Glow in the Dark

Chapters

Excerpt 1
Excerpt 2
Excerpt 3
Excerpt 4
Excerpt 6
Excerpt 7
Excerpt 8
Excerpt 9
Excerpt 10
Excerpt 11
Excerpt 12
Excerpt 13
Excerpt 14
Excerpt 15
Excerpt 5

Excerpt 1

Excerpt 1:

“Is it ready yet?” Cozy asked.

“It’s almost done,” her mother said. “Be patient. Patience is the key to success.”

Cozy twiddled her hooves in circles while waiting for her hair to be fully styled. She wanted to make a good first impression at her new school, especially since it was apparently some important day there today.

“And we are done,” her mother said. “Have a look.”

Cozy kept her hooves in front of her eyes until she heard the mirror become angled towards her. Finally, she uncovered her sight to see the work her mother had done for her. Through the mirror, she saw the beautifully designed blue curls that her mother spent the last 15 minutes doing, all neatly tied with a white bow. Cozy’s tail was also in the same curls, tied in the same manner.

Cozy’s mother handed Cozy a picture. “In case you want a comparison.”

Cozy held the picture of the young, golden earth pony up to her reflection in the mirror. She looked just like her favorite celebrity, Shirley Temple. She had always been a fan of her because the actress was just a little girl but was able to have so much influence on others. For some reason, Cozy really admired that.

“Golly, mom,” Cozy said, absolutely impressed. “How are you able to do this so well?”

“Well, it’s my job to do this,” she replied, gesturing to her cutiemark of scissors and fur. “But the secret is that I’m able to manipulate the hair to work for me. You’d be surprised how much easier things get when you can learn to do that.”

“Like dad?” Cozy asked.

“Well, sort of. Your father’s special talent is to negotiate with others and get them to buy things. He’s pretty good at getting ponies to do what he wants.”

“When am I going to find my special talent?”

“You will soon, Cozy. One day you’ll find something that you can do better than anypony, and I guarantee it will be amazing.” Cozy’s mom looked at the time. “But it probably won’t be time management. Come on, you don’t want to be late on your first day of school.”

“Oh, right,” Cozy smiled.

“Remember, if you’re going to interact with anypony, recall the three rules I’ve taught you,” Cozy’s mother said. “Repeat them back to me so I know you know.”

“Rule number one: always be polite at first,” Cozy answered.

“Right.”

“Rule number two: stand up for yourself.”

“And the last rule?”

“If you’re ever threatened, put your own safety first.”

“With this, you can more than handle yourself, darling.”

Cozy beamed at her mother’s words before trotting up to the door with her school bag slung around her. When she waved her mother goodbye, she was stopped.

“Don’t forget the sandwiches,” her mother said. “I marked it with your name just in case. It’s your favorite, two haysandwiches with extra mustard.”

Cozy gave an excited smile as she opened up her bag to let her mother place the food in.

“Thank you,” Cozy smiled.

She gave her mother a tight hug, receiving a tender kiss on the cheek before Cozy let go, causing a genuine giggle from her.

“Go and knock ‘em dead, Shirley,” Cozy’s mother said.

“Bye, mommy,” Cozy said as she departed.

She exited the house, smiling in excitement. The snow was just glistening from the front lawn as she left. It was cold out, and she began to wonder if she should be walking to school, but soon enough, it got slightly warmer as she traveled.

Cozy finally made it to the schoolhouse. It looked nearly perfect except for the fact that there was a broken out window. She didn’t dwell too much on that though. She wasn’t going to waste another minute, taking a deep breath before entering.

When she entered, she took a glance around. It looked just like any other one-room schoolhouse so she found the nearest empty seat to sit in, thinking that she just might like it here.

“Psst! Hey,” a voice called over.

Cozy glanced over to the source of the sound. Across the room was a silver earth pony with glasses looking intently in her direction. The pony was alone for the time being so Cozy decided to trot over to see what she wanted.

“Um, hello,” Cozy said respectfully. “My name is Cozy Glow.”

“Hello, Cozy Glow,” the pony repeated. “It’s good to see new faces. I really just need to warn you though. My friend doesn’t take too lightly to ponies who don’t have their cutiemarks.”

“Why?” Cozy asked sincerely. “Whatever could be wrong with that?”

“I don’t know. She never says. Just don’t take it too personally. She does it to all the blank flanks she sees.”

“Silver Spoon!” a voice called from behind Cozy. “What are you doing talking to a blank flank?”

“Um, just calling her a blank flank is all, Diamond.”

“Don’t do that when I’m not here. In fact, don’t talk to anypony when I’m not here.” The pink earth pony turned to Cozy. “Don’t think for a second that you are good enough to talk to anyone here other than the other losers who don’t have a cutiemark yet. You don’t even have a voice.”

“Oh, golly, I’m sorry,” Cozy apologized. “I didn’t realize-.”

“Well, now you know. End of story,” the pink mare interrupted. “Come on, Silver Spoon. The air is already feeling polluted by this low life.”

The two earth ponies huffed their cheeks away from Cozy to go off to a better location as Cozy frowned and returned to her seat.

Stand up for yourself, Cozy thought. I guess I still need to work on that.

She rested her hooves in her cheeks. What could be so wrong with her not having a cutiemark yet? She couldn’t avoid the feeling of helplessness at the situation she had just encountered. She was still lost in deep thought by the time a purple adult earth pony stood up in front of the classroom.

“Good morning, class,” the earth pony said in a cheerful tone. “Before we begin, has anypony seen Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?”

Soft talking sprung out among the school ponies until one small earth pony with brown spots spoke up.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” he said. “They might come if we wait for them.”

The pink bully immediately replied. “Ugh, they’re probably skipping because they’re too embarrassed to show their faces here.”

“That’s enough, Diamond Tiara,” the adult pony said. “Anyway, as some of you may have noticed, we have a new student in class. Everypony, please welcome Cozy Glow, from Trottingham.”

“Ugh, a transplant?” the earth pony known as Diamond Tiara complained.

Cozy widened her eyes uncomfortably as half of the school ponies began lightly clapping their hooves for her.

“Ugh, stop acting like she’s something special!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed.

The slight clapping died down as the adult earth pony continued talking. “Okay, today is the big day. The run for Student Pony President will conclude. The last calls for signing up to run ends in about an hour. Students are allowed to vote during any portion of that time though.”

“Why does anypony even bother signing up?” Diamond Tiara asked. “It’s obvious that I’m going to be the one to win. You should just declare me the president right now, Cheerilee. Save us all some time.”

The adult pony, named Cheerilee, rolled her eyes. “Alright, my little ponies, the candidates will do their last-minute campaigning and before the voting ends, all of us will get a chance to listen in on what they have to say. Finals calls are almost over with, Pipsqueak. Are you going to be involved this time?”

The brown spotted pony shifted uncomfortably. “Well . . .”

“Of course he won’t,” Diamond answered. “He’s not strong enough to become a leader. He doesn’t even have any campaign managers. Honestly, stuff like this should just be left to me and Silver Spoon.”

Diamond Tiara turned to Silver Spoon and hoof bumped her companion. Pip looked down sadly, but Cheerilee just sighed in disappointment.

“Alright, fillies,” Cheerilee began. “Get to it.”

Cozy removed her lunch bag and sat at her desk in secluded confusion until Cheerilee trotted over to her.

“Hey, Cozy,” Cheerilee whispered. “I know new schools can be tough, but I think I know how you could make a good first impression among your peers.”

Cozy looked up to her teacher in curiosity. “Gee, what would that be?”

“I believe you should sign up to be a candidate for Student Pony President.”

Cozy widened her eyes in astonishment. “What? Me? No, I couldn’t do that.”

“Oh, come on. It’s easy. It doesn’t last for very long and laborious things aren’t required as much as you might think. And you get to be a leader of your school.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been one for leadership positions.”

“You won’t know until you’ve tried it.”

“Um, well, maybe.”

“You have an hour before the deadline. I’ll put your name in the polls just in case so ponies have an opportunity to vote for you.”

Before Cozy could protest, Cheerilee left for the outdoor booths.

Oh no, what is happening? Cozy thought to herself. I can’t be a part of this. I can’t go up against that bully.

The more Cozy thought, the more fearful she became. She began to consider telling Cheerilee to remove her name from the polls, but the thought of Diamond Tiara using that as another arrow to shoot at her was even scarier.

With luck, maybe they won’t vote for me and this whole thing will just be forgotten, Cozy thought. She took a deep breath before going outside to see how the voting was going.

The sun appeared to be the highest in the sky as Cozy went back into the light. She looked around to see how things were going but for some reason, all the election booths looked empty. Instead, all her classmates were gathered around, listening to the apparent three candidates: a brown earth pony colt with a two-tone orange mane, a red-maned earth pony with a tan coat and a cutiemark of two candy canes forming a heart, and the class bully, Diamond Tiara, all elevated above everypony else on top of stands.

“If you vote for me, I’ll make video games a class,” the brown colt said.

“Bo-o-oring,” Diamond criticized. “Just vote me in again. We all know how good of a president I’ve been in the recent elections.”

“Yeah!” Silverspoon cheered from behind Diamond. “You tell them! Vote for Diamond Tiara!”

“Well,” the tan earth pony began. “If I’m voted in, I’ll help repair the window that was broken from Discord.”

Diamond chuckled and smirked at the pony. “And how will this window look, Twist?”

“Well, like the regular ones, of course Why is there any need to make it look different.”

“Wow, your proposal is almost as boring as Button’s. We finally have a chance to make something a little more exciting around here and you just want to throw that all away to go back to the same things we’ve been doing?” Diamond directed her words to the audience of ponies below her. “Does this sound like somepony we really want to be voting for?”

“But-,” the pony tried to interject.

“Give it up, Twist,” Diamond continued. “Your idea is so lame. But if I’m elected again, I can make that window look amazing!”

Cozy watched in sympathy before sighing. “It’s already too late for ponies to vote for me.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Cozy,” an unknown voice beside her reassured. “We all usually do our voting towards the final moments of the voting time period. Most of us are usually indecisive because we don’t want Diamond Tiara to be president again, but she knows how to play with our minds to get us to vote for her, and because of this, she’s never lost.”

Cozy frowned before putting on a relieved expression. If Diamond never loses then there is no way for me to somehow be elected. Cozy sighed at the reassurance before she heard the candidates take the arguments to the extremes.

“Well, I think that video games at school is a fun thing to relieve stress,” the orange colt said.

“Well, nopony cares what you think,” Diamond responded. “You’re just a blank flank and your opinions don’t matter to anyone.”

Cozy pouted in sympathy for the poor colt, but Diamond Tiara continued.

“Don’t ever think that you could sustain a position of power. Nopony would ever vote for a blank flank.”

“Hey!” Cozy intervened from the crowd, feeling personally attacked.

Stand up for yourself, Cozy remembered.

“Anyone here has just as much of a chance at winning as you!”

Diamond Tiara laughed at the outburst. “What does Newbie Loser want? Are you here to vote for me?”

“Actually, the opposite. Diamond Tiara does not have to be president again. If none of you want to vote for her, then don’t. Vote for someone else who deserves the position more.”

Diamond scoffed. “In case you haven’t noticed, Blankie, none of my opponents have anything useful to offer.”

“Well none of you have heard from me yet.”

Diamond’s eyes widened in anger. “What? No, you’re not running.”

“Check the polls, princess,” Cozy fired back.

Diamond rushed to look at one of the ballots, leaving behind an apprehensive Silverspoon. With the pink earth pony currently absent, Cozy took the opportunity to explain things unopposed.

“Everypony, listen up! I might be brand new here, but I’ve seen more than enough to know that this place can’t go on if it’s being led by somepony like that. It won’t be good for anyone if she’s re-elected, but if you all vote for me to be Student Pony President, I can promise that better stuff will happen. I will listen to anypony and make changes accordingly. That way, if there is ever a problem, it can be addressed immediately.” Cozy stepped down from her elevated surfaced to the level of her classmates before turning to a filly beside her. “What would you like done around here?”

“Um, well, I don’t know. Maybe less homework?” The filly answered indecisively.

“Consider it done. How about you?” Cozy said, turning to a colt.

“More time studying before tests,” he suggested.

“I’m already thinking about ways to improve it. How about you, little guy?” Cozy asked, smiling at Pip.

“Well, this playground does need some maintenance after what happened last month,” he informed.

“It’ll all happen if I get your vote.”

“Everypony, stop!” Diamond yelled as she ran back to the crowd. “You can’t vote for her! She’s too new here and doesn’t have any experience! How can you trust a pony to know how to lead a class when she doesn’t even know what to do with her own life??”

“Well, obviously, given how you’ve been doing things around here, I’m the better choice.”

“You’re the wrong choice!” Diamond snapped. “Everypony, with all the time I’ve been here, how many times have I set the school ablaze? Zero! You don’t know what will happen with a new president.”

“Well that’s the best part,” Cozy smiled. “Everypony has been so used to a corrupt leadership that they don’t know how it would be if someone actually good was in power. And if you don’t want someone like Diamond Tiara to be ruling this class again, you know who to vote for.”

“Vote for me or you’ll be sorry!”

“Vote for me if you want Diamond Tiara to shut her mouth for a change.”

Diamond opened her mouth in protest but whatever she was going to say was drowned out by the crowd of ponies cheering Cozy’s name. Not a sound was heard from the bully, but Cozy could tell exactly what she was trying to say by her angered expression and screaming face.

Cozy began to shout over the ponies, quieting them down. “So what are you all waiting for? Go to the polls and put a check by me!”

The crowd cheered again and proceeded to rush to the polls. Diamond yelled in anguish and rushed to block the path of the stampeding ponies, but nothing was going to stop the excited voters, leaving Diamond to be lightly trampled in the dust.

The crowd of ponies continued chanting Cozy’s name as they individually went into the polls, only taking seconds to vote.

The feeling of popularity hit Cozy like a bus. She never in a thousand moons thought she’d do something like this, but now that she had the support of basically her entire class, she felt a feeling she’d never felt before. A sense of superiority that she knew she just couldn’t live without. Her face lit up with a smirk. She knew she was going to be the leader of her class.

“Hey,” a voice said from behind her.

Cozy was interrupted from her thought to find the same silver pony that she first met. She braced herself, ready for more derision, but it never came.

“That was really impressive,” Silverspoon continued. “You turned the tides of this election so fast. How did you know what to do?”

Cozy was surprised before she gave a light smile. “I just gave them what they wanted. They seemed happy to know that they could get a leader who actually cared.”

“I’ll take note of that,” Silverspoon said before giving Cozy a friendly smile.

“Hey, Silverspoon!” a voice called from behind.

Both Cozy and Silverspoon turned to the source of the sound to find Diamond Tiara holding Cozy’s lunch bag.

“Lunchtime,” Diamond smirked angrily.

Cozy gasped. “What are you doing! That’s my food!”

“And this was my election. But you took it from me so now I’m going to take something from you.”

Silverspoon widened her eyes at the situation until a pink adult pony entered the scene.

“Diamond Tiara!” the mare yelled.

The pink filly put on a panicked expression before she slung Cozy’s bag over her. She stuck her tongue out at Cozy before trotting over to the mare.

Cozy frowned at the sight of Diamond Tiara running away with her bag, so she decided to sneak over and hear what was being said, hiding in the bushes to where nopony could see her.

“So tell me,” the older pony began. “How big was the landslide?”

“Well . . .,” Diamond Tiara began.

Before she could finish, the sound of Cheerilee’s heavy voice sounded from the booths. “And the winner is: Cozy Glow!”

Diamond Tiara clenched her eyes in shame as the adult widened them in disappointment.

“What?!” She began. “Are you telling me that my own daughter is a failure?”

Diamond Tiara stared at the ground. “Sorry, mother.”

“Unbelievable. Diamonds aren’t supposed to break, dear. Who even beat you?”

“This new student from . . . Trottingham?”

“What? A transplant beat you? Tell me, are you even related to your father and I? You’re not even deserving to call yourself my daughter.”

The two were silent for a moment until Diamond Tiara’s mother continued.

“Was this pony a blank flank? Tell me you didn’t lose to a blank flank.”

From her hiding place, Cozy glared, but to her surprise, Diamond Tiara gave a different answer than what was expected.

“Um, no. No, she wasn’t a blank flank. She had a cutiemark that had to do with . . . strategy.” Diamond Tiara clenched her eyes closed in fear, but her mother nodded in approval.

“Good,” she said. “Always remember to hold your social standings higher than others, especially those lowlifes. Now come along; it’s time to go home. And next time, if you need to, don’t be afraid to blackmail anypony.”

Diamond Tiara sighed. “Yes, mother.”

Cozy watched as the pair walked off. Wow, what a horrible upbringing, Cozy thought to herself. She couldn’t help but feel bad for her bully even though she took off with her food, but her sympathy soon turned into appreciation for her condition with her own mother.

“Where is Cozy Glow?” a voice from the booths said.

Cozy popped out from the bushes with a twig in her mane. “I’m here,” she said, running up to Cheerilee with a big smile on her face.

“I knew you could do it, Cozy,” Cheerilee congratulated. “You won a 7:3 ratio of the class votes.”

Cozy’s eyes lit up. “So does that mean I’m Student Pony President now?”

“Not exactly right now,” Cheerilee answered. “You have to be here tomorrow to make it official.”

“Awesome! I’ll be here.”

“Make sure you do. Because if you aren’t, the position goes to the runner-up Diamond Tiara.”

Cozy glanced away in slight sorrow.

“Go home and celebrate, Cozy,” Cheerilee finally said. “You’ve got an important day tomorrow.”

Cozy smiled and nodded as she turned to leave. Before she could get out of hearing distance, she heard the sound of Pipsqueak’s voice.

“You were right, Cheerilee. I think I would’ve liked being a candidate here.”

“Don’t worry, Pip. We’ll do another election soon. Maybe you can be a candidate then.”

Cozy smiled to herself as she left. Her first day of school was a win in her book, and she was excited to see what things she could do as a leader. Throughout her entire trot home, she was thinking of ways to improve the school, despite the colder weather conditions as she got closer to her domain.

She arrived at her house by the time the sun was going down. It was a cold day and the snow was just coming down again, causing it to be almost as deep as the base of her hooves. She trotted through it quickly, trying her best to avoid the freezing temperature.

When she got inside, the first action she took was to call out to her parents about her presence and achievements. “Mom! Dad! I’m home!”

She waited for a response but there was none, so she continued. “Today was great! At first it wasn’t so good because there was somepony there who was angry at me for my lack of a cutiemark. But it was okay because I showed her that not having a cutiemark wasn’t a disadvantage.”

Cozy peeked into her parents’ room but still no sign of them. She continued to talk to no one. “She told me ‘you don’t even have a voice.’ But I was able to get my points across better than her, and I think my class adores me now.”

Finally, Cozy got tired of talking and not getting a response. She turned and peeked out the window and noticed two sets of hoofprints going out away from her house into the forest.

Oh, there they must’ve went, Cozy thought to herself.

Cozy marched outside into the snow to follow her parents hoofprints. They were the first ponies that she wanted to see after she got home from school.

She continued following the hoofprints, leading into a forest. Fear settled within her but she persisted forward, feeling certain that she recognized those hoofprints, but the more she stared at the tracks, the more she thought she saw a third pair in the snow.

The sounds of owls and wildlife quickly got her attention away from her observation. When Cozy turned to look around, she took a moment to realize just how alone she felt.

“Should I go back and wait for them?” Cozy asked herself.

She pondered the thought for a moment before she persisted forward. The lateness of the day caused her to feel as though something more were ahoof.

Finally, the trail of hoofprints seemed to come to an end, and a leveled figure in the distance appeared where the hoofprints finished.

“Mom?” Cozy called out. “Dad? Are you there?”

Cozy continued on to the silhouettes. It didn’t look like just figures because there appeared to be a puddle of some sort that the figures were resting in.

Maybe a broken down apple juice wagon, Cozy thought. But it couldn’t be. She would’ve seen the wheel tracks in the snow.

Cozy finally got close enough to find a few details familiar. Was that . . . a hoof? Was that a muzzle? Were those . . . her parents?

Cozy gasped and galloped as quickly as she could over to them.

“Oh, Celesia! What happened?” Cozy planted herself right between the dying bodies of her mom and dad.

From below, Cozy’s mother’s eyes barely opened. “C-Cozy?”

Cozy turned to her mother who was completely laid out flat in a pool of blood. “Mommy, what’s wrong? Who did this?”

“Y-you don’t need us anymore.” Cozy’s mother managed a light, teary-eyed smile at the last thing she ever wanted to see before finally closing her eyes and going limp.

“Mom? Mommy, no.” Cozy put her hooves over her mother’s body. “Mommy, please wake up.” Cozy began crying as she went over to her mother’s head, cradling it in between her hooves. “Mommy, please don’t leave me.”

Cozy continue sobbing in the pool of blood between her parents’ lifeless bodies. She closed her eyes to wipe away a tear, but when she opened them again, she noticed that the ground she was kneeling in became a whole lot darker than it was just a few seconds ago.

She immediately recognized it as a shadow.

Wait, shadow? She thought to herself.

Cozy looked up ahead of her. The shadow extended in front of her, taking on a similar shape to that of a full-grown unicorn.

“Hello, little pegasus,” a shady voice said from behind her.

Cozy’s breathing grew shallow and quiet. She wasn’t alone. She sat there for three full seconds, but it felt like hours. Finally, she turned back to view the source of the shadow.

Before her stood a gray unicorn, a similar age to her parents, covered head to hoof in a black robe with a backpack slung around him. The stallion’s head stared down at Cozy with the last of the sunset behind him. His sinister grin keyed to Cozy that he was up to no good.

Cozy remembered what her parents told her about strangers, and she especially knew not to trust a pony who’s appeared after the horrible sight she just witnessed, but she had to be smart about this. She finally managed a simple word.

“H-hello,” Cozy said with suppressed fear.

The unicorn spoke nothing more. Instead, his horn began to glow. The stallion’s backpack emanated with the same aura as his horn and began to open. A bag about Cozy’s size came out and opened up wide, ready to swallow a victim.

It just took one look at the bag to set Cozy in a blind panic. She got up with all her might and ran away as fast as she could, completely forgetting how to fly.

Soon after she began her escape, Cozy’s legs became engulfed with the same aura that the stranger’s backpack was covered in, causing Cozy to stop running altogether and begin getting pulled back towards her captor. She was being dragged through the snow, almost to the unicorn until Cozy found a nearby branch in the ground. As Cozy was being lifted through the air, with one last-ditch effort, she reached for the branch and turned to swipe it at her captor, to which the captor directed his attention to stopping the branch, releasing Cozy’s legs from his magical grasp in the process.

She landed in the snow and turned to look at the unicorn standing over her with all of his attention now. Cozy closed her eyes and put up her hooves in pointless protection, expecting to meet the same fate her parents did. She waited there for 5 seconds, eyes still clenched but nothing happened. Did the stranger have a change of heart? Cozy began filling with hope that she was okay, but before she could open her eyes, she felt the grip of the stranger’s magic grab her again and force her inside the bag. She screamed as he carried her away.

Excerpt 2

Excerpt 2:

Cozy trembled as she bounced from within the bag. She tried her best to remain calm but that was near impossible from the image she had just witnessed. She was beginning to wonder if she would ever see Celestia’s light again, or if she would suffocate within the bag of her captor. Finally, she heard a door open and close before she was carried for 5 more seconds. The bag opened and Cozy was poured into a cage from the side, landing on her wing.

“Owwie!” she exclaimed, comforting her appendage, but the sinister look of her captor startled her out of her concern. She was frozen in fear, unable to put words together, so the gray unicorn initiated the conversation.

“Hi there, little one,” the stallion said. “What’s your name?”

Cozy was still stunned, staring wide-eyed with short and quiets gasps.

“It’s okay,” the unicorn lied. “Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to yet. Just tell me the name of who I’m talking to.”

Cozy steadied her breath, closing her eyes briefly to calm herself down before she finally spoke. “My . . . uh, my name is C-Cozy Glow?”

“Was that a question or an answer?” he asked.

Cozy gulped in fear.

“Oh don’t worry, Cozy Glow. My name is Pent and I’ll be taking care of you now.”

Cozy blinked twice, trying to get the water out of her eyes. “. . . Why?”

“Well, because there is no one to look after you anymore, and certainly a little pegasus filly can’t be out on her own. That’s what I’ve been telling myself anyway.”

“What happened to my parents?”

“They’ve unfortunately been in an accident and they didn’t make it. I’m sorry, little one. But don’t worry. As long as you are with me, you won’t face the dangers of the outside world. I’ll protect you.”

The unicorn gave a warm grin and Cozy felt a tiny bit more comfortable, despite her condition. She gave a look at her surroundings to find herself in the back corner of a cavernous room, inside a cage with the door still open. Her cage was on top of a pedestal, propping her up to almost eye level with the robed unicorn. Around her, the room was basically empty, light only illuminating the center of the room, revealing nothing but random chairs everywhere and other pedestals along with empty cages.

“Mr. Pent? Why am I here?”

“I already told you. It’s because there is no one to watch over you so I’ll take it upon myself to do that.”

“I mean, why am I in a cage?”

“Oh, that’s for precautionary measures.”

“Is there something dangerous in this room?”

“Well yes, yes there is. And I don’t think you want to upset him.”

Cozy’s eyebrows raised as she pulled her head back closer to her body like a turtle hiding in its shell.

“But as long as you are secure here, there’s no chance of that happening.”

“But I don’t want to be here,” Cozy teared up. “I want to go home.”

Pent’s solemn expression fell into an unamused look as his horn began to glow red again, causing Cozy to cower away in the back corner of her roomy cage. The door to her prison also began to illuminate in the same aura color, shutting with great force and rattling the cage.

Cozy flinched in fear as the unicorn stared at her in disapproval through the minuscule openings of the cage.

“All in good time, Cozy Glow. Soon, you’ll see this as your home, and you’ll be satisfied. Perhaps a little time getting used to the scenery will get your mind used to things. I will return tomorrow to check on you.”

Cozy blinked hard, realizing that she was about to be left alone. She flew to the front of her cage to the door, gripping the bars tightly. “Wait, please don’t go! I don’t want to be alone!”

“I’ll be back, little one,” Pent said as he began opening the door that was on the far side of the open room. He turned back to give one last look to the trapped salmon-colored filly. “You just get accustomed.”

Cozy screamed as he walked through the door, but in a matter of seconds, she was in solitude.

She cried at her new position, trapped in a cage and nopony knew about her. Normally, she would wait for help, but she knew that it would never come. If she was going to escape this monster, she had to take matters into her own hooves.

She looked to her nearest surroundings to see if she could spot anything that might be able to help her. She was in the very back of the room, near the wall, but as she looked, she noticed different sharp sections of the wall peeking out like a cave’s sides would be. Maybe if she could break off a piece, she’d be able to cut through one of the bars to her cage. She stretched out a hoof through the tiny openings of her cell, reaching out to the wall, but it was just out of reach.

She huffed before getting her next idea. Noticing that all the small openings in her cage were varying sizes, she set out to find an opening that might be big enough for her. She found one in the cage door itself that was facing the open section of the room and she tried reaching one hoof through. Her head pressed against the top of the cage, making her realize that it wouldn’t work if her hooves went first. With a deep breath, she peeked the tip of her head out of the opening, pressing forcefully in hopes that the bars would be flexible and move out of her way, but no such luck. After long intervals of pain, she finally called that method a lost cause.

The moment she flew back to the back of the cage, it rattled on its pedestal from the sudden force. She had gotten her final idea. If she was able to knock it off its pedestal, maybe she’d be able to break part of the cage to create an opening for escape. She took a deep breath before she made her attempt. Hit the back of the cage and then hit the front, sounds easy enough. With a look of weak determination, she hit the front of the cage, causing the pedestal to rattle forward slightly. On its return trip back, Cozy hit the back of the cage with added force, causing the pedestal to increase its speed. With one more hit left to go, she zoomed ahead at top speed, aiming straight for the door for her last push of effort.

The collision immediately dazed her and the pedestal froze at an angle, indeterminate of whether to rock back or completely fall. Finally, its decision was made, and it completely collapsed to the floor with Cozy’s head still doing loops from the hit. Without being able to prepare herself for the impact, the cage fell to the floor, causing her head to hit against the side with great force and knock her out cold in the process.

She stirred awake to heavy breathing that was not her own. Her first sight was that of the red eyes of an angry unicorn glaring at her through the cage that was now back on its pedestal.

“Good morning, Cozy Glow,” Pent said with no hint of sympathy.

Cozy squeaked back in fear. “I-I’m sorry, sir.”

“And to think I was going to give you food today.”

Cozy gasped as she felt her stomach growl.

“Yes, I can tell you’re hungry, Cozy. But food is for members of this household and you can’t be a member here if you are trying to leave. But I don’t hold grudges though. I’d like to know more about you, little one.”

Cozy steadied her heart rate before answering. “What would you like to know?”

“Well, how old you are for starters. Maybe your life before all this as well. What you’re good at.”

Cozy glanced down at her blank flank. “I don’t know what I’m good at, but I’m hoping to find out soon.”

“Hmm, and what’s your age, young one?”

“Um, I’m 8 and a half years old, sir.”

Pent looked away in thought without turning his head. “Same age as her.”

Cozy tilted her head in confusion. “Her?”

Immediately, Cozy’s eyes widened in fear that she might have crossed a line and Pent regarded her furiously, but the look of terror on Cozy’s face lit up Pent’s mood a bit.

Finally Pent took a deep breath. “She was my daughter. I raised her with my wife and things were grand. Oh, they were something. I loved them both, but I wanted to go a new direction with teaching the little filly something. She would’ve benefited from it tenfold but my wife was disapproving of it, preventing me from helping our daughter in protecting herself. So I thought that one day, I’d show my wife just how important the lessons could be, and it would teach her to be ready for anything, but it didn’t go the way I was hoping it would and I lost her. I couldn’t let my daughter see what had come of her mother so I hid her away. She kept asking so many questions as to what happened to her mother. I kept this a secret from her of course. Fillies should not be exposed to such dark elements . . . most fillies, but I didn’t do a good job at it. When she saw what I did, she fled. The last thing I had of her was a note, calling me a monster and telling me that she would go to the Equestrian Police Force. Maybe if I had raised her correctly, she would have actually followed through on that threat.”

Cozy wiped a tear from her eye. “Maybe - maybe you can find her again?”

Pent regarded Cozy hopelessly. “Unlikely. She’s been gone for two years. She could be anywhere in Equestria by now. She’s probably dead because I never got a chance to teach her what I know.”

“You don’t know that though, Mr. Pent,” Cozy said, trying to sound hopeful. “I could help you and we’d-.”

“Wait, you’re trying to get out again. You don’t mean anything you say.”

Cozy tensed a tiny bit. “But I do-.”

Pent, with one quick motion, slammed both hooves on each side of the cage with great force, causing it to shake violently for a split-second. “You’re not getting out of here, Cozy Glow. Accept that.”

Pent released his hooves and began to turn back towards the door and this time, Cozy was silent during his entire retreat.

The next day rolled around and Pent returned to the room to a sleepless and starving Cozy.

Pent smiled down at her. “Are you going to be difficult again today?”

Cozy stared up at Pent with tired eyes.

Pent spoke again. “You do want food, right?”

Cozy began to breath harder in the cage. She didn’t think she would be able to survive much longer without food. Eventually, she gave Pent a broken nod.

“Good, but we’ll have to wait and see for sure if you’re going to be good or not. I didn’t get to hear much of you yesterday. What else is there to tell about you?”

Cozy rubbed her eyes. “There is nothing.”

Pent frowned.

Cozy was on the fine line between trying to survive and dying nobly. Either way, she wanted answers.

“How did you find me?” Cozy asked.

Pent was stunned before he understood. “I followed you from Trottingham. I’ve been waiting for a while, but there were a lot of ponies who knew your parents back in that city. I knew the perfect time was when you moved so there wouldn’t be anypony who was aware that you were gone when you arrived here.”

Cozy looked up to Pent in a mixture of anger and sadness. “Why me?”

Pent narrowed his eyes in confusion until Cozy continued.

“Why did you choose me instead of some other unfortunate filly?”

Pent’s face returned to his natural, unamused face. “You remind me of my daughter. You’re the same age, same pony race, different hairstyle though, but we can fix that easily-.”

“No!” Cozy screamed. Whatever self preservation she had left was replaced with her anger. “My mother did this for me! It’s the last thing I have left of her.” Cozy began to sob.

“Oh, it’s okay, Cozy. We can make new memories together.”

“I don’t want memories with you. I want my parents back!”

Pent huffed. “Maybe you’ll be more at peace tomorrow then.”

Pent turned to leave again, causing Cozy to quickly try and think of something.

“Wait!” Cozy called out. “Don’t leave me again; I won’t be difficult.”

Pent halted at the door, returning his gaze back to Cozy, causing her to quickly try and think of something, anything that would make it so Pent wouldn’t leave.

Finally, she spoke. “I’m really bored in here, Mr. Pent. Do you have anything I can do?”

On any necessity, Pent would’ve declined, but his interest was piqued at the idea of something.

“Very well, Cozy Glow. I will get something.”

Pent left but returned moments later with a box of some sorts. “Have you ever played chess, Ms. Glow?”

Cozy nodded weakly. “Yeah, I’m pretty good at it.”

“Then you know that it’s the most intellectually stimulating game there is.”

Pent uncovered the box to reveal the chess pieces inside, but they appeared to look homemade, and, for some reason, very shiny.

