". . .And with magic gone from Equestria, I'm not sure even the Tree of Harmony will be as helpful as it once was," said Cozy as she led the students out of the catacombs while the orb of stolen magic sunk lower and lower, nearly disappearing into the ground.
Suddenly, shafts of glowing magic shot out from the swirling orb, bouncing around the room as the Young 6 were ejected from it. A student turned around and noticed, "Look! they're free!"
Gallas called out to Cozy, "Guess our friendship is pretty magical after all."
"Hurry, grab the artifacts!" yelled Ocellus.
They each grabbed an artifact and tried in vain with all their might to break them free.
"It's useless!" said Silverstream.
"Friends must save counselor pony!" cried Yona.
The vortex began to close as the last of the magical orb finished passing through.
"Counselor Starlight!" Yelled Sandbar as he dove in to try and grab her.
Yona grabbed onto Sandbar's tail, pulling him out of the orb, away from the closing vortex, Starlight in tow.
"What are you doing?!" exclaimed Cozy. "Stop!"
Cozy rushed in, dive-bombing Yona, and tackling her to the ground. Yona lost her grip on Sandbar, releasing him to the orb just as the vortex closed with Sandbar halfway through. The students gasped in shock and horror at what they had witnessed. The room fell silent as everypony was too stunned to even move.
Ocellus and Gallus rushed to Sandbar to try and dig him out, but there was only dirt. A flood of tears rushed down Silverstream's face, "What did you do?"
Cozy got up, looking back at what was left of Sandbar, taking the defensive. "I... Golly. I tried to help! I told him to stop, and I was trying to help pull him out!" She hovered over the remane 5, "If you hadn't gone snooping around, this never would have happened!" She turned to the student body, those who remained in the cave. "See? This is what happens when you're not a pony, and you try to take all the magic away from us!"
"That's not what happened!" yelled a student.
"We saw the whole thing!" yelled another.
"You're not a friend, you're a monster!" yelled yet another! "Let's get out of here! We need an adult!" The student body began to scatter and scramble in panic as they all looked for a way out of the catacombs.
"Where are you going? Stop!" demanded Cozy, but nopony was listening.
"Get her!" yelled Gallus, as he gave chase to Cozy. She deftly dodged him and flew down, losing him in the panicking crowd. Gallas and Silverstream hovered over the room, frantically looking around.
"Where did she go?" asked Silverstream.
"I don't see her!" answered Gallus.
"Oh, where's Professor Twilight when we need her?" cried Ocellus as she gently stroked Sandbar's lifeless tail.
Meanwhile, in another realm:
Starlight woke up in a daze, stars spinning around her head as rogue magic arced around her into the air swirling into a storm cloud above her. She looked around, trying to make sense of her surroundings, but saw nothing familiar. "Where am I?" she asked out loud. "Sandbar? Are you ok?" Sandbar was nowhere to be found.
A hum in the distance grabbed Starlight's attention. She looked up to see a pair of lights rapidly approaching. Starlight squinted into the distance to try and figure out what it was. As it approached, the humming grew louder and louder. It was not slowing down!
Instinctively, Starlight put up a magical forcefield in front of her just in time to deflect it with a loud crash of shattering glass and crumpling metal. "This... This isn't Equestria!" realized Starlight.
The storm cloud above her had spread out into the far reaches of the horizon before beginning to dissipate. Starlight looked around once more, "This is Sunset's world." She looked down at herself to examine her form. "Oh boy..."
* * *
Neighsay stood in the throne room before the royal sisters. "Cozy Glow, your highness. Magic disappearing, an uprising at the School of Friendship, she is behind all of it."
The castle was alive with movement, more heavily guarded than usual. Patrols regularly roamed the halls while ponies stood at guard, two each at every door. "Very well," said Celestia. "You may bring her in, now."
"But, I..." Neighsay stammered. "I don't have her."
"You've failed to apprehend her?" asked Celestia.
"No, I--"
Luna chimed in, "Let me get this straight. A student of the School of Friendship, a foal, has stolen all the magic in Equestria, singlehoofidly staged an uprising and outwitted numerous grown adults. Is that correct?"
"Well, yes."
Celestia continued on Luna's lead. "You then left a school, full of foals with no adult supervision in the hands of this, Cozy Glow, correct?"
