Wandering off to the outskirts of Canterlot and into Everfree Forest, Cozy Glow tossed her cookie basket aside and grabbed her cloak from inside a hollow tree. After donning it, she flapped her wings and started hovering off the ground. She flew away, but kept herself low to avoid detection by the guards. While she was flying, she said to herself,

“Oh, that princess is even dumber than I anticipated~. This makes my plan so much easier~.”

Having flown across long enough, Cozy Glow flew out of the forest and started heading towards the mountains at full speed. Cackling madly to herself as she flew to a giant mountain with a cave, she flew inside all the way to where the black clouds lead and stopped flying. She walked towards the mummified goat corpse and said,

“You’re not gonna believe what just happened today~. I was invited to the princess’s castle~! You have no idea how happy I am~! When she lets me in, all I have to do is lure her into someplace quiet where I can put an incapacitation spell on her~! After that, I’ll kidnap her and bring her over to you~! But the only problem is that I also need a corrupted creature or pony to get it done! I know where the Shadow King is buried, but there’s this meddlesome unicorn that always visits at night! WHAT AM I TO DO!?!?”

Flurry Heart panicked and paced around while trying to figure out a plan to get Spike’s corpse.

“There has to be a way! There has to be! I just have-” Cozy Glow frantically said before being pushed against the wall.

Cozy Glow was held up by this black mist containing a form of corrosiveness and it slowly began to burn away at her body. She was shoved so hard that she could hardly breathe and panicked while trying to save herself. But before she could say anything, the essence dropped her and her body returned to normal.

“I know that you wish to be returned to your former glory and that you want to destroy Equestria. But we made a deal. If I returned your power, I would be given the powers of an alicorn and I would seize Equestria for myself. Of course, your goals and mine are the complete opposite. But the door swings both ways.” Cozy Glow said, trying to justify her position.

The mummified goat’s heart started beating faster and the harder it beated, the bigger his essence became. The mist swiftly turned into tentacles and they slithered towards Cozy Glow. Crawling along her skin, they smoothly caressed her coat and slid one of them right near her mouth.

“D-Don’t worry! As soon as I bait one of the princesses, you’ll get your power back. Plus, they will be so preoccupied with trying to find either Cadance or Flurry Heart, they won’t notice the Shadow King’s corpse being robbed of! It’s all genius!” Cozy Glow shouted, trying to appease the corpse’s nature.

Waving and caressing its tentacles across Cozy Glow’s body, they turn into serrated blades and point them at her eyeballs. Then they slowly moved away and pointed themselves directly at her mouth before aiming at her teeth. Cozy Glow sweated profusely as they glided across her jaw before holding her mouth wide open. It was sharply pointed at the top to the point where it could easily stab her brain. Cozy Glow breathed heavily and she could feel her life flash before her eyes. But just as she felt herself ready to die, the goat retracted its tentacles and turned back into the mist. As she was gaining her breath, Cozy Glow said,

“Geez mister, you nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought for sure that-”

Just then, a lone tentacle sharpened into a blade and pointed itself at Cozy’s throat, immediately silencing her before retracting its tentacle back into mist. Having been completely silenced, Cozy Glow bowed before running out of the cave with the black mist following closely behind her. After making it out, Cozy Glow ran into the corner of the entrance and puked her lunch out before sitting down to recover.

“The nerve of that goat, thinking that I’m nothing more than its puppet…! Does it not know that power equals authority!? I’m the one jumping through hoops to achieve my dreams, not that stupid corpse! I swear… if I was in charge, it would be kissing my hooves and wouldn’t have to worry about pulling my weight around as much as that bag of bones! But right now… I need to get back to Canterlot~. After all, I have a playdate to make with a certain princess~.” Cozy Glow said with a sinister grin as she grabbed her cookie basket.

After recuperating from her encounter with the corpse and putting her hood back on, she started flying away from the mountains. While she was flying back, she couldn’t stop thinking about seeing Flurry Heart again and how fun it would be to shatter her heart like glass. All she needed to do was put an incapacitation spell on her and it would be a done deal. But the other issue was trying to find the perfect moment to rob Spike’s corpse. It would be no easy task since Starlight visits every night before going to bed, but Cozy Glow had to make do with the best that she had. Even if it meant having to get her hooves dirty.

“I’m getting closer…” Cozy Glow said to herself before descending into Everfree Forest.

Traversing through the trees and the thick bushes, Cozy Glow avoided detection by the patrols in the sky and on the ground. Having made it close enough, she landed on the ground and walked towards Canterlot. After entering, she eyed the nearest cookie stand and stole a whole batch without anypony noticing. When she finished her little cookie theft, she resumed her innocent filly persona and started selling her freshly stolen cookies. It was only a matter of time until she would see Flurry Heart again, but Cozy Glow decided to keep her cool and sell her cookies until the time would come.

Author's Note

I forgot to touch up on this with all of you earlier and I apologize. But recently, I just received a job interview three days ago and I'm currently going through a background check. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'm only lucky to have made the interview and I'm still awaiting the okay before I get to work. But I digress. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.