“Why do they look like that?” Cozy asked.

“You like them? I made them myself. There are all the normal pieces of chess but they’re all extra sturdy and each of them have blades on them. The Horse is like a scimitar. The Rook has each of its castle pieces extra sharp. The King is just two small knives crossed on a stick.”

Cozy was stunned at such a dangerous feature. “Why are they all like that?”

“Well, it’s just so funny when somepony isn’t paying attention and they cut themselves on these.”

Pent nearly finished setting up all the pieces, but he appeared to be missing one. He looked around in the box but it was gone. Finally, he stopped himself in realization and reached inside his robe to pull out the White King piece that appeared to be stained with some sort of red liquid.

Cozy held her expressions when she realized what had happened to it.

“Do you know what my favorite chess piece is?” Pent asked. “It’s the rook. Do you know why? Because it’s a powerful piece but not too powerful. Now, most creatures would pick the queen as their favorite because it’s the most powerful piece on the board, but what they don’t realize is that the queen is under constant surveillance. The queen can never get to do its job that easily because the opponent never forgets that it is a threat. The opponent will continue to counterplay the queen, making sure it can never do the harm that it has the potential to do. But what they fail to remember is that the rook is also there, almost just as much of a threat as the queen is, but because it is not quite as powerful, it is sometimes overlooked. This leaves for the possibility of the rook coming out of the blue and no one realizing that it’s a threat until it’s too late. That’s why it’s my favorite.” Pent finished setting up all the pieces. “Now would you like to be the white pieces or the brown pieces.”

“The white pieces, please.” Cozy said.

“Where would you like your first piece to move?”

“Um, wouldn’t it be better if I move the pieces myself?”

“No, I can do that for you,” Pent declined.

“But you said it yourself. It’s more fun if the player cuts themselves. You wouldn’t want to play a game if you aren’t experiencing the top level of fun, right?”

Pent stared in thought for a moment. “Very well. I guess the game is more interactive if there are actually two ponies playing it.”

Pent proceeded to begin unlocking Cozy’s cage. She gave Pent an innocent look throughout the whole process of opening it, but as soon as the cage opened, adrenaline kicked in and Cozy’s smile turned to a vicious glare.

She immediately lunged out of the cage in efforts of aiming for the door, but her sleep deprivation messed with her coordination, causing her to ram right into Pent’s side, catching him off guard. Pent got up, but before he could turn around, Cozy rushed behind one of the many chairs around the room, trying to hide herself.

“I can hear you!” Pent yelled as the chair Cozy was hiding behind lit up in a red aura and began to levitate upwards.

Cozy screamed and jumped to the door but before she could reach it, Pent’s magic aura wrapped around her waist and pulled her back with great force. Cozy screamed in desperation and tried clawing at the invisible force but to no avail. Pent’s smirk became more extreme as his magic became stronger and began pulling Cozy back with additional speed. Realizing she couldn’t get out of the grip, Cozy turned her body and bared her hoof, using the acceleration from Pent’s magic for additional strength to punch him.

She landed over the chess board, scraping her stomach over the serrated chess pieces. Cozy managed a yelp before Pent turned his attention back towards Cozy. Instead of using magic to grab her, Pent lost his patience and slammed his hooves down on Cozy’s back hind leg, causing a slight crack to be heard.

Cozy screamed in agony as Pent’s horn began to glow again, wrapping Cozy in his magic once more. With one last idea, Cozy quickly reached down to grab the nearest chess piece. In a fraction of a second, Cozy wrapped her hoof around a rook and slashed it across Pent’s cheek, stunning the gray unicorn and causing a deep cut but freeing the rook from the wound. Cozy clenched her saving grace in her hoof and proceeded to the door, flying at full speed as Pent screamed behind her.

From behind her, she could hear Pent bellow. “I will find you!”

That line made Cozy tense up and fly even faster than she ever could before, zooming through the cold snow without stopping.

After minutes of flying, Cozy’s adrenaline finally stopped and she could feel the full pain of what had just happened to her. She stopped flying and landed on the ground, unable to move her back hoof from where Pent had hit her.

Looking at her injuries, she realized that she was bleeding from her stomach from where the chess pieces had gashed her, not too much to cause any form of trail though. Thank Celestia for that. Not only for making sure Pent didn’t follow her but she knew that if she lost that much blood, she probably wouldn’t be able to even survive for much longer.

Cozy looked down at the chess piece she still had clenched in her hoof. She hadn’t even realized how hard she had been gripping onto it because it had caused a deep cut in her hoof from the sharp section of it. Cozy tried letting go, but the cut was so deep that it stuck in her hoof.

She finally felt the full pain of what had just happened to her. She tried to continue flying, but she was too tired. She hadn’t had water in two days, and she didn’t seem to be traveling anywhere. She lay in the snow that was now covering half of her from when she first stopped.

This is it, she thought.

Her eyes began closing as the pain became unbearable. She tried reaching out her hoof to go on, but it just fell into the snow lifelessly. She looked around at the sight around her, realizing that this will be the last thing she’ll ever see.

As her eyes began to close, she caught a glimpse of a bright light in the night, surrounding her for a small increment of time. A wagon was quick to arrive on the scene a few moments later.

“The giant light came from this direction,” a female voice said. “Oh dear Celestia. I think I found something . . . or someone . . .”

Cozy looked up at a white pegasus staring down at her. She was the last thing she saw before passing out.

Excerpt 3

Excerpt 3:

Beep. Beep.

The sound of a heart rate monitor woke Cozy up. Her eyes fluttered open before confusion set in.

“Mom? Dad?” she called out.

Cozy glanced around at her surroundings, unaware of her current location. She was lying in a bed hooked up to some form of machine beside her. Light shone in through a window to her left, and she squinted her eyes from the brightness, staring out at what seemed to be a city of sorts. Her bed was at the front of the room, only taking up a quarter of the space inside the room and to her right was a closed door.

Her eyes wandered down and she caught sight of the bandages over her right hoof. In a flash, the memories came back to her all at once, causing her to gasp for air. She immediately felt the panic again and she brought her hoof closer to her face to see where her rook should’ve been. Instead of seeing her saving grace, it was just replaced with bandages.

“No . . .,” Cozy denied, getting more panicked as she tore off her bandages.

From beside her, the heart rate monitor started beeping louder, becoming more and more frequent with each passing second.

“No, where is it!”

The heart rate monitor was beeping several times a second when the door finally opened. In trotted an earth pony stallion followed by a young, white pegasus.

The white pegasus rushed to Cozy’s side. “Okay, calm down. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Cozy regressed back to the far end of her bed away from the white pegasus. She was able to steady her breathing, but she still stared skeptically at the two ponies.

The white pegasus smiled at Cozy and lifted her chin up, her red hair bouncing momentarily. “It’s okay. There’s nobody that’s going to hurt you. I’m here to help. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Cozy gulped before glancing back at her right hoof. It was perfectly healed without the bandages. “Do you know where my castle is?”

“Castle?” the young pegasus repeated before gasping. “Oh my Celestia, are you a princess where you come from?” She looked Cozy up and down. “Hmm, no. You’d have a horn if you were a princess so that’s out of the question.” The pegasus turned towards the stallion. “What’s another name for a ruler, Dr. Degree?”

The adult earth pony rolled his eyes. “Shouldn’t it be obvious?”

The filly stared in confusion for a moment before her eyes lit up. “Oh right, it should’ve been my first guess!” She returned her gaze back to Cozy inquisitively. “Are you an empress?”

Cozy lowered her eyebrows in deep thought, admiring the title.

“It’s a name given to the pony of a great deal of land,” the filly informed. “At least it should be, but the leader here uses that title loosely. Don’t tell him I said that though.”

Cozy shook her head to get back on track. “I’m looking for a chess piece.”

“A castle chess piece? You mean a rook? Does it look like that?” The young filly pointed down to Cozy’s flank.

Cozy hadn’t even realized the change in her appearance. When she looked down, she saw the sight of a rook that looked exactly like the piece she had taken from Pent’s domain on her thigh.

What happened to it? Cozy thought. Why does it look like that?

Cozy reached down to it, but her hooves hit against her skin. She tried again at the two-dimensional picture before she finally realized.

“I’ve got to say, that’s a cool cutiemark,” the pegasus admired. “Makes me wish I got mine already.”

“Are you two done?” Dr. Degree intervened. “Thank you. Okay, we were very concerned when we found you last week. You were suffering from dehydration and multiple injuries. You had a slight fracture on your leg, multiple cuts on your stomach and a sliced up hoof.”

Cozy blinked and widened her eyes at the information. “Did you just say ‘last week?’”

“I’m afraid so, but I’m happy to report that after your long, um, nap, that your vitals are perfectly normal. You have no infections and you just needed to be patched up. Assistant Nurse Troth will be looking after you until you’re fully back on your hooves.”

From beside Dr. Degree, the white pegasus beamed excitedly. “Hello! I’m Nurse Troth and I’m here to help!”

It took Cozy a second to fully grasp the situation. “Troth?” she repeated in confusion at the red-maned pegasus. “And you’re a nurse?”

“You’re darn tootin right I am! I’m the youngest nurse in this community at ten-years old. Others said I couldn’t do it but I proved them wrong.”

Cozy held her head, trying to process all the information. “Did you say ‘community?’ Where am I?”

“You’re in the best place in all of Equestria! Everybody’s saving grace. Founded by Emperor Contume, this community, built by the non ponies, has been a refuge for any creature that seeks residence. They’re welcome to stay as long as they want. You’re gonna love it here . . . um, what’s your name?”

Cozy took a deep breath and spoke with reluctance. “My name is . . . Cozy Glow.”

“Well, Cozy - can I call you Cozy?”

“Oh, um, yes, of course.”

“Well, Cozy, I welcome you here. I’ll be sticking by your side until you feel comfortable enough to be on your own. You should totally come hangout with me and my friend Lenia! She’s super awesome and it would be nice to hangout like three actual friends. We can all have lunch together.”

The thought of food reminded Cozy of her hungry days, and she instinctively agreed.

Troth raised her hooves in the air in excitement. “Awesome! Lunch is just after the town meeting that Emperor Contume has planned for today. Something about a villain threatening Equestria. You can go to that with me if you want.”

“Um, Troth?” Dr. Degree intervened. “Don’t forget that she still has to sign out of the hospital first before she goes. Maybe just let her rest for now.”

“Wait,” Cozy began. “I think I’m okay enough to go.”

“Sweet,” Troth cheered. “It’s great to have another pegasus to hang out with rather than being stuck with Lenia’s three friends.”

“Before you leave, Ms. Glow, you’ll have to sign something to show that you left,” Dr. Degree informed.

“Oh, golly, I don’t usually sign things. Usually it’s my par-.” Cozy stopped herself at the memory.

“So is that a yes?”

Cozy was silent until Troth cut in. “I can sign for her.”

“Oh, but it has to be Ms. Glow or a family extension.”

“Well, if I’m the one looking after her, doesn’t that stretch the extension to me?”

Dr. Degree stared skeptically at Troth. “I’ll have to hear audible surrender from Ms. Glow that she is voluntarily letting you do this.”

Troth turned to Cozy with a look of anticipation, and Cozy gave a deep breath before complying.

“I, uh, allow Nurse Troth to sign my . . . what is it? A release form?”

“That’s good enough,” Dr. Degree said, retrieving the paper slip with the ink container.

Troth cheered before dunking her hoof in the ink container and pressing it against the paper.

Dr. Degree disconnected Cozy from the machine, and Troth smiled at her excitedly. “Come on.”

“Don't forget your free take-home bag.” The doctor held out a saddle-bag towards Cozy. “Each patient gets one free their first visit.”

Cozy regarded the saddle-bag in apprehension before she glanced at Troth’s approving face, encouraging her to accept it. Cozy nodded in appreciation before exiting with her pegasus companion down a corridor.

When they were a safe distance away, Cozy turned to Troth. “Wait, that’s just it? I didn’t need to pay for anything?”

“Oh, not at all,” Troth replied. “Here, Emperor Contume has made it so all medical bills from ponies are all paid for. He really is something.”

“Wow, so nopony has to pay?”

“Well no pony does, but the other creatures here still do. The hospitals need to maintain cost expenses somehow.”

“What other creatures are there?”

“Yaks, griffons, dragons, diamond dogs. I hear Lenia has a pleasant story about a diamond dog that defended her. Haven’t heard the story yet though. Oh yes, and there’s even been a changeling here once too.”

Cozy’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? What did it do?”

“Oh, it just got a good meal, slept here a couple of nights, made acquaintances with some of the other creatures. We couldn’t tell Emperor Contume though because he would have never let him stay so his presence was kept a secret from the guards and everyone involved with them.”

“And you trusted him?”

“Well, we were skeptical at first but he made it known that he had no bad intentions and wasn’t involved in anything the Queen was doing. We couldn’t just cast him out on his own, but I’m glad we let him stay. He was very friendly. He’s off on his merry way now and I hope he’s doing well. Now come on. We’re already late for the town meeting.”

Excerpt 4

Excerpt 4:

“Wait up,” Cozy called out to the white pegasus rushing in front of her down the city. “You’re too fast.”

“Why so slow?” Troth asked as she proceeded to a grand building.

“Oh my gosh, where are we now?” Cozy examined the colossal building ahead of her, too distracted to notice that Troth had already stopped, resulting in a 2-mare pileup.

”Oopsie,” Cozy flushed. “Sorry.”

Troth giggled before examining the building as well. “Isn’t it a sight? Town Hall was one of the first buildings created here, and it was designed to last through anything. Now, thanks to the leader here, we all can too. Let’s hurry up. I didn’t think we’d be able to get to hear the conference today, but I think we might just make it.”

The two pegasi walked through the door where the sound of a speaker soon accompanied them through a dark hallway. Cozy winced her eyes slightly at the bright light at the end of the hall, but Troth was unaffected, remaining giddy throughout.

“Get ready for the best communicator you’ve ever seen in your short life.”

The two finally emerged into the light to find themselves in a colossal room, completely filled with ponies cheering. Cozy looked around to the seats within her surroundings to notice the equines.

“Wow . . .” Cozy admired. “I’ve never seen so many ponies. But where are the other creatures that you talked about?”

“They sit elsewhere. Security mandates it for safety.” Troth looked around, hoping to locate a place to sit down, but the excessive population forced her to just stand where she was.

Cozy followed suit, trying to listen in to what the speaker was saying.

On the stage in the center of the room stood a blue unicorn dressed in all purple attire. The sight of another unicorn made Cozy shudder, but she took comfort in the distance she had from him, making her well enough to listen.

“. . . And it's not looking good,” the unicorn was saying. “The princesses of Equestria have all lost their magic and the Equestrian Defense Force has been dealt with like flies. Ponies everywhere have been losing their cutiemarks, losing their magic, and losing their ability to fly. It's especially times like this that this community should be secret, completely closed off from the rest of Equestria to make sure that we are all safe. Without anypony knowing about this place, we are completely separate from any harms that Equestria might encounter. And I plan to make sure this beautiful city we've built up stays safe for as long as possible, especially from the current threat of Lord Tirek.”

The entire crowd cheered, causing Cozy to cover her ears from the loudness.

“Yes! I, Emperor Contume, will do everything in my power to keep you all safe. Goodnight, everypony and Celestia bless.” He spoke his words despite the fact that there were more than just ponies in the crowd, and with that note, the royally dressed unicorn trotted off stage into the darkness.

“Was that all?” Cozy asked.

“No, we missed most of the speech because we were late,” Troth said. “But you did hear a good part of it. What did you think? Isn't he a great speaker?”

“I guess I just have one question: who's this bored Turkey?”

“Tirek,” Troth corrected. “He's this evil Centaur being with the power to drain magic.”

“Magic’s annoying.”

“He also steals pegasus flight.”

Cozy glanced at her wings; she did appreciate flying. “That is kind of scary.”

“Well don't worry. Emperor Contume is going to keep us all safe. Let's go meet Lenia at the Hayburger and get our minds off this.”

The two pegasi barely flew for a minute out of Town Hall before Cozy’s stomach growled.

“How much longer is it away?” She asked.

“Be patient, Cozy,” Troth answered. “Patience is the key to success.”

It only took that one sentence to shut Cozy up for the rest of the fly.

From in front, Troth adjusted her flying angle to lower herself towards the ground, moving closer and closer to a restaurant. “Lenia should already be here. She's usually excused from going to the town meetings.” Troth scanned the front of the restaurant multiple times as if shopping for a nonexistent product. “That's strange. This morning, I told her to meet me here.”

Cozy followed Troth as she led the way inside the Hayburger, heading straight towards an employee as if she were on a mission.

“Hello, excuse me, good sir,” the white pegasus began. “Have you seen a small, 9-year old, light-green earth pony with no cutie mark come inside here recently?”

“Yes, she arrived here about 10 minutes ago,” the employee replied. “Are you two with her?”

“Yes. I was supposed to meet her out front, but she's already seated so is it okay if I can just go find her?”

“Go right ahead, Ms.”

Troth proceeded forward, but Cozy stopped for a moment, facing the employee. “Thankyou,” she said positively, knowing the routine she's always been taught before turning to follow Troth again.

When Cozy’s eyes returned to the other pegasus, she caught a glimpse of her standing next to a nearby table in front of the pony that matched the description Troth had listed. She was sitting on one side of a booth while three creatures - a griffon, a dragon, and a yak - sat on the other side.

“Lenia?” Troth began. “What's this? I thought that we were going to hang out.”

“Oh, right, yeah,” the green earth pony answered cautiously. “We still can. Um, I thought that maybe I’d invite my friends. I mean, my other friends . . . and we could hang out . . . like friends . . .”

Troth regarded Lenia with subtle disappointment before her mood finally lit up. “Okay, well I brought a friend too. Everypony, meet Cozy Glow, also known as Cozy.”

Cozy trotted towards the table carefully and uncomfortably waved her hoof before she was cut short by the yak.

“Ooh, yak like pink pony’s flank.”

Cozy immediately put down her hoof and shied away.

“Shut up, Droll!” the griffon scolded. “You're 13 and she's, like, 6, you weirdo.”

“No, no. Yak mean pink pony’s cutiemark is cool. Rook piece is best chess piece. Yak knows because yaks best at chess! Yak call pony Rookie now.”

The griffon rolled his eyes in annoyance before he turned to Cozy. “Disregard Droll. His jokes are almost as much of a waste of time as he is. The name’s Candid. I'm not sure if you're worth my time either, but I'll give you a chance.”

Candid reached out his claw to greet Cozy to which Cozy backed up just out of reach of him. Despite the griffon’s somewhat friendly greeting, Cozy remembered the stories her parents told her of what griffons could be like. She could not escape the thought that she shouldn't be accepting anything from him, not even something as small as a shake.

Candid’s arm fell to the ground in disapproval. “What? You think I'm gonna jump out at you or something?”

Cozy looked away in guilt, but decided to stick to her decisions without saying anything more regarding the matter. She felt way too uncomfortable with the situation, wanting nothing more than to get away. Finally, she thought of an excuse to help her leave.

“Oh no, I don't have any bits. I can't pay for anything here.”

Candid humpfed. “Good riddens.”

“Oh, nonsense,” the dragon said, completely ignoring Candid. “You can just have some bits from me.” From a bag similar to Cozy’s, the white dragon pulled out an excessive amount of bits, handing them over to Cozy. “My name’s Opul.”

“Isn't she great?” Lenia whispered to Cozy.

Cozy regarded the bits in absolute confusion. Finally, she reached out a hoof to accept the bits, pocketing them in her saddle-bag before thanking her in an uncomfortable tone.

Opul tilted her head in confusion. “Is there something bothering you?”

“Maybe Dragon bothering pony,” Droll said.

“Shut up, Droll!” exclaimed Candid.

Cozy forced her eyes to meet Opul’s. It took her a second to give the dragon an answer. “Um, well I've always heard of dragons taking and taking. I've never seen a dragon give anything except dirty looks.”

“Oh, here we go again,” complained Candid.

“No, it's okay,” Opul reassured. “There aren't many white dragons where I came from and that's because they kicked white dragons out. My parents were able to hide me when I was born but the truth was revealed by the time I turned 3 and I was kicked out to live on my own. I would've died out there - I should've died out there - but I met a small creature that helped me. His openhandedness provided me with gems and saved my life. And then -.” Opul stopped for a moment, subduing a thought in her mind before continuing.” 11 years later and I’m still alright.”

“Blah blah blah,” Candid started. “Nobody cares about backstories.”

“Candid not right,” Droll cut in. “Yak know of many that like to hear that.”

“Since when do you have anything valuable to offer?” Candid shot back.

“Hey,” Lenia said quietly. “We’re all friends here. Can we calm down a little bit?”

“I am calm. It’s just Droll keeps on offering pointless statements. What’s he know besides how to roll around in mud?”

“Droll no roll around in mud. Yak fur naturally brown.”

“Right, and the reason my fur is orange is because I dye it every morning,” Candid said. “It’s all a bunch of fertilizer."

The arguments from the two non-ponies was beginning to make Cozy more uneasy. She sank back from the table, worried about whatever violence she was about to see.

Candid continued. “Just like when the guards told me that I’d get my belongings back eventually when I first got here.”

Instantly, Cozy’s interest sparked and she approached the table again. “Wait, did you say something was taken?”

“Stay in your own conversation, Cozy,” Candid scolded. “Rude of you to interrupt.”

Cozy looked away, ashamed, before she remembered the second rule she learned. Stand up for yourself.

“Hey,” Cozy’s voice quivered. “You - you shouldn’t talk like that.”

Lenia tensed as she turned her attention to the orange griffon.

Candid harshly stared down at the pink filly. “Wow, you really are a kid.”

Cozy broke eye contact before remembering what she wanted. Finally, she spoke with as much confidence as she could summon, taking a quick deep breath.

“You said that you had items taken from you when you got here. Do you know where they went?”

“The same place where all the other items go.”

“Droll miss family picture,” the yak chimed in.

“My pet was taken from me when I got here,” Opul said.

“I lost my camera when I got here,” Troth added.

“I didn't have anything when I got here,” Lenia said. Everyone at the table directed their attention to her. “. . . Sorry.”

Instantly, Cozy was reminded of her run for Student Pony President, and she subtly smiled to herself as she developed a plan. “We don't have to be without these items for much longer. If we go to where the items are being held, we can go and get them back ourselves.”

“I don't know,” Lenia said. “That sounds risky.”

“And exciting!” Troth cheered. “Count me in.”

“Droll do anything to get family picture back,” Droll admitted.

“I miss my friend,” Opul said.

“It doesn't have to be this way though,” Cozy said, filling the room with hope. “If the guards were going to give them back to us, they would've done it already. We need to take action, and we can do this tonight when we sneak over to reclaim what's ours.”

“Only one problem with that,” Candid announced. “We’re all just kids, and we would be sneaking in to Emperor Contume’s storage room. There are strict rules here, especially on nonponies, and one of them has to do with curfew. I mean, I'm the oldest one here at 15, and even I'm still too young to be wandering around at night.”

“That's why we sneak around so nopony can see us. With the amount of ponies I've seen here already, I'm sure this Emperor Whatnot won't notice 5 things missing.”

Opul started to become more hopeful as she smiled and nodded. “I'm in.”

The rest of the group agreed except for one silent Lenia.

“B-but” Lenia stuttered, “what would I be there for? It just sounds scary.”

“The more the merrier,” Troth said, smiling at Cozy.

It took 5 sets of eyes staring at Lenia for her to finally submit. “Okay fine . . .”

“Perfect,” Cozy cheered. “Troth, come with me.” Cozy left the table as Troth followed her out.

“Okay, how many do we have here?” a waitress asked, trotting up to the table with a clipboard. “What will it be today?”

Opul looked up in frustration. “Little bitch took my bits.”

Excerpt 6

Excerpt 6:

“Where Rookie and Troth?” Droll asked.

“They probably ditched because they were too scared,” speculated Candid.

“Well, it was her idea to be here,” Opul said.

“Yes,” Lenia chimed in. “We should wait a little bit longer. I’m sure they’ll be here any moment.”

As if on cue, Cozy and Troth ran onto the scene.

“Sorry we’re late,” Troth began.

Lenia straightened up, beaming at the white pegasus. “Troth, you made it!”

The three non-ponies immediately shushed the poor earth pony, causing Lenia to look away in shame.

Cozy and Troth exchanged disapproving looks, but remained silent on the matter.

Cozy scanned the castle-looking building. “Where exactly is here-.”

Lenia raised her eyebrows and smiled as if struck with an answer but froze, her uncomfortable look returning to leave her in silence.

Candid rolled his eyes, opening his mouth before getting cut off by the pink pony.

“-Lenia?” Cozy finished.

For a brief moment, the light-green pony was surprised, but her expression immediately turned into an appreciative smile. “This is Emperor Contume’s palace. He had it built for him by non-ponies when this community was first established, which my parents still won’t admit is kind of wrong. This is where I see random items taken from time to time. If there’s any place where the belongings will be, it’s here.”

From behind, Droll was messing with some black costume, catching Troth’s eye. “What - what is that?”

“Those are the suits we’re going to wear,” answered Candid.

“Why do we need suits?”

“Haven’t you ever done espionage before?” Candid rolled his eyes in a condescending manner. “If we’re going to be sneaking through this place, we can’t afford to be caught. Bad things happen to those who get caught. So to make sure that doesn’t happen, we each brought dark suits. Even some for you and the infant.”

Cozy widened her eyes before frowning, holding her tongue.

“Besides,” Candid continued, “you can’t expect someone like Opul being able to sneak around looking brighter than Celestia.”

“Blasphemy,” Droll said in a playful tone.

“Har-har,” Opul faked laughed as a subtle smile spread across her face. “Can I have my suit now?”

“Can you?” Candid asked as he held the suit up high over Opul’s head. “Can you reach it?”

Opul stared up at the out-of-reach suit before smirking and narrowing her eyes in determination. She reached up, her claws barely touching the suit but still not able to get a grip on it.

Candid gave an amused smile to the dragon’s attempts before his eyes landed on Cozy’s judgmental stare. Immediately, his face returned to its serious tone as he handed Opul her suit, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Cozy leaned over to whisper to Troth. “Gross.”

Candid passed the suits to Lenia and Troth as Cozy waited patiently for hers. After a long pause of no suits being dished out, Cozy finally asked.

“Didn’t you say there was a suit for me?”

Candid regarded Cozy doubtfully. “Well, I just figured you’re probably too young for something like this.”

Cozy was unamused. “I’ve been through way worse.”

“Yes, but you haven’t had to deal with a bloodthirsty unicorn yet, have you?”

Cozy widened her eyes in anger, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by Lenia handing her the black suit.

“It’s a perfect fit for your size.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cozy asked Lenia while suiting up.

“Oh, um, it’s - it’s nothing. I’m sorry.”

Cozy regarded Lenia in regret, feeling bad that she might have offended the earth pony. Before she could say anything, Opul spoke.

“Are we ready?”

Candid stared coldly into Cozy’s eyes. “I don’t know. Are we ready? Since this was your idea, Cozy.”

Cozy took a deep breath before thinking of what to say. “Oh, don’t worry, Candid.” Cozy began moving to the front of the group. “I know you’re terrified and that’s why you’re looking to me.”

“What? No-.”

“Come on, everypony,” Cozy said, completely disregarding the fact that there were more than just ponies present. “The night won’t last forever.”

The six of them stopped at the walls of the palace.

Candid smirked. “Well, Cozy. Show us what’s in that little brain of yours by telling us how we’re supposed to get in.”

Cozy’s eyes met Candid’s. She recalled the second rule for interacting with others which was to stand up for herself, yet she still didn’t know exactly how she was supposed to do this.

Finally, Troth spoke up, pointing upwards in the direction of a window that was isolated from the rest. “Up there. Last time I was here, I was able to leave a window open in case I ever wanted to try and get back my camera.”

Cozy’s face lit up slightly. “Perfect. We’ll enter through there.”

“Yeah, problem,” Droll began. “Earth pony and yak no have wings.”

“See?” Candid said. “You’re not even smart enough to think things through fully.”

How can I stand up for myself? Cozy thought. By being rude back.

“Troth, you can carry Lenia up there,” Cozy planned. “Eagle face over here and Oppai-.”

“Opul,” the white dragon corrected.

“That’s what I said. You two can carry Droll.”

“Good idea, Cozy,” Troth praised.

Cozy smiled and gave Troth a nod before flying up to the window that Troth had designated. Upon arriving, she opened it up slowly, maneuvering her way through the frame as to cause as little noise as possible.

Her efforts were soon thwarted when Candid and Opul brought Droll up. Immediately after he arrived at the window sill, he tripped, crashing through and thudding on the floor.

Cozy glared at the yak.

“Hehe,” Droll blushed. “Yak sorry.”

Cozy closed her eyes to listen for movement within and beyond the dark room.

“It’s okay,” Lenia reassured. “This is one of the abandoned rooms reserved for newcomers. It hasn’t been used in years. Nopony should have heard.”

Cozy approached the door of the room, beckoning for the others to come closer. She slowly pried the door open, peeking around for potential dangers, but the only thing she saw was an empty corridor filled with doors.

“This is going to be harder than I thought,” Cozy whispered.

“What’s the matter?” Candid said. “Don’t know what to do?”

“You’re not helping. Does anyone know where to find the room?”

“Lenia does,” Opul said. “She comes here on a daily basis. She should have a general sense of where everything is.”

“It’s true,” Lenia confirmed. “I have a good idea on where we’re going. The first place we should go to should be at the 4th door in this corridor on the right. ”

Cozy nodded before returning to look through the door, trying to think of how things were going to happen. She knew Lenia had to go first to lead the way, but she was worried that all of them together would be too risky and one at a time would be too slow.

“Okay, we go by twos to the designated door,” Cozy schemed. “First Lenia and me. Then Opul and Droll. And then Troth and Candid.”

Candid rolled his eyes, but Lenia nodded, leading the way down the hallway as Cozy followed. The two ponies walked quietly down the hallway, being as careful as they could be.

Okay, by the time we get to the door, the next two should begin.

Cozy’s thoughts were contradicted when she looked back halfway to her destination to see Droll and Opul already out in the hallway. Cozy widened her eyes in concern, vigorously pointing back towards the starting room.

From across the hallway, Cozy could see Droll trembling in fear, but immediately when Droll caught sight of Cozy’s signals, he turned back with tremendous speed, knocking into Opul and causing her to collapse on the floor.

The collision sent an echo down the hall, causing Troth to cover her mouth from fear. Immediately when the echo stopped, the sound of multiple doors opening up filled the silence. Instinctively, Cozy grabbed Lenia and rushed into the nearest door that was not opening up.

The pink filly stared out of the door slightly to catch sight of a dozen guards with firefly lanterns marching down the corridor. Cozy held her breath as she watched Opul and Droll hopelessly get surrounded by the stallions. The two non-ponies’ breath became short as they held eachother close for dear life until the stallions separated the two creatures, tugging on Opul’s left wing and grasping Droll left horn to forcefully move them down the corridor.

The guards began marching down the hallway once more, getting closer to Cozy’s room, causing her to close the door, but the sound of the door becoming shut alarmed Cozy that her hiding place was soon to be discovered.

“What happened?” Lenia asked in extreme concern.

“We’re about to have company,” Cozy whispered.

The sound of hoofsteps grew louder and louder from the hallway, and Cozy tilted her head to another door at the other side of the room. Lenia fearfully nodded as she followed Cozy out the other door as the guards entered the room.

The two ponies continued moving, going through doors that Lenia nervously gave the okay to enter through. With speed matched with stealth, the two ponies were able to lose the guards that were on the verge of spotting them.

“Oh dear Celestia,” Lenia panicked quietly. “My friends are going to get caught.”

Cozy regarded Lenia in a confused manner. “What about you?”

“I don’t matter as much as them. Emperor Contume will probably be easy on me, but if my other friends get caught, things won’t turn out well at all.”

Cozy pursed her lips slightly, deciding to keep what she knew secret from the frightened filly. “Why would you be treated any differently than the others?”

Lenia looked away in disappointment “Emperor Contume seems to be much more forgiving of ponies than non-ponies. My parents tell me it isn’t like that, but it’s not what I see. Now it seems that the guards are aware that we are here, and none of us are going to make it out undetected. Droll won’t get his picture. Opul won’t get her pet back. Candid won’t get his paddleball back. Instead, they’re going to be brutally punished.”

Lenia started to shake in fear, worried what horrible fate awaited her friends.

“Lenia, it’s going to be okay. Think about something else.”

Lenia stopped shaking to look Cozy in her scarlet eyes. “Like what?”

“Well, you said that Candid had some sort of paddle. What’s that all about?”

“Well, when he arrived at this community, the item that he had confiscated was his paddleball game. It’s what kept him company before he got here, but he doesn’t tell anyone because of its pink handle.”

Cozy covered her amused mouth to stifle the involuntary laughter.

“He said I was the only one he trusted to tell . . .” Lenia stopped herself. “Please don’t tell him I told you.”

Cozy affectionately placed her hoof on Lenia’s back. “You’re safe with me.”

Lenia smiled up at Cozy, slightly renewed of her confidence.

Cozy continued. “I don’t like staying in here either. If we hurry up, we can make it to the room and get out quickly. And maybe we can find your friends’ belongings as well and give it to them when we see them again.”

Lenia’s smile faded back into her apprehensive look, but she was able to manage a brave nod before continuing through another door. The two fillies traveled stealthily as to not wake any guards or alert any active ones. Throughout their travels, Lenia’s breath reached a disturbing volume, causing Cozy to stop again to calmly shush her.