"Well at least I didn't lower the sun on the last day of magic with no power to raise it up again." With that, Neighsay broke into a sweat, realizing what he had just said to the high ruler of all the land.
Both Celestia and Luna stood tall, fluffing up their wings, looming down over Neighsay.
* * *
The catacombs were bustling with activity as the chaos of prolifically panicking students had begun to precautiously settle into precarious packs of unicorns, earth and pegasus ponies. "What are we going to do?" yelled out a student.
"Where did Starlight go?" asked another.
"Is somepony coming to save us?" The crowd was full of unanswerable questions.
Gallus flew high, addressing the crowds. "Ponies listen! We need to stand together. It doesn't matter what you are, or where you're from. Here you, we, are all the same. We are students, we are friends."
Silverstream flew up to join Gallus. "He's right. Together we will be strong! Let's help each other and we will get through this!"
The tension in the room began to relax as ponies began to more calmly talk to each other as the segregated races began to mix.
"She's right!" chimed Yona.
"...Sandbar," cried Ocellus, still stroking his tail.
Gallus continued to address the room. "Now, did anypony see where Cozy went?"
The ponies in the crowd looked to each other as they discussed what they remembered seeing in the chaos of it all. "I saw her leave!" said one student. "She was headed in the direction of Twilight's castle!"
"Then there's no time to waste! She will have the answers, let's go!" said Gallus, leading the charge.
The ground rumbled as the crowd flowed and stampeded through the halls and out of the doors. They made their way through town. Townsponies roamed the streets dodging and diving out of the way as the students rushed past. "What's going on?" asked a pony.
"We're going to get Cozy Glow! She's behind all of this! Come on. We need every pony we can get. Bring torches and pitchforks if you have them!"
* * *
"Students, go home!" demanded Principal Celestia as she stood at the front doors of Canterlot High. "It's not even school hours."
The campus lawn was littered with students carrying on their own conversations and marveling at the unnatural cloud formations in the sky. Sunset Shimmer and the gang were hanging out at the base of the statue that housed the portal to Equestria. "Something's not right. There's never this much Equestrian magic in one place, not even in Equestria," she said as she sat on one side of the monument, leaning against it with her journal in her lap.
"Have you tried writing to Princess Twilight about it yet?" asked Twilight.
"I've written to her, but she still hasn't answered. Maybe something happened in her world and it's affecting our world. I don't know if my messages are even getting through."
"Psst. Sunset!" a hidden voice faintly called out.
Sunset looked up, "did you hear that?"
"Sunset, over here!" the voice called out again.
Sunset looked around, "I think it's coming from over there. I'll be back," she said as she got up to investigate. She made her way to a nearby area of the lawn, to some bushes. "Hello? Is someone there?"
"Over here!" said Starlight, as she stepped out into a small clearing, away from the rest of the student activity.
"Starlight Glimmer?" asked Sunset.
"I need your help. You won't believe what's been going on in Equestria the last few days."
"You're a... pony. Here. How can this be?"
"Actually, you might be the only one that would believe what's going on."
"Pinkie might. Where is Princess Twilight? How are you still a pony? Where is all this magic coming from?"
"I didn't come through the portal, so I didn’t transform. Listen, we need to go somewhere safe, I can explain everything."
"I'll get the others. Just, stay low."
* * *
Cozy grunted as she pushed castle furniture around, blocking the doors and windows. "Stupid ungrateful students. I did all this hard work. They'll all learn, or they'll all burn!"
The pounding on the front door began. Sounds of a growing mob of unhappy ponies could be heard on the other side. Cozy continued moving everything she could to block the way in. "That should do it," said Cozy as she looked around. There was nothing else that she could move. "Now to address my subjects."
Cozy headed to the upstairs balcony. Looking over, she was taken by surprise at the number of ponies that had gathered around the castle. Not just students, but nearly all of Ponyville had shown up. Torch fires danced among a sea of pointy tines.
"Ponies hear me!" addressed Cozy. "Tonight is the dawn of a new day!"
"What in Tartarus are you talking about?" yelled out an angry pony.
"I, Empress Cozy Glow, have chosen to take on the heavy burden of being your new leader in these new, dark, and uncertain times."
