor's role for once, and that involved getting taken out of the equation early on. Luster would be ready, or so she hoped.

"So, Princess Twilight," Silver began. "You claim you can provide proof of Princess Cozy Glow having been an alicorn."

"And failing to do so would prove how you're lying," Cozy chimed in. "We can't trust a lying Princess, can we?"

"I can," Twilight answered. "I can and I will." From under her chair, she fetched the book detailing the spell used to activate the Bell, which Sunburst had provided her with during the brief pause. "May I request the assistance of a member of the jury? Someone capable of using magic."

Glances were exchanged, and eventually all eyes set on Pumpkin. Muttering something about wings, the unicorn lifted herself up in her magic and levitated to Twilight's position, where she took hold of the book.

The guards stepped aside, and the seals were removed. Pumpkin Cake grabbed Grogar's Bell with her magic, then began to study the book. After a moment, she looked at Twilight, then at Cozy, then at Silver.

All three nodded, the first with some hesitation.

Taking a deep breath, Pumpkin charged her horn, then fired a shot of magic towards the Bell. It lifted higher in the air, and began to glow by itself. Pointing to Twilight, it gave a single ring, and a stream of black and yellow energy poured from it.

Twilight flinched, feeling her powers and magic being drained from her. A moment later it was over, and she watched as the Bell spun around to point towards Cozy. Another ring, and energy poured forth from it once more, encasing the filly.

For a moment, Cozy couldn't be seen. Then, the light faded. Pumpkin set book and Bell on the table, and floated back, as everyone stared at the filly.

Twilight would have expected her to speak immediately. Instead, she just sat there. Her large wings moved up and down, her horn jutted through her light-blue curls, and her eyes remained closed. She only breathed in and out, slow and vibrating breaths that made her whole body subtly shake. There was a twitch in her lips, and behind it a barely noticeable hint of teeth clashing in excitement.

Finally, after what felt like hours to the purple alicorn, Cozy opened her eyes. She gave one last slow breath, and looked at Twilight. Then she smiled, and turned to the jury. "Princess Twilight has just given her powers to me. In accordance to the Codex Solaris Lex Æquestrian, this means I am now the rightful ruler of Equestria. Is that not right, Twilight?" she asked, throwing the pony in question a sideways glance.

Twilight sighed. It was the truth, and lying would not have helped. "It does, Princess."

The look Sugarcoat threw her carried a weight words couldn't express in any short amount of time, but the meaning of you messed up shone through rather easily.

Cozy smiled, rocking her head from side to side. She floated out of her chair, and fetched the book under her pillow. "Hey bookhorse, do you know what this is?"

Twilight had only a moment to look back up, before a wave of darkness washed over the room, seemingly leaving only her and Sunburst unaffected. Every other creature went still, eyes glowing a bright green.

Cozy threw the book she'd stolen from the archives on the ground. It had been easy to sneak out of her cell at night, those windows hadn't been designed to stop a foal, and with the guards focused on her the archives had been as unguarded as ever. She tilted her horn, and a cage of stone sprouted from the ground, encasing Sunburst. Then she turned to Twilight, and began to walk towards her.

Just then, a voice came from behind her. "Not so fast."

The small alicorn turned, and Twilight too stared at the pony behind her.

Silver Swirl stood up, the green glow absent from his eyes. A moment later his form began to shift, and Discord emerged from it.

"Hi." Cozy placed a hoof on the ground, then flicked a pebble at Discord.

The draconequus blinked in confusion for a moment. "Okay then." He snapped his talons.

Nothing happened.

Discord looked at the small piece of stone. "That is-"

"A piece of Chrysalis's throne, yes," Cozy replied, as vines of stone emerged from behind the draconequus and trapped him there. "I took it from the archives." Then she turned back to Twilight, and took one slow, long step forward. "I've waited for this," she said, taking the de-powered alicorn in her magic and bringing her forward, lifting her down to be face to face with each other. "I've waited for this a long long time." There was a flash of red light, and a moment later Twilight's entire body had become stone. Cozy looked at it, and grinned.

Then, still smiling, she lifted the petrified alicorn into the air. And with a flick of her horn, she sent Twilight against the nearest wall, shattering her.