Cozy was going to tell Twilight everything that had happened right then and there, but she just began coughing and hacking. Twilight grew concerned as it grew worse and worse. Twilight called for the doctors, they would be able to find out what was wrong.

She was still very damaged inwardly, but she was getting better. The doctors insisted she go back to sleep, but she really didn't want to repeat what had happened.

"Cozy please. You need to rest and recover. Anything you need to say can wait." Twilight said softly.

"No....No no no! no more sleep! No more Nightmares!" Cozy shouted, going into another brief coughing fit.

"If you're worried about nightmares, we can just talk to princess Luna." Twilight told her.

Cozy took deep breaths and tried to calm her agitated throat. "....That could work..." She said, her voice very hoarse.

Twilight's horn glowed briefly and a message was sent to Luna.

A couple of minutes later, the Alicorn of The Night appeared in the hospital room with a midnight blue flash of light.

Cozy shrunk into the hospital bed and tried to avoid Luna's gaze.

"I will help you rest easy, but not out of concern for you." Luna said bluntly.

Cozy's ears folded sadly but she nodded in understanding. She leaned back into her bed and closed her eyes. Luna walked over to the side of the bed and sat down.

Her horn lit up as she closed her eyes. She proceeded to enter the filly's dreamscape.

The moment Luna opened her eyes in Cozy's dreamscape, she knew she was in for it. Cozy had one of the most damaged psyches that the Alicorn had ever seen.

"Hmph...I only need repair enough for her too sleep. There is too much trauma for one nights work." Luna looked around for the cause of the trauma.

There was too much spanning from so far in her memories and mindscape for her to directly pinpoint the cause of it all right away. Her psyche had been terribly traumatized and damaged for years it seemed.

"I'll just have to use a suppression charm, it should last long enough for a good night sleep. And if not I can teach Twilight to reapply the spell." Luna said to herself as she searched for the filly.

She eventually found Cozy, or rather her consciousness, huddled in a ball surrounded by demonic looking shadows. "Go away..." The filly whimpered.

"Begone!!" Luna commanded, her horn lighting up as she prepared to banish the shadows, "You will feed on her fear no longer!"

The shadows hissed at Luna before they morphed together and flew off. Cozy looked up at the princess, wiping away her tears. "Th-Thank you."

Luna grunted indifferently. "Your thanks are irrelevant. This ward will protect you for the night." A blue tinted shield was erected around the filly.

Cozy looked around herself, taking in the sight of the blue dream shield. "Still, thank you...." The filly insisted. "I'm looking forward to finally being able to rest."

Luna once again gave the pegasus and indifferent grunt. "...Hmph. I will teach Twilight this spell for future convenience." Luna said as she turned away.

Cozy said nothing more as the Alicorn of The Night left her dream with a flash. She sighed as she curled up and laid there, letting her mind resume it's rest.

Meanwhile, At the Dormitories:

Ocellus walked towards the dorm of her dragoness friend. She hadn't come out in awhile, and she could probably guess why.

Inside of the room, the lights were off and Smolder was buried in her pillow hoard, little puffs of smoke coming out of it.

"Smolder, you're going to fall behind in our studies if you keep sleeping!" Ocellus warned from outside the dragoness's dorm.

"How can you study at a time like this...?" Smolder groaned, still half asleep.

Ocellus sighed to herself before leaning against the door. "Look, Smolder. You can't just sit in there forever. You need to come out and things with us, or you'll never feel better." The changeling insisted.

Smolder glared at the door. "I'll come out when it's my turn to watch Cozy." She growled a little, but was too tired to do much else.

"Fine, I'll leave, not without saying this: What happened to Cozy wasn't your fault." Ocellus said before she trotted away.

".....Yes it was...." Smolder assured to herself, thinking back to last year, "I should've turned her in...I knew she was doing something..."

Smolder let out a rare show of intense emotion. A single tear trailed down her scaly cheek. If she had just told someone...

She didn't want to believe, she'd denied all the evidence until it was too late. She'd heard the things Cozy said when she thought no one was around. The drawings she found, the things she said, the times she caught her crying to herself. Smolder should have intervened and have been the one Cozy latched onto. But, since she was hesitant, Tirek had gotten in her head.

"....I won't let you down this time Cozy. I swear on the Empress." Smolder swore to herself.

Cozy eventually woke up from her sleep, finally feeling a little more rested. She had no idea how much time had passed. She looked over to the chart to see that after Twilight it was Smolder's turn. She looked towards a clock and saw that it was just after midnight, which meant it was time for a change in schedule. With Twilight being as punctual as she was, she had already left and was most likely getting Smolder right now.

Said dragon came in after a few minutes, holding a bouquet of spider lilies, "H-hi Cozy..." The dragoness said with a small wave.

Cozy sat up, wincing when she agitated her wings. "H-Hey..." She greeted nervously.

"....I got you these." Smolder sat next to the bed, holding out the flowers.