The ponies murmured to each other, "Is she crazy?"
"Who is she anyway?"
"Why are we listening to a foal?"
Another pony shouted out, "We want Princess Twilight!"
"Yeah, where's Princess Twilight?" joined another pony.
"Princess Twilight would know what to do!"
"Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!" the crowd began to chant.
Cozy angrily shouted back, "Ugh! Enough about the stupid princess of friendship!"
The crowd gasped in horror at Cozy's unthinkable words.
Gallus and Smolder flew up to the balcony. Cozy frantically turned to run, but Smolder blocked the exit with fire as Gallus swooped in and pinned Cozy to the ground. "You're gonna pay for what you did to Sandbar!"
Cozy kicked Gallus off of her, "He did it to himself! He knew what he was doing." She tried to make a break for it into the sky, but Smolder spat a stream of fire, singing Cozy's wing feathers, sending a flaming pink filly down into the crowd below, nearly impaling herself on a raised pitchfork. The crowd gathered around her, blocking all exits.
"You're not going anywhere!" said Smolder as she and Gallus glided down to meet her.
* * *
Sunset opened the door to the band practice room and turned the lights on as she entered. "Ok, nobody should bother us in here. Make yourself comfortable."
Starlight entered, followed by Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight.
"She's so cute!" said Fluttershy, stroking Starlight's mane.
"Absolutely!" said Pinkie as she booped Starlight on her nose.
"Girls, we DO have ponies in this world too, you know," said Applejack.
"But this one's got a horn!" said Rainbow.
"And none of them are like this one here," said Twilight, already beginning to take measurements and readings with her pocket portable lab equipment.
"Her name is Starlight, and she's a person too. I mean a Pony too. Like me," said Sunset as she shooed her friends away from Starlight. "Give her some space now."
Starlight rolled her eyes. "OK, so for the last three-"
"She talks too!" squeaked Fluttershy in sheer delight.
Sunset covered her face with her palm, "Oh my gosh, this isn't happening."
Pinkie pie poked at Starlight, before turning to Sunset, "Yes it is. She's right here!"
Starlight's horn furiously lit up as she whipped her head around, "OK, all of you, sit over there!" she said, flinging the friends around the room and each into a chair. Only Sunset was left standing next to her, nodding approvingly.
Starlight continued, "Like I was saying, for the last three days, magic has disappeared from all of Equestria, and it looks like it was all sent here, to your world."
“So that explains this crazy weather we've been having," said Applejack.
"And the magical lightning!" said Pinkie.
"That also explains why my readings and measurements have been off the charts today," added Twilight.
"What are we gonna do about it?" asked Rainbow.
"We need to bring it back to Equestria," said Starlight.
Sunset spoke up, "Twilight, your pendant, the one that captured our magic when we first met, do you think you can make another one?"
"I don't know if something that small can contain this much magical energy," replied Twilight. "It wouldn't be safe to even try."
"Well we gotta do somethin'," said Applejack.
"How did that much magic get sent here in the first place?" asked Fluttershy.
"Artifacts from my world were collected and linked together. They acted like a giant magic magnet and pulled all of the magic in before opening some kind of... portal, and sending it here."
"The portal!" said Sunset as she turned to Starlight. "Do you think it still works?"
"Not in Equestria, no,” answered Starlight. “All of the artifacts lost their magic too."
"You still have all of your magic, though. Right?" asked Sunset.
"I think so," replied Starlight. "And I'm still a pony. I don't know how, but I did travel with all of the magic into this world, maybe that had something to do with it."
"Maybe," said Twilight, thoughtfully.
"Remember when I took Twilight's crown?" asked Sunset.
"I was kinda busy, running a village," answered Starlight.
"Right. Well, it kept its magic through the portal to here. Maybe it goes both ways."
"What are you getting at?" asked Rarity.
Sunset gripped the magical geode around her neck in a fist, "We take our magic through the portal, and use it to fire up the artifacts, and pull all the magic back!"
Twilight looked up, "You know, that just might work!"
"It might not be safe," said Starlight, "Not for strangers. Sunset? You should come with me. You were born a pony with Equestrian magic. Everypony else, you should stay here, though. It's too dangerous."
"Agreed," agreed Fluttershy.