Lenia took a deep breath to steady her breathing. “It’s just . . . what if we don’t see them again?”

Cozy looked into Lenia’s eyes and gave her a reassuring smile. “We will, but worrying about them isn’t going to do any of them much good. Without you to lead the way, they probably are just waiting outside for us which is why we need to find this room soon. Where is it?”

“Uh,” Lenia began thinking. “It’s passed this door at the end of the hallway on the left. On some days when I’m here, I see items being transported to that room, and I could tell they used to belong to someone.”

Cozy looked at Lenia in fascination. “You say that as if you live here.”

“I basically do. It’s kind of my parents’ job. Although my parents do have a house, whenever both of them are called to work, they take me with them since they don’t trust anyone else here to supervise me. Today was different though because both of them have their work shifts tomorrow and not today, but I still had to sneak out of the house after night to make it here. And I thought that would be the scariest thing I’d have to do.”

Cozy nodded in approval before going through the door that Lenia had designated, starting her way down the long, dark hallway. The lighting was a result of the lack of windows in the hallway, causing little to no moonlight to come in except for one window closeby to them and one towards the end of the hallway.

Cozy tried straining her eyes to see better, but couldn’t in time to avoid knocking into a table-like object, causing a crashing sound to reverberate throughout the corridor.

Buck! Cozy thought.

As if waiting for an invitation, a door opened immediately after the sound disturbance, causing Cozy to immediately scan the hallway for doors she could hide in. After finding one, the pink filly jumped through turning around just in time to see the door close with Lenia still on the other side.

From the outside, an older stallion’s voice was heard. “Lenia? What are you doing here?”

The small, timid voice responded. “. . . hi.”

“You’re not supposed to be here today.”

“I got lost . . .”

“Come on. Let's bring you home.”

The two sets of hoofsteps sounded, getting quieter and quieter as they regressed in the direction Cozy came from. Cozy began growling in despair at letting her friend down until a familiar voice sounded from the shadows of the room.

“Cozy?”

Cozy turned towards the direction of the sound, seeing a faint silhouette of a pony in a blacksuit. “Troth?”

Troth advanced closer to Cozy, stepping into a section of the room that was dimly lit by a nightlight, then revealing her big smile. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you. I thought you also got caught.”

“No,” Cozy began, “it was just Lenia."

Troth’s smile faded. “Lenia’s caught?”

Cozy sighed in exasperation, letting her head fall. “I’m sorry. I tried.” Cozy lifted her head back up, scanning the darkness for unwanted company. “Where’s Candid?”

“We got separated. After Droll and Opul got caught, the guards kept on looking for us, saying that they knew we were here. Candid said that it would be safer if we split up until we lost the guards.”

“So he’s caught too?” Cozy asked hopefully.

“I wouldn’t count on it. Stealth is one of his strong suits.”

Cozy turned away, trying to hide her disappointment.

“Cozy? You barely know any of us. Why is it that you’re willing to trust all of us to go on such a risky mission?”

“I only trust you and Lenia. But the others seem to want their stuff back almost as much as I want mine. They can be a good help to me and still get what they want.”

Cozy broke eye contact with Troth, allowing for her glance to fall on a certain item in Troth’s hoof.

“What’s that?”

Troth lifted up her camera for Cozy to see. “Yeah, when I was wandering the rooms, I was able to find it. I recognized it immediately as the one I lost.”

Cozy smiled brightly at Troth’s fortunes before she fully realized what she said. “Wait, lost?”

“Well, yeah. When I first got here, I had to visit Emperor Contume’s chamber room. He meets with every new member here. He’s such a good leader. Anyway, I had taken my camera out to take a picture of the event but when I left, I realized I misplaced my camera somewhere inside. But somebody requesting permission to revisit the emperor’s most secure location, especially with the excuse of leaving something there, doesn’t fly too well.

“Troth, did you see any of the others’ belongings where you found your camera?”

“Well, no. I looked for Droll’s picture but couldn’t find it. I can’t remember what Candid wanted though. I couldn’t even find your item.”

Cozy put a hoof to her head, stunned at the revelation she just made. “Oh my Celestia.”

“What?”

“The emperor here. He’s not taking items from newcomers. He’s only taking things from nonponies. That’s why Lenia didn’t lose anything when she got here. And neither did you since you simply misplaced it instead of having it taken from you.”

“But you haven’t had your meeting with the leader and your rook was already taken.”

“It was taken from me before I even woke up.” Cozy looked up at Troth. “But you were there before I woke up. What happened to it?”

Troth searched her mind. “When you got here, your condition was so bad that we needed to work on you immediately, but after you were successfully fixed up . . . Emperor Contume came by.”

“It’s still here. I know it is. I’m staying to find out for sure.”

Cozy didn’t waste time, opening the door slowly to make sure the coast was clear. She listened for a moment, the empty silence informing her whether or not it was safe. Finally, she beckoned for Troth to come closer and the two pegasi left the barely lit room to submerge into the darkness.

“Travel slowly,” whispered Cozy. “It’s difficult to see if you’re going to crash into something like a desk.”

“Or a big flower pot,” Troth whispered back. “These kinds of hallways are filled with them.”

Cozy took note of that as she traveled slowly through the hallway. According to Lenia, the room they were looking for was just at the end of this hallway, probably right in front of the visible window in the distance. Although their destination was close, the speed the two ponies were traveling at was making the walk feel like forever, causing Cozy to subconsciously move faster in the darkness. Her impatience proved to be her demise when she knocked into another table-like object, knocking it over at an angle.

The sound of a small but heavy object sliding down the table set Cozy in a panic. Immediately, she dove down to catch it in her arms to prevent it from hitting the floor, using her ears to guide her in the darkness.

She felt around the cold object in her hoof, trying to identify what it was, but ultimately coming to the conclusion that it was a mini flower pot.

The guards here sure love their scenery, Cozy thought to herself.

“Phew,” Troth sighed. “That was close.”

As if on cue, the sound of a door in the hallway opened in the distance, startling Cozy. The salmon-colored filly held onto the flowerpot, worried that it would give away her position if she clunked it against the ground. She looked around desperately, trying to look for a door, but through the lack of light throughout the hallway, she was unsuccessful in her attempts. Down to her last resort, she hugged the floor, hoping her blacksuit would camouflage her.

The sound of feathers flapped through the air. Cozy held her breath in hopes that whoever was there would pass right on by, but the sound of the feathers stopped right in front of her.

“What are you doing?” a familiar male voice asked. “Finally reduced to making friends with plants?”

“Candid!” Troth cheered quietly. “You’re still not caught.”

Cozy looked up to meet the griffon’s eyes. Although still difficult to see completely, there was just enough light for her to recognize him. No matter how rude he was, she was happy to see him instead of a guard ready to ruin her night.

Candid lightly smiled for a moment at Troth until his eyes returned to Cozy in an angered tone. “Did you even think this mission through before you came here?”

Cozy looked back at Candid slightly ashamed, but Candid continued.

“Because of you, Opul and Droll got caught.”

“Lenia was also caught,” Troth added.

Candid furiously widened his eyes further. “You got everyone captured? Are you kidding me?”

“I-I tried my best . . .” Cozy began.

“Well you’re best wasn’t good enough if it meant that not everyone was going to be safe.”

“Hey!” Cozy exclaimed, sick of the griffon’s attacks. “I’m not just doing this for me. I’m doing this for everyone here who’s lost something. So maybe a little gratitude!”

Candid widened his eyes and looked around. “Cozy, shutup.”

Too late. Another door sounded.

“Now look what you’ve done.” Candid quickly flew to the ceiling to hide.

The two ponies, in a panic, looked for their hiding places. Cozy flew over to the table she knocked over, hiding under the angled side to shield her from any guard’s eyes. Troth examined her surroundings, finding one of the big flowerpots to hide behind. Under different circumstances, there would have been no way it would have disguised her, but in a dark hallway, there was a slight chance it would work.

Cozy raised her head slightly over the table, looking into the distance to where the window was. Through the moonlight that shone into the hallway, Candid’s tailed from above flicked in the beam.

From ahead of her, the sight of a nightguard fully covered in armor appeared brightly in the hallway. He turned towards the direction of Troth and Cozy, knowing fully well that he heard something. From the flowerpot close to Cozy, Troth’s breathing grew louder as she became more nervous. The sound made the guard focus his attention specifically at Troth’s hiding place, baring his spear in his hooves as he got closer.

Cozy covered her mouth to ensure that none of her panic became audible. Her blood rushed throughout her body, heating up her arms and making the flowerpot in her hooves grow warmer. She watched in fear as the guard inched closer and closer to Troth’s hiding place.

She recalled the guilt she had upon not being able to save Lenia from being caught. She was fully aware that the guilt would be even worse if Troth was taken from her as well.

Through her brainstorm of thinking what to do, her eyes landed back on the small flowerpot in her hooves. No, I couldn’t. Cozy looked back to the guard who was almost at the flowerpot, tilting his head at the sound of Troth’s short breaths.

Cozy glanced back at the window where Candid’s tail was still hanging in the moonlight, motionless and practically invisible. The filly’s eyes returned to the guard who was now readying his spear for attack.

She was beginning to think she wasn’t capable of doing this and that it wasn’t right until the third rule echoed in her head. Put your own safety above others. Cozy just knew that this applied to Troth as well.

Finally, Cozy steadied her breath for accuracy before launching the flowerpot through the air in the direction of the window. It hit the wall next to the window with a loud CRASH, immediately alerting the guard’s attention to it.

“Hey!” the guard exclaimed, rushing over to the place of the crash.

Candid’s tail elevated out of the beam of light to be replaced by Candid himself, flying proudly in the sight of the guard. “Catch me if you can.”

With that note, he rushed down the hallway with speed so immense that its wind knocked the guard off balance for a moment before he regained his composure to chase Candid down.

Troth and Cozy waited for a long period of time, expecting more guards to arrive, but the two were completely left alone. Finally, Cozy took a deep breath and the two pegasi emerged from their hiding places.

“Oh no. Candid is caught,” Troth worried, staring down the hallway to where Candid flew through.

“Who hides with their tail in plain view?” Cozy said.

“I hope he’s okay. Who knows what the guards will do to him when they catch him.”

“We’d better go before we end up the same way.”

Troth turned her attention to Cozy. “We can’t go without you getting your rook back.”

“I will get it back, but you should go before more guards show up.”

Troth shrunk back as if offended. “I’m not leaving you. I stayed to help you.”

“Troth, if you wanted to help me, you’d leave as to not risk us getting caught.”

The pale pegasus opened her mouth, but no words came out. She instead just stared in protest, not knowing what to say.

Cozy traveled to the window Candid had been hiding at, opening it up and gesturing for Troth to leave. “The room is right here anyway. I’ll be out soon. Don’t worry.”

Troth stared as Cozy, trying to make arguments as to why she couldn’t leave but only made incoherents forms of speech instead. Finally, she gave in, letting her head drop as she hopped onto the window sill. “Meet me back at the hospital when you’re done.” And with that, she flew off into the night.

Cozy sighed in relief before turning around at the door opposite the window. This is where Lenia told me to go. She marched through, opening the door carefully as to not make much noise.

When she finally caught sight of the room’s contents, her jaw dropped. The room, partially lit by nightlights around the space, had shelves of countless items stolen by non ponies with a massive overstock unit in the center. She didn’t have time to lament though. Basically all of the others had been caught except for Troth whom she saved from having the same fate.

She began looking, sorting through each of the items starting with the ones on the shelves. It wasn’t long before her eyes landed on something pink in the center of one shelf: the paddleball game. This must be the one Lenia was talking about, Cozy thought to herself. The one Candid didn’t want anypony to know about. For a brief moment, Cozy considered taking it to give to Candid, but one last check of her last conversation with him made her reject the thought. He does not deserve this back.

Cozy continued looking through the storage room, making her way to the back of it to where another entrance to the room was. After a while of searching, Cozy found it. Standing tall was the castle she had so dearly longed for, lit up over a light as if on display, lighting up Cozy’s eyes along with it. Cozy’s smile widened at the sight before her expression was replaced by fear from the door closest to her opening.

Instinctively, Cozy dove down close to the clutter quietly as to not be heard while the sound of heavy hoofsteps got closer and closer to her location. The fear of getting caught did not outweigh the pleasures of success though, tempting Cozy to look up to where her rook stood. It was right there, waiting for her, mocking her with its vulnerability.

Finally, Cozy could not take it anymore. She reached her hoof up to the rook to reclaim her trophy, but immediately as her hoof touched the rook, a yellow aura encircled it, causing Cozy to recoil her hoof back and cover her eyes from the sudden brightness. The chess piece left her sight as did her hope. When she heard the sound of hoosteps retreating, she peeked over the clutter to see the royally dressed unicorn exiting the room.

As Contume left, Cozy’s breath grew violently with more rage than fear. Being too powerless to get something that was right in her grasp was simply too much for her to just shrug off.

Cozy flew up out of the clutter to fly to the direction of the door she came from. Before she could exit, her eyes caught on the pink paddleball again, this time, letting it tempt her. Maybe his help would be good in the future. Cozy nodded at the thought, believing it to be true as she took the paddle off the shelf.

Cozy flew back to the window that she dismissed Troth from. I’m supposed to meet with this tyrant tomorrow, Cozy thought as she flew out the window, closing it behind her. I hope he’ll still have what’s mine.

Excerpt 7

Excerpt 7:

Cozy pushed open the double doors, finding herself in the grand throne room. The bright lights from the numerous windows blinded her for a second, but when her eyes adjusted, she was able to get a good look at her surroundings. She found herself on the rightmost side of the room with nothing but more glass from a window to her right. To her left, at the far end of the room was another set of double doors, most likely leading to a different hallway that lead back in the same direction she had come. In the center, between both sets of doors, against a wall stood what appeared to be a tall metal wardrobe that stood on four metal legs that were each twice the size of the filly.

Cozy was still a bit tired from staying awake for so long the previous night, but upon meeting Troth again at the hospital, she had returned home with her to a very comfortable bed and woken up to fresh food, all set up for her like breakfast for a child getting ready for orientation.

Cozy’s eyes followed the continuous stream of glass from the sides of the room to a point where both connected into one long window going around the room like a 4-foot thick, hollow semi-circle. At the connection spot, there was a tall desk with a vase of white daisies and an oversized thrown behind it that lead half-way to the ceiling. Seated at the throne was the blue unicorn, staring intently through the window at the beautifully walled-off community he owned.

As the door finally closed behind Cozy, Contume turned around in his chair to face the filly, putting on an authoritative but friendly smile. “Greetings, young filly. And to whom do I pay the gratitude of this fine visit?”

Cozy shifted uneasily in the center of the throne room. “Um-.”

“No no, I’m just kidding,” Contume quickly added in a comedic manner. “Welcome to the community.” Contume looked around behind Cozy, as if just now noticing that she was alone. “Will your parents be arriving here?”

Cozy silently gasped at the reminder. “It’s - it’s just me.”

Contume raised his chin up in thought. “Well, all new members who join report to me first. That is if you are staying.”

Cozy’s eyes drooped. She didn’t think about it, but she really had nowhere else to go. Finally, she looked back up at Contume and nodded her head.

“Very good,” Contume beamed. “I make sure to meet with each of my citizens personally when they first arrive. Makes this place feel a little more like home.”

“Home,” Cozy repeated.

“Do you have a home, little one?”

Cozy looked away. “Not anymore.”

“Well, you’ll fit right in. This place welcomes in all creatures, most of which have come because they’ve lost their home.”

“And you welcome them just like that?” Cozy asked. “They can just walk right in?”

“Well, not quite. First, they must meet with the ponies that guard the walls, the adults that is. Young ponies may come right in, but either way, new citizens are watched for signs that might lead to danger.”

“What about non-ponies?”

“The same thing, except each must pay a fee to enter through these walls. It’s really quite generous of me to let them in, especially since they don’t deserve it.”

Cozy was stunned. “Golly, why not?”

“Haven’t you heard of Equestria’s latest attack?”

“I’ve been sheltered for most of my life while growing up in Trottingham. I don’t really get to hear much of anything besides vocabulary.”

“Equestria is facing its most difficult time yet with Lord Tirek on the verge of eradicating the rest of pony civilization.” Contume stopped himself and hesitated, staring at the young filly in his presence for a moment before correcting himself. “Oh, don’t worry. Lord Tirek has been defeated by Princess Twilight Sparkle, and she has been named the Princess of Friendship as a result. He is now in Tartarus and the only thing that he will ever see again is the Equestrian Postal Service. I just tell the non-ponies that he is still a threat to keep them in line.”

Cozy narrowed her eyes in an attempt to understand what he was saying before the unicorn continued.

“Those non-ponies don’t know how good they have it. I knew they were selfish from the start, but it wasn’t confirmed until I heard of their cowardice when Lord Tirek was still a threat. He was the closest our great land has ever gotten to being conquered. He nearly absorbed all the magic in Equestria.”

Cozy widened her eyes, impressed. “He nearly became ruler because he stole all of Equestria’s magic?”

“Well, not all. There were lucky ponies he didn’t get to; you for an example. But he wouldn’t have gotten nearly as close if pony-kind would have received help. Celestia sent out word to the other creature nations for aid, but she didn’t receive any word back. They abandoned us in our greatest time of need!”

Cozy shied away in fear, but Contume just closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down before continuing.

“Alas, I don’t hold grudges. If there is anything I am, it would be a ‘fair ruler.’ These non-ponies need to make something of themselves if they are going to have anyway of making it up to us. It’s a good thing I am here to ensure that it happens. I’ve started by having them build up this community. The payments they give are barely helping any, and I’m worried that they will soon rebel, so I’ve given them the threat of Lord Tirek to make sure they can look to somepony powerful to lead them.”

“Only non-ponies have to pay?” Cozy asked for confirmation.

“Yes,” the unicorn agreed. “Only one item and that’s more than fair. Bits are preferable, but this item can be anything. Usually pictures, maybe a letter every one in a while. Only once has someone paid a live animal. She was a white dragon with these beautiful wings. She offered me a rabbit in order to join. Ah, it was delicious.”

Cozy’s look of interest immediately shifted to horror. “You - you . . . what?”

Contume huffed. “Yeah, you should’ve seen the little guy, trying to jump out of my grasp. It was cute I admit, but such emotions don’t last too long. Only one emotion for me can last.”

Cozy could not contain her disgust. “But - but ponies don’t eat rabbits!”

“Hmm.” Contume regarded Cozy in fascination. “Have ponies tried rabbits?”

Cozy made inaudible protests at the unicorn.

“Eh,” Contume patted Cozy’s head, “don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. You still haven’t told me your name, little one.”

The filly could not meet the blue stallion’s eyes, but she managed to say her name. “Cozy Glow . . .”

“Cozy Glow. That’s a lovely name.” Contume tried for a bright smile, but the filly wasn’t looking at him.

Instead, Cozy stared at the floor to where a carpet was. Beautifully designed in the floor were the white outlines of three adult-sized ponies: an earth-pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus, all in some form of formation. Cozy found herself standing directly on the forehead of the pegasus.

Finally, Contume spoke up. “I’m sorry, Cozy Glow. Would a souvenir make you feel better?”

Cozy finally stared back up at the adult, confused at the sudden offer.

Contume put on a soft smile before walking around Cozy to where the metal wardrobe stood, elevated off the grown by its legs and slightly apart from the wall behind it.

“What is it?” Cozy asked as she looked at it up and down.

“This is a safe,” Contume answered. “It acts as my own personal storage for stuff I have used recently or stuff that I will use soon, and I am allowing you to leave here today with one thing out of this safe.” Contume opened up the safe with ease, the broken lock of it facing Cozy.

The salmon-colored filly walked under the door to the safe before flying up to land inside. The now elevated pony was eye level with the adult, and Contume caught glimpse of her cutiemark.

“Hmm,” Contume said in fascination.

Cozy turned back out of the dark storage unit to face Contume. “What?”

“Oh nothing,” Contume said before reaching his horn inside the safe.

The tip of the blue horn lit up, casting a spell that illuminated the miniature room. Cozy shivered at the sight of magic again but decided to continue forward to search for an item. Her eyes were quick to catch on the picture of a yellow griffon with two older griffons smiling from behind.

“Ah yes,” Contume nodded. “As I said earlier, a lot of times I am gifted with a picture. There isn’t much to do with those except to use it as a burning source. The frames also burn well. There are a couple in there, but I doubt you want any.”

The pegasus kept searching until her eyes caught on the object that was originally hers. Seated just under some debris was the rook again, the top coated in some red liquid but ultimately in perfect position for her to snatch it up. Her breath grew slightly shaky at the sight, and she moved her hoof towards it, lifting off a small picture frame that was holding the chess piece down.

Contume was confused when Cozy lifted up the frame until he spoke in a modest tone. “Good choice.”

Finally Cozy put the frame down to claim her castle, but once again, the yellow aura encircled it to pull it away.

“What are you doing?” Contume asked in a harsh tone.

Cozy snapped her neck back to face Contume. “You said I could pick any item.”

Contume stared down at Cozy. “No, I said you are allowed to leave with one item.”

“Well, this rook is my choice.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t grant such a dangerous item to a filly so young.”

Cozy lifted the anger off her face to replace it with big eyes. “It’s okay. I’ll be careful with it. You can trust me.”

“I’ve heard that one before. Maybe you should trust me when I tell you that you don’t want this. I just had to use this the other day on two trespassers.”

Cozy thought for a moment of what that might have meant before she shook the thought to get back into the problem at hoof.

“What you said earlier scared me,” Cozy said in a vulnerable manner. “With that rook, I would feel much safer.”

“But you wouldn’t be safer because now you’d become a liability.”

Cozy’s face tightened up in anger. Finally, she was direct. “I want that rook. I’m not leaving here without it.”

Contume smirked down at the filly. “Are you sure?”

Cozy glared at the unicorn before quickly reaching out her hooves to attempt to grab the rook out of the air. Her hoof barely touched the castle before the chess piece was forced away again.

“Yeah, I think we’re done here,” Contume decided before calling out the door. “Guards!”

Within seconds, two castle guards appeared in the doorway from which she came.

“No!” Cozy yelled in anguish. “It’s mine!”

Immediately, the two guards grabbed a hold of Cozy before forcefully dragging her away with her shrieks resonating down the hallway.

Excerpt 8

Excerpt 8:

“You’re back!” Troth cheered. “How did it go? Did he intimidate you? Did you get your rook back?”

Cozy just stared down at the ground in anger.

“Oh no,” Troth realized. “It didn’t go so well, did it?”

“He’s - he’s a crook!” Cozy blurted out. “He is just so corrupt. I could do a better job at leading than he could.”

Troth looked at Cozy with concern. “Cozy, what did he say?”

Cozy sighed. “I saw my rook. I almost got it, but he stopped me. He talked about how the stuff he took was payment for staying here, and he also confirmed that he only took from the non-ponies. Said something about making sure they stayed in line with his rule through the use of the threat of Star Trek.”

“Tirek?” Troth asked.

“Yes, that guy. He told me that he isn’t a threat anymore. That he’s already defeated and now that Twilight pony you were talking about now has a title.”

“Oh!” Troth cheered in excitement. “What is she the princess of? Is she the princess of books? Tell me she’s the princess of books.”

“Friendship,” Cozy answered. “Contume said that she was labeled as the Princess of Friendship.”

Troth widened her eyes. “The Princess of Friendship? Oh dear. Nopony can challenge her now. Friendship is the most powerful thing there is so this means that Princess Twilight Sparkle is the most powerful being in Equestria.”

Cozy straightened her eyebrows in concern. “But can’t anypony use the Magic of Friendship like you said?”

“Well, yes, anypony can. It doesn’t even have to be ponies using it, but the more friends you have, the stronger that magic becomes. Not to mention that she has access to the Elements of Harmony so her friendship power is already greater than anybody else’s. Princess Twilight must have tons of friends if that’s her job.”

“Heh, I guess that means Contume won’t have any power,” Cozy laughed.

Troth chimed in laughing as well until her eyes widened in realization. “Wait, he lied to us and told us Tirek was still at large? Why?”

Cozy shook her head in disapproval. “Because he thought that by making the citizens afraid, they would seek a leader.”

Troth lowered her eyes in sadness and disappointment. “That’s not right. Something should be done.”

Cozy narrowed her eyes and looked at Troth. “You’re right. Something should be done.”

Troth tilted her head.”What are you getting at?”

Cozy realized how crazy she might have sounded so she decided to quickly change her motive. “Contume still has my rook. If you’d be willing to help me, Troth, golly, I would sure appreciate it. I do know exactly where it is now.”

“Where?”

“It’s in his palace room in this huge, heavy safe. I can go get the others, and together we can get it back.”

“Wait,” Troth said. “What makes you think that they’ll help you after what happened last time? It hasn’t even been a day.”

Cozy immediately remembered what Contume had said. Let’s just say they won’t be doing that ever again. She stared in suppressed anger for a brief moment until she turned back to Troth with an expression that hid her inner emotions.

“Don’t worry,” Cozy reassured. “I’m sure they’ll help me. Now I need to pay a visit to Droll and Opul.”

Troth gave Cozy the directions to their complexes, and Cozy was just about to leave until Troth stopped her.

“Wait,” Troth ordered. “Don’t forget this.” Troth held up the small saddle-bag that Cozy had gotten from the hospital.

“Uh, why do I need this?” asked Cozy.

“It's the bag that has your current belongings. It’s got the bits Opul gave to you, that weird, girly paddle thingy, and some snacks I packed in there for you. You never know when you’re gonna need them.”

Cozy’s mind shifted into a brief memory before she let out an oblivious giggle. Instinctively, the situation dawned on her before she put back on a plain face. “Oh, snacks?”

“Yes, snacks. Don’t you remember? I’m still supposed to be looking after you for the week since you just were released from the hospital, and that includes making sure that you never get too hungry.”

The remembrance of hunger drove Cozy to immediately grab the bag. Cozy gave an appreciative nod to her friend before departing.

Never do it again? Cozy thought as she flew to her destination. What could he have done?

Cozy reached the first residency and knocked two subtle knocks. From the inside, she heard something big fall to the ground. She grimaced in concern before the door finally opened.

A tilted Droll opened the door. Literally, Droll was tilting his head awkwardly to his right side.

“What trouble-maker want?” Droll said with a sideways glance.

It took a moment for Cozy to realize what was wrong with him. Her eyes widened at the sight of the single-horned yak.

“Dear Celestia,” Cozy viewed. “What happened?”

Droll glared at Cozy. “Emperor happened. None allowed to roam in palace. Mission failed and it’s Rookie’s fault.”

Cozy shifted in quick thought. “It wasn’t me who caused enough noise to get caught back there.”

“Rookie made yak go to palace, and Rookie made yak lose horn.”

“Oh come on. It’ll grow back.”

“Yak horns no grow back! Yak maimed like dragon!”

Cozy narrowed her eyes in confusion, but Droll kept on his rant.

“Yak trust pony, and yak pays price. Yak no longer do anything like this.”

Cozy instantly knew what to say. “You know, Lenia got caught too.”

Droll looked at the floor in a flurry of emotions. “What guards do to earth pony?”

“Oh, nothing. They didn’t do anything. They just asked her to leave.”

Droll raised his head in frustrated realization, ignoring his lop-sided weight. “Earth pony get caught and go free?”

Cozy nodded her head smugly to Droll. “And she went free because she’s a pony. She’s not a filthy non-pony.”

Droll gave short periods of breath as a result of his anger.

“And since you’re an inferior yak, Contume punished you harshly for being nothing more than who you are. He’s the one to blame.”

Droll’s face tightened in anger.

“And if he’s punished you for being a yak this time, he’s bound to do it again in the future,” Cozy continued. “What’s it going to be next time, Droll? Stepping out of line for half a second? Asking an innocent question to a short tempered guard? Walking anywhere near the ponies? This can end and it needs to end soon. You can make that happen. All you need to do is come with me, and put a stop to this tonight.”

Droll blinked his eyes twice in consideration. He was too stunned to talk.

“Just meet me where we met yesterday.” Cozy smiled innocently before turning away, leaving behind a still speechless Droll.

Cozy smirked all the way to where she was told Opul would be. This has to work, Cozy thought. I’ll make sure of it.

Finally, she arrived where she hoped to find Opul. The house looked abandoned. It also looked like garbage, but very cleanly kept garbage.

Cozy reluctantly approached and knocked quietly at the door. After a quarter of a minute of no answering, she knocked again, but with just a little more force.

“Opul?” Cozy called in, but no response came. Cozy listened in, but could not hear anything except for what appeared to be tiny periods of gasps of air. Cozy knocked again.

After the frustration of yet another unanswered attempt, she decided to take matters into her own hooves, trying to open the locked door to no avail. She took a step back to scan across the entirety of the abandoned house, having her eyes fall on a busted out window. Perfect, Cozy thought, but her celebration was short lived when she flew up to the opening only to find it boarded up. Cozy rolled her eyes and continued looking.

How could anyone call this place a home? Cozy could not shake the thought of somepony trying to live in a place like this, but she knew it was nothing compared to being forced to live inside a cage with no food.

Cozy shivered at the flashback before shaking the memory out of her mind to continue searching for a solution to get inside the scrap pile. If she was going to remove Contume from office, she couldn’t be alone for this.

Cozy frowned in frustration after searching for minutes until she finally went around the dump and found her entrance. Lifting up some debris, she managed to find a small opening to which she could squeeze through, holding on tight to her bag that Troth had given her.

Through the crawl space, Cozy traveled quickly, not wanting to get caught underneath anything and be stuck. The worry of Opul still not coming to her in the event of such a disaster kept her mind occupied the entire way.

Cozy crawled out from the passage way with speed, flying in the air to try and shake whatever dirt or debris may have collected on her coat. Once clean, or as clean as she was going to get, she turned to view her surroundings.

Her eyes caught on a ladder that looked to be out of place, as if it was a new addition provided on short notice. Why would a dragon need a ladder? Cozy thought. From the top, she heard the short gasps of whimpers again.

“Opul?” Cozy called again up the ladder to the second floor of the location.

“Go away,” a weepy voice answered back.

The emotion in Opul’s voice didn’t strike Cozy as one that would react well to anything too assertive, so she decided to begin things peaceful.

“Opul, I know things didn’t turn out that well yesterday,” Cozy began, calling up from the first level. “But I can make things right if you help me.”

From the second level, Opul sniffled. Cozy knew that she had to talk face-to-face with her if she was going to persuade Opul at all. Cozy began to fly up to the second level, still confused at the necessity of the ladder.

“Opul,” Cozy said again, reaching the top. “I need to talk to you.”

Cozy looked around for Opul, but all she saw were mounds of garbage everywhere on the second floor. Although it looked partially organized, it was still hoarded in loads.

She lives like a pig, Cozy thought.

“Where are you?” Cozy asked, before hearing another soft sob come from the corner of the room. Cozy flew over to get a better position for the conversation.

“Please,” Cozy continued. “I need your help.”

Opul was panting softly through the sound of tears. Cozy could barely see her underneath some clutter.

“You don’t deserve my help,” Opul responded.

Before Cozy could respond, the horrid smell of the room finally hit her.

“Oh golly, who lives like this?” Cozy blurted out.

Opul’s head shot up from the clutter to face Cozy. “Non-ponies, Cozy! The non-ponies have to live like this! Those who have the talent to build make what they get. Those who don’t know anything about that stuff get places like this.”

Cozy looked at Opul with minimal sympathy. She knew what poor living conditions Opul could be living in, but she also knew an upset dragon when she saw one, which would likely lead to no help from her.

“How did you even get in?” Opul asked.

“That doesn’t matter right now. Contume is going to pay for his actions against us, and you can help put an end to his tyranny.”

“That’s not going to happen, Cozy,” Opul immediately shot back. “Nothing can stand against Emperor Contume.”

“We can,” Cozy said in an inspiring tone.

“He owns all of us.”

“He doesn’t have to. We can live so much better if somepony like him wasn't in charge. You have to believe that. We can end this together.”

“No!” Opul snapped. “No one’s going back to that palace.”

Cozy frowned. “Just because some stupid yak got you thrown out? Is that why you’re so angry?”

Immediately after the last word left Cozy’s mouth, Opul shot up, letting all the clutter that covered her fall to the ground. From the right side of Opul, a single wing spread out. Cozy waited for the other one to stretch out, but it never did.

A horrified look spread across Cozy’s face when she finally realized what had happened. Immediately, she reached her hooves back to grab her own wings to hold them close, averting her eyes from the horrific sight.

Opul wiped her eyes. “Yeah. Take a good long look at what you did to me, Cozy. This is all you.”

Cozy’s breath was shaky from the trauma of the situation at hand. She blinked back a tear before trying to speak, stumbling over her words. “It-it wasn’t me who . . .”

Opul glared her eyes at Cozy and shook her head subtly. “Get out.”

Cozy, still looking away, tried to replicate the message that she had said to Droll, but her words were still faltering. “You know - you know, Lenia was -.”

“I said get out!” Opul repeated. “I never wanna see you again!”

Cozy still couldn’t look at Opul. She still felt a slight pain in her own wings from viewing Opul’s position. Finally, Cozy sighed and then turned away, flying quickly down to the first floor as to use as little of her wings as possible. Cozy turned to where the locked door was, opening and exiting through it as Opul’s sobs were heard again.