Cozy took the bouquet and hugged it. "Thank you." She said with a small smile. She was....pleased, that Smolder remembered her favorite flower.

"You're welcome..." Smolder blushed a little, but it wasn't very visible.

Cozy's ear flicked when a thought struck her. She still had to tell everyone about what she learned. "Listen...Smolder? I have something important to say." Cozy said as she set the spider lilies in a vase.

"Of course, go ahead." Smolder nodded, scooching closer.

Cozy took a deep breath before looking Smolder dead in the eyes. "I wasn't the only one who had escaped Tartarus. Tirek is gone too. But that's not what's the pressing matter. Sombra is back, and I'm pretty sure he plans to invade any day now."

"Sombra? But didn't he die? I thought Spike killed him or something." Smolder said as she scratched her head in confusion.

"I don't understand it myself, but that's what I saw. There was this mean goat guy that summoned us. Me, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Sombra." Cozy explained. "I think his name was Gronar or something."

"Gronar...? I think I should go get Twilight. She'll be able to make sense of all this."

"Okay...I wanted to tell her yesterday but she insisted that I rested. And I didn't want to make her angry so I listened." Cozy said as Smolder stood up from the chair.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she listens this time." Smolder promised with a grin.

"Thank you." Cozy said, fighting away her own smile.

"Don't mention it!" Smolder said before she ran out if the hospital and flew towards the school.

Cozy leaned back into her bed with a sigh. She turned her head and stared at the spider lilies on the bedside table. No one had ever remembered her favorite...anything, before. She couldn't help but smile. She ran her hoof along one of the petals for a second before she just laid there.

After a few minutes Smolder returned, Twilight in tow, "I found her!"

"Did you tell her?" Cozy asked the dragoness.

"Yeah but she wants to hear it from you." Smolder stood off to the side while Twilight sat down. "Are you absolutely sure about what you saw Cozy?"

Cozy looked at Twilight seriously and nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

"I need you to tell me everything you saw." The Alicorn insisted, looking back just as seriously.

Cozy took a deep breath before she began to recount every thing about the incident. Twilight grew more and more concerned as this went on, a grave look on her face.

"Well...that's everything." Cozy said. "What are you going to do with me now?"

"Nothing. You're going to stay here and rest while I go talk to Celestia and Luna about this."

Cozy sighed and slunk back into her bed. "Okay, fine." She grunted. She'd have to wait until this was all over for her sentence.

"Thank you for telling me about this Cozy. " Twilight told her sincerely, standing up.

"No problem. Just remember that I helped before you make any decisions." She grumbled as she pulled the blanket over head.

"I will, I promise." Twilight left, Smolder sitting down quietly.

Cozy didn't move or say anything. She just laid there, hoping she could fall asleep again.

"...do you need anything?" Smolder asked quietly, sincerely.

"...Sleep." Cozy responded gruffly, shifting in the bed. ".....I can't open up right now."

"Okay. I'll just...read I guess." Smolder went quiet, looking around the room.

After a few minutes of sheer silence, Cozy finally broke. "....I'm sorry."

"Huh? Sorry for what?" Smolder asked, looking up at her.

"....Everything." Cozy whimpered, poking her head above the sheets. "You were so nice to me....and I betrayed you. Like everyone else."

"It's...it's okay. I understand that you weren't in the best place when you...you know." Smolder but a hand on her hoof.

Cozy smiled at little and squeezed Smolder's hand with her hoof. Somehow. "I....appreciate that."
She eventually pulled away again. "Thank you..."

Smolder smiled happily, "No problem." She looked around the room. "...you wanna watch some tv or anything?"

Cozy shook her head. "You go ahead if you want to. I really need to sleep."

"I'll just be quiet then." The dragon sat back in her chair, looking at nothing.

"....I....might be able to sleep better if....I was being held...." Cozy tried, not looking at Smolder so she couldn't see her blush.

Smolder was blushing as well, not that she could see, "O-oh...well...I suppose I could if, if you really need it..."

Cozy tried to fight the blush off. "Y-Yeah...I don't want to have another nightmare. Just....watch the wings."

"Okay, I'll just..." Smolder carefully climbed onto the bed, being mindful of the tubes.

Cozy smiled when she felt Smolder's scaly arms wrap around her. Smolder held her chest to chest, arms under wings, "Y-You comfortable?"

"Yes." Cozy said as she gently snuggled into Smolder. "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem." Smolder was too paralyzed to do anything else, blushed deep orange.

Cozy was finally able to get to sleep, and didn't have any nightmares.

Smolder however, got no sleep. She was filled with embarrassment, not knowing what to do.

Eventually, the warmth of the small pegasus in her arms lulled her to sleep. She vowed right then and there that she would see to it that things worked this time.

Author's Note

It's been so long since I've written for this story that I've forgotten all of my original plans. So instead, my partner and I are coming with all new things to work with.

Thank you to The Lurker (my partner) for co-writing this chapter with me.