"I'm gonna miss this!" said Rainbow, as she removed her stone from her neck.
"Me too," said Applejack as she offered hers to Sunset.
"Is it a good idea to let them touch?" asked Twilight.
"Oh, I have just the thing!" said Rarity as she pulled out a stylish golden glove. "You can put them here!" Rarity began pulling costume gems off of the back of the glove.
"No, I think they'll be fine," said Sunset, as she went around collecting all of the stones.
* * *
Cozy rattled the bars of her kennel in the corner of the throne room of Twilight’s castle. "This isn't fair! I am your Empress of friendship!" she yelled out.
"Give it a rest, Cozy!” said Trixie. “With all the real magic gone, I am now the absolute most greatest, and most powerfulest pony ever!"
"Give it a rest, Trixie!” said Mayor Mare. “Go out and let us know when Sunburst and Starswirl get here." She paced around the map table. "And you, Cozy, we've heard enough from you now hush! If you can't tell us how to fix this, just sit in your corner and be quiet, please." She turned to face the map table, looking at the artifacts strewn about on top of it. "This sort of problem is beyond me. We never had problems like this before Twilight came around. I couldn't even wrap up winter, let alone fix Ponyville, fix Equestria. I'm not even a unicorn."
"If we don't get magic back, professor ponies will be stuck in Tartarus forever!" said Yona. "Let's go. Yona will smash the doors down."
"It doesn't work that way," said Gallus, rolling his eyes. "The doors are a magical gateway. If they're not opened with the right spell, there's only mountain and rock on the other side."
"They're technically artifacts too," said ocellus. "They're just as dead as every other artifact now, even these ones," she said motioning to the artifacts on the table. "Tartarus is completely sealed off, now."
"Magic grows back though, doesn't it?" asked Yona.
"Oh, I didn't think about that," said Cozy.
"Cozy!" said Mayor, "You are not part of this conversation."
"It's true," said Ocellus. "Magic is like love. We used to feed off of our prisoners daily until they died from food starvation themselves."
"Woah, that's pretty dark," said Gallus.
"We don't do it anymore," replied Ocellus, casually.
"So we wait for ponies to heal," said Yona.
"That much magic could take a lifetime!" said Smolder.
"And it still doesn't help with restoring the artifacts," said Ocellus.
Trixie burst through the doors to the throne room with a cloud of smoke. "Behold! They're here!"
Mayor turned around, "Sunburst and Starswirl?"
"No, us," said Starlight as she entered with pony Sunset.
Sunset noticed Cozy Glow in a small cage in the corner. "What is this? We are not animals!" she said, addressing every creature in the room. "No pony deserves to be treated like this!" She ran up to the cage, undoing the lock with her magic and slowly opened the door.
Cozy cowered in the corner like a scared puppy, ears pinned back. “Who are you? Get away from me! I’ll bite you!”
"There, there," said Sunset, softly as she reached in to take Cozy's hoof. "It's ok. We're not going to hurt you."
Cozy resisted, pushing Sunset’s hoof away before scurrying to the other corner of the cage in efforts to avoid Sunset.
Sunset reached further in, “Hey, it’s ok! Trust me.”
"No, wait!" said Mayor.
Sunset made contact with Cozy and was stunned by a flood of visions of Cozy's memories pouring through her mind. Tears began to run down her face. "Oh, Cozy. I'm so sorry." She reached in and scooped Cozy up into her arms holding her ever so tightly. Cozy tried to fight it, but Sunset just held on tighter and tighter. "It's not your fault. You deserve so much more than what this world has given you, Cozy." Trying to ignore Sunset, Cozy struggled and struggled to break free.
"Um, what's happening?" asked Yona.
"She can see her memories," said Starlight.
"She has her magic?" asked Smolder.
"We both do," answered Starlight. "I was able to fire up the portal on Sunset's side. That's how we were able to come back."
"That's wonderful!" said Mayor.
"Not only that, but we brought with us these," said Starlight, holding up the necklaces. "They're like mini elements of harmony. How is the tree, by the way?"
"We haven't checked, but I don't think it'll be very good at all," said Ocellus.
"What about Sandbar? He wasn't with me when I came through on the other side," asked Starlight. The student 5 looked down in sorrow. “...What?”