Cozy was still staring at the entrance to the broken down building when she heard a voice from right behind her. “You!”

Cozy turned to meet the last creature she wanted to see that day.

“You’ve got a ton of nerve showing up here!” Candid scolded. “After the fertilizer you’ve done!”

“Relax!” Cozy snapped. “I was just leaving. Wait, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to comfort my friend. If you had a mind passed the development of a foal, you would realize that.”

“She doesn’t want to see anypony at the moment. Shouldn’t you know that?”

“She doesn’t want to see you!” Candid pointed a clawless talon at the filly, prompting the pegasus into confusion before the griffon continued. “You ruined her life and made it almost as pathetic as your own existence.” Candid raised his other claw upwards, revealing his other talon in the exact same condition.

For the first time, Cozy stopped to notice the abnormal condition in the griffon’s talons. She had heard griffons were supposed to have sharp claws but there was nothing on this non-pony. She briefly considered that he suffered the same fate as the yak and the dragon, but she quickly remembered that they only had their right side maimed. According to Cozy’s eyes, both sets of the griffon’s talons were bare.

Finally she couldn't look passed it anymore. “What happened to your claws?”

Immediately, the griffon flinched in anger. “None of your business! Don't try to change the subject. What you did is unforgivable. Why are you even here?”

Cozy looked away slightly shamed. “I was kind of going to ask for her help.”

“Help?!” Candid scolded. “She doesn’t want anything to do with you! You’ll finally learn how to do simple addition before she gets anywhere near helping you.”

Cozy instantly remembered what she had packed in her saddle bag before smirking. “Maybe she won’t help me if I ask her. But she might help me if you get her to.”

Candid snorted. “If you think that I’m going to get Opul to go on some little crusade with you, then you’re dumber than I thought, and that’s actually saying something. Now get lost.”

Cozy reached inside her bag and pulled out Candid’s item. Candid’s eyes lit up at the paddle ball.

“Care to reconsider?” Cozy politely asked, batting her eyes.

“How did you . . .” Candid questioned, trailing off.

“Some of us are better at stealth than others.”

Candid glared at Cozy. “You gave away my position!”

Cozy pulled the paddle ball back to an increased distance from Candid, shutting the griffon’s mouth.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Birdbox,” Cozy began. “You are going to convince Droll and Opul to come join me tonight in taking on Contume and removing him from his throne. After you three are done helping me, I’ll give you this thing back.”

Candid scowled at Cozy. “You’d think I’d go to great lengths just for a piece of wood? You’re delusional.”

“Hmm. I guess I’ll have a warm fire tonight-.”

“Stop!” Candid cut in, appearing so angry that he was on the verge of twitching. “Okay, fine.”

“Perfect,” Cozy said with an innocent smile. “Be with Opul at the same time and place as yesterday, and don’t be late please. Thank you.”

Excerpt 9

Excerpt 9:

“Glad you all could make it,” Cozy smirked, walking up to the original meeting spot with Troth.

“Yeah, we’re here,” Candid said in an angry tone. “Now where’s my item.”

“I said that you would get it back once we’re done here.”

“Does Rookie even have plan?” Droll asked.

“Somewhat,” Cozy replied. “But for the most part, we’ll have to wing it. Oh, no offense, Opul.”

Opul grumbled in anger, but she couldn’t tell that Cozy said that on purpose, fueling her mirror pain into resentment.

“You better watch yourself, Cozy,” Candid began.

“Hey, you mess with the bull, you get the horns. No offense, Droll.”

“Can we just go?” Opul cut in.

“No, not yet,” Troth said. “We still need to wait for Lenia.”

“No,” Cozy declined. “We can’t risk her being a part of this group. Her parents work for this palace, remember? She could rat us out.”

Troth wanted to protest, but the sight of everyone else staring at her made her submit. “Fine, let’s go.”

“Okay, same as yesterday, everypony,” Cozy said, ignoring the fact that most of the crew were non-ponies.

“Um, yeah, aren’t you forgetting one tiny detail, Shirley?” Opul asked sarcastically.

Cozy instantly turned to Opul with a murderous look. She was about to lose her mind at the name until Droll cut in.

“Earth pony not here. One less creature to carry.”

“Droll’s right,” Troth agreed. “Candid can carry Opul. Cozy and I can-.” Troth turned to Cozy only to find her glaring furiously. “Cozy can go and check to see if the coast is clear. I can handle Droll.”

Cozy didn’t even give Troth a look of appreciation. Instead, she just began flying up to the original window that the group had entered through the day before.

Five seconds passed and grunts from Troth were already heard.

“How pegasus so strong?” Droll questioned.

After a few gasps of air from Troth, she finally answered. “Martial arts practicing can sure build up endurance.”

Droll smiled and hugged on to Troth affectionately. Troth blushed uncomfortably before muttering “oh dear Celestia, help me.”

Cozy reached the original window, only to find that it had been blocked off.

“Oh no,” Candid said with obvious false panic. “Looks like we can’t go further. I’ll take my stuff now, Cozy.”

Cozy rolled her eyes in annoyance before continuing on down the rest of the palace. “When I left here yesterday, I left a window unlocked.” Cozy scanned the community to find familiar features of where she left the palace before her eyes landed on her target. “It’s right there. Come on.”

Cozy flew at full speed to the window as Candid followed behind with Troth still only flying at half the normal speed. When Cozy reached the window, she touched her hooves to it to see if it was still opened. Sure enough, it was unlocked, and Cozy slowly got inside, looking back out to make sure everyone else followed her lead.

Troth was about to give out with Droll’s weight until she was able to make it through the window, guided by Cozy.

“Make sure we are all quiet this time,” Cozy scolded.

“Can yaks even be quiet?” Opul asked lightheartedly as she was gently placed down by Candid.

“Yaks best at a lot of things,” Droll whispered. “Maybe yaks not best at quiet, but yak will try best.”

“Good,” Candid said. “We don’t need another occurrence like last time.”

Opul widened her eyes in fear as she felt her wing stub again. Her breath was beginning to get shaky until Candid intervened.

“It won’t happen again, Opul,” Candid convinced. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Opul smiled at Candid’s reassurance before she put on a brave face.

“Eyes out, Candid,” Cozy said. “Look for guards. Opul, look for hiding places for emergencies. Droll, try not to crash into anything.”

Droll looked at Cozy with an unamused stare before rolling his eyes.

The five of them quietly traveled through the halls.

“Does Rookie have plan?” Droll asked quietly.

Cozy huffed. She still found that name annoying. “I have a goal.”

“But no plan?” Opul asked.

“Are you stupid?” Candid insensitively said.

“Listen. I can’t go into great detail of it, but I have a plan that will work,” Cozy persuaded.

The non-ponies stared skeptically at Cozy until Troth intervened. “She says she knows what she’s doing. We’ve gotten this far. Let’s finish this out.”

Cozy nodded appreciatively at Troth before returning to take the lead down the hallway. As she walked, she glanced at the storage room where she had first found her rook again.

“We should’ve brought Lenia,” Troth admitted. “She knows this place better than any of us. Do we even know where we’re going?”

“I was just here this morning,” Cozy declared. “Trust me.”

Cozy continued to lead the way, flying in the air stealthily with Troth while Candid, Opul and Droll walked behind them. They finally turned to a new hallway with windows that lit a majority of the walkway, but unfortunately, several guards were there a distance down, searching everywhere for potential intruders.

“Do I even need to say anything?” Candid asked.

Cozy hid back at the corner, peeking her head around to get a good look down the corridor. There must have been 15 guards all lined up, defending something. What could they have been guarding? Contume’s room wasn’t for another couple of hallways.

“Oh no, I think I know what this is,” Troth whispered. “If there are several guards in this hallway, there must be even more before Emperor Contume’s room.”

“Well, we’re done for,” Candid said calmly. “Let’s go home.”

“I second that,” Opul agreed. “Let’s just quit while we’re ahead.”

“Yak want justice, but even yak doesn’t feel so good,” Droll added.

“We’re not leaving,” Cozy responded. “We’re going to find a way.”

“But how?” Troth asked. “These guards are making it slightly difficult.”

“When I was here last night with Lenia, we were able to control the paths here to bring us directly where we wanted to go. We’ve just got to take detours through these rooms and avoid the guards as best we can.”

“Yeah?” Candid began. “And what if we accidentally wander into a populated room?”

Cozy regarded Candid with cold eyes. “If you all can shutup during that, we’ll be fine. It’s night so the only ponies here are either guarding or asleep. We should be able to spot the guards easily. Actually, you should be able to spot the guards easily.” Cozy got closer to Candid to whisper to him, making sure no one else could hear her. “And do make sure we don’t get caught. You wouldn’t want Opul to be hurt again, would you?”

Candid widened his eyes furiously as Cozy turned away. “Okay, Opul. Which doors have you found for us to go through?”

Troth leaned in to whisper to Cozy as Opul looked around. “Couldn’t you have searched for the doors yourself?”

Cozy whispered back to Troth. “I just want to make sure she knows who’s in charge.”

Finally, Opul crept to a door that was close enough to the corner of the hallway for them to enter without being noticed by the nightguards. The 5 of them slipped through the opening and proceeded to adjust to a new version of darkness until Opul breathed slight fire, providing for a small light source.

“Dragon genius,” Droll praised.

Cozy looked ahead at the room they were currently in, learning soon that it was a small alcove. She looked ahead to find another door to which she marched through. Looking back at the rest of the crew, Cozy saw Opul was getting short of breath as Droll was still trying to keep his head straight up due to his lopsided weight.

Pathetic, Cozy thought.

She opened the door to have a peek outside. The hallways looked bright enough and vacant with more doors in front of her. She clenched her eyes shut to remember where their end goal was. They’d have to go straight through, make a couple of turns, and then the number of guards would point them in the right direction.

Behind Cozy, Droll grunted in frustration.

“Shhh,” Cozy hushed.

“Yak can’t seem to balance,” Droll said, trying to focus.

Cozy perched her eyebrows in concern at the situation before she persisted forward through the next door. Immediately, the sound of snoring filled her ears through the pitch black darkness. With the leftover brightness from the hallway illuminating her face, Cozy mouthed the word “back.” Candid rolled his eyes until he turned to one direction of the hallway, causing a panicked expression to spread across his face. Instantly, Cozy knew it meant guards.

The 5 rushed into the dormitory quickly with Candid closing the door behind them, but the urgency of their split-second decision finally caused Droll to lose his balance. He set out his right cloven hoof to stop his fall, but his single horn knocked against the wall, creating a CLUNK sound.

The sound of the snoring in the room stopped, and Cozy widened her eyes in fear. Why does he have to ruin everything? Cozy thought.

“Who’s there?” an adult voice in the dark called out.

The 5 said nothing, but rather just stayed in the dark, motionless, hoping the pony would go back to sleep.

“Sweetie, go see what that is,” the stallion said.

The sound of soft hoof prints touched the ground and started getting louder in the group’s direction. Cozy held her breath to keep as quiet as she could, and the rest of the group followed her lead.

The inevitable sound of a light switch sounded, and Cozy was prepared to meet her fate, but she was not ready for what followed.

Cozy’s eyes finally adjusted to the light where she saw the earth pony staring from right in front of her with a surprised look on her face. Finally, it turned into a smile.

“It’s okay, daddy,” she whispered softly, turning the lights off again. “Something just fell.”

The earth pony’s hoofsteps were heard walking to the far end of the room until the light from a freshly opened door provided for the escape route. The 5 crept silently to the light source where they emerged into another hallway.

The earth pony closed the door behind her and gave a tired smile before a puzzled expression. “What are you 5 doing here?”

“Lenia,” Troth cheered quietly. “We’re so happy to see you. You’re our saving grace.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been happy to see you until now,” Candid said without hesitation.

“Um, thanks, I-I think,” Lenia said.

“What are you doing here though?” Opul asked. “I thought you lived elsewhere.”

“I do, but my parents have bits of the night shift and an early day shift this time so they didn’t allow me to stay at my house alone. But you still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

“We’re here to get Cozy’s chess piece back,” Troth said with confidence.

“No, Troth,” Candid replied. “Don’t answer unless you’re sure.”

“Group here to put end to emperor’s tyranny,” Droll answered. “Yak now see Emperor Contume from different angle.”

Lenia was confused before she understood Droll’s play on words. “Oh dear, what happened to your neck?”

“Emperor Contume happened,” Opul spoke up. “He maimed Droll before using some sort of toy to hurt me too.” She turned around to show Lenia what happened.

“And he was going to hurt me too, but I managed to get away,” Candid informed.

“Lenia,” Troth began, smiling brightly. “Now that you’re here, you can help us.”

“Help you?” Lenia repeated.

“Yes, you can help us retrieve Cozy’s rook.”

“Troth,” Cozy finally said. “That’s not the entire reason we’re here.”

Troth tilted her head in confusion at Cozy. “But that’s what you told me-.”

“That’s only a part of the reason. What Droll said is the full goal.”

“Oh no,” Troth realized.

“But you’re still going to help, right?” Cozy asked innocently.

Troth considered what they were about to do, wanting to say “no,” that she wouldn’t proceed, until she finally answered. “Of course. I’m with you to the end.”

“I don’t think I can say the same,” Lenia said. “I'm sorry.”

“Fine, who needs you?” Candid said.

“Wait, no no,” Troth halted. “We do. Lenia, please, we need your help if we’re going to stand any chance against Emperor Contume.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do anything to help you.”

“If you were really Troth’s friend, you’d do it,” Cozy chimed in, hiding her smirk.

Lenia widened her eyes, considering Cozy’s words. She still wanted to say no, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that she would be abandoning a friend in need. She looked down at the floor before accepting. “Fine, count me in.”

Candid and Opul exchanged nervous looks. They were still worried that Lenia would rat them out.

“Perfect,” Cozy smiled. “Now I think we still need to go through some of these doors and make some turns before getting to Contume’s office.”

Lenia glanced at Cozy. “Oh, is that the path you’ve been using? Why not just take the shorter path?”

“There’s a shorter path?” Troth asked.

“Follow me,” Lenia smiled as she led the way.

Lenia marched down the hallway in jollity while the rest of the crew followed her lead close behind. When Lenia turned a corner, Cozy backed up to be hidden. Through the next hallway was a swarm of guards, twice as many as the previous hallway had.

“We have to go around,” Troth said. “There’s no getting passed them.”

“That’s Emperor Contume’s throneroom right there,” informed Lenia. “There’s no finding another way.”

“It’s not like we can just waltz right on through,” Cozy said.

Lenia turned to the pink pony. “Do you trust me?”

Cozy almost didn’t trust anything with the situation, but she decided that Lenia was their only hope, so she reluctantly nodded her head.

“Good,” Lenia said. “Now stay out of sight really quick, and leave this all to me.”

Lenia took a deep breath before marching into the swarm of guards. Cozy’s jaw dropped, but Troth gave her a reassuring look, as if to tell her to have more faith.

“Attention, everypony,” Lenia declared, visibly sweating due to her nerves. “My parents, Sunflower and Nightfall have noticed the non ponies sneaking in yet again. They have held some of the guards captive and they need all the reinforcements they can get. The guards are being held hostage by the non-ponies in the lower west wing, and the creatures have declared that they want revenge for what happened yesterday.”

With that note, Lenia backed up to one side of the hall as the guards bared their shields in unison before marching in mass away from the door. By the time all the guards were cleared, Lenia finally released her posture, panting in and out hard.

“Oh dear Celestia,” Lenia said. “Why did I do that? That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Cozy was so relieved at the fact that Lenia just saved the mission that she engulfed her in a massive hug. Troth was soon to join in. Lenia then gave a nervous sound, causing Cozy and Troth to release their grip.

“Oh right,” Troth said. “You don’t like being up close and personal.”

Candid still looked puzzled. “How did you know that would work?”

“I combined two of the guards’ interests, their loyalty to their fellow guards and,” Lenia sighed, “their hatred of non-ponies . . .”

Droll frowned before Opul chimed in on the questions. “But aren’t you afraid that your parents will be blamed for the false alarm.”

Lenia gave a big grin as if trying not to laugh before Troth explained. “Her parents are the second-in-command. These guards answer to them. All Lenia has to do is play the dumb-card.”

“Maybe you can learn to master that from Cozy,” Candid said.

“Shutup, Candid!” Droll yelled.

Lenia turned to Cozy. “Because of how big this palace is, I just bought you about twenty minutes of unhindered time with Contume.”

“Thankyou, Lenia,” Cozy gratefully stated. “I think we’re ready.”

Cozy smirked at the rest of her group before turning to enter the throne room. She took a deep breath before the flashbacks of Pent pierced her memories. Cozy fell to the floor, clenching her stomach as if the wounds were still fresh.

Cozy was beginning to gasp for air when Troth rested a hoof on her back.

“It's okay, Cozy,” Troth reassured. “You don't have to be afraid.”

Cozy blinked hard before widening her eyes in fear at Troth, but the older pegasus just gave a positive smile back.

“Remember the first thing you said to me?” Troth asked. “You said ‘where's my castle?’ Well, we've finally found it, Cozy, and it's right there on your flank. You don't have to be afraid of Contume because you've gotten your cutiemark in taking out anything threatening, remember? Now let's get in there and show Contume just who we are.”

Cozy took a deep breath before giving Troth an appreciative smile. She blinked hard then put on a look of determination, leading the charge into the throneroom. With great force, Cozy slammed into the throneroom door while her team assembled behind her. Contume was there sitting at his desk in front of his vase of daisies by the time all of the group was inside. Immediately, Cotume was alerted to their presence and turned to face Cozy.

“It’s over, Contume,” Cozy stated, keeping her voice from portraying her inner fear.

“What’s over?” Contume asked.

“This whole tyranny you’ve been up to. This all ends right now.”

Contume laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“The way you treat your civilians isn’t right. You’re going to tell everyone that Tourettes isn’t a threat anymore.”

“It’s Tirek, you moron!” Candid yelled at her, apparently already knowledgeable of the lie.

Contume smirked at all of them. “Aww, you’re all cute. But what are any of you going to do? You’re all a bunch of kids and inferior non-ponies.”

“You’d be surprised on what we’re capable of,” Troth declared.

Contume turned towards Lenia, his face momentarily taking on a look of genuine shock. “You too, Lenia? What will your parents think of your betrayal?”

Lenia widened her eyes at the realization

“It’s treason what you’re doing, Lenia. And your parents will probably kick you out for that. I took mercy on you once, but I don’t think I can spare you again.”

“You took mercy on her because she’s a pony,” Troth said.

Contume switched his glance to Troth. “Oh, yes. I believe since all ponies are inherently good, they deserve to be left with a warning. Why do you think that I didn’t have my guards shoot you out of the sky when you left my palace yesterday?”

Troth widened her eyes. “What? You saw me leave?”

“Of course. I saw you were intruding on the palace, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t get hurt, so I ordered guards to offer you safe passage without you knowing about it. I don’t want anything bad to happen to this community’s number one nurse.”

Troth gasped. She clearly didn’t know what to think anymore.

“You’re only protective to the ponies,” Candid accused.

“Oh, Candid, can’t you see that’s not true?” Contume disagreed. “I know that non-ponies can cause disharmony in many cases, but I’ve offered them civilization here to keep them safe.”

“Then how do you explain these harsh punishments you’ve tortured non-ponies with?” Opul demanded.

Contume smiled at Opul. “Non-ponies can be quite the troublemakers, but all that can be corrected. Without punishments, nopony would ever listen. Do you feel the need to be corrected again?”

Opul widened her eyes and backed up. “No, sir.”

“Yak hear enough!” Droll intervened. “Contume is pain in yak’s neck. In both ways!”

“Is this about your family picture, Droll?” Contume asked.

Droll’s anger was replaced with pure curiosity.

“It’s okay, Droll,” Contume continued. “I still have it. I only took it so I can add it to the picture frame of members in this community. You’re free to go and see it anytime you want.”

Cozy began to realize that Contume was not making things worse for himself as she thought he was going to do. She looked around to see a panicked Opul, a nervous Lenia, a misguided Troth, and a reassured Droll, all of whom were not so much with Cozy as before.

“Stop with your lies, Contume!” Candid yelled. “If you really were like that, you wouldn’t have taken my paddleball away!”

Contume put on a face of compacted confusion before his face stretched into realization. “Oh right, I know what you’re talking about. I take away things that look like weapons for the safety of this community.”

“Well, that’s a game. It’s not a weapon!”

“I know. That’s why the moment I figured it out, I requested for you to come back to me to reclaim it, but you never did.”

Cozy hated the fact that she had to rely on Candid to stay on her side, but she finally spoke. “Don’t listen to him! You know he’s only using this paddle ball talk to gain power over you.”

Contume turned to Cozy. “I’m just telling him the facts. Actually, now that you’re here, Candid, I can finally give you back that paddleball, but I’ve tried looking for it today, and I couldn’t find it. Do you have any idea where it could’ve gone to?”

Candid narrowed his eyes and turned to Cozy.

Contume smirked at the sight. “Are you sure Cozy’s not the one who’s using it to gain power over you?”

Candid’s eyes fluttered wide open in realization before melting into pure rage towards Cozy, causing the pink pony to look around at the group of friends who were once on her side.

“It looks to me that the only one who’s standing in your way is the youngest one out of all of you.”

The 3 non-ponies turned to Cozy in anger while Lenia and Troth were still stuck in decision, oblivious to the threat given to Cozy.

Contume laughed. “Good. Now please, deal with this filly. We don’t want someone like this polluting this community now, do we?”

The three non-ponies surrounded Cozy, ready to pounce, Candid offering one last head shake of disapproval before Cozy was able to think of her last ditch effort.

“Contume ate your bunny!” Cozy yelled, shielding herself with her wings.

Opul readjusted her pose. “. . . what?”

The statement was enough to catch Droll and Candid off guard as well.

Cozy lowered her wings down to where she could meet Opul’s eyes. “You know that bunny that Contume took from you when you first got here? He cooked him up and ate him.”

Opul’s eyes widened in horror.

Contume laughed again. “That’s absurd, little one. Ponies don’t eat bunnies.”

“Except for you,” Cozy pointed. “Just this morning, you told me that a white dragon gave you her bunny as payment, and it tasted delicious. You even told me not to knock it until I’ve tried it.”

Opul’s sadness turned into pure rage.

“I think you’re mistaken,” Contume said, but Opul was sold.

“You also told me that every time one of the new civilians comes here and they give you a picture, you use it to fuel your fire.”

Droll looked at Contume with piercing eyes.

“I told you that I add all those pictures to a frame.”

“Then where is this frame?” Cozy asked.

“It is in Town Hall,” Contume replied without missing a beat.

Cozy stopped for a moment. “. . . Wow, every picture?”

“Yes, I put every picture I’ve received there in Town Hall.”

“Then how do you explain the griffon picture I found in your safe?”

Contume subtly widened his eyes, but Cozy was still already on the dot, flying straight back to the safe at full speed before she was stopped halfway through with a bright yellow aura wrapping around her waist.

Cozy’s eyes widened in pure fear at the feeling of being suspended by magic again. Contume pulled Cozy back away from the safe, pushing her to the ground and gripping a hold of the rest of her friends, snapping Troth and Lenia from their daze.

“Oh, kids,” Contume began. “You came so close, but not really, of course.”

Cozy tried to struggle out of the grip of the magic, but this wasn’t like before where she could try to hit at Contume to distract him into releasing his grip. Contume tightened his hold on the six and forced them to the ground.

Cozy’s eyes widened in dark memories. “I want to go home!” She yelled to herself.

Contume’s laugh filled the room as the six creatures struggled to move. “This is way better than I originally had in mind.

Cozy stared in confusion through her tears.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised, Cozy,” Contume continued. “Why do you think that I kept that window unlocked for you? I knew you were planning a mutiny. Why do you think I did nothing to stop you either? Well, this is the perfect chance to be rid of you 6 and have everypony here know what the non-ponies are secretly planning. They even had the ability to convince you 3 ponies to join in their aggression. And once I am rid of you 6, I will be seen as the permanent hero here while everypony else finally knows the true nature behind the other species.” Contume tightened his magic grip on the six, completely disregarding whatever pain they were in. “That’s why there were so many guards tonight. We were all waiting for you and your non-pony friends to show up to be caught. We didn’t count on Lenia though.”

Lenia’s mouth was shut under the force of Contume’s magic, but she managed a squeal of pain under the great force.

“Oh, poor Lenia,” Contume said in false sympathy. “If only you chose better friends, you could have spared yourself the pain you’re experiencing. Not all of you deserve to die though. It’s better if my citizens here can see you as the monsters you are. Troth, you'll finally be charged for the murder you did that I so kindly overlooked. Opul, hopefully you weren’t getting used to having one wing because your other will be removed right after this. Droll, I’ll be doing you a favor by removing your other horn. You’ll look like a fool but that’s perfect for you. Candid, you won’t be able to stealth as well anymore without your eyes. Lenia, your parents would be so disappointed in you, and you can have a chance to tell your story when I make them kick you out of this community themselves. And Cozy, well we don’t need somepony like you poisoning this community, or any community for that matter. We won’t have to worry about that though because I’ll make sure you never bother anyone ever again.”

Cozy stared in panic at Contume before turning to Troth and Lenia. Both ponies had their eyes clenched shut in tears and fear. The guilt Cozy felt was incomparable. She knew she was the reason why everyone else was suffering and she was ready to accept her fate, knowing there was nothing she could do against a master unicorn’s magic.

There’s one thing stronger than unicorn magic. Troth’s words rang loudly in Cozy’s head.

From the ground, Cozy was lifted off by Contume’s magic into the air. Cozy struggled to breathe, but she knew she had to concentrate. Contume’s grip on Cozy became tighter as she was slowly being crushed, but Cozy forced the thought of that out of her mind. Through everything, she focused on her friends. She focused on Lenia, the one who aided her to help her accomplish her goal, and she remembered Troth, the pegasus who had her back throughout everything so far.

Suddenly Cozy fell to the ground. She opened her eyes to Contume’s magic still glowing, but he was very much confused. Contume strained, but Cozy just glared at him. She looked down at Troth and Lenia before placing her hooves on each of them, comforting them and relieving the strain of Contume’s magic.

Lenia stood up. “What’s happening?”

With Cozy still holding on to Lenia and Troth, the three ponies became covered in a different colored aura. They left the ground with neither Troth or Cozy’s wings moving.

“Oh yes!” Troth cheered. “The book is right! Friendship is more powerful than any creature’s magic, and it’s making us immune to Contume’s!”

From below, Candid caught a glimpse of the three ponies floating higher in the air. He turned to Opul, managing to move his arm to take hold of Opul’s claw. Opul’s moved with slightly more control as Droll moved to get a grip on the two creatures. Pretty soon, the three non-ponies were following Cozy’s lead with Candid leading the charge of the non ponies.

Contume widened his eyes in fear. “What? That’s impossible! You can’t control that power!” He lit his horn up again to try and regain control over the six creatures, but the six were already immune, caught up in two separate bubbles of a white aura.

From the ponies’s friendship bubble, Cozy smirked down at Contume. “Checkmate.”

Immediately, energy beams from both bubbles zapped out, going in multiple different directions, hitting Contume multiple times and crashing him through the window over the community he used to own.

Excerpt 10

Excerpt 10:

The 6 creatures fell to the ground, their bubbles dispersing immediately after the impact.

Lenia’s jaw dropped. “What was that?”

Troth smiled over to the earth pony. “That was the magic of friendship. I knew we could do it! Cozy, we were right! Cozy?”

Troth turned to face the back of the salmon-colored filly in front of her who was staring wide-eyed at the window the tyrant had been blasted through. Her breath was quivering.

“Cozy, are you okay?” Troth asked in a concerned manner.

Cozy turned to Troth with an abnormally wide grin, her eyes tearing up from how open they were. “I knew it, Troth! I knew I could do it.”

Troth smiled. “Of course we could.”

“No,” Cozy continued with her smile stretching even further. “I am the one. I am the strongest being in Equestria.”

Troth’s smile faded. “What?”

Cozy pulled out Candid’s paddleball from her saddle-bag and tossed it to him before returning her gaze to Troth. “You said it yourself: friendship is the strongest thing there is. I’ve been able to use it, and it worked. It’s so clear to me now. I am destined to be the ruler.”

“Cozy, you’re acting very crazy right now,” Candid speculated.

“What do you know, griffon?” Cozy snapped. “I’m the only sane one here. I’m the only one who has acknowledged what just happened. The only one who’s actually going to put this power to use.”

“Cozy, you’re scaring me,” Lenia said, backing up a few steps.

Cozy decided to ignore Lenia, stepping closer to the non-ponies. “You don’t even know what we just did.”

Opul step forward. “We may not know exactly what happened, but we do know that we are apparently capable of some sort of extraordinary power. But this should not be overused like you’re suggesting.”

Cozy glared at the white dragon. “You’re not capable of it on your own. You just did what I did, and then you profited on it. Friendship isn’t truly in your nature like it is for me.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Candid said. “You clearly saw the other orb that we were engulfed in. Whatever that was, we clearly used it just fine.”

“None of that came from you. You all just copied my lead. And that’s how it should always have been. That’s how it’s going to happen. With this tyrant out of the way, this place is going to need a new leader, and it’s going to be me.”

Droll stared directly into Cozy’s eyes with an angered look. “No, pony will not rule.”

Cozy matched Droll’s expression with her own. “I don’t care what any of you think.”

Her glare shifted into a condescending smirk as she marginalized the non-ponies, making her way to the back of the throneroom where the safe stood. She dug through the storage unit, quickly finding the rook. She hugged it closely, oblivious to the cuts she was leaving on her chest from the sharp edges. She turned her sight to the other features of the containment unit, noticing the multiple bits that were soon to be hers. When she finally filled her saddle-bag with the currency, she caught a glimpse of the empty picture frame within the containment unit, her mind coming up with something.

She flew out of the safe back towards the desk. “Let’s make my rule official with a picture, Troth,” Cozy smiled to the other pegasus.

Troth’s heartstrings were pulled at the sudden favor, and she quickly agreed in a smile. The white pegasus reached for her camera that was slung around her neck, and she lifted it up to aim it at Cozy. The eyes of the pink pegasus briefly landed on the vase of the white daisies, and she set her hooves on the flowers before putting on her cutest smile as Troth snapped the photo.

“Wait,” Droll said to the other two creatures. “What pony doing?”

“Droll, you idiot,” Candid facepalmed. “She’s naming herself ruler.”

“Hey!” Opul called out to the two ponies. “No one is getting coronated today. The ruler should be someone with experience.”

Cozy beamed over at Opul. “I do have experience.”

“Obviously not enough,” Candid shot back.

From behind the non-ponies, Lenia sunk to the floor, covering her eyes with her hooves.

“Leader should be new,” Droll offered, trying to go for peace. “Maybe even non-pony.”

Cozy groaned as she framed her picture and set it on the desk. “I-.”

“It’s not going to be you!” Candid yelled, his eyes widened with fury.

Cozy gripped the rook in her hooves. In a split-second, her mind grasped her understanding of the situation. Here she was, a young pony gifted with the strongest power known to pony-dom, and a griffon was trying to take it away from her. This was something she could not stand for.

Cozy’s ears rang once more from the sight of the hostile griffon. She once again heard the words of her mother, telling her to put her own safety first.

“I will, mom,” Cozy muttered softly to herself.

Cozy began to turn away to face the camera Troth had placed on the desk, but in one quick motion, she turned around to flick the sharp rook out of her hooves like a ninja star into the direction of the griffon. Before anyone could react, the rook found its home, lodging itself in the still widened left eye of the orange non-pony.

The blood-curdling shriek was enough to tip the battle off. Droll lunged at Cozy as Opul ran to comfort Candid. Before the yak could reach his lone horn to impale the filly, she flew up into the air, just out of reach before taunting the brown creature.

“No high enough, Drool. Tell me why you think someone like you could actually run a place like this.”

“Yak offended by Rookie’s words. Yak smash!”

Opul kept her arm over Candid, looking up to see Droll chase Cozy around the room. “It’s going to be okay, Candid. We’ll-.”

Her words were cut short as a great force collided with her cheek. Opul’s head snapped back up to see Troth winding up for a second punch, forcing the dragon to release Candid and let him collapse to the floor with no support.

Opul dodged the following attack by the white pegasus, moving around Troth to the opposite section of the room to lead the attacker away from the out-of-commission griffon who could only watch with his single eye as his friends faced danger. Another attack was launched against the dragon as Opul dodged yet again before a sudden kick to the gut caught her off guard. Heaving, Opul collapsed to the floor, looking over to Droll’s location where he was still trying to catch Cozy out of the air before the pink pegasus landed on top of the throne. She watched as Cozy made yet another taunt, but right as the yak charged the throne for a hit, Cozy pushed at the very top towards Droll. The brown non-pony hit the base of the throne, causing the seat to tip over on the yak and daze him.

Immediately, Troth stepped in front of the dragon, blocking her sight from her friend before the pony readied her right hoof for another attack. Immediately as her hoof was brought down, Opul launched out her claw, grasping on tightly to Troth’s hoof before sinking her claws deep into the pony’s hide and causing an audible cry from the filly. Right as Opul stood her ground again, the majestic sound of flapping wings overcame her surroundings as the pink feathers covered her sight, allowing for Troth to regain her composure to continuing wailing on the poor dragon.

From the opposite side of the room, Candid caught sight of his friend being double teamed, fueling him with anger, but just as soon as he got up, nausea brought him back to the ground. He tried his best to relieve himself from his dizziness, but he could only stay on the ground for the time being. Finally, he could not bear to witness anymore, and he turned away, his eye fixing on the light-green earth pony who was still clinging to the ground.