"The vortex," said Silverstream struggling to get the words out. “It…” She couldn’t continue. To do so would be to acknowledge the tragedy for what it was.
"It closed on him," said Gallus, resting a comforting claw on Silverstream’s back. She turned to silently cry on his shoulder.
Sunset tightly held on to Cozy. "I know," she said. "It's not your fault," she whispered softly to Cozy.
Cozy continued to struggle in Sunset's grasp, slowly weakening as Sunset continuously reassured her.
"Cozy, you deserve more than friendship. You deserve the love you never had. The love that nopony gave you," continued Sunset.
Cozy’s eyes closed tightly.
"Sunset?" asked Starlight, concerned.
Sunset gave a small glance to Starlight before nuzzling back up to Cozy in her grasp.
Cozy hesitantly stopped pushing and instead wrapped her forelegs around Sunset as she began to sob uncontrollably, crying muffled into her neck and chest.
"Oh Cozy," comforted Sunset, rubbing Cozy's back, careful of her singed wings. "It's ok. You can cry. You need to. You should have been allowed to all those times. It doesn't make you a bad pony. It doesn't make you a weak pony. Don't be ashamed." Sunset gently rocked Cozy in an attempt to soothe her.
The others looked on uncomfortably.
Seeing a change, Starlight walked up to Sunset and Cozy, putting a hoof on Cozy's shoulder. "It's ok." she assured her. "We've all made mistakes. Just as my village forgave me, I can forgive you too."
"She pushed you into that vortex orb thing!" said gallus.
"I know," said Starlight, not taking her eyes or hoof off of Cozy.
"She killed Sandbar!" said Ocellus. Having heard her, Cozy began to cry even harder.
"We don't know that for sure," said Starlight.
"There's only half of him left in the catacombs," smirked Trixie. "Some might say it's his better half."
"Oh my sweet Celestia, Trixie. Would you please, buck, off!" shouted Mayor.
"Hmph!" said Trixie in a pout before throwing down a ball, and escaping in the resulting cloud of smoke.
"Shh, it's ok. Everything will be ok," said Sunset, gently soothing and rocking Cozy as she began to settle.
"Come on," tugged Starlight. Let's take her up to my room. She can use my bed.
Sunset followed Starlight out of the throne room, carrying Cozy with her. "You'll feel better after you get some rest. I promise."
"Um, what just happened?" asked Gallus.
"The magic of friendship!" exclaimed Yona.
"Ponies are the strangest people!" said Silverstream.
"But Sandbar..." said Ocellus.
"We can't worry about him right now," said Smolder.
"That's right. We need to take care of Equestria first," said Mayor.
"Indeed," said Starswirl, as he entered the throne room, followed by Sunburst.
"A foal did all this?" asked Sunburst.
"A Cozy foal," said Mayor.
"Glow" corrected Yona.
Mayor corrected herself, "Cozy Glow."
"In hindsight, it may not have been wise to store the artifacts all in a single location," said Starswirl.
"I'll say," said Sunburst.
"Where is Cozy now?" asked Starswirl.
"Sunset and Starlight are putting her to bed. We've... had a breakthrough."
"Wait, Starlight’s back? I heard she disappeared with all of the magic," asked Sunburst.
"She used a portal on the other side," said Ocellus.
"She did! Counselor pony brought new elements of harmony with her, too!" exclaimed Yona.
"Interesting," said Starswirl as he stroked his beard.
"Sunburst!" said Starlight as she entered the room, running up to and greeting Sunburst with a hug.
"Starlight! I was so worried when I heard. I thought you were gone forever!" said Sunburst.
"It'll take more than that to write me out of a story!" winked Starlight.
"Yes, well," said Starswirl. "We are told you brought back elements from the other world?"
"Right here," said Starlight, holding up the necklaces.
"They each belonged to the Twilight and her friends of that world," said Sunset. "Each giving them similar abilities to the ponies of this world."
"Then it would follow that they should also work for Twilight and her friends here," said Starswirl. "Is it true that you still possess your magic now?"
"We both do," answered Sunset.
"Then follow me to the library. There is much for me to teach you, young one."
"Teach what?" asked Starlight.
"To open Tartarus, of course," said Starswirl.
* * *
Rainbow Dash slammed into the oversized doors with all her might, falling to the ground in a daze. "For the last time, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight. "That's not going to work!"
"You might as well make yourselves comfortable," said Tirek. "You 6 are going to be here for a very, very long time."
Spike crossed his arms in a huff, "He's doing it on purpose, isn't he?"
"What are we going to do, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.
"I don't think there's anything that we can do," said Twilight. "There's literally no magic left anywhere."
"I'll try to smash the doors again!" said Rainbow.
"Rainbow, darling, you've already knocked all of the sense out of your head. You're going to lose what little brains you have left rattling around in there! Come down now and save your energy," said Rarity.
"Oh come now. Things were just beginning to get entertaining!" said Tirek.
"There's just got to be another way out of here, Twilight," said Applejack.
"Yeah, like a super-secret passageway that says 'do not enter, or exit, because it is definitely not another way in or out of here' but it really is and we just have to find it!" said Pinkie.
"I don't think so," said Twilight, sadly.
"Well how did Tirek get out?" asked Pinkie.
"That's a very good question," said Tirek. "The better question might be, 'how did Cerberus get out?'" he continued. "I'll never tell!"
"Well, we're not gonna find the way just sitting around, saving our energy. Let's split up and search!" said Rainbow, flying back into the air.
* * *
Starswirl led Sunset and Starlight down the long, empty corridors of the castle. "She's been through a lot; more than you know," said Sunset.
"I trust you, of course," said Starlight. "But she's dangerous. Do you really think it's ok to just leave her? What if she tries to escape?"
"We both cast spells to lock the window and the door, and she knows to stay put until we come back. It's better than keeping her in a cage. You and I both know first han- first hoof, a little bit of kindness can go a long way," said Sunset.
"As do I, now," added Starswirl.
"I've seen what she's been through, what she needs, locking her in a cage will only make her worse."
"Let's hope you can convince everypony else that. The whole world is going to be mad at her," said Starlight.
"There is still hope for young Cozy Glow yet," said Starswirl. "If Stygian can be saved, then it is my belief that anypony can be saved."
* * *
"Nothing over here! Just more rock and pits. How far down do you think they go?" asked Rainbow.
"Forever," said Applejack.
"Oh my. Please don't fall in one," said Fluttershy.
"Relax! I've got wings, remember?"
"She's right," said Twilight. "In the pits, the air changes, and wings don't work. I'd stay away from them if I were you, Rainbow."
"Ooh! A dark spooky tunnel, with cages and bones and cages of bones!" said Pinkie.
"That's the hall of the un-dead," said Twilight.
"Without magic, I think they're just dead-dead," replied Pinkie.
"That's so sad!" said Fluttershy. "Poor creatures."
"This place just seems to go on and on forever!" said Rarity.
"It's supposed to. We're in a whole other realm here," said Twilight.
"Well now you tell us!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "We've been searching for hours trying to find the back door when there isn't even a back!"
"I thought it was kinda obvious," said Applejack.
"Screw this! I'm gonna go try the doors again!" said Dash as she flew off.
Twilight sighed, "Come on, girls. We better not get too separated, or worse, leave Dash alone down here."
"Goodbye, dead ponies!" said Pinkie as she joined the others on their way to the grand entrance.
* * *
"Oof!" said Rainbow, slamming into the doors again. "That door's really stubborn!"
"You're really stubborn! You've been at it for hours!" said Applejack.
"Am not! I'll show you just how stubborn that door is!" replied Dash, rearing to attack it yet again.
"Maybe you're too rough and need to be nice to the door instead," suggested Fluttershy.
"Yeah! Have you tried talking to it?" asked Pinkie.
"Oh please. Like that would ever work," said Dash, backing off and gesturing for Pinkie to approach the door.
Pinkie stood before the doors. "Oh grand, all sealing doors. How strong you must be to keep a place like this closed, always working, standing tall, handsome." She approached and massaged the door tenderly. "Maybe you could open just once, for me?"
"See? What'd I tell ya?" gloated Rainbow.
"Wait for it..." said Pinkie.
They all waited for several minutes.
"See? What'd I tell ya?" repeated Rainbow.