“Lenia,” Candid spoke up, barely managing the strength to finally stand.

From below the throne, Droll began to stir from his unconscious state.

Lenia looked up at the griffon, shaking in fear. “Why is this happening?”

“You chose the wrong friends,” Candid said.

Lenia shook her head, unwilling to believe it. “Troth cares for me. She knows what she’s talking about.”

Finally, Droll got up, extricating himself from underneath the throne. He shook his head to make sure nothing was loose before running to Candid.

“Lenia,” Candid repeated. “Does what she’s doing look like friendship?”

The filly stared over at Opul who was just barely able to defend against the two young pegasi, barely freeing her eyes from Cozy’s wings to continue blocking as many lunges as possible, but it was apparent that this would not last for very much longer.

Droll finally spoke up. “Pony help us. We need Lenia.”

Lenia began to breathe heavier, backing away from the two non-ponies, stopping in the moonlight beam that barely shone in from the window. “You can’t be asking me to do what I think you’re asking me to do.”

“Lenia, what’s happened here has gone too far,” Candid explained, feeling a bit more strength come to him. “You can help us stop this.”

Lenia gulped in fear, staring at her original friend who had teamed up with her new friend. Throughout her time with her, she had been taught the importance of sticking with somepony through thick and thin and to never turn your back on them. She couldn’t help but think that now was the time to put what she learned into practice by staying loyal to who she knew first. But her own thoughts also pierced her mind, flooding her brain with guilt at what would happen if she chose to listen to herself.

She looked at Candid and Droll, then back at Troth. She had no idea what to think, for she had never been brought up to ever think for herself. She thought she knew what to do, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that every decision she would make would be met with an equal scolding to her.

Lenia began to tear up, and she finally brought her eyes away from reality, staring down at the carpet beneath her hooves as the moonlight shined in from the window behind her, partially cracked from the magical blast of earlier. She watched as the tears fell from her cheeks before splatting on the floor, never bothering anyone ever again. Tears never had to face life. Their only purpose was to appear in horrible times before leaving the scene for others to solve on their own. Tears never had to decide.

Lenia finally stared back up at her friends, the softest of smiles coming to her damp face. “I’m sorry.”

Finally, Lenia clenched her eyes closed before pushing herself backwards off the floor with as much force as she could handle, shattering the rest of the window behind her as she sailed through the air like a tear falling to the ground.

Droll dropped to the floor in shock as Candid rushed to the broken window. He stared out through the opening, but saw nothing through the darkness of the night. He continued to search in desperation for a moment before an angered voice interrupted from behind.

“What did you do??”

Candid turned just in time to see Troth flying towards him at full speed, baring her bloody right hoof to smash into his face. The punch knocked the griffon to the ground, lighting off adrenaline in his body to muster the strength to fight. He stood up, facing Troth with her blood now on his cheek. Troth winded her hoof for an uppercut, but before she could let it loose, Droll bit onto her tail and pulled her back, catching her off guard.

Candid stood over Troth. “We don’t want to fight you.”

Troth glared up at the bloody griffon. “It’s too late for that. You’ve made this personal.”

Immediately, Troth back-kicked Droll’s face, causing the yak to stumble back. The pegasus then set her front hooves on the carpet before doing a flip to achieve the most amount of momentum to come down on Candid’s head with the base of her back hooves.

The impact rattled the rook that was still dislodged in his eye, causing searing pain to spread throughout his head, but he fought through it. He looked back at Troth who was already preparing for another hit. Candid got to his knees and breathed hard, staring behind Troth to see the charging yak approaching her. His neck was outstretched to bare his lone horn in front of him as he traveled with so much speed that the floor shook.

Before Troth could hit Candid again, she stopped herself, freezing for a moment before smirking. Just as Droll was about to bulldoze Troth, she launched herself off the ground, removing herself from the path that Droll was in. He was still going full speed and now the only one in his way was a helpless griffon staring in fear. With wishful thinking, Candid brought his claws up to grip tightly onto his friend’s lone horn, forcing himself to be dragged across the carpet as to not be trampled as Droll slowed down. He was stopped right before his head hit a glass shard still sticking out from the broken window.

Droll stared in panic at Candid, but the griffon instead just nodded in understanding before the two turned to face Troth once more. Each deciding that cooperation was key, they began to charge Troth together.

“You two have no idea what you’re getting yourselves into,” Troth said before charging the two creatures as well.

Candid flew through the air in an attempt to tackle the dangerous pegasus but instead, Troth slid underneath and came up behind him. Before Candid could turn around, Troth jumped up to touch her hind hooves onto Candid’s back before launching herself off of him into the direction of Droll. She flew over his head, grabbing a hold of his lone horn for control before landing herself on the yak’s back, riding him like the animal he was to her.

With great force, Droll launched Troth off his back, sending her flying towards Candid who was still trying to regain his stance from Troth’s push. Immediately, Droll began charging again and this time, Troth wasn’t ready to get out of the way. Instead, she glanced up at Candid. The griffon directed his attention back to the threat, but before he could react, Troth reached up to his face, grabbing a hold of the rook still lodged in his eye to yank it out with great force. Candid shrieked again, collapsing to the floor and Troth took the moment to throw the rook in the direction of the charging yak, to which he deflected it with his horn, allowing for the castle chess piece to roll to the side of the room where Opul and Cozy were.

Cozy’s eyes caught on the rook on the ground, and she dove for it, hefting it up to stand guard against Opul.

The white dragon gasped loudly at the sight of the weapon she had become far too familiar with. “You’re - you’re just like him . . .”

“Yeah,” Cozy said without emotion. “Well maybe now I see why.”

Opul backed up, worried about what Cozy could now do with the rook. Since Troth left her side, Cozy had been defending, trying her best to get out of the way from Opul’s attacks. Now with the serrated piece, she was now a threat, and it was Opul’s turn to play defense.

Candid covered his eye that was now bleeding more frequently, causing him to feel woozy again. He lay on his stomach, trying to army-crawl off of the battlefield. He looked back up to see Droll fighting Troth and losing. With short breaths, the only thing he desired was to be over with everything and get his friends back, but he didn’t see that as an option.

It wasn’t long into his weak crawl that the top of his head hit against something metal. He looked up to see the metal safe where Cozy reclaimed her weapon from, with the door to it slowing moving closed from the recent impact. He mustered the little strength he had left to get up and fly to the top.

He landed on the safe and the containment unit wobbled beneath him. The current room consisted of one friend to his left who was now being threatened with a sharp rook and one friend to his right who was trying his best to fend off somepony that not even Candid could have fought when Droll was by his side. The safe shook beneath him again in an unstable manner, and the griffon was instantly reminded of the throne earlier. His breathing grew more rapidly in fear as he was struck with a solution that he did not want to carry out.

From below, Droll stared up at Candid, worried if his friend would be okay. The only thing the yak cared about at the moment was making sure the rest of his life would be devoted to giving his friends a chance to survive. His breath was fast by the time Troth flew into the side of him, tipping him over and knocking the wind out of him. The yak’s wheezes were heard throughout the room, and he watched as Troth stood over him, lifting up her hoof to bring down on the creature’s face. Troth stomped once, then stomped twice, causing blood to spout from the yak’s mouth. It was the third hit that Droll reached out his cloven hooves to stop the impact, but he was too weak to hold it for much longer.

He spit out blood before attempting to take his last look at his friend who was now putting both his back against the wall and his legs against the back of the safe. Droll’s arms were about to give up under the weight of the hoof, causing his eyes to meet Troth’s once more who was staring down in a look of determination as she pressed her hoof down. Finally, the yak’s gaze returned to the griffon’s who was still in the same position, but his mood had taken on a depressed tone rather than panicked. Droll was confused as he struggled under Troth’s weight until he saw Candid’s lone eye roll down to the safe before returning to Droll. He understood.

With one last push of energy, Droll pushed Troth’s hoof away, freeing himself from the pony’s grip. Immediately, he stood up before using every last bit of energy to rush at the safe, tilting his head down and aiming it towards one single leg of the containment unit. Troth was quick to get back on her hooves to chase Droll down, still unaware of what he was doing. Finally, Droll collided with the metal leg as Candid used the last of his effort to push at the top. Immediately after the impact, Droll ricocheted off the leg, bouncing to the side of the safe and dazing himself in the process. Troth narrowed her eyes on the yak, ready to finish the job until the sight of the safe got closer to her at an unbelievable speed and she watched as it came down on her, leaving only the top part of her head to see the light of day and leveling the rest of her body.

The sound of a huge CRUNCH stirred Cozy from her fight with Opul, and she turned to see just the top half of her friend sticking out from underneath the safe.

The pink filly froze, staring wide-eyed down at the horrific sight. In a hopeful tone, she called out: “Troth?”

After no answer, the pink filly rushed down to the side of her friend, attempting to comfort her by resting Troth’s head in her hooves, but upon first contact, the skull severed and disconnected, landing in Cozy’s arms.

Candid stared in shock at what he just did. He looked down at Cozy from above the fallen safe.

Cozy sniffled before staring up at Candid. “How could you do this?”

The griffon regarded the young filly sorrowfully before looking around at the room. His head turned next to him where Droll was lying, dazed, on the floor. He turned to Opul who was covered in red gashes from the rook, barely able to stand up. Then his eyes returned to the pink filly who was sobbing, holding the partial cranium against her chest as she knelt in a pool of blood.

“Cozy,” Candid managed weakly.

“Back away,” Cozy said with subdued anger.

Candid blinked back a tear before repeating himself. “Cozy.”

“Back off!” Cozy yelled, contorting her face at the griffon.

“Please, Cozy,” Candid said, looking at her on the same eye-level. “You should go.”

Cozy stared back into the griffon’s lone eye. The two shared their eye contact for a moment until the sound of distant hoofsteps sounded from the hallways, breaking the two from their trance.

Cozy returned her eyes to the fractured skull in her hooves before lifting it off and placing it in her bag. She flew to the desk where she had the picture placed, the last thing given to her by her friend, before putting the picture in her saddle-bag and taking a hold of her rook again.

She stared out the broken window behind the desk where the unicorn had been blasted through.

“It’s okay, Troth,” Cozy said to her bag. “We’re going to be okay.”

Cozy’s eyes returned to the window before she flew into the night.

Excerpt 11

Excerpt 11:

Cozy gripped the rook in her hooves, still shivering from what she had just been through. She welcomed any pain that the chess piece would bring her. Anything to get her mind off what had just happened, but this wasn’t possible for her.

She wiped another tear from her eyes, shaking her head rapidly to get her mind off the memories, but they invaded anyway. She was losing her focus on flying. Even though she had been soaring for hours, she was still crying as if the events had just happened immediately prior.

She looked into the distance of the desert she just surpassed to view the beautiful sight of the sun just coming up over a city, the false promise of hope. The sight made her realize that she had been up all night, constantly doing laborious tasks, and she immediately felt exhausted. She finally decided to rest, landing behind a rock to shade her.

It was then that she decided to collect her thoughts. She removed her saddle-bag, opening it up carefully with her good hoof before digging inside. Surrounded by the many palace bits that Cozy looted was the fragmented skull of her friend. Normally, the severed remains of a pony would frighten a filly, but Cozy managed a weak smile before reaching inside and carefully taking Troth’s head out.

She smiled at the skull. “Hey. The fight is over. We’re safe now.”

The soulless eyes of the former pegasus just stared back at her.

“I don’t think I ever got to tell you how much your loyalty meant to me. You chose to support me through everything, and I barely asked you to do any of it. Especially back there with . . . them.” Cozy averted her eyes as a zap of pain entered her memory.

She looked down at the cut hoof that carried the rook, the only injury she received. “I - I barely got hurt from what happened there, and I lost both you and . . .” Cozy touched her forehead in realization as she did the impossible and felt even worse. “I . . . I don’t deserve to be here . . .”

Cozy sniffled before her eyes fluttered down to the rook in her hooves, her mind overcome with a thought. “I need to make things right . . .”

Cozy stared down at her sharp rook in hesitance before lightly brushing her hoof on the sharp edges. She then brought the rook closer to her neck. She didn’t know exactly what she was doing, but she knew what she was trying to go for.

She looked back at the still widened eyes of Troth. “I’m sorry.”

As the rook barely touched Cozy’s neck, she was immediately startled by one of Troth’s eyes falling from its widened socket. She stared at the skull of Troth studiously as she realized what really needed to be done.

“I don’t deserve to be alive . . . but I’ll earn it . . . for you.”

Cozy was about to continue until she heard two voices begin talking in the distance behind her. Instinctively, Cozy grabbed her bag and Troth’s head before jumping behind the boulder to hide.

Cozy heard the voice of a mare talk. “And then I told her ‘there’s no need to be afraid. The changelings have been gone for a while now.’ But she was convinced that they were back.”

The other voice responded. “Well, today is the mail delivery day so maybe we will actually get some answers if there is a reason to worry or not.”

Cozy waited until the voices got a safe enough distance away before she peeked her head above the boulder. She noticed the two mares, one pink and one dark, laughing it up as they traveled to the city in the distance.

When the two were a safe distance away, she returned her attention to what she was originally doing. The first thing she noticed when she looked back at the severed head was that the second eye had come loose, leaving behind an eyeless Troth.

Cozy sighed in sorrow. “You supported me even when I tried to name myself leader, and you ended up dying for it. I won’t let that be for nothing. I promise I’ll make sure that I actually become the ruler. But not over some silly community. Over something bigger.” Cozy’s face lit up slightly as she got her idea. “Over Equestria.”

The more she thought about it, the better of an idea it sounded. If Friendship was the strongest power in Equestria and Twilight was the Princess of Friendship then if she replaced Twilight, she would officially be the strongest being in Equestria.

It was perfect except it wasn’t. She couldn’t just pay Twilight a visit and say that she’s ruler now. She lost her last chance at power before from improper planning, so if this was going to be any different, she had to make sure every little detail was full-proof.

What could she do against a princess? More specifically, an alicorn princess. She knew that alicorn magic was stronger than unicorn magic, and she was barely able to handle that. Now that she was on her own, she couldn’t stand a chance against Princess Twilight’s magic. If only there was some way she could take it all away.

She was instantly struck with a solution. The creature she heard about back at her community. Some monstrous being that could steal magic away from any creature, even alicorns as she remembered hearing. What was his name? Derek? T-rex? No, it was Tirek. Deep down, Cozy knew that he was her best chance, and she set out to get a hold of him.

Cozy gave a hopeful smile before turning back to Troth. “I’m going to make you proud. Don’t worry, we’ll be okay.” She hugged the skull, squishing the rotting flesh against her skin before placing the head back in her bag.

Before she could fully take her gaze off her inventory, her eyes landed on the blue horn she had taken as her trophy. She still felt the guilt of the event, but she needed to remember at least one victory, even if it was pyrrhic.

The memory replayed in her head.

From below, Cozy could hear the broken calls from her former tyrant. With the rook still in her hoofs and her emotional scars fresh, she decided to swoop down to view a sight that might raise her spirits.

Contume coughed. “You actually went ahead and did it.”

Cozy was stirred out of her anger into confusion as she walked over to the blue unicorn. “What do you mean?”

Contume raised his head, his horn cracked at its base from the impact. He gave an injured laugh. “The light show. I thought I was the only one other than Princess Twilight Sparkle who could figure out how to use that. I’ve been trying to see that power again for years, until you did what I could not for so long.”

“Of course I did,” Cozy said, getting more agitated. “Because I’m better than you.”

“No,” Contume smirked. “Because you are me.”

Cozy winced in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Everything you’ve done is the same thing I’ve done. I used to have friends too, but it didn’t work out. Now you’re alone, aren’t you? You’re going to live out the rest of your days alone.” Contume coughed again. “Like me.”

“I’m nothing like you,” Cozy tried to reassure herself.

“Not yet. But you found out how to use Equestria’s strongest magic. You’re on your way.” Contume readjusted his position to stare Cozy in the eyes. “Times will be dark, lonely. You’ll be desperate to get power. Desperate to feel that high from being the strongest being in existence for a short duration. You’ll view your own life above anyone else’s. And you might even take another’s life just so you can feel safer.”

Contume smiled before reaching out a hoof to grab Cozy by the leg, causing Cozy to flinch and back up.

Contume smiled at her. “You’re not leaving.”

Contume’s horn sparked yellow. Cozy’s reflexes kicked in as she gripped her rook and brought it down onto Contume’s horn with all her might, directly on its fracture.

Contume’s eyes widened into full moons as his horn fell to the ground. “What did you do??”

Cozy scrambled to grab the horn as Contume shot out his arm to grab Cozy, but he immediately fell back to the ground in pain as an audible crack was heard from the blue unicorn, dropping him on his side. The tiny pegasus, startled by the sudden outburst, jumped back out of reach with the blue unicorn horn still in her hooves.

Finally, the hornless unicorn bellowed. “You can’t get away from me! My guards will find me soon enough, and we will come after you. I won’t stop until you’re dead. I will find you!”

I will find you! The familiar words of those from her former captor from long ago rang in her ears once more. But she didn’t feel afraid. Pure rage surged throughout her entity, angry at the fear that encapsulated her long after she was caged.

With pools of water in her eyes, she turned back towards Contume and readied her horn in her hooves. In a matter of seconds, she flew at full speed towards Contume, driving the horn into his gut.

Contume flinched and spit up blood. He looked surprised for a moment before his face turned into a smirk as he whispered one final word. “Checkmate . . .”

Cozy blinked again, snapping out of her rage to see Contume’s eyes fall shut as his head thudded against the ground. Cozy was stunned, shaking violently as tears entered her eyes. She backed up from Contume with the horn still in full grip, pulling it out of the carcass. She would’ve stood there, speechless, all night if a light from above hadn’t shone on her.

“There!” a voice yelled, shocking Cozy from her torment.

Cozy panicked at the realization that she was about to have more unwanted company. She immediately placed the blue horn in her bag before flying away from the community to not be seen.

Cozy shuddered violently, trying desperately to rid her mind of the memory. She hated that things ended that way, but she couldn’t just sit by and let fear overtake her again. Thanks to the incident, she no longer felt her fear of unicorns, allowing for her to be comfortable enough to place her rook in her bag without much reluctance.

Cozy emerged from her hiding place, attempting to let go of the past and embrace the future. She was planning to free Tirek and let him steal Princess Twilight’s magic so Cozy could walk in and claim her position as the Princess of Friendship.

“No, that sounds lame. I’d view myself more as . . . the Empress of Friendship.”

Cozy began to laugh quietly to herself in confidence at her plan until the harsh revelation set into her mind. How was she going to get a hold of Tirek at all? She didn’t know where Tartarus was.

Before Cozy could plot ahead further, a gray pegasus zipped by her with immense speed, nearly crashing into her. The sudden gust of wind knocked Cozy off balanced and pushed her to the ground, but before she could look up to scold the pony, the fluctuating voice of the mare sounded.

“Oops, my bad.” The gray pony stood up and brushed herself off before grabbing a letter off the ground. She then turned towards Cozy. “Are you okay there, little filly?”

Cozy frowned before pulling herself off the ground. “What was all that about?”

“Oh gee, I’m sorry. I’m just running a little late to do my rounds. I accidentally flew to the wrong city again to deliver the mail.”

Cozy’s face loosened when she heard that, struck with a solution to her problem. She peeked at the attire of the older pegasus, noticing the mail saddlebag wrapped around her and the “I heart muffins” apron peeking out. “You’re a mail pony?”

“Oh, no, I’m a female pony, I think.”

“No, I meant you deliver mail.”

“Indeed I do. I deliver mail all around Equestria.”

“Oh golly yes. I’ve been looking for you. If it’s not too much trouble, would you be able to deliver a message for me?”

“Oh sure thing there, filly. Where would you like it delivered?”

Cozy took a deep breath, worried of what answer she would be met with. “Um, if it’s not too much of a trip, I was wondering if you could deliver a message to a special someone in Tartarus.” She blinked with her cutest smile.

The gray pegasus was taken aback. “Tartarus?” She repeated for confirmation.

Cozy nodded, trying to maintain her confidence.

“Oh, no can do there, filly. Tartarus deliveries were outlawed a while back. Ponies were aiding creatures in escape through methods written on the messages.”

“Oh, I see,” Cozy began, trying her best hurt impression. “I just thought it wouldn’t be too much of a bother because I have a friend I need to hear from down there.”

“You make friends with Equestria’s most wanted?”

“Um, yes?”

“You’re bad at friendship.”

Cozy tilted her head before the pony continued. “I’m sorry, filly. It’s Celestia’s orders. No more mail in or out of Tartarus.”

“Oh, but you don’t understand. Don’t you remember what happened with the Princess of the Night? She was feared for a long time, but then Twilight and her friends helped her see the good in her, and now she’s princess of Equestria again. Then there was that being of chaos that had terrorized ponyville, but through the magic of friendship, he was reformed and now protects Equestria. I believe the same thing can be done for my friend down in Tartarus. I’m sure that through the use of letters, I can help him see what he was doing. Don’t you believe that there’s no one that’s beyond help?”

The gray mare stared emotionally at Cozy. “I do believe that.”

“Then you’ll help me. You will be doing a lot if you help me send letters to him.”

The mare’s eyes drooped apologetically. “I’m sorry, little filly.”

Cozy glanced at the mail mare’s apron again before saying “you’ll get a muffin for every letter you send.”

“It’s a deal!” The gray mare agreed immediately. “When would you like your message delivered?”

“If you could stick around for a little bit. I may have multiple things to send.” Cozy looked at her small saddle bag where she kept the coins from Contume’s throne room. Her master plan was now in motion.

Excerpt 12

Excerpt 12:

“Dear Tirek,” Cozy wrote. “My name is Cozy Glow. I am an 8 and-a-half year old pegasus filly with information that might be worth your while. I’ve developed a plan that can bring you revenge on Princess Twilight Sparkle. She has been named the Princess of Friendship in celebration of your defeat, and I believe that together, we can make her reign end shortly. I just need you to come back to drain Equestria’s magic again, and I can help seal the deal for your victory.”

“Dear Inferior, first off, it’s Lord Tirek. And your plan has a few obvious flaws within it. The main one being that I cannot leave Tartarus. Only unicorn magic and the postal service have access in and out of these gates. While I would appreciate being set free to finish my job of draining your pathetic land of its power, it is not within my abilities to set into action at the moment. Not that I would for a prissy pony anyway.”

“But I need your help, mister. Alicorn magic is one of the strongest magics in existence and somepony like her cannot be trusted with that power. I need you to help me take away her magic.”

“I take pride in being one of the only living creatures that can drain magic through my abilities. I’m still the only creature who can drain pegasus flight. Not even the magic artifacts can do that.”

“These magic artifacts that you’ve mentioned: are you saying that there is another way to drain Equestria of magic?”

“Yes, there is but you need the series of them to perform the action. The non-ponies each have a magic artifact that goes back in their history. It has been long forgotten by most, but the non-ponies originally had the intentions of gathering these artifacts to rid Equestria of its magic in order to find the land easier to raid. Scholars would still be aware of this concern and be fearful of what they’re capable of. Alas, even if I knew where to find them, I wouldn’t tell you. You are probably just another failure waiting to happen.”

“Mr. Tirek, if I may strike a deal with you. Your attack was the closest that Equestria has ever come to losing. You strike fear into the hearts of everypony who hears your name. I’m sure Princess Twilight Sparkle is in dire concern of keeping you secure. If you tell me how I can harness the power of the artifacts, I can begin draining the magic from Equestria. I will tell Twilight that you are the one behind this, and she will gather her friends to come check on you. When they do this, they will be trapped forever with no magic to help them escape.”

“Very nice plan of yours, but you are unaware of one thing. Unicorn magic is the first thing to go so Twilight would not be able to enter into Tartarus in the first place. However, there is a stone you can use to bypass this for your plan to fully work.”

“Tell me, what is the name of the stone, and how can I get it?”

“Silly filly. If you are to fail in your efforts, the enchantments on my cage will become more severe. If you are going to take this plan into action, I need to know that you’re capable of all the things you say you are. I will only give you instructions and not explanations. Prove to me that you can do this.”

Cozy put down the letter from reading it. So now I have to figure everything else out on my own?

“Is everything alright?” the woll-eyed mare asked her.

Cozy turned and smiled at the gray pegasus. “Oh yes. Everything’s just peachy.”

“Good. I’m off to make my rounds now. I’ll be back for your next letters though.”

The yellowed-maned pegasus dashed off, leaving Cozy alone again.

Cozy turned to the partially-ripped calendar she had found in the town garbage. Each message she gave the mail mare to deliver had such a long trip that by now, the filly should’ve been nine years old. Cozy sighed at all the time that had passed without much progression of her plans.

Luckily for Cozy, she only had to sleep with no shelter for about a week before she was able to find torns rags in the town garbage center. With those, she made herself a makeshift fort to protect herself from any of the threats that the environment had to offer. It didn’t provide total protection, but it did provide a hideout.

Do I wait again today? Cozy asked herself. No, I now need to do research on what Tirek has told me.

Before she set out to leave her fort, she recalled the dangers of improper planning. Instinctively, she dug through her saddle-bag in search of more paper to try her best at a detailed plan of attack, but looking through her inventory, she found that she was running low on material. Through an annoyed sigh, she knew what her first task today was.

She had setup her tent just outside of the town. She was too worried that if her residence had been discovered, lots of attention would be dragged to her. She could not have that happen if her plan was to work.

When she finally entered in through the city, she scoped out her best plans of movements to where she could travel unnoticed. She wasn’t to be completely hidden the entire way; just enough to where her resting place couldn’t be traced back.

It wasn’t long until she was at the heart of the town. It didn’t seem as though anypony was around today. She quickly found her reason when she turned to see a herd of earth ponies staring at a stampede of buffalo. It looked like the perfect opportunity to claim her meal since the apple trees were left unguarded.

Just a couple to start off with. She snatched a dozen apples from the tree, storing some in her saddle-bag that had a bit more room to it from the bits that went to paying off the mail mare. She just began to eat one of her apples when a stallion interrupted her.

“What are you doing?” a demanding voice asked. “Those, there, apples are supposed to be for the apple ‘pahs’ that the buffalo are about to help us with.”

Cozy turned to meet a yellow earth pony with both a brown hat and vest. She smiled at him with the apple still in her mouth. After a bite, she turned on the cuteness. “Oh, sorry there. The apples just look so well kept. I have to say whoever tended to them really knows what they’re doing.”

“Aw shucks,” the earth pony said. “But you can’t-.”

“I really appreciate you letting me have some of these apples,” Cozy interrupted. “It’s good to know that there are still good ponies around.”

“Oh, well, uh . . .”

“You’ve been such a big help to me, but if you could be a little bit more help: where can I find the town library?”

The earth pony looked confronted about his decision until he finally shook the feeling. “Go up to the pastry shop. Go 2 buildings down to the building that says ‘Media’.”

“Thank you so much,” Cozy said before turning to fly to the location.

That was too close this time, Cozy thought while eating her daily meal.

She got up to the main road of the town to go to her usual location to get paper. She obviously knew where the library was, but she needed an exit to the situation. When she finally arrived, the sight of the building opposite to the library caught her eyes. In big, bright balloon letters, the words “Rock Convention” spread across the face of the building.

Cozy huffed. “Who would want to go to a rock convention?”

Cozy disregarded the building before entering in through the library. Before she could get five steps in, a voice stopped her.

“Can I help you?”

“Oh, golly, yes. I’m doing this research project about Tartarus and artifacts in my class and wanted to know if there are any books here that can help me.”

“Hmm, we do have books here, but they may not be exactly what you’re looking for. I recommend going to the Canterlot Archives for the best sources, but you’re welcome to search here. The books you’re looking for should be in the back over there.”

The librarian pointed to a darker section of the library, and Cozy was immediately off.

Cozy had imagined that it would be overwhelming to find what she was looking for, but with the miniature size of the location, she found the lone book within a minute. “Tartarus: an introduction,” Cozy read off before taking the book to a table.

Cozy flipped through the book, trying to find something that would be useful, but it mostly just talked about the current creatures locked away.

“Bugbear. No. . . Cockatrice. A single direct look can turn you to stone.” Cozy had to admit that this sounded awful, but her horrific thoughts were soon pierced with confusion. She realized something that didn’t add up with the mailmare she had acquainted, but the filly just persisted looking until her eyes caught on to the Manticore. “Hmm, Manticore. Originally believed to be reformed through Kindness, the Manticore was proven too much of a threat to be trusted and now calls Tartarus its home.” Cozy drooped her eyes in slight sympathy at the creature until she shook her mind off the subject to continue onto her goal.

Finally, she got to the final pages of the book to find something relevant to her searches. She began to quietly read to herself. “The Mystery Behind the Tartarus Lock. Originally, there used to be only 2 ways to open up the gates to Tartarus. The first being the complex spell from a powerful unicorn and the second being the combination only given to tenure mail ponies. But researchers believe that the third way lies in the indent upon the door. This indent mostly resembles the legend of the Key of Unfettered Entrance, but little is known about this artifact.”

Cozy remembered the mysterious stone that Tirek was referring to. She considered asking him through the letter if he knew more about it but quickly remembered that he wasn’t giving any information, only instructions.

Cozy looked up from her book in search of answers until her eyes caught on the now-populated Rock Convention building. Wait, maybe I can get more information on this key thing from over there.

Cozy stopped herself before she left. She still needed more papers for her letters and for trying to full-proof her plan.

“What’s going on out there?” Cozy asked the librarian.

“Oh, just this rock convention that happens annually. Earth ponies come from all around Equestria to this thing, and I still have yet to figure out why.”

Cozy’s eyes landed on the display of papers that she had been using as her source for months now. Everytime she had come in before, she hadn’t had to deal with the librarian, but this time, there was unwanted company. She still couldn’t understand why there was a price on paper, but she assumed it was from the fact that the town seemed to need their trees. Regardless of the fact, she needed paper, and she wasn’t going to use up her mail bits to get it.

“They don’t seem to be too critical of the way they spell things,” Cozy pointed out.

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t you see the error they put in those big letters across the building?”

The librarian stared closely outside, and Cozy took the opportunity to snatch a stack of papers to place quietly in her bag.

“Oh, I guess they didn’t misspell anything. Thank you for your time.”

Cozy flew out of the library smirking to herself as she traveled across the road. Her flight was cut short when she had to stop in front of the big herd of ponies that were checking in one at a time.

“Just show your tickets and then enjoy the convention,” a voice projected from a booth in front of the big group of earth ponies.

Cozy pushed ahead, trying to gain any sort of leeway through the crowd, but she ended up having to wait her turn as the herd slowly progressed. While waiting, her eyes caught on a few strange adult ponies looking her up and down, trying not to be noticed by her. Cozy took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool, but she found the nearest pony that matched her coat color and got close to her. She then smiled as though she were just a filly with her parent, and soon enough, nopony was looking at her anymore.

Finally she got to the front, and the pony who she pretended was with her signed up for one ticket. Instinctively, she hid under the booth window just out of sight while the transaction ahead of her was in progress.

This might be where it gets hard, she thought to herself.

After the adult pony in front of her was done, she began her way of sneaking through the doorframe, trying her best to remain undetected while keeping close to the ground. She didn’t care what the other ponies behind her thought, just as long as the booth pony didn’t see her. The inevitable sound from the guard sounded in front of her.

“What are you doing?” the guard asked.

“I’m sorry, but I got lost. I just saw my dad go in there, and I broke off from him to come back here.”

“I apologize but you need a ticket to enter.”

“But I can see my dad from here. Do I have to stay out here where basically anypony can come and snatch me up to claim me as their own?”

The pony looked in concern at Cozy before finally making up his mind. “Well, I can get a security guard to accompany you until somepony comes for you.”

“But what is the bother when I can just go to my dad inside? He has my ticket.”

The guard opened his mouth to speak but Cozy continued.

“What’s the sense in making this harder? I’m sure the long line of ponies behind me wouldn’t want to wait such a long time to enter, especially if they’ve traveled from all different parts from Equestria to come here. They probably won’t want to come back if they wait any longer.”

The guard regarded Cozy in annoyance. “Okay, fine. Go right on ahead.”

“Thank you,” Cozy said with a smile.

As Cozy was still in eye view of the booth, she continued walking forward to the acclaimed “father” of hers. Normally, she would shudder at the memories, but she got to the point where she had been through so much that she just didn’t feel anything anymore.

When Cozy was successfully out of sight to the booth pony, she dashed away in search of information behind her desired Key. One of these earth ponies had to know something about it. If they were willing to travel Equestria for rocks, then they would most likely have the information she’s looking for.

Cozy began her unwinnable task. “Excuse me, sir,” she asked to an earth pony who just kept on walking, ignoring her. Cozy scoffed before continuing. “Hello? You there. No? How about you? Can anypony help me?”

Cozy still didn’t even know the exact questions she would ask, but that wouldn’t matter if nopony would stop to even give her the time of day.

Finally, after several minutes of attempts, Cozy stopped to sit down next to a small attraction. The sign above her read “learn to rock-sculpt.” Unfortunately, for whoever was running the stand, nopony was stopping to take the class, leaving Cozy alone in front of the location for her small break.

“Hey,” a voice from the stand began. “Are you here to learn to rock-sculpt?”

Cozy looked back with an unamused look at the dark blue mare. “No. I’m here to learn the history of something.”