"Hmm. I really thought that--"
The doors began to creak as the dust stirred and fell from them. The sound bounced around the cavernous space while a narrow, nearly blinding beam of light split the gap down the center of the enormous structure before them.
"Oh, there it goes!" chimed Pinkie, happily. She continued to massage the doors as it slowly gave way to the Equestrian light as it shone in through the ever-widening gap. "Just relax, take it slow. Such a big boy!"
"Pinkie, you're creeping me out," said Twilight.
"Oh, don't you worry about it. I'm a pro at this!" said Pinkie.
"I wonder how..." said Rarity.
All 6 ponies and Spike stood back, bathed in daylight, squinting as their eyes adjusted, focusing on three silhouettes standing on the other side.
"Starswirl? Is that you?" asked Twilight. "Did you find a way to restore magic to Equestria?"
"It was not I who opened the door," said Starswirl.
"It was me! Don't you remember?" cheered Pinkie.
"No, actually, it was us," said Starlight.
"Starlight? Sunset?!?" asked Twilight, confused and amazed. "What are *you* doing here?"
"It's a long story," said Sunset.
"Yeah. Would you mind stepping out of Tartarus now? It *is* taking a lot of magic to hold these doors open for you all." grunted Starlight.
“Oh, right!" said Twilight.
Everypony quickly shuffled their way to Equestria as the doors slammed behind them.
"Thank doors! Call me sometime?" said Pinkie, with a wink.
They worked their way up the trail.
"Please tell us you have some good news, and that you have a plan to fix everything," said Twilight.
"We're working on it," said Sunset.
"What about Cozy Glow? Tirek said she was behind the whole thing!" asked Twilight.
"Yeah, about her," said Sunset. "I'll tell you all about that on our way back to your castle."
* * *
"I hope Sunset comes back soon!" exclaimed Twilight as they all stood around outside, behind the school.
"You said it!" said Applejack. "All this Equestrian magic is gettin' into everythin'."
"Calm down, it's ok," said Fluttershy as she gathered up some small animals under a park table.
The sky was overcast with dark clouds that rumbled as colorful streaks of lightning jumped through them. People ran through the park looking for shelter while others stood in awe at the spectacle in the sky. Periodically, a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning would strike near the ground, setting off car alarms with a defining clap of thunder.
"I think we should all head indoors," urged Fluttershy.
"Oh, I don't think it's that bad. It's like a light show for a city-sized party!" said Pinkie Pie.
"Yeah, this isn't anything to be scared of!" said Rainbow Dash. Just then, a larger than usual bolt of magical lightning struck particularly close, startling everyone. ". . .On second thought," said Rainbow as she reconsidered.
"I would love to be somewhere inside before it starts to rain and ruin my hair and makeup!" said Rarity.
Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash headed inside.
"Come on! Twilight! I'm not cleaning up what's left of you when you get hit by one of those things!" said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight looked up worriedly in the sky, speaking softly, "Sunset, where are you?" before turning and following the others.
* * *
"You know first-hoof how rough things are outside the boundaries of Equestria, Twilight," said Sunset. "Coming from all the way out there to Ponyville, all alone, was no easy task for Cozy."
The troupe traveled down a path reaching a fork. Everypony was headed down one way while Twilight had chosen the other.
"Um, Twilight?" asked Applejack. "Your castle's this way."
"I know," said Twilight. "Fixing Equestria can wait. There is something more important that we need to do first," she sternly said to the others.
* * *
Twilight stood near the center of the catacombs beneath the school. It was now empty of ponies, quiet and cold. Melted candles, flowers and hoof-written letters from a number of students were placed in the center of the room around Sandbar's remains. The area had since been closed off and all the students sent home indefinitely. The rest of the gang slowly approached the makeshift memorial, standing near Twilight, who just stood in silence, unmoving, focused on what lay before her.
Starlight put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder to comfort her. Twilight drew in a shakey, deep breath before gently leaning into Starlight, not breaking her gaze at the memorial. The others gathered around Twilight, each putting a hoof on her shoulder, back, wing... Not a word was spoken, only sniffles were heard.
Twilight stood as strong as she could, for as long as she could, her vision obscured by the wall of tears gathered in her eyes. A single blink sent them all flooding down her cheeks, wetting the ground. She silently lowered her head.