“Well, we offer that too. You can take the short class and be enlightened with whatever subject you deem interesting. You’ll be helping us meet our quota for the day.” The black-maned earth pony tried for a smile.

“And how many bits does the class cost?” Cozy asked.

“50 bits, Miss.”

Cozy’s jaw fell loose slightly before her brain went to work. “This quota you mentioned. Is it counting attendances or payments.”

“Well, we’ve tried making it count payments, but not enough ponies take the class, which upsets the boss. So we’ve compromised with her to tell her that we can come up with a set amount of ponies to attend the class so the expenses you see here won’t be a waste. I hope we don’t figure out what happens if we fail.”

“And how many ponies have attended so far?”

“Well, we’re hoping that you can be our first.”

“First?” Cozy repeated incredulously. “This convention has been open for over an hour, and you haven’t gotten anypony to come and take this class? Must not be very good.”

“Oh, it is; please believe me,” the older pony said frantically. “Ponies just haven’t given it a chance.”

“Even so, it isn’t worth 50 bits. I’m better off spending my bits somewhere else.”

“No, no. The experience is worth it. We’ll even make it half off.”

“It doesn’t sound like it’s worth 25 bits either. I’d rather do something else than lose my currency.”

“We’ll drop it to 15 bits.”

“You say your quota counts the number of ponies who take the class and not the payments given?”

The pony narrowed her eyes, puzzled. “Yes . . .”

Cozy smirked at her. “I’ll take the class and add a pony to your quota if you let me do this for free.”

The pony widened her eyes. “Oh, dear Celestia. We can’t just do that. We need some pay off for this.”

“Oh well. I guess you won’t add me as a member to the quota, and your boss will be upset.”

“Wait, wait. We can do this. Please. Just attend, and we’ll get everything done for free.”

Cozy smiled. “Aww, thanks. You shouldn’t have. It’s a deal.”

The pony frowned at Cozy. “Right this way then.”

Cozy trotted into the back in jollity, following the Sucker. It took a couple of twists and turns through the building to find her room. This was where she was going to get her information and not waste anymore time. After she took her seat in the back of the empty room, her eyes fell on different sized rocks that littered the table in front of her.

From a separate doorway entered an earth pony with the most unamused look ever. It wasn’t a frown. It wasn’t quite boredom. It was just expressionless. She was completely stone-faced. She was a dark gray earth pony with a pale purple main and light-turquoise eyes. She wore a pale dark blue robe with short sleeves and a black strap encircling her stomach.

“Hello,” the pony greeted in the most plain voice imaginable.

Oh great, Cozy thought. This is going to be boring.

“Congratulations,” she continued in a slow-paced tone. “You’re our first student. Here, you will learn about rocks and the many art forms it can hold.”

Cozy’s eye twitched in boredom, but she forced herself to be patient as she listened.

“Today, as you may know, is the rock-sculpting portion. You will learn how to make rocks look any way you want to with your bare hooves.”

“Bare hooves? Don’t I need some sort of cutting tools?”

“If you scratch the rocks in just the right places, you can manipulate the shape. Although you can make the rocks have a certain shape, please be aware that the only rocks that change their colors are those in the Peaks of Peril, Tartarus, and Griffonstone.”

“Tartarus has rocks that change colors?” Cozy asked the gray mare for clarification.

“Yes, magic works much differently in multiple ways in Tartarus.”

That might get annoying, Cozy said to herself.

“Now there are two ways to learn,” the gray pony continued in the same plain tone. “I can give you an instructional book on how to do it and fill the silence with educational material, or I explain the process verbally and help you let your masterpiece last. I advise the second option because keeping the rock sculpture from collapsing immediately is more difficult than making the sculpture.”

“It is?” Cozy asked.

“Rocks will work for you if you let them.”

“Right, okay. Actually, I’ll go with the first option. I would like to learn as much about rocks as I can.”

“Sure,” she said plainly before bringing Cozy an instructional book. “Now, rocks can be fascinating. The first rock recorded was around-.”

“Wait,” Cozy interrupted. “May I choose what to learn about?”

The gray pony nodded her head with still no expression.

“If you know about it, could I learn about the Key of Unfettered Entrance?”

The question seemed to catch the pony off guard because of the microscopic alteration to her face. “Little is known about that.”

As the gray mare turned away, Cozy peeked at the instructional book and began fiddling with the rocks.

“The Key of Unfettered Entrance is one of the most famous rocks due to its magical nature, but the knowledge about it stops at its name for most. I too am learning about the Key. I will gain more knowledge everyday if you’re willing to return.”

Cozy’s head dropped in disappointment. She didn’t want to return, but she knew she had to.

“Can’t you just tell me what you know about it so far?”

“The Key of Unfettered Entrance is a cubic artifact discovered by the great Starswirl The Bearded. It was deemed too powerful to slip into the wrong hooves, but that didn’t stop Scorpan who eventually stole it. He felt tremendous guilt over his betrayal of his family so he crafted it into the same shape as that of the lost key to Tartarus. Before Scorpan could use it, Starswirl found him and stole the Key back. Although punishment in Tartarus would have been suitable for his crimes, Starswirl took pity on him because the two were close friends, and he gave him a second chance.

“But the power of the artifact was apparent to Starswirl. The only thing that could destroy it is if the amount of charges given on it wore out, so Starswirl casted a spell on it, depleting its charges down to one. Now the next time to use it, it will be destroyed. The powerful wizard kept the Key though. He didn’t want it to be used by evil but he also knew that such an artifact should be kept and preserved.”

Cozy was listening to the history as she tried her best at building the rock sculpture. She was in a good position to get information but was worried that she’d be kicked out for not following the original intent of the class which was just to sculpt rocks.

Finally, Cozy looked up to the teacher. “Is it known where this key is now?”

“The Key has been hidden away for a great deal of time ever since Starswirl vanished, but it is believed that it was eventually passed down to Princess Celestia by one of Starswirl’s friends.”

“So, Canterlot?”

“No. Princess Celestia has been putting more and more faith in her former student, Princess Twilight Sparkle. The most likely location of it is with her.”

Cozy nodded before putting the finishing touches on her rock sculpture. She glanced at her masterpiece: a pile of rocks stacked up. She looked up to smile brightly at the gray pony before the rock stack collapsed below her gaze.

The tiniest of smiles twitched at the pony’s mouth. “Maybe you can learn more about sculpting tomorrow if you come in.”

Cozy’s eyes widened slightly. “Can’t you teach me more today?”

“The rock class has ended for the day.”

“Wouldn’t a good friend break the rules for another and continue?”

“You’re bad at friendship.”

Cozy widened her eyes. “What?”

“The class will continue tomorrow. You’re welcome to join again. You’ll get to hear more about the Key of Unfettered Entrance if you do. Since you’re a member of the class now, you’re free to come in any day; this class doesn’t stop.”

Cozy nodded before getting up to leave.

“Come also tomorrow for our poetry class,” the gray mare added.

Cozy flew out of the Rock Convention Center, believing she got the information she needed. Although the tone of voice of the teacher was boring, the material was interesting, encouraging Cozy to come back for more, but she knew she couldn’t since she had a mission.

She got back to her makeshift tent where the woll-eyed mail pony was waiting for her.

“Oh, hey there, little filly,” she greeted. “You ready to send another message?”

Cozy remembered that the librarian she talked to spoke of more informative books in Canterlot.

Cozy took a deep breath. “Actually, I was hoping you could follow me to Canterlot so I can continue giving you messages from there.”

“Oh, sorry to inform you so late, but there has been a changeling-watch decreed over Canterlot. The only ones allowed to send mail from there are the Canterlot mail ponies because the princesses know they can trust them. If you are going to Canterlot, I cannot send messages from there until the changeling watch is over. You’ll have to find someone else.”

“But are there other mail ponies that send messages to Tartarus?”

“Actually no. I’m the only mail pony who can do it since there is a cockatrice imprisoned in Tartarus. For any other pony, it would be too dangerous to travel passed, but I can do it since I am incapable of staring directly at the monster, so I am perfectly safe.”

Cozy realized her dilemma, but she also knew there was no way around it. She had to stay in place until the changeling-watch was over.

“I’m sorry,” the mail pony continued. “I wish I could help, but I’m not authorized to send letters in Canterlot. I can still transfer letters here though. Are you ready to send another message?”

Cozy quickly thought about the messages to Tirek. He told her that he wouldn’t give her any explanations, only instructions. But maybe there was a way she could word her messages to have Tirek give her more information without him realizing.

Cozy smirked at the thought. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Excerpt 13

Excerpt 13:

Cozy picked up the last piece to her sculpture and put it into place. She smiled at her newly built piece of art made entirely of rock souvenirs she had gotten from the sculpting class. She didn't think that the souvenir rocks from the gray earth pony would come in handy, but from the year and a half she had been learning the skill, she figured that she wouldn't mind trying her hoof at rock sculpting every once in a while. From the days that she didn't have the class, she would rock sculpt to pass the time, getting more and more proficient at it as the days progressed.

In front of her stood an exact replica of her cutiemark, scaled to match her size. Cozy giggled before turning to the now skinless skull of her former friend. “Look, Troth. Look what I made. Are you proud of-.”

Before Cozy could finish her sentence, the sculpture she had spent the day on crumbled before her.

“ . . . me?” Cozy finished. She sighed before averting her eyes from the disappointment, focusing on the other features of her makeshift tent.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted.” Cozy glanced towards the fragmented skull again. Over the time she was at the town, it acquired an undesirable scent, but Cozy was able to fix that by cleaning it over multiple times, washing off all the blood from it until it was just a white arc of calcium.

“I’ll see you again soon,” Cozy assured while putting Troth’s head back in her bag.

“See who again soon?” sounded a familiar voice from outside her tent.

Cozy widened her eyes and sped to fully restock Troth’s head before turning to greet the gray pegasus once more. “What? Oh, I was just talking to my friend.”

“Oh, is there someone else here?”

“No, no there isn’t. She’s my imaginary friend. I just think of her at times since I don’t have anyone else at the moment.”

The woll-eyed mared nodded before continuing. “I have good news, but first, do you have the letter you want to send?”

Cozy reached into her bag, passed the skull head, and retrieved the letter to Tirek.

The mare reached out to take it before putting it in her mail saddle bag. “Okay, now the good news. The changeling invasion is over, and I can send your messages from Canterlot now.”

“Thank Celestia,” Cozy said. “What happened? Why did it take so long?”

“Well, a changeling was assumed to be spotted at Canterlot, and it made the princesses worried so they issued their mail ban on anyone other than the princesses on Canterlot for fear that it would give outsiders information for invasions. Then it got to the point where there were sightings in the Crystal Empire. Finally, I sent a message to one of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s friends, and that evening, everypony was kidnapped except for Twilight’s friend. But don't worry. She and a group of her friend’s teamed up to defeat Queen Chrysalis and reformed all the other changelings.”

Cozy kept a straight face despite the thoughts racing through her head. Friendship won her battles, didn't it? The thought reinforced her plan and encouraged her to continue. Without another thought, she made up her mind.

“Let's go to Canterlot and get you some fresh muffins from the big city,” Cozy said with a smile.

The gray mail mare tilted her head in confusion. “Well, it's a long fly from Appleloosa to Canterlot, and I still have my rounds to make around here before I request permission to deliver mail from a new official location.”

Cozy gritted her teeth. “Fine. Then I'm sure you can meet me at Canterlot then.”

“Oh yes. I can do that. But how are you going to get there?”

Cozy glanced away in realization. She was so caught up with how her plan would go when she finally reached her end goal that she hadn’t even planned her transportation to get to Canterlot in the first place. What could she have done to make the trip?

“I could just fly there, couldn’t I?” Cozy suggested.

“Well, that’s about a 2-week fly,” the mail mare informed. “Maybe you can do it. But if not, you can just take the train. There’s one that leaves soon, and Canterlot is one of its destinations.”

Cozy’s head slid forward slightly in annoyance, her eyes momentarily falling in disbelief before meeting the gray pegasus again. She had kept the train as a possibility in mind ever since she arrived at the city, but she tried to avoid situations where she had to make things up on the spot. But if the woll-eyed pegasus insisted that this was the best way to reach her destination, she knew she had to take it.

“Well, I guess that’s a good idea,” Cozy finally said.

The mail mare smiled. “Oh good. Well, I’ll send your message, but first, I have to go get the town’s letters as well. Then I’ll go. The drop-off box for mail is right next to the train station so maybe I’ll see you off as you go.” With that, the adult pegasus flew towards the town, leaving Cozy in solitude again.

She prepared herself, gathering all her belongings that she could take with her, before she finally left her hideout.

Cozy walked up to the train station but was immediately halted before she could board.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing, little filly?” the train worker asked. “This train’s about to leave. No boarding unless you have a ticket.”

Cozy took a breath. “Yes, my mom has my ticket. She should be coming any second if I could just get on-.”

“No,” the train worker interrupted. “No boarding until I see proof of a ticket. And since this train’s about to leave, your mom won’t get here in time, and you’ll stay behind. I’m very sorry.”

“But wait,” Cozy panicked, hearing the sound of the train start up. She looked around to her surprise to see the mailmare again, digging into a mailbox to retrieve the letters. “There she is! That’s my mom.”

The conductor looked to where Cozy was pointing. “The mail pony? That’s not your mother.”

“Oh, but she is. Look.” Cozy turned to the woll-eyed mare who was just a building away into the town. She gave a silent, shaky breath before calling out to the pegasus. “Hey, mom! You ready?”

To the detriment of Cozy, the mail pony didn’t respond. “Mother!” Cozy called out again, desperate to get her attention, but the woll-eyed pony just kept filling her saddlebag with the letters, appearing to finish up. Finally, Cozy took a different approach. “Muffins!” she called out.

The adult pegasus turned to Cozy, smiling gleefully before beginning to fly over. Cozy instantly turned to the train conductor and smiled nervously. “Her name is Muffins. She has the tickets.”

The pegasus finally arrived next to Cozy. “Why, hi there.”

“Hey,” Cozy smiled, trying to steady her breath. “I think you have something for this stallion right here. Something made of paper.”

The mail mare knit her eyebrows before they widened in realization. “Oh, right. Here you go.”

The woll-eyed mared began digging in her saddle bag as Cozy slipped passed the train guard.

“Here it is,” the mail mare said, pulling out a letter and giving it to the train worker.

“What’s this?” the train worker asked. “No, I need your train tickets.”

“Train tickets? Oh, no I’m not riding the train. I’m just here to deliver the town’s messages before I go.”

“What??” the train worker asked before the locomotive came into motion.

The woll-eyed pony waved to the worker as he started getting carried away by the train. “Thank you for choosing me as your delivery pony.”

The train worker immediately turned to the crowd of passengers in the train, but there was no sign of Cozy anywhere.

“We have successfully arrived at Canterlot. Thank you for riding the Friendship Express.”

Cozy heard the voice through the floorboards below her. She was too afraid of being thrown off as a stowaway so she hid, finding a small place in the ceiling of the train for her to hide for the duration of the trip. Finally, the train stopped, and she nearly slid across ceiling with nothing to anchor herself down.

She steadied herself and listened as the passengers got off. She knew she had to leave the train before it took off, but she was worried that if she would be caught, the punishments in Equestria’s capital city would be far more severe than anyplace else she’s been. After a deep breath, she exited from the roof of the train, landing on the main floor before casually walking out.

Before she could make it very far, a hoof landed on her arm, yanking her in one direction. “Stowaway,” the train worker said, glaring at her with his eyes just a couple inches away from her. “We’ll see what the princesses have to say about thi-.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Cozy kicked him in the gut, causing him to lose his grip on her. Now free, she took this opportunity to flee into the crowd of ponies.

“Stop her!” the train worker yelled.

Several ponies glanced in Cozy’s direction for two seconds, stopping their movements altogether before going back to their activities without another hint of interest.

Cozy didn’t stop running, knowing that at any moment, the royal guard would be on her tail. She tried to maneuver her way through the crowd of ponies, but eventually her curiosity piqued and she looked back to see if anypony was still following her. She was still running at full speed when she crashed into a random civilian.

Cozy immediately got up, feeling dazed and putting her hoof to her head to steady it. She waited for her eyes to come into focus again before glancing at what appeared to be a pony she recognized.

At the end of her gaze on the ground was a silver pegasus with pink hair and pink eyes that appeared to be 10 years old. Cozy could not contain her mesmerization with the familiar looking pony and was unable to resist the urge to ask her the inevitable one-word question.

“Troth?” Cozy asked.

The pegasus regarded Cozy in a mix of frustration and confusion. “Who?”

Clozy blinked her eyes twice, stunned at the similarities she saw. She looked exactly like the pony she used to know, except that she had a cutiemark of some sort of electronic item.

The pegasus continued. “Watch where you’re going next time.”

“I’m sorry. I was just running away from the potential guards.”

The pegasus opened her eyes in slight surprise. “Guards? Are you some kind of criminal?”

Cozy tensed. “No, no I’m not.”

“Yeah, tell it to the judge.” The pegasus turned to the direction of the train station before calling out “hey, guards!”

Cozy flinched before she quickly scanned her surroundings for a hiding place. Her eyes fell on an outdoor garbage bin, and she immediately dove into it without hesitation. She stayed there, remaining motionless as she heard several ponies march closer with metal clinging together on every step.

“We’ve heard disturbances of a pink filly that stowed away on the Friendship Express. Do you know anything about this?” one voice said.

The pegasus blinked in realization before she smirked at the guards. “Yeah, I saw her. She sneaked inside the music store over there. You’ll find her.”

“Greatly appreciated, citizen.”

Cozy listened as the hoofsteps of the guards got quieter and quieter in the distance.

“You can come out now,” the pegasus assured.

Slowly but surely, Cozy revealed herself again, staring in confusion at the stranger. “Why did you help me?”

The silver pegasus lightly chuckled. “Because I’ve been waiting for someone to pull something like that around here.”

Cozy lightly smiled. “And, what’s your name?”

The stranger knit her eyebrows before relaxing her face and shrugging. “They call me Proxy.”

“Who’s ‘they?’”

“Me.”

Cozy stared in fascination before uttering “You want to be friends?”

Proxy regarded her in perplexity. “Why would I want to be your friend?”

“Oh, well, I just thought after what you did for me-.”

“I did that because I liked that something finally happened that security wasn’t planned for. It wasn’t for you. For all I know, you could have done things that are worse than simply sneaking on a train. I don’t know you, and I have no desire to know you.”

Cozy lowered her face in sadness. She didn’t want to stop talking to Proxy, especially since she felt a warm presence with her despite her unwelcoming nature. “Are you usually by yourself?”

Proxy regarded Cozy in annoyance. “Yeah, ever since I was 6.”

“You don’t have to live your life without anypony else, you know,” said Cozy.

“Where are your parents?”

Cozy stiffened. “I don’t need them.”

“Yeah, well, goodluck with that. I’m gonna go.”

“No, please don’t go!” Cozy cried.

“What do you want from me?”

“I just want to be your friend.”

“You’re bad at friendship.”

“I know!” Cozy yelled back.

“Please leave me alone,” Proxy said.

“Wait,” Cozy pleaded. “Okay. I will, but before I do, could you, just, help me with one thing?”

Proxy rolled her eyes short-temperedly.

Cozy gulped before continuing. “Could you just take me to the Canterlot Archives? I don’t know where they are.”

“You’ve just got to follow the train tracks. It’s simple.”

“But I’m wanted by the train ponies. I can’t follow the tracks without getting noticed.” Cozy saw Proxy’s irritated face again. “Just help me with this and I won’t bother you anymore.”

Proxy pondered the final request for a moment before finally sighing in submission. She began walking towards the back alleys while beckoning for Cozy to follow her.

Cozy’s face lit up. It was the brightest expression she had made in a long time. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, let’s just go.”

The two pegasi started walking together, taking a path that would allow them to travel to their destination without being noticed too easily.

“Why are you so interested in going to the Archives in the first place?” asked Proxy.

“Oh, well I wanted to find a book that I can only find here,” Cozy said.

“What kind of book would Canterlot have that other libraries don’t?”

“Oh, you know, books about Tartarus.”

Proxy stopped. “Tartarus?”

“Yeah, it fascinates me. I hear magic works differently down there. I’d also like to learn more about the centaur Tirek.”

Proxy appeared to be slightly stunned at the information. “ . . . What’s your name, little filly?”

“Oh, my name is-,” Cozy stopped herself and knit her eyebrows. What was the sudden change in tone of Proxy? “My name? My name is . . . Rookie.”

“Rookie?” Proxy processed.

“Yep, that’s my name.” Cozy smiled.

Proxy blinked hard before she proceeded walking. “Why did you decide to steal a ride on the train, Rookie?”

Cozy treaded carefully, worried about what would happen if she gave Proxy the exact answer. “I was just trying to escape my old way of life.”

“Why? Did your parents mistreat you?”

“No!” Cozy glared before realizing that she snapped. “I mean, no, not exactly. I was mistreated by someone and couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve been through a lot.”

“Sounds rough,” Proxy said in a plain, unsympathetic tone.

“Well, yes, it was rough. You don’t know all I’ve been through. I’ve been robbed, bullied, caged, underfed, mangled, broken, threatened, and nearly crushed by unicorn magic. And I’ve even seen ponies close to me die right in front of me. You couldn’t possibly know what that’s like.”

Proxy snapped her neck back at Cozy, glaring at her. “I don’t know? 4 years ago, I lost my mother. She went missing, and my dad wouldn’t tell me where. When he was away, I went searching and found a mound of dirt in the backyard. It was her, buried for 2 days. I was traumatized, and I told my dad that I would go to the police. I never did though. I was always afraid if I told anyone, he would come after me. But finally I made it here so he won’t ever find me. You don’t know what it’s like to discover that someone you thought you knew was secretly a monster.”

Cozy’s eyes widened in sympathy. “I-I’m sorry.”

Proxy wiped a tear from her eyes. “Yeah, well, that’s over now. Let’s just get you to the Archives so I don’t have to see you again.”

Cozy pouted while walking behind Proxy. She didn’t want to leave it at such a bad note so she decided to think of a light-hearted conversation to try. “Um, Proxy?”

Proxy sighed. “What?”

“What’s your cutiemark, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“They’re electric cables.”

Cozy opened her eyes wider in interest. “How did you get it?”

“I got it when I first came here. Somepony had trouble with their printer, and I was able to fix it. I expected to get a cutiemark that looked like that, but it was just wires. I didn’t know what it meant until I tried fixing something else electric. To my surprise, I knew exactly what I was doing. Now it’s my job around here to fix stuff like that.”

“That’s so cool!” Cozy smiled, trying to feel happy in the moment again. “So you can fix anything that has to do with machines?”

Proxy nodded her head before giving a soft smile.

Cozy smiled brightly back. “Wow, I wish that-.”

“Rookie, we’re here.”

Cozy halted, staring up at the back of the Canterlot Archives. “So here’s where you leave me?”

Proxy gave a blank expression. “Yeah.”

“But what if someone recognizes me as the stowaway and turns me in?”

“Relax, there are plenty of other crimes aside from not paying a train fee. As long as they don’t have a steady description of you, you should be okay. Just stay out of trouble, alright? I won’t look the other way if you break the rules again.”

Proxy turned to fly away as Cozy began slowly making her way to the front of the Archives. She was hesitant but remembered that she had to do this. With one deep breath, she marched inside the front door.

“Hello?” a voice from inside said. “You’re early. We weren’t expecting you to come get our systems online until tonight.”

Cozy tensed uncomfortably as the owner of the voice appeared. To her surprise, it was just the librarian with a disappointed look on her face as she looked down on Cozy.

Cozy trained her mindset to appear as though she had nothing to hide. “Hello there, miss. I was wondering if I could go and see if you have any books in stock.”

“Well, I’m sorry, sweetie, but we’re closed until we get our security cameras back up and running. Recent weather has caused them to shift dramatically, and now we basically have no form of security here. So to keep everything here safe, we aren’t going to open up this library until the cameras come back online.”

Cozy gritted her teeth silently. She didn’t take into consideration that there could be plenty of security and with the thought of security cameras, there would be a clear way of getting a description on her. Normally, she would just be patient and wait until it’s easier to come in and read, but she had no time, and now, it seemed to be the perfect chance to get the information she needed without being discovered.

“Okay,” Cozy said with a smile. “When can I come back?”

“We should be open tomorrow.”

Cozy nodded before turning towards the door. Before she walked out, she glanced back to see the librarian retreating to her work area. Cozy pushed the door open fully but stayed inside the Archives, letting the door swing back closed to create an audible sound of somepony leaving. After the door was successfully shut, she ducked down to not be seen as easily if the librarian returned.

Cozy looked around. There were library bookshelves in multiple rows, packing the room like neat, vertical shelves. The first floor alone was overwhelming, but above Cozy was a second floor with just as many bookshelves.

Cozy squeezed her head with both of her hooves, trying not to be discouraged. She was on a mission and wanted to make sure that nothing got in her way. With the numerous bookshelves ahead of her, she decided to get started.

She trotted around slowly and quietly, worried that flying too much would cause a draft and ruin her position. She saved flying only for when her hoofsteps were audible or when the floorboards below her would begin to creak. What am I looking for? Cozy asked herself while trying to think of names to look for. The Non-Pony Artifacts. Tartarus. Tirek. Lord Tirek. There were multiple names that the things she was looking for could’ve been listed under. In fear that Cozy would’ve missed something important, she decided to look through as much as she could.

Starting with A’s, Cozy started searching. Applejack’s Family Farm. The ones that Cozy was obviously not looking for were easy to pass. Cozy then stumbled across the E’s. The first book she noticed was titled Elements of Harmony 101, with a picture of the familiar looking purple star on the side. The main Element of Harmony, this is what the Princess of Friendship uses to have control. Cozy thought to herself. Still looks like a cheese grater. Cozy regained focus and kept trying to look for relevant books, reading each of the titles in her head. Equestria’s Founding. No. Equestria’s Original Emperor. No. Every Record of Princess Twilight Sparkle Freaking Out. Interesting, but still no.

The sun was setting when Cozy finally got to the end of the first floor’s bookshelves. She was only able to get to the M’s before the books just stopped. The frustration of Cozy was almost audible, but she held her tongue, getting ready to find the stairs to the second floor.

Normally, she would just fly, but her fear of getting seen made her take the safer route. Carefully, she peeked around the bookshelves to not come face to face with the librarian, or worse, a Canterlot guard. After not seeing the stairway anywhere in the open room, she moved deeper into the Archives.

She carefully made her way down the dark hallway. She recalled her previous times doing something like this, but this time there was nopony she could place the blame on if she failed.

Cozy squinted her eyes in the dark. From a distance down the hallway, she saw the outline of an open door with what looked like a light source coming from it. With each step carefully placed, Cozy traveled over to it, stopping just before she got to the door to listen in. After she heard no sounds for a couple of seconds, she peeked her head slowly in the doorway. Inside the room was an empty desk with nothing but a firefly lantern on it. Cozy waited to see if anypony would come entering the room but nothing happened, offering Cozy the chance to claim the lantern as her light source. Finally, she could see the places she needed to in the hallway, shining the firefly lantern at the wall to see the door that led to the stairs.

Cozy gave a shaky breath as she went through the door, closing it slowly behind her as to not make any noise. At the staircase, Cozy felt safe enough to fly above to the second floor. The firefly lantern provided just enough light to see and not be noticeable by anyone else, perfect for her situation.

When she finally reached the second floor, she peeked around carefully as to not walk right into some unsuspecting ponies. When the coast was clear, Cozy walked to the second floor, ready to finally get her answers.

It was even darker on the second floor due to its distance from the front door. Light only shined onto the balcony from where the second floor was visible from the main level. To her left was a window at the end of the hallway, only illuminating a partial amount of moonlight to show Cozy that it was a deadend, allowing her to make the decision to go to her right instead. Cozy lifted up her firefly lantern higher to get more ground illuminated, and the light reached another door on the left wall of the hallway. Out of curiosity, Cozy pulled the handle to check inside the room, but it was just a supply closet. Her eyes scanned the room for anything helpful that she might need, but it was all dull inside with only empty shelves and stuffed bags in the corner. The only thing that stuck out to her was the fact that the door didn’t have a handle on the inside.

Finally, Cozy decided to stop wasting time, gliding over to the bookshelves to get the information that she needed. She didn’t like being there for so long, especially in the unpredictable darkness. She knew that patience was something that she had to practice for success, but she also knew what she was looking for, and she flew over to the T section.

Her eyes landed on the book titled Tartarus: the Ultimate Punishment. Her face lit up at finally finding something she was looking for, and she pulled the book out, setting her firefly lantern down on a table to read.

Quietly, she read out loud. “Tartarus is reserved for Equestria’s most wanted. The ones who have wronged Equestria in the most extreme ways. It is by Equestrian Law that whosoever is labeled a Monster of Equestria be sent here, regardless of species, age, or status.”

Cozy glanced away, envisioning herself in Tartarus. She had to admit that it scared her a little bit to know that if she failed, she would be imprisoned in Tartarus according to the legal establishment of Equestria. Before she could worry further, she realized something. If she was going to be sent to Tartarus, that would be completely fine with her. She’s been alone for a good chunk of her life so far so her options were plainly listed in front of her: she either succeeds and becomes ruler of Equestria, or she fails and she gets to go to Tartarus to make friends with any of its prisoners. Maybe she would get to meet Tirek in the flesh and dedicate a rock sculpture to him.

Reassured, Cozy continued reading. “Unlike normal prisons for creatures, Tartarus is eternal. It’s enchantments, casted by Starswirl The Bearded himself, has ensured it to be the ultimate form of torment, lasting forever. Because of the powerful unicorn’s spells, any and all aging will come to a complete stop upon entering the prison. This is to hold the prisoners there forever without any hope of death to finally release their torture.”

Cozy stiffened. Tartarus stopped all aging so the prisoners couldn’t escape by dying. The realization gave Cozy a newfound respect for the prison.

Cozy gathered her courage back before continuing to read. “Upon its enchantments, Tartarus also stops the hunger process, causing creatures never to need food. This is done so nopony from the outside world has to enter in the prison to feed the occupants. The lack of contact from the outside world of Equestria is psychologically breaking to keep the prisoners from getting comfortable inside their cell.”

Cozy drooped her eyes in sadness. She felt bad that Tirek had to experience this. She recalled in the letters that he told her if she were to fail, his enchantments on his cage would become more severe. She could not let that happen.

Before Cozy could continue reading, she heard a familiar voice from the main floor.

“Finally you’re here,” the librarian voice sounded from below. “We need these cameras back up so ponies can finally come in to read. I know that the more severe section of the Archives isn’t affected as much, but this portion is still important as well.”

Cozy got up quickly to put the book back. Her quietness allowed her to hear even more of the conversation going on below.

“Yeah, I’ve already put up the cameras on this level,” another familiar voice said. “I have to make sure that the second floor has its cameras as well though. I’ll be right back.”

Cozy panicked and flew behind some bookshelves, leaving the firefly lantern on the table. Immediately, the familiar silver pegasus flew up, struggling with her wings as she soared through the air before she landed on the second level. She halted there for a moment before calling back down to the librarian.

“Ms. Bookworm, you left your lantern up here,” Proxy alerted.

The librarian called back from the first floor. “Oh, I haven’t went up there yet.”

Proxy’s silhouette stiffened. Cozy bit her lip as she tried to walk slowly out of the room from where she came, using the darkness to camouflage her, but before she left, the lights turned on and she froze.

“Rookie?” Proxy called out.

Cozy turned to her and smiled innocently.

The silver pegasus continued. “I thought I told you no more breaking the rules.”

Cozy clenched her teeth nervously. “But you see, you brought me here, and I didn’t know it was closed and-.”

“All you asked me to do was bring you here. Ms. Bookworm told you that this place was closed, right?”

Cozy sighed before nodding her head.

“Then you should’ve left immediately. You broke the rules again, Rookie. And I can’t let this slide.”

“But wait,” Cozy stalled as she started backing up slowly. “Don’t you want to know what I’m doing?”

“I don’t care what you’re doing. You’re breaking the rules, and that’s all I need to know.”

“I was just wandering through a library.”

“You were trespassing.” Proxy noticed Cozy’s new distance, and she flew over to her, stopping her right in front of the supply closet.

Cozy sighed. “I wish you could’ve helped me, but I guess you’ll just have to be another one to bow to me one day.”

Proxy’s pupils dilated in shock. “What?”

“Don’t you know the reason I was here was to figure out more information on Tartarus? I want to trap Twilight and her ridiculous friends there.”

Proxy’s breath turned shallow. She slowly maneuvered her way to the wall and leaned on it, applying an unnecessary amount of pressure to it. “They’re not that ridiculous. What do you have against them?”

“Twilight found the perfect group of friends, and she’s never been lonely since. She was lucky enough to always have someone there for her while ponies like me were unlucky and left out on their own. And how did Karma balance out the luck that it gave Twilight? Fate had her become a princess just because the events were stacked in her favor. Well that’s not going to be how this ends. I will make sure she gets what’s coming to her, and she will bow to me instead.”

“What makes you think you can make Princess Twilight Sparkle bow to you? She’s the Princess of Friendship, one of the most powerful beings in Equestria. How can you stand a chance?”

“Because I’ve seen the Magic of Friendship. I’ve used it, and I’ve been successful with it. And all it took was two of my friends. Imagine how powerful I’ll be with more friends. I can become so much stronger than Twilight, and when I finally use the Magic of Friendship again, I can promise you that it’s gonna be big and loud.”

Proxy awkwardly coughed while still pushing her body against the wall. Finally, Cozy couldn’t look over her action. There was definitely something wrong with Proxy’s behavior until it finally hit her, but rather than letting her emotions capture her expressions, she decided to let her words solve the problem.

“All I need left is to get those artifacts to Ponyville. I’ve been hiding them in this closet here, and I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight.” Cozy slowly opened the door to the supply closet. “Come have a look. I bet you’ll love to see them.”

Proxy’s stern face shifted into curiosity, and she peeked her head inside the closet.

“No,” Cozy informed. “They’re right there at the corner. Go get a closer look.”

Slowly, Proxy walked to the corner to see the non-present artifacts. By the time she was fully inside, Cozy finally made her emotions visible and she slammed the door shut.

From the inside of the closet, Proxy tackled the door, but it didn’t budge.

“Did you think you could fool me?” Cozy angrily said.

Proxy hit the door. “Let me out!”

“Tell me what you were doing first.”

“There’s a panic button on the wall that calls Canterlot guards over. That’s all.”

Cozy leaned down to find the button, but before she could examine it to make it stop, the front door became flooded with guards.

Cozy growled. “You’ll remember me when I become Empress. I'll do some redecorating around this city that nopony will forget!”

Cozy turned down the hallway and flew as fast as her wings would carry her. She could hear the sound of the guards marching up the stairs. She looked around but didn’t find any escape routes, only the window at the end of the hall. Panicking, Cozy grabbed her rook out of her saddle bag and broke the window with it before putting the rook back in her bag. She broke out and flew west in the direction of a purple castle that stood tall in the distance.

Excerpt 14

Excerpt 14:

Cozy marched up and down the empty hallways. For months now, her mission had been paused to be replaced with one sole goal: survive. That, and to remain hidden so the actual owners of the castle wouldn't realize an additional resident.

Times were quiet in the castle. Her life had been just a mix of hiding until nopony was home and then just hanging out when the place was empty. She wanted to continue contributing to her overall goal, but if the ways to go about conquering Equestria weren't perfect, everything she had worked so hard for would go to dust. She inevitably decided to stay safe and remain as careful as possible, especially when in the home of the pony she planned to overthrow.

Eventually Cozy marched up to the window to get her daily viewing of civilization, a life she knew she could never fit into. From afar, she spotted several ponies chattering with eachother and laughing as well as fillies spending their times smiling with ponies she assumed to be their parents, causing an inevitable sigh from Cozy as she knew her life, her childhood, was slipping away into nothingness. She knew she had no choice than to continue on her path.

The longing filly averted her eyes from the citizens hogging all the luck to look into the distance of the town. At the far end of the city stood the schoolhouse where everything started, causing Cozy to smile at the sight. It was that school that made her realize what she wanted. That competition that opened her eyes. That rude, pink filly that gave her purpose. So much thankfulness to a bully made her not afraid to walk by and get noticed by her if she ever was to travel by that schoolhouse again. It was worth the risk to her.

Cozy finally walked away from the window sill to get her mind focused on something more in the present than in the past. She still would not give up on her goal, despite how slow things were moving for her at the time, but without the pony to send the letters to Tirek, she feared that there would be no scheduled time for her to get back on track. She wouldn't give up hope though. She just had to remind herself to last long enough for her to meet the woll-eyed pony again.

The faint sound of a magic aura shocked Cozy back into the moment, and she quickly turned her head to the direction of the front door. The sight of the door becoming engulfed in a teal aura made Cozy retreat to a random room of the castle. By her experience, she quickly matched the color of the magic with that of a purple unicorn who also lived in the castle. She had been away for a couple of days with no telling of when she would return.

Cozy hid inside the room quietly and gripped her bag tightly against her. After being undiscovered in the castle for so long, she felt the need to carry her bag with her at all times to make sure that nothing was ever found from it.

From within the room, Cozy looked around at her new surroundings, the idea slowly dawning on her that it would be the only thing she saw for a while until she was left alone again. From one side of the room hung a calendar that the pink filly quickly became familiar with.

She studied the X’s on it to figure out the day. “My 11th birthday was 2 weeks ago.”

Cozy became lost in thought again, trying to figure out how long exactly it had been since she began hiding out at the castle to figure out how much time had been wasted already. After multiple failed attempts of locating the precise day she arrived, she removed the calendar from the wall to get a better look at it, but before she could find the answer, the sound of hoofsteps sounded just outside the door. Panicked, Cozy tried rehanging the calendar, but it wouldn't find the hook, resulting in the calendar falling. Cozy tried desperately again, but it wouldn't work, eventually making Cozy hide the calendar in her bag as the sound of the hoofsteps grew even louder.

Cozy quickly scurried underneath the bed, remaining motionless as the hoofsteps came closer to the door. Eventually, the door opened and Cozy stared in fear at the lilac hooves that stepped in front of her face.

The body of the adult mare collapsed on the bed, almost pressing down on Cozy through the metal springs. Cozy held her breath, worried any sound at all would be enough to give away her position. Throughout her time hiding out, she had never come this close to being seen. She always listened to make sure she was completely alone in the castle before she would begin to look. She could tell her luck was about to run out though.

Through the bed, Cozy could hear the voice of the mare. “And to think she didn’t trust me to handle the princesses. I knew what I was doing. You can’t understand a pony’s life until you see what they go through, and that includes their job. What can’t she see about that?”

Cozy’s breathing began to grow louder, but she quickly caught herself to steady it again.

“Of course she would freak out,” the mare continued. “But I had everything under control. It didn't even take me that long. A day or two. Which was it? I started Wednesday and ended . . .”

From above, Cozy could hear the sound of the unicorn’s weight shift. It paused for a moment before the unicorn continued talking, this time in a confused manner.

“That’s strange. Didn't I have a calendar there?”

The light purple hooves became visible again, hanging over the bed, and Cozy put both hooves to her mouth, watching in fear as they touched the floor once more. Before the mare could investigate further, a voice sounded from down the hall.

“Starlight, come quick! I have to show you something.”

The mare’s posture turned to the direction of the door before trotting out.

Cozy immediately climbed out from under the bed, brushing the dust off of her as she panted from stalling her breath for so long. “She’s going to come back. I can’t be here for that.”

Cozy took her last look at the room before looking back at her bag to make sure nothing had fallen out. Not her rook, or her horn as a trophy, or the food she had stolen from the castle. Looking back at the calendar made her realize how much of her life she was missing out on. All of this won’t be a waste when I become ruler. Cozy smirked before closing up her bag to fly out the window.

She was thankful for her wings the entire way over the forest. Even though the flight took a little while, the constant sight of unknown creatures below occupied her by keeping her on constant alert. The thought of never finding the end of the forest settled in until she saw her saving grace. Below her, just in eye view, stood what appeared to be a partially destroyed, abandoned castle with little to no trees around it.

Safety, she thought before flying over a bridge that went over a small ravine just short of the castle.

She stopped at the front of it and traveled through the doorway, taking in the scenery of the old building. Before her was a long and open room that led down to a set of stairs. The stairs divided into two separate staircases leading in opposite directions with a small platform in the center of it all. Hanging from the ceiling directly above the stairs were two long tapestries, one blue with a blue alicorn on it and one yellow with a white alicorn on it. Around the room stood four tall pillars of stone, looking outdated as can be.

Cozy took a deep breath. “Home.”

From the constant changes in scenery she experienced, it didn't take her long to get settled in at all. She flew to the set of stairs in the back, seating herself in the center portion before removing her saddle-bag, emptying it of its contents one by one. When she got to the skull, she carefully placed it in front of her.

“Hey, Troth,” Cozy said, trying not to let her voice break. “I know things have been slow lately . . . but don't worry. I'm not finished yet. Not until I become Empress with you by my side. I made a promise and nothing will keep me from it.” Cozy looked away for a brief moment before returning her gaze back to the fragment she still believed to be her friend. “I miss you . . .”

Cozy closed her eyes to take a deep breath, trying to bring herself back to reality, but a mini squeak grabbed her attention. Immediately, she turned to stand guard against the intruder only to see a porcupine-like creature at the front door.

Cozy loosened her stance to give a sigh of relief. “Hey there, little guy. What brings you here?”

The small creature simply stared at Cozy, tilting its head in a lack of intelligence.

“It's been a while since I've gotten to talk to somepo -.” Cozy stopped herself. “Someone. Would you like to be my friend?”

Cozy attempted a smile, slowly advancing towards the animal. Immediately though, the creature backed up in fear.

“It's okay,” Cozy said, her smile slowly becoming genuine.

The creature glanced at the opening of the door behind itself to which 5 other creatures of the same species appeared next to the original, each varying in colors. Before Cozy could even get the chance to grin at the new company, the sound of vicious growls from the animals frightened the filly back deeper into the abandoned castle.

“Uh,” Cozy stuttered. “N-nice hedgehog . . .”

As if offended, the creatures turned their backs towards the pink pony, aiming the sharp quills on their backs at her. Cozy stared wide-eyed at the threat and watched as a rainstorm of quills began to launch towards her.

Instinctively, Cozy launched herself upwards, trying her best to fly to a position above where the quills had been launched. But as soon as the first batch of quills missed their target, a whole new set of quills was already in the process of shooting the pegasus out of the sky.

Cozy flinched and dove blindly to the side, rushing behind a crumbly stone pillar right as the quills reached, letting the rest of the projectiles sail past her. She opened her eyes, expecting to be impaled, but upon the miracle of not getting injured yet, she decided to take control of her mind to figure out a way safely out of the mess she had been abruptly put in.

Cozy looked around the abandoned castle as yet another batch of the endless quills impaled themselves on the wall behind her. Her eyes stopped when she stared at the sky, the roof completely missing. She began trying to find the closest means of escape, but everywhere surrounding the crumbly pillar had quills shooting out. She needed a distraction.

Cozy stared at the crumbly stone pillar in front of her, the only thing keeping her safe at the moment. If what she was planning went wrong, she would lose her safe haven. But if it went right, she would escape, preferably unscathed.

She began to hit at the crumbling section, trying to find the right place to get the perfect rock to sail through the air. After multiple hits, it appeared the correct stone was there. The only downside was that every attempt at removing the miniature piece made another stone section attached to it move with it. If enough pieces moved, the entire column could come down on her.

She tried again, but each time she tried grabbing the rock section she needed, more began to move, worrying Cozy even more than she already was. She was beginning to run out of ideas when a quill stuck in the side of the stone pillar, just in reach of Cozy to retrieve it without much risk of getting hit by other flying needles.

Cozy reached out to take the quill, noticing that the 6 creatures had moved much closer to her safe space and brought more of their friends to help finish the job. At the moment, the hardest thing she was doing was trying not to panic. She forced herself to focus, carefully taking the quill in her hooves without letting it puncture her skin. Slowly and delicately, she brought the quill against the pillar, carving it up like a marble statue.

Come on, Cozy. What have you learned?

Cozy chose not to acknowledge the creatures that were nearly in her line of sight now. She instead focused on taking out the stone peace carefully. Finally, she removed it, holding the average-sized rock in one hoof.

It's not like I haven't done this before.

With a steady breath, she wound up the stone piece in her hoof, aiming it at the far end of the castle before throwing the rock with immense force in that direction. With a leap of faith, she bolted upwards in the opposite direction of the stone, looking backwards to see the mini monsters sidetracked by the rock. She turned back to the direction she was flying, trying her best to be clear of any more danger as she flew into the open air.

She began flying full speed away only to remember seconds later that all of her belongings were still in the abandoned castle as well as her friend that she had left out moments before getting attacked.

“I can't leave them behind,” Cozy said. “I can’t leave her behind.”

Cozy scanned herself for quill piercings but didn't find any. Finally, she looked back at the castle to notice the creatures coming back outside, turning towards the flying pegasus before priming themselves for yet another attack. With tears in her eyes, Cozy knew she had no other choice but to fly away.

It didn't take as long for Cozy to get back to the big town as it initially did for her to fly away from it. She stopped by a tree at the edge of the city, scanning her surroundings to see if she could possibly find a solution to the infestation she had just encountered.

At first glance, there wasn't anything that could help her. The streets were disorganized with equines, decreasing the motivation to find a solution, but Cozy persisted. She took another look around the streets, this time noticing that the ponies became more and more chunked together at an intersection, giving Cozy a short term destination.

She began her movement, setting her path to the populated section by flying over the houses, but upon her vantage point over the first building, something caught her eye. In the distance was a nearly normal household except for the fact that a make-shift cupcake with three jumbo-sized candles stood proudly over the top. Naturally, Cozy would've discarded the building, but multiple wagons set up just below it made her think that it would've been her best bet. She set her new mark.

Upon arrival, she was surprised at seeing so many ponies gathered around the wagons, exchanging bits for books. It was soon after that Cozy realized every single book bought by the citizens was the exact same one: a horseshoe with a small star on the cover and the same purple star printed much bigger on the back. The books were everywhere: in multiple wagons, in the hooves of multiple ponies, and even pictured on the sides of buildings to advertise them.

Cozy proceeded carefully, flying to the ground as to not drag any attention to herself. If there was someone who could direct her to a solution to her problem back home, it was bound to be by one of these business ponies.

She traveled by one of the wagons selling the books, gazing at what looked like an endless line of eager ponies. The pony making the transactions looked far too busy to even give Cozy a glance so the lone filly decided to move on to find another wagon. She quickly spotted two in the distance, one of which was selling a book to one stallion as two yellow unicorns waited behind, and the other which seemed to be finishing up with their current last customer. Quickly, Cozy flew to the business wagon before another pony could take her place.

Upon arriving, she looked up at the seller and smiled, pretending as if all were fine with the world. “Excuse me, sir. Do you know where I can go to in order to find a pony who can deal with pests?”

“No,” the stallion answered abrasively. “This line is for customers. Now either get a book or get lost.”

Cozy shrank back at the lack of tact of the stallion before slowly walking away, but the sound of disappointment coming from a pony at the other wagon caught her attention.

“What do you mean my brother and I can't purchase a book?” one of the two unicorns standing side by side in blue and white striped vests said.

The other unicorn beside the first spoke up right after. “Isn't Princess Twilight selling these books to everypony to help better them in friendship?”

“Sorry,” the mare in the wagon said. “But I'm under strict orders from the princess not to sell a journal to either one of you two.” The business pony pulled a string to her right, and a poorly drawn picture of the two unicorns with a red circle and line through it descended from the top of the wagon. “See?”

Cozy slowly approached the two yellow unicorns, getting a better look at the confrontation. The two looked nearly identical with the similar looking cutiemarks of apples, except one of the unicorns had a red moustache and the other one didn't.

“I am truly disheartened,” the one without a mustache said, putting on a pouty lip. “After all we've been through with her.”

“I’ll say, it doesn't make any sense why she regards us this way,” the unicorn with a moustache added.

The female pony sighed. “Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't want you corrupting the journal and exploiting it for bits.”

The unicorn with the moustache guffawed. “How in Equestria would we do something like that?”

The pony rolled her eyes and checked the line behind the two unicorns, catching sight of Cozy. “Hey, can I help you?”

The two unicorns backed away, allowing for Cozy to come up to the shop.

“Hello,” Cozy said cautiously, worried about being met the same way as she had been last time. “I'd like to know about how to deal with an infestation.”

The pony narrowed her eyes in thought. “What kind of infestation?”

“Well, one with hedgehogs with sharp quills that shoot out.”

“Hedgehogs don't shoot out quills.”

“I saw them do it.”

“Well, good for you. I can't help you. Now are you going to buy something?”

Cozy narrowed her eyes at the sudden snappiness. “Maybe I'll buy one of the books if you help me out.”

“Yeah, no. This is for selling books. Not for advice. Stop wasting my time, and come back when you want a Friendship Journal.” With that note, the business pony pulled down a metal curtain, blocking off sight to Cozy.

For ponies selling journals about friendship, these ponies don't seem to be all that friendly, thought Cozy.

“Excuse me,” a voice interrupted Cozy out of her thoughts.

Cozy turned to see the two unicorns staring intently down at her. “What?”

“My brother and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with that pony. These ‘hedgehogs’ you spoke about, did they vary in color?”

Cozy winced skeptically before nodding.

“Just what we thought,” the other unicorn continued. “Those weren't hedgehogs, or even porcupines for that matter. Those were dangerous creature known as ‘pukwudgies.’ There quills are very dangerous and enough pricks of them can be fatal.”

“Of course we don't have any quarrel with them,” the first unicorn said. “That's because if we ever stumble upon them, we have an easy solution.”

The unicorn with the moustache reached inside his vest before pulling out an average-sized black spray can. “With this, pukwudgies won't be a problem for you anymore. They hate the smell of this, and a single spray repels them for up to 7 days. This spray can be all yours for the very simple price of: 600 bits.”

Cozy widened her eyes. “No, there's no possible way I could ever pay that.”

The other unicorn smirked. “Well we can make it more affordable by dropping the price to 550 bits.”

“That's still too much.”

“How about 575 bits?”

“You're going the wrong way!”

The two unicorns exchanged devious looks at Cozy before leaning in closer to her.

“Very well,” the moustacheless unicorn began. “We can offer an easier deal for you.”

“We will trade you the spray can,” the other one continued, “if you buy a Friendship Journal for my brother and me.”

Cozy considered it for a moment until she remembered that she left her bits at the abandoned castle. “I would, but I don't have any bits.”

“Oh, that's really too bad,” the first unicorn said. “And to think we were just going to let this spray can go today at such a steal of a deal.”

“Or,” Cozy cut in, “you can give me the bits for me to buy the book for you.”

“No can do there, little filly. My brother and I make money. We don't just give it away. I'm afraid that this repellent is going to have to go to another deserving customer. But it was nice meeting you.”

Cozy was frustrated for only a second before she smirked. “Oh, that's really too bad. And to think that you almost got your hooves on one of Princess Twilight's Friendship Journals. I'm afraid you'll just have to live out the rest of your days dreaming about what it would be like to actually physically have one.”

“Nonsense,” the second unicorn laughed. “If we can't get it from you, we’ll just get it from another pony.”

The unicorn turned to a random earth pony trotting in the streets holding one of the journals. “Excuse me sir, but could we buy that book off of you for twice the amount of bits that you paid for it?”

The pony regarded the unicorns uncomfortably. “Um, the pony who sold the book to me said not to give it to you two.”

The pony without the moustache gave a panicked laugh. “What? No. Err, the princess doesn't have to know that you gave me the book.”

“I - I don't want to risk anything.” The pony hugged the book close before galloping away.

The two unicorns exchanged nervous laughter as Cozy smirked at them.

“No worries,” the first unicorn said. “That was just a fluke. We’ll find a braver-.”

He was cut off by the sound of a giant tarp getting rolled down the side of a building with a picture of the two unicorns and the words “don’t give a Friendship Journal to these two ponies - Princess Twilight Sparkle” on the bottom.

The two stallions’ jaws dropped to the floor, but Cozy was quick to fly in front of them, raising her head higher than their horns.

“Golly, that doesn't look too promising, does it?”

“No - no worries,” the first stallion stuttered. “We’ll just find another way to get our hooves on the Friendship Journal.”

“Well, with the princess taking every measure to make sure that doesn't happen, I'm sure that it's going to be a very long time before you can get one. But I'll wish you goodluck on your failed attempts!”

“Wait,” the first stallion said in a defeated tone. “We’ll pay for it.”

Cozy gave a cheeky smirk to the unicorns as they each pulled out the bits to give to the filly. She took it gleefully before she flew over to the wagon and banged her hoof on the side.

The curtains rolled upwards to reveal the snappy business pony. “Have you finally decided to buy something?”

Cozy returned her facial expression to that of innocence. “I'm sorry I wasted your time earlier. Could I please buy one of the books? I've often been told I'm bad at friendship.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just give me the bits.” The business pony snatched the bits up before plopping a brand new book on the counter. “Take it. I'm going back on break.”

Cozy held the journal in her hooves as the metal curtains came down again. The filly couldn't help but let out a laugh at what had just happened.

“And I'm also sorry that all of your efforts to stop these two from getting a journal have been wasted as well.”

Cozy returned to the two unicorns with the journal. “First, the repellent.”

The yellow unicorns exchanged annoyed looks, but eventually they handed Cozy the black spray bottle. Cozy beamed at the item before thinking to herself.

“Thank you,” Cozy said. “But I could also use something to help protect me from the quills shooting out at me.”

The unicorns both gasped in anger before the first one spoke up. “That wasn't our deal. Our deal was the spray bottle for the book.”

“Yeah,” Cozy agreed, “but your deal just expired. Now if you can give me something I can hold in my hooves to shield me from the shooting quills, then the book’s all yours. For real, this time.”

The first unicorn glared at Cozy before his horn lit up in a green aura. Immediately, the book also lit up in the same aura and started to levitate out of Cozy hooves.

Immediately, Cozy grabbed back onto it, holding it tight. “No, stop! If you don't let go, I'm going to the princess and telling her that you have found a copy of the book!”

The unicorn stopped his magic. “Why would she believe you?”

“If she has been trying so hard for you not to get a book, then I'm sure she'll believe anything that suggests she’s failed.”

The unicorns growled in anger before the moustacheless unicorn scanned the surroundings. His eyes locked onto something in the distance outside of a building and his horn glowed green once more. In a matter of seconds, the lid to a metal trash can levitated over, dropping right next to Cozy with a clatter.

“There, you happy?” he said before immediately glowing his horn once more to take the book.

Cozy released her grip of the journal to pick up the metal lid by the handle on the center of the surface. “Nice doing business with you.”

Cozy turned to proudly march off with her weapon and shield in her hooves. From behind, she overheard the Suckers.

“We did it,” the first unicorn said. “Now how exactly can we exploit this?”

“It's best not to rush this gold mine,” the second unicorn replied. “We’ll wait until we can know for sure how to best use this.”

Cozy softly chuckled to herself before taking off in the air back over the forest, ready to take back her home.

This time, the flight over was the fastest. She gripped her shield in her left hoof and held the repellent in her right hoof. Determination filled her eyes as she once again saw the castle, stopping at the bridge before preparing herself for what was to come.

Her head was down as she slowly marched over the bridge, hearing the snarls from the pukwudgies in the distance ahead of her. Before, she had been terrified, but now only anger filled her mind.

It was when she reached the end of the bridge that she heard the first quill get launched in her direction. As if on instinct, she hefted up her shield, hearing the needle clang against it before falling to the ground. As if on cue, the sound of multiple quills launched at her, but they weren't enough to stop the filly from getting closer.

Cozy advanced towards the beasts, holding the trash can lid out in front of her like Captain Equestria. By the time the sound of the quills launching became less than a quarter-second apart from the sound of them hitting the trash can lid, Cozy looked up, seeing the army of countless creatures guarding the gates of her residence.

Three pukwudgies charged Cozy immediately, trying to get a different angle to shoot at her, but as soon as they got close enough, Cozy bunted the shield forcefully against the group, knocking them aside. Countless growls overtook the area as more creatures rushed the pony, but instead of backing away, Cozy welcomed them with a sly grin before rushing towards them as well.

Just before getting to the first bunch of beasts, she jumped into the air, sailing over the creatures with her shield just below to protect her from threats beneath her. The monsters in front of her glared their intimidating looks, but just before they could launch more of their quills, Cozy readied the repellent in her hooves, aiming it at the batch to spray without remorse.

The hisses from the invaders filled Cozy’s heart with glee, and she watched as her shield came down at the group she dove into, toppling them. She quickly got to her hooves again, scanning the area for the pukwudgies that were most a threat. She quickly found them baring their backs towards her to fire at her again, but she immediately held her shield up, spraying the repellent behind her to cover her back side.

It wasn’t long after that she caught sight of the first set of beasts running away, causing a smirk to come to her face.

“Cowards,” she muttered before directing her attention back to the swarm in front of her.

She traveled closer to the army of attackers, holding her shield firmly as more and more quills clanged off of them. She concentrated her efforts into a repeated pattern of blocking and spraying, scaring off more and more pukwudgies in the process.

She tried to hold her ground, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of groups of creatures going to her left and right to shoot from all three sides, she darted upwards, trying her best to dodge the projectiles. The beasts quickly adapted, aiming up at her section in the sky and causing the filly to rush back over the castle. She dropped down to her haven right as a quill launched itself through her curls.

Cozy yelped in fear, fully aware for the first time since her arrival that she was in mortal danger. She rushed to the doors of the castle to hold them shut, trembling at the thought of not being able to leave without getting hurt.

The pegasus steadied her breathing. “No. You're going to finish this.”

With one final breath, she backed away from the doorway, gripping the bottle and shield in her hooves. Immediately, the doors exploded in a wave of pukwudgies, rushing to kill off an invader.

Although the growls of the creatures overtook the room, the sound of Cozy’s heartbeat was louder. She took out her shield, backing farther away from them as she listened for more and more of them to enter.

Cozy peeked her head over her shield to watch as the room filled with pukwudgies, and she eyed the doorway to wait for the last ones to enter in. She continued to back away, hearing the hopping of the monsters come closer and closer to her. Eventually, she hit the stairs and found that there was no place left to go.

Cozy took one last look at the front door to notice an end to the amount of animals entering in the castle, and she gazed at the sea of infinite pukwudgies staring her down.

Come on, Cozy thought. Give me the best you got.

The pukwudgies turned to fire their deadly rain of needles.

Perfect, Cozy smirked.

With one last ditch effort, she launched the spray bottle in the air over the army of animals, pulling her shield over her as she heard hundreds of pukwudgies at once fire their quills into the air. Immediately, the sound of pressure exploded and Cozy watched as the beast repellent spray bottle opened up into the crowd of creatures, splattering them with its contents.

The overwhelming shriek of the pukwudgies filled the room as they all rushed for the exit at once, piling out of the castle in hoards. Eventually, Cozy watched from the stairs as the last of the remaining beasts exited, leaving Cozy in safety.

Cozy finally caught her breath before smiling. She flew up the stairs to her bag where her friend was still set out, watching the whole thing. Cozy gave a smile to her before digging inside her bag to find the picture Troth had taken of her, setting it out on the top of the stairs. She gave a sigh of relief, turning to her friend and picking her up in a massive hug.

Finally, she turned to relax on the staircase, staring out at the empty room. She had never felt so happy to be alone.

Excerpt 15

Excerpt 15:

Cozy stared at the hall. According to the calendar, she had been in the abandoned castle for another six months. She was now three moons away from her twelfth birthday, but she didn’t count on reaching it. She was ready to die right then.

Her food storage that she took from Twilight’s castle was nearing the final portions. Cozy made sure to take the foods that would last the longest, but she couldn’t take too much for fear of being caught. She probably had only three meals left; four if she tried to make them last.

The filly stared up through the roofless castle, gazing into the blue sky and recounting her days. After the first day of her arrival, she found herself having to spend the entire week cleaning up the quills from the pukwudgies. She had been thankful that the repellent hadn’t left any lasting colors on the ground or on the walls around her.

The sanctuary had been kept safe for some time since she left quite a lasting impression the first time she had her invaders. The peace would’ve lasted a lot longer if it weren’t for the trespassers that came two weeks before. She didn’t have time to get a good look at them when they came, so she had hidden in the grand, intuitive castle, waiting for them to leave. After two days of remaining unnoticed, she emerged to find the place littered with apples, cupcakes, and pillows. The reintroduction of food to the castle had caused the pukwudgies to return once more, and now there was no longer a way to get rid of them again.

Cozy sat up from her recline, flying to the top of the broken wall of the castle to get a good look at the forest around her. As part of her daily routine, she had always looked out at the nature to see the beauty surrounding her, and she always took it upon herself to notice something new every time. But there was nothing new this time, and neither was there anything new for the last couple of weeks she tried this.

The only thing that changed were the varying number of pukwudgies that reentered the bushes around the castle. Ever since the recent unwanted company brought them back, she had been noticing an increasing number of the creatures everyday. First, six of them came back. Then ten. Then twenty. It appeared that, today, there were twenty-five. The pegasus knew that sooner or later, the number of pukwudgies that appeared back at the castle would be too much to handle again and when that happened, they’d overtake her. She knew she had to leave before that happened.

Why wait? She asked herself. It’s not like my life is going anywhere anyway.

With a jump, she landed back at her saddle-bag and looked around at the objects all around before placing them individually back in her bag. She stopped when she picked up the framed picture with her hooves over the white daisies.

She sighed. “It’s been too long since I’ve made any progress. Is there really any point in continuing?”

Even if she still wanted to, there would be no way to go further into her flawed plans. Without a way to continue, she just felt like giving up entirely on the idea. With droopy eyes, she placed the picture in her bag before moving on to the last item: the skull.

A rare smile spread across her face. “Hello, Troth. I know I failed, but it means so much to me that you still stuck by my side.”

She grabbed the skull and wrapped her arms around it, engulfing it in a big hug. It was when she squeezed her chin on the roof of the brittle cranium that she heard the crack. Panicked, she brought it away, examining it to find the newly placed crack that appeared at the top, stemming down shortly into two softer cracks like lightning.

Cozy slouched. “Next time, I’ll be more careful.”

She finished packing up all of her stuff before looking around the once again empty castle. She was so used to leaving locations that she didn’t even feel a hint of sadness. It was tempting to just stay there and die, but she couldn’t do that. She had to earn her death.

Finally, she silently flew over the top of the castle walls, avoiding the attention of the pukwudgies as she left the premises.

She flew over the forest in no rush. She simply stared down at the trees below her the entire way, noticing several dangerous-looking creatures that tempted her to lower her altitude close enough to end it all. Although the thought appeased her for the time being, she did not change her course as she flew back to the direction of civilization.

The first sight she noticed was that of the populated town, but to her surprise, there were mostly fillies, smiling with their bright looks as if there were nothing wrong in Equestria.

The picture shattered Cozy. She did not want to feel this loneliness anymore. She didn’t want to feel like the failure she was. All she wanted was to rejoin civilization and to stop following a dream that she knew to be impossible.

She had no idea how to go about it, but she knew she had to start somewhere. Maybe with talking to a pony? Her previous experience with ponies didn’t go so well though so she treaded carefully, trying to choose the correct individual to help her back into reality.

Who would be someone friendly enough to help out a little filly in need? She looked into the crowd, trying to find anyone who could help her out. The bright red stallion with the green apple cutiemark didn’t fall on her that well enough. She then noticed a palish pink mare with a magenta mane and a wedding ring for a cutiemark trotting alone through the streets. The mare seemed familiar to the filly, but she couldn’t think of who she was. Regardless, her expression was that of mild disappointment, causing the pegasus to continue looking.

It was then that her eyes landed on the gray mare with the yellow mane for the first time in a year. Cozy was stunned at the view, barely able to breath. Her eyes widened in their sockets, filling the white space with her expanded pupils. It wasn’t long before the filly’s puffy cheeks became lined with her tears.

At first, the curly-haired filly was apprehensive. She didn’t know how to greet her after so long. She made her way slowly to the mail mare who appeared to be dropping off a package at one of the local residents.

She stopped at a healthy distance behind the mail pony with no one in between the two pegasi. Patiently, the filly waited for the gray mare to get done with her work.

Finally, the yellow-maned equine turned around, instantly noticing and recognizing the filly as her woll-eyes expanded. No words were spoken. Instead, Cozy walked slowly towards the pony, embracing her emotionally as she wept softly.

“Uh, hey there,” the older pegasus began.

Cozy didn’t respond. She just needed to feel the company of a pony she knew, and for a moment, nothing else mattered in the world. She then promptly released her grip before looking up at the pegasus in a dignified manner.

“Oh hey,” the older pegasus continued, “I just remembered. You have a message that never got delivered to you. I kept it for you in case I ever saw you again.”

The pegasus reached inside her mail delivery bag before pulling out a tattered-scroll. Cozy lightly beamed at the sight before the pegasus kept pulling out more and more papers.

“What’s this?” Cozy asked.

“Well, there are no disposable containers in Tartarus, so I’ve had to keep all the letters sent. But it seems that since you are the one who wrote all of them in the first place, you should be the one to get to keep them.”

The salmon-colored filly didn’t know if she heard correctly, but after reading the papers, she knew that there wasn’t any doubt. Set out in her hooves were all the letters that she wrote in the past. All the letters that she made to figure out more information on how to take over the job of the princess. Through a flash, she remembered everything as if experiencing it again. She remembered the beginning of her dark days, the plan to become the ruler, the information she was given through the letters and most importantly, the promise made to the one prematurely taken from her.

For the first time in a long time, she became excited again. Her smile returned to her face as she looked through the endless pages of text from Tirek about how to full-proof her plan despite not having any current information on the modern aspects of the princess.

The reminder of Princess Twilight poked at her curiosity, and she turned to the direction of the purple castle that stood tall over the town. But instead of it being alone, she noticed something new added to the scenery. Neighboring the oversized treehouse stood what looked to be a smaller castle with multiple waterfalls cascading from its walls, depositing in a moat that encircled the building.

“Well, I’m off to deliver the rest of the packages,” the gray mare interrupted.

Cozy returned her glance to the older pegasus. “Thank you.”

The woll-eyed equine turned to dash off, but before she could, Cozy interrupted with one final request.

“Wait, before you go, do you think that you can begin delivering messages to my friend again?”

The mail pony returned her attention to the filly before giving her a smile and a reassuring nod. Cozy squeed at the pegasus before the yellow-maned pony left Cozy alone again, only this time, she was perfectly okay with it.

The filly let out a sigh of relief before wiping the tears off her face, renewed with confidence. She looked through the pages in her hooves again, reading through the old texts and reliving the limited positive days of her past. It didn’t take her long at all to notice the issues with the plans. Throughout almost all of the messages, she saw the same recurring concern of Tirek, the worry of not knowing enough of Princess Twilight since he was banished to Tartarus. Cozy’s eyes fell back on the neighboring building beside Twilight’s castle.

Well I guess it’s time we figured out, Cozy smirked.

Within the second, Cozy was off, flying at full speed to the building, unable to contain her excitement.

Cozy soared through the air, slicing her wings through the wind as she made her way to her destination. Though her saddle bag weighed her down, it was barely enough to put a dent in her mood. Finally, she made it, landing in front of the door before trotting through the water vapor that misted around the entrance.

Before she even opened the doors, she could tell the place was storming with cheer from the sounds she heard. She was ready to be met with a sight that would match her apparent first impression, but through her first glance of seeing the crowded building, she was able to pinpoint the five creatures that weren’t like her. Cozy bit her tongue at the sight, trying her best to not let her inner emotions become outer ones. Through a deep breath, she put on a smile, knowing fully well that her plans would be ruined if she even remotely came off as aggressive.

She traveled through the school, pretending to belong as she made her way through the crowd. The long and open hall reminded her of the abandoned castle she had lived in, except everything was already clean and the room branched off into smaller hallways with a staircase to her left. This was different compared to just the set of stairs at the end of her previous residence.

She traveled up the staircase, her mind dead set on finding anything that could help with her overall plan. According to Tirek, finding the magical artifacts was integral to her success. With items of that power, she imagined that she would have to be alone if she were to attempt to get close to them.

Cozy walked up to the second floor to find, to her surprise, yet another hallway. The multiple doors on each side of the corridor only slightly discouraged her, but she basked in the idea that checking all of them in a suspicious manner would not be good for her, alerting her that it would be unwise to do as much work as the situation appeared to call for.

She traveled carefully, trying to be as quiet as possible but also trying not to look out of place. Every doorway looked the exact same: a brown piece of wood rounded at the top with no marking to separate it from the rest.

It was by the time Cozy got to the center of the hallway that she heard the sound of the door opening.

“Can I help you?” the familiar voice asked.

Cozy turned to face the princess. “Yes. I just moved here from Trottingham and would like to know more about what’s happening here.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right pony,” Twilight answered with a smile as she made her way into the hallway. “I’m Headmare Twilight Sparkle, and this is the School of Friendship. I’ve started this with my friends to help creatures all across Equestria learn true friendship just like I did. It used to be a school that was running in the EEA guidelines, but through the trust of my mentor, Princess Celestia, it is now a friendship school with its own rules.”

Within an instant, Cozy knew exactly what she needed to do. If she was able to join the school, not only would she be able to locate the magical artifacts along with anything else she needed, but she would be naturally close to the strongest being of Equestria, ready to overthrow her whenever she wanted; not to mention the additional information regarding Equestria’s strongest power to help perfect her plan.

“So if this school is for every creature, then that means I can join, right?” Cozy asked.

“Or course,” Twilight giggled in an uplifting tone. “Just come back with your parents, and we can get you into the school in a matter of weeks.”

Cozy gritted her teeth, knowing that she had to keep some information to herself. “Does it have to be so long until I can start here?”

“Well, it’s the rules.”

“But if you make the rules, then can’t you allow me to start now? I would really like to learn. I’ve often been told I’m bad at friendship.”

Twilight beamed. “Well, I love the enthusiasm, and you’re right. We’ll get you started right now then.”

That easy, huh? Cozy thought to herself.

Twilight continued. “I’ll just go input you into the school and get you enrolled in all the classes, and you can become a better friend immediately.”

Twilight trotted off in jollity as Cozy watched her leave. Immediately as the alicorn was down the stairs, Cozy faced the direction of the door that the princess had walked out of, opening it up carefully before sneaking inside.

She couldn’t believe how well her plan was coming together. And to top it all off, she now had a way to replace Twilight. She had to become the principal of the Friendship school. She didn’t know how yet, but she had plenty of time to figure that out.

Cozy looked through the room, turning on a light switch to reveal long rows of shelves, all littered with items. Cozy smiled, knowing that she was that much closer to her end goal.

It wasn’t long before she saw the shine come off from a blue emerald-like object. She beamed at the sight.

“The Key of Unfettered Entrance,” she said proudly.

She reached out to touch it but stopped herself. She recalled her long classes with the rock pony. The gem had been enchanted to only last one more use before shattering. One slip up with that artifact and her entire plan would be ruined.

Cozy kept looking around, trying to find more items that would help her. The only thing that stuck out to her was a golden cane that had a red ruby on the bottom and a face at the top that strangely looked like Twilight Sparkle. She disregarded it before she kept searching.

After a couple minutes of careful searching, she finally found them. All six artifacts in one place, each matching the description Tirek gave her. All that was left was to find a location where she could put all of the items to create her mystical magnet to suck all the magic in Equestria into the aether.

She would’ve continued looking through if it weren’t for the male voice that sounded from behind her.

“Won’t Headmare Twilight be so upset to see one of her students snooping through her inventory.”

Cozy froze, holding her breath.

“I got lost,” Cozy said without looking behind herself.

“Oh, if I haven’t heard that one before.”

The voice came to her from varying levels, as if levitating at different heights in the room. Finally, Cozy turned around to face what she had assumed to be a pegasus at first. It wasn’t, but she could’ve sworn she recognized the look of such disharmony.

“Spirit of Chaos?” Cozy asked, trying to breath normally.

“I prefer Discord, but either way works.”

Cozy subtly calmed her breathing. She had to treat her next words carefully.

“Are you a teacher here?”

“Well, not officially, but I’ll be invited as one soon. I’m just going to watch from the sidelines until Twilight feels she is ready for me.”

The creature snapped his claws, causing a brief flash to illuminate around him. When the view of him clear, he was dressed in a cheer-leading outfit with pom-poms on his claws, outstretched in the air.

For a moment, Cozy was startled, but she quickly had an idea. “Well, with how organized Twilight is, she’ll probably won’t consider you for the job.”

Discord was caught off guard, throwing off the outfit before crossing his arms. “Oh, that’s simply absurd. Twilight is just waiting for the right moment.”

“If she was planning on it, wouldn’t she introduce you to the scenery around here plenty of time in advance instead of having you be reduced to just watching?”

“Well, I suppose. But Twilight is always planning her actions based off some multi-step plan she created. She is probably following some checklist that I haven’t heard about yet.”

“Has she even invited you to this school personally yet?”

“Well, no, not yet.”

Cozy was barely able to hide her smirk. “So the entire time this school has been open, you’ve just been watching from the sidelines? Just going in by secret to check how things are going, but only waiting for somepony else to ask you to help? That must sound super lonely, waiting for something that’s never going to happen.”

“It will happen.”

“When? If you don’t do anything, then this school just might go on without you for a while. Maybe Twilight and her friends have forgotten about you by this time. You won’t know until you go out and seek some answers.”

“I can’t go and ask Headmare Twilight why she hasn’t informed me about this school,” the creature grumbled. “Her friends would just come up with some lame excuse as to why they’re right.”

“Well, what if you only confronted one pony about it instead of all six of them? Maybe talk to that other pony that Twilight lives with. Ask her why you haven’t been asked yet.”

“Hmm, nah. That sounds too easy for them. I might need to cause a big show just to get my point across. Maybe stir up some chaos at an event here.” Discord stopped, a smile coming across his face. “And I know the perfect event to do it. Thank you, young filly. I’ll see you in class.” The creature snapped his claws, vanishing from the room in a flash.

Cozy did not know what to make of that last part, but she was just glad he was away. At the realization that she nearly blew everything, she decided to go back on the safe side and leave while she was still unknown.

When the filly got to the bottom of the staircase to the main floor again, Twilight stopped her.

“There you are. You’re all set up to start school today. Your first class is Professor Fluttershy’s Kindness Class which should start after the lunch break in about 10 minutes.”

Twilight gave the pegasus a map of the school to help her.

“Now, I have to go,” the purple pony continued. “I have friendship tests that must be graded. Tell me if the classes are too hard. After all, you are starting in the middle of a class instead of at the beginning.”

As the alicorn flew off, Cozy smiled to herself. Her way of life had just gotten so much easier.

Cozy followed the school’s map, letting her mind wander as she traveled to the classroom. For the moment, her plans were about to be turned into another standstill, but this time, it was acceptable because she clearly had something she was working towards, and she just knew that everything would work out.

Her eyes focused on the room number on her map before she looked back up to find an open room that matched the same number. The door to it was opened to reveal a yellow adult pegasus with a light-pink mane sitting at a desk. Just above the room number was a symbol: a pink butterfly facing upwards.

Cozy smiled. The Element of Kindness.

She recalled first hearing about that element, one of the only elements she remembered the name of. She was in a library with her new best friend. She remembered the joy she had at seeing those symbols, the turtle necks and the cheese grater as she had called them. She had said “remind me never to go to the library.” Now it was the only place she wanted to visit. Probably the only place she could feel truly at home anymore.

The sound of weeping stirred her out of her memories. Cozy looked up to the yellow pegasus again, finally realizing that the mare was crying as she stared at the picture in front of her. Instantly, the filly was curious.

“Excuse me,” she said from the doorway.

The mare looked up from her picture and faced Cozy, not hiding any of her tears. “Oh, hello there,” she spoke in the most gentle of voices. “Are you my new student?”

Cozy stared at the tear streaks on the cheeks of the pony who didn’t seem to care who saw them. “Yes, I’m Cozy Glow.”

“My name is Fluttershy. I’m sorry you have to see me like this. I was thinking of my friend who was wrongfully locked up.”

Cozy drooped her eyes in false sympathy, pretending it was genuine. “What happened?”

Fluttershy sniffled. “Well, many years ago, my friends traveled through the Everfree Forest, and we encountered a manticore.”

The name triggered a memory in Cozy, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint it. She felt as though she read about that creature before, but she didn’t know for sure.

The pink-maned pegasus continued. “While he looked vicious, he was actually really gentle. He was only angry because he had a big thorn in his paw, but I was the only one who would give him a chance to show who he was. After I helped him, my friends and I left him on his merry way to continue his life in the Everfree Forest, but somepony thought he was too dangerous to keep free. Because of who he was, he was imprisoned in Tartarus from ponies not trusting someone like him to be free.”

Cozy’s sympathy began to grow a bit more real. “That doesn’t sound right. Shouldn’t something have been done about that?”

“Well, maybe if it just happened, but I only recently heard about this. He’s been like this for many years, and you can’t change something that has seemed to work just fine.”

Cozy walked closer to the older pegasus, trying for a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, Professor Fluttershy. Nothing bad is happening to him. Tartarus is just a new home to him, a new place to spend his time.”

Fluttershy gave a soft smile to Cozy. “Thank you.”

The salmon-colored filly took a step back and smiled innocently before the sound of hoofsteps sounded from outside. Cozy looked back to see a group of seven ponies, all ranging in ages, entering the classroom one-by-one.

“Ooh,” Fluttershy said, “lunch break is over. Class is going to begin.”

Cozy found her seat, sitting next to an opening in the room that had an outside view of the rest of the school. Just outside the opening was a balcony that the teacher was soon to march out on, lifting out a hoof to call to a group of butterflies that flew around over the balcony rail.

“Alright, students,” she said as a butterfly landed on her outstretched hoof. “It’s time to meet some new friends.”

Cozy watched the butterflies in wide-eyed fascination, each of them entering the room to interact with her and her classmates. It wasn’t long before she caught sight of a white butterfly flying towards her, something looking oddly familiar with it. The butterfly got closer to the filly, landing on her snout and causing the filly to freeze. The clear wings of the insect were scarlet at the ends before appearing more pale as they got to the center of the bug. Finally, the butterfly left Cozy’s face, causing the filly to give a soft smile to the creature as it went away.

“Oh no!” the soft voice of her teacher sounded.

Cozy turned to the direction of the distress to see Fluttershy holding a butterfly in her hooves, it’s body appearing lifeless as a maroon stallion stared down at it in guilt.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy said to the nervous stallion. “There’s still hope. I need to go and get my supplies to help this poor little critter.” The yellow mare scanned the classroom full of ponies, her eyes stopping on the filly. “Cozy Glow is in charge until I get back.”

The declaration rocked Cozy to her core, but she tried her best to keep her true expression a secret, resulting in just a blank expression as her eyes widened apprehensively. As the former teacher left the room, Cozy sheepishly traveled to the front desk, looking to the other ponies around her.

The filly waited there in the seat, eyeing the group of ponies nervously. She didn’t know exactly how to be in a position like this without spoiling her true intentions, so she simply waited for someone to make a move. No one did until she looked away, and she heard someone speak the moment her eyes left her classmates.

“I’m sure Professor Fluttershy would want the volume level to be kept the same as when she is here,” Cozy spoke up. “Please keep the peace until she returns.”

“They’re just talking,” the maroon stallion responded. “There’s not much wrong with that.”

“I would know that Professor Fluttershy would want all of you to be kind so please show your kindness by respecting the teacher’s absence.”

“Well, if we talk at the same volume as Fluttershy, then it would be the same volume, right?”

Cozy’s smile began to fade at the questioning, and she got to the top of the desk. “I have been put in charge until Fluttershy returns, so that means you should listen to me.”

The stallion put on a pretentious look. “Why would she put you in charge?”

The stallion reminded Cozy of someone she once knew, causing her breath to grow slightly shaky. She was beginning to lose her control.

“Well, maybe because this is a Kindness class,” Cozy said. “And maybe the one with the most kindness would be somepony who is the youngest.”

“Or maybe someone who has had the most experience with it. You probably don’t know anything you’re talking about.”

Cozy steadied her breath, regaining control of her mind. “Such unkind words. This is why Fluttershy left me in charge.” Cozy tilted her head before smiling down in a condescending manner towards the older pony.

The filly regarded the rest of the classroom. “Now Fluttershy won’t be gone for much longer so I’d like to ask all of you to just hang on until she gets back. Can you all do that for me?”

Before she could get a response, the door began to open, startling Cozy back down into the chair.

The original teacher walked back into the room, holding the butterfly in her hooves. “It’s okay, everypony. She’s alright.”

Cozy quietly sighed as she returned to her seat that was seated in view of the outside. She was trying to listen as Fluttershy spoke, but a sight from outside on the ground distracted her.

From outside, a tall, multi-colored figure emerged from the bushes. Cozy strained her eyes to try and understand what she was seeing until she finally could recognize it as three fillies stacked up on eachother, the bottom one being a yellow filly, the middle one being a white unicorn, and the top one being a tannish-brown pegasus.

What are they doing? Cozy thought to herself.

She watched as the three fillies struggled to stand as one until the top one was able to grab onto the window sill of a second-story room, using her wings to help her direct the column of fillies.

They must want something, Cozy figured.

Cozy looked at the classroom of adult ponies before she looked back at the three ponies outside that were more her age. If she was going to make friends with anyone, she would prefer it be with those three to begin with. That way, friendship would not be as foreign of a concept to her as it had been for the longest time now.

The crash of a box landing in front of Cozy shocked her out of her miniature show. Cozy looked down in front of her to notice the multiple pictures of ponies inside.

“Now, Cozy,” Fluttershy began, “pick three pictures.”

Not knowing what was happening, Cozy obeyed, choosing three pictures at random. The first was a picture of a blue female pony with a pink mane that swirled like cupcake frosting. The second was a bright red earth pony that she recognized as the stallion she had seen earlier that day. The last picture was yet another earth pony with a yellow coat and a mix of pink and blue as her mane.

Worried, Cozy looked back up at the pink-maned mare. “Professor Fluttershy, I’m very worried that I’ll get this assignment wrong.”

“Oh don’t worry, Cozy. Worrying does no good. It’s the actions that follow that determine what will happen.”

“Could you tell me what it is that I have to do?”

Fluttershy gently smiled before speaking again in her soft voice. “Well, the best way to learn kindness is through actions. So your homework is to do something nice for each of those ponies that you’ve just chosen.”

The filly nodded before giving the box back to her teacher. She then took the pictures of the ponies to place in her saddle-bag.

“Goodluck, my little ponies,” Fluttershy said, smiling specifically at Cozy as the group of students in the classroom proceeded to leave.

Cozy smiled up at her teacher before she turned to exit the class, becoming the final student in the room. As the blue-curled pony left through the doorway, she caught sight of another group of ponies, specifically 5, but as she examined closer, she saw what looked to be a mix between a griffon and a pegasus accompanying the five equines. She recalled seeing her earlier from a distance, but up close, it was unnerving. She remained motionless in the hallway as the group of students marched into Professor Fluttershy’s class.

Through the walls, Cozy could hear the sound of the teacher again.

“Alright, students,” the muffled voice called out. “It’s time to meet some new friends!”

“Indeed,” Cozy said as she thought of the three fillies she saw earlier.

She marched down the hallway to her next class, her mind scheming up a storm.

Cozy exited the School of Friendship, flying out over the city. She had just finished up the rest of her classes for the day and had stayed around the place in hopes of finding anything that might be useful, but now she set her mind to trying to find those fillies she laid her eyes on during the first class she had.

She flew higher into the air, trying to get a good view of the entire town. The immensity of the city was discouraging, but Cozy shook off the feeling, knowing that she had as much time as she needed.

Cozy tried to think of where she could possibly find her future friends. “They were spying on the school when I saw them. The best place to look would be where each of the professors are.”

Cozy stopped herself. The first place she thought to look would’ve been back at the school, but she was just there and saw most of the teachers individually leave. If she was going to find the fillies, she most likely had to find her professors again.

The small pegasus scanned the city below her for the places to look. Her gaze caught on Twilight’s castle, a landmark she knew she wasn’t going back to.

At the far end of the city, Cozy could barely see the silhouette of some form of barn. She blinked in recognition and started flying towards it, expecting the Honesty teacher to be there. Upon arriving, the first thing found was the alone professor hard at work in her fields. Cozy looked around as she hid at the white fence, observing closely to see if she could find whom she was looking for, but upon not seeing anypony for a couple of minutes, she decided to move on.

She flew back into the city, looking around to have her eyes catch on a tall, sparkly building that glimmered in the sun, with two metal horses decorating it at top. The fanciness of the building struck Cozy as something the Generosity teacher would have, so she set her new mark.

The filly arrived on the scene, flying up to the second floor to peek through the windows. All she found was the mildly-annoyed-looking professor whom she didn’t get a chance to meet due to arriving too late, but the look of the unicorn reminded her of the pale filly she was looking for.

Cozy backed away from the property, thinking that the building wasn’t what she was looking for. She felt her bag to make sure she still had it before thinking of the Loyalty teacher. She could tell that she would find her up in the heavens of Ponyville, but two of the fillies that she was looking for weren’t pegasi, so Cozy quickly disregarded that thought.

It was when Cozy was flying over the city that she heard the sound of young ponies yelling. When she looked down to the direction of the sound, she saw the fillies she was looking for, two of which were yelling at eachother and the other one with her face on the ground after tripping over a scooter. Cozy flew down from her position in the sky to land on a nearby building, hiding her presence as the three fillies continued their bickering.

“I’m not talking to either one of you ever again!” the small unicorn yelled in what sounded like Equestria’s worst acting.

Cozy once again tried to understand what the three were doing, but couldn’t figure out anything. The looks on the two adult creatures behind the fillies seemed take on the same confusion as the salmon-colored pegasus. In the alleyway between the two buildings stood the Kindness teacher, the pony she had become familiar with, along with the Laughter teacher.

“You are so careless!” the white filly sounded again in a tone that barely sounded like actual fury.

After a couple seconds of apparent silence, the yellow filly spoke with equally bad acting. “Careless? I will show you who is the one who is careless!”

Cozy watched as the the yellow filly made inaudible comments to the unicorn before the tan-coated pegasus in front reached out her hooves to embrace the other two fillies. Within seconds, the three fillies were cheering with bright smiles, causing Cozy to roll her eyes from above.

“Yay!” the pink adult pony yelled. “You’re friends again! I knew you would be. Candy-cane stripes forever!” From nowhere, the pony threw confetti before pulling out a flag and jumping around the three fillies in a ridiculous manner.

The three fillies stared down at the ground in sadness but moments later, the pink pony stopped jumping around before smiling over at the Kindness teacher and giggling.

Fluttershy giggled along with her before walking in front of the three fillies and smiling down at them. “Now remember, girls. Honesty is one of the pillars of Friendship. Maybe you should take more of Applejack’s classes.”

“Yeah, we’ll go to her right now for them,” the yellow earth pony said in a sarcastic tone before rolling her eyes.

The three fillies left the scene with the earth pony leading the charge, causing the two adult mares to shrug their shoulders before taking off in the opposite direction.

Cozy waited until the three fillies were a good enough distance away before she began to follow them, trying her best not to be noticed. She watched as they made their way to the far end of the town, going back into the direction of the farm she had visited earlier.

They live in a barn? Cozy thought.

The lone filly kept following from a distance, watching as the fillies traveled passed the farm before going into the forest. Cozy was quick to follow, hiding behind trees to hide her presence. Finally, she saw the fillies go to some form of small house elevated in the air over a tree; a wooden staircase led to the door. She watched as the ponies traveled up the stairs into the house before Cozy sat down in front of an apple tree. She set her bag behind herself as she tried to think of what she was going to do.

Cozy began brainstorming, reminding herself of her goal. She knew she had to succeed; she would not let all she had been through be in vain. But what would be the best way to introduce herself?

She was reminded of Fluttershy earlier that day. She had come across her crying and was instantly interested in the cause. If Cozy could make tears happen, then she was bound to get her future friends to be concerned. What would her reason be though?

Twilight’s words came to mind. Tell me if the classes are too hard. That would be the perfect excuse.

What about the rest of her story? Her story could be the same as what had actually been the case so long ago. She had just moved from Trottingham to go to school, and everything was so much different than what she was used to.

Cozy tried to force fake tears, but she couldn’t. She had cried so many times in the past, but now she felt unable to. She was too hopeful of the future.

Cozy took a deep breath, knowing what the solution would be, and she cleared her head. She thought of her parents. She tried to imagine her mother’s smile again. The thought of herself sitting at the table as her mother cooked up her mustard sandwhiches for her. The feeling of her mother’s kiss on her cheek before she sent her off to her first day of school.

“Knock em dead, Shirley,” her mother had said.

Cozy then remembered the feeling of her being forcefully ripped away, never to see her again. She remembered the forest where the memory had been buried for so long along with the bodies of her parents.

“This is for you, mommy,” Cozy said, finally able to muster up the most believable tears she could get.

Excerpt 5

Excerpt 5:

Cozy’s train of thought was interrupted by another growl of her stomach.

“But we haven’t eaten yet,” Troth said as she followed Cozy out of the Hayburger. “Shouldn’t we go back?”

Cozy took a deep breath. “No, I didn’t like it back there.”

“Was it because of Candid? I’m sorry, I thought it was going to be just Lenia there.”

“It wasn’t just the griffon though. The dragon also made me uncomfortable.”
“Opul? But she gave you bits.”

“She probably stole those bits. Dragons don’t willingly give things out of the goodness of their hearts. I’ve heard too many stories that go against that thought process. There’s got to be something else happening with her. I don’t trust that scheming dragon.”

“And what about the others?”

Cozy looked away. “That Drool creature-.”

“Droll,” Troth corrected, sounding as though she were getting defensive.

“That’s what I said. He kept saying things that made me feel uncomfortable.”

“He’s just trying to get a good laugh in,” Troth said, trying to be open-minded.

“But what he was saying could be taken other ways that I’m sure he didn’t think of. He could’ve started something violent.”

“But Lenia’s cool, right?” Troth said hopefully.

Cozy sighed. “Lenia’s cool. But I have no idea what she sees in them. How could she not be afraid that something bad is going to happen to her from the friends she chooses? How can she make friends with others that are so much different than her? I’m not so sure anyone would do something like that.”

Troth chortled. “If you only knew.”

Cozy knit her eyebrows. “Knew what?”

“Follow me.” Troth started walking a different direction, causing Cozy to change course and follow her.

Troth filled the silence with words. “There are a lot of other cases of ponies making friends with others that are not like them at all. You’ve probably heard of the most famous case.”

“There are famous cases of friendship?”

“Oh yes,” Troth said, sounding more serious. “When there is something so powerful like that, it can be documented pretty quickly.”

Cozy followed Troth into another building. “Do ponies just record anything now?”

“Pretty much if it’s important enough, especially with royalty.”

“Remind me to never go to the library.”

Troth gave an awkward smile as Cozy looked around at the bookshelves surrounding her, causing the salmon-colored filly to droop her eyebrows in unamusement.

The red-maned pegasus scanned the bookshelves before reaching up to grab a book off of one. “This is the story of Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“I think I’ve heard of her before. What’s she the princess of again?”

“Well, her princess duty hasn’t been named yet, but I bet it will be marvelous!”

From behind the front counter of the room, the librarian shushed Troth in an even louder tone than Troth had used.

Troth cowered back before clearing her throat and talking in a lower voice. “Right, well she is the one who fulfilled the prophecy concerning the Elements of Harmony.”

Cozy blinked in slight recognition. “Those sound familiar.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of them before.”

“I’ve been sheltered for most of my life so maybe not.”

Troth turned the book so Cozy could see. “The Elements of Harmony. They’re the magical artifacts that Twilight and her friends now wield. They consist of Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic.”

Cozy covered her mouth with her hoof as she tried to hide her grin. Finally, Cozy could not contain her laughter. “They - they look like turtlenecks!”

“SSHHHH,” the librarian hissed back but Cozy, although startled, was still smiling.

Troth looked inside the book again as if never considering the thought. “Well, what about the Element of Magic?”

“That one is even worse,” Cozy said in a quieter tone. “What’s that used for? Shredding cheese like a cheese grater?”

Troth rolled her eyes in amusement at Cozy’s enjoyment before continuing in the book. “Using the Elements of Harmony, Princess Twilight, although not a princess yet, was able to team up with her friends and defeat Nightmare Moon.”

“Oh yes, I know this story. The Princess of the Night used to be bad, but now she’s good. I think I remember hearing the same story arc of a Spirit of Chaos as well.”

“That was also Princess Twilight, and she was still a unicorn for that as well.”

Cozy tilted her head in confusion. “Wait, Twilight went up against an alicorn as a unicorn and won? I thought that alicorn magic was way stronger than unicorn magic.”

Troth smiled. “She didn’t use her unicorn magic.”

“Golly, the Elements of Harmony are that strong?”

“Well, it wasn’t the Elements of Harmony either. You see, Cozy, there are two types of magic: the magic that creatures like unicorns and alicorns use, and then there’s the magic that you and I use.”

Cozy closed her eyes and shook her head trying to understand. “What?”

“Yes, we don’t have to be unicorns to use magic, but it’s a different kind of magic. There’s one thing stronger than unicorn magic and that is the Magic of Friendship.”

“The-the Magic of Friendship . . . ?” Cozy said slowly to make sure she heard correctly.

“Yes. I wasn’t exaggerating earlier when I said that Friendship was a powerful weapon.”

“You can weaponize friendship?”

“Maybe I chose the wrong words . . .”

Awkward silence settled in as Troth waited for Cozy to say something.

“I-I don’t have any better words,” Troth admitted.

Cozy rolled her eyes in amusement. “So if Twilight used the Magic of Friendship to win her battles then what are the Elements of Harmony for?”

“The Elements of Harmony are merely what channel the energy. It’s like the Magic of Friendship is the bullets and the Elements of Harmony are the guns.”

“What are guns?”

“Uh, nevermind. The Elements of Harmony are what make it so there is no room for mistakes so the enemy is taking the full brunt of the force. It is quite difficult to actually be able to pull off, but it says here that anypony can use the Magic of Friendship in battle and become victorious, just as long as their drive is strong, and they focus hard enough. It’s just not as strong if the Elements aren’t in use. I guess that’s a fail-safe so the bearers of the Elements won’t ever be threatened if this power falls into the wrong hooves.”

“That’s really cool,” Cozy said in an upbeat tone.

“Yeah, I guess it’s because there is magic that makes up who we are as ponies.”

“Is that what you wanted to show me?”

“Well, that’s just a bonus. I really just wanted to show you that you can make friends with any creature no matter how different they are. Even the most diverse set of creatures can harmonize. You should give the non-ponies a chance.”

Cozy considered it for a second. “Have you?”

Troth was taken off guard by the question. “Oh, well, um, yeah. Well, not really. I typically enjoy Lenia’s company. I . . .” Troth searched her thoughts before delivering her answer with confidence. “I don’t want to intrude on her friends. Yep, that’s why.”

“Well, we didn’t do that, and all it costed us was our lunch.”

“Oh, pish posh. Thanks to homecooked meals, it can be lunch anytime!”

“SHHHHHHH!!” the librarian hushed loudly again.

“Point taken,” Cozy said. “Let’s go.”

Troth considered the non-ponies once more as she led the way down the street. “Don’t you think we kind of left the others rather abruptly?”

Cozy frowned at the reminder. “They know where to meet us again. I did say that we would go to the place where our items were taken at sundown so there’s a time and place.”

“But if you’re so uncomfortable with them, why go back to them again?”

“It’s going to be a team effort. We help them; they help us. Everypony’s happy.”

“Even if it involves spending what might be the whole night trying to find what’s ours?”

“A small price to pay for salvation. You do know where we’re supposed to be, right?”

“Yes,” Troth continued, “I’ve been close to getting my camera back a dozen times before, but I’ve never actually gone through with it. I was too worried about what would happen if I was caught. I have a good reputation here as a nurse, and I was always worried it would be taken away if I got caught. So I was always afraid to go.”

“What’s changed?”

“I’ve never actually had anypony to back me up. Well, nopony brave enough to anyway. But now that you’re here, I think we can actually do it. I’ll back you up throughout everything.”

Cozy smiled as she trotted beside Troth. “So you’re a nurse but you have a camera? How does that add up? Do you do pictures or care?”

“Actually, I started out doing martial arts. I always thought it was so cool to think that you can defend yourself anywhere, especially from the bullies I used to face. The feeling was so exhilarating that I got a camera to record the moments. After every bully I faced, I would take a picture of them to remember a victory. It’s always good to remember your victories so you can have more confidence in yourself. But then I traveled away from my home and got lost and stumbled across this community with nothing but my camera. Emperor Contume took me in, but as soon as I got here, I lost my camera. There was nothing to record my victories with anymore, but I didn’t want to record what happened next. I got caught up with another bully, and I hurt them in a way that they never should have deserved. I didn’t know my own strength with these hooves. I felt so bad that I stayed with him at the hospital, and to make up for what I did, I never left.”

“Oh golly,” Cozy said sympathetically.

Troth stared down at the ground as she walked. “Yeah, it is what it is. But when I get my camera back, I’ll be able to relive all my best moments. What was it that you wanted to retrieve again, Cozy?”

“Oh, well -.”

“Hold that thought, we’re here.” Troth stopped right in front of a small, cleanly kept building. “I’m about to treat you to the best food that has ever been made underneath this roof.”

Troth took Cozy by the hoof and excitedly led her in, stopping at a small room with a table and chairs. “Oh! I haven’t cooked for somebody in so long! You sit right there and I’ll cook something good. I do make a pretty mean haysandwhich.”

Cozy beamed at Troth as a memory appeared, but the reminder of the aftermath settled in, causing her smile to leave just as quickly as it came.

The moment Cozy seated herself, her stomach growled and she was instantly reminded of her underfed day. The sleepless nights when she had nothing else to do but count the intervals of time between each stomach growl. The panicked thought that she might not even see the next day. The inescapable feeling that she had to fight or die.

She didn’t even realize Troth trying to get her attention.

“Cozy!” Troth called out again.

“Huh? What? Who?”

“You,” Troth said, concerned. “I asked if you wanted mustard.”

Immediately, Cozy’s fear melted into appreciation. “Yes, please.”

Troth couldn’t help but notice Cozy was still panting. “Are you having trouble breathing? I know CPR.”

“Oh,” Cozy realized. “No, it’s just . . . “ Cozy was about to get lost in her memories again before she forced the thoughts of Pent out of her mind. “It’s . . . nothing.”

Troth lowered her eyebrows in concern. “Does it have to do with when Dr. Degree and I found you?”

Cozy’s breathing began to increase in frequency again causing Troth to cover her mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no,” Cozy reassured. “It’s okay.”

“What . . . um, happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Cozy clenched her eyes shut to rid herself of the emotions. “My parents were taken from me by a unicorn, and that pony stole me away. He starved me for 2 days before I was able to escape by using a rook as a tool. That’s kind of how I got this.” Cozy gestured to her cutiemark, a mark that served as a constant reminder of a past that she seemingly could not escape.

“Wow,” Troth admired. “You got that cutiemark from fighting somepony off? Oh, is that the castle chess piece you were referring to? The one that got confiscated when you arrived?”

Cozy nodded, trying to keep her mind blank from the memories.

“No wonder you want that back. How can you feel safe without it? You’ll get it back though. I’ll make sure of it.”

Cozy smiled before she finally dug into her haysandwhiches. She ate it happily, forgetting any bad thing that had happened recently. “Thank you. This is a good lunch.”

“Well, it’s more of dinner.”

“Wait, dinner?” Cozy scanned the room.

“Um,” Troth pointed her hoof upwards. “The clock’s up there. It’s about 30 minutes until sundown.”

Cozy and Troth exchanged nervous looks, knowing fully well what the nighttime demanded of them.