Time seemed to stand still. Everypony afraid to move, or make a sound, carefully watching for a cue, anything from Twilight, but she just kept her head down as the tears rolled down her face. Twilight slowly closed her eyes, and with little breath, quietly uttered the only thing spoken in what seemed like an eternity:
"Sandbar."
* * *
The group was finally back at Twilight’s castle, standing around the map table.
"Mueller's Whistle?" asked Sunset.
"I think I remember reading about that in 'Astonishingly Ancient Artifacts: Bells, Whistles and Conduits'," said Twilight.
"Indeed," said Starswirl, holding the artifact. He passed it on around the table as everypony curiously examined it.
"It's supposed to absorb the magic from anything non-living and store it,” said Twilight. “You can then put the magical energy back where it came from, or put it into another artifact, or even object." She was beginning to sound excited.
Yes, as long as it too is non-living," added Starswirl, unrolling a scroll, as he presented it to Starlight. "This is the spell that activates it. Unlike most other artifacts that only contain and emit magic, the whistle relies on the magic of its user to work. You must use it to transfer the power from the stones of Sunset's world into the artifacts here, thus we may attempt to bring the magic of this world back and restore harmony to both our worlds."
Starlight took the scroll and studied it while the whistle made its way around the table to her. "Seems easy enough." The artifacts were placed together on the map table. "Ok. Is everypony ready?" She asked.
"I am," said Twilight.
"Me too," said Sunset.
"Please proceed," said Starswirl.
"You should be careful to avoid including the table in the transfer of power," said Sunburst, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
The others waited patiently in the library.
"Will do," said Starlight. She nervously put the whistle up to her lips and blew into it as her horn lit up, causing an ominous mid, earthy tone to sound. It was unnaturally loud, filling the castle as it reverberated throughout the halls. The stones glowed softly as a stream of magical energy flowed from them, each their own color, into the whistle. As Starlight ran out of breath, so did the stones their power, and the glowing faded. Starlight lowered the whistle, licking her lips and spitting profusely. "I probably should have wiped that off first."
Sunset collected the stones into a small pouch. "OK, now to power up the artifacts."
The whistle once again was heard throughout the castle, this time in a slightly higher pitch as the artifacts lit up and saturated in color. Twilight, Sunset, and Sunburst watched in awe and excitement while Starswirl quietly observed, unmoved. Once again, the castle grew quiet.
"It is done," said Starswirl.
"Now how do we work these things?" asked Sunset.
Starswirl stroked his beard. "A very good question indeed."
Twilight was shocked at her idol's lack of a better answer. Everypony stood in silence for several moments, staring at the artifacts. "Does anypony know?" asked Sunburst.
"I know one pony that knows..." said Sunset.
They looked at each other. "Can we trust her? asked Sunburst.
"If we don't, nopony will," replied Sunset. "I'll go get her," she said, before turning and leaving briskly.
...
"Golly!" said Cozy. "I just did what Tirek told me to." She carefully arranged the artifacts around the table. "They go like this, I think."
"OK, and then what?" encouraged Sunset.
"Um, you then have to connect them, like this," continued Cozy as she drew elaborate chalk lines from one artifact to another, "There. All done!"
"...Nothing's, happening," said Sunburst.
"It takes a minute," said Cozy, holding her hoof over one of the artifacts. "There! Do you feel that?"
They each held their hooves over an artifact.
"It's warm!" said Sunset.
"Quite," said Starswirl.
Twilight just looked to Cozy, unsure of what to say. They each watched and waited for several minutes. The space in the center of the table began to light up as an orb formed above it. Magic began to arc into it from the artifacts.
"It's working!" exclaimed Cozy. "But, it was bigger last time."
"The stones were only able to provide a fraction of the power the artifacts once had," commented Starswirl. "Still, what was available should suffice. They should soon begin to thrive off of the power they absorb."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Twilight.
"Mostly," said Starswirl.
The orb grew to medium size, hovering above the table.
Sunset felt faint, leaning onto Starlight. "Something isn't right. I don't feel so good."
"What do you--" started Starlight, before nearly collapsing onto the floor herself.
Sunburst and Twilight looked around in a panic before realizing and simultaneously exclaiming "The artifacts! The orb, It's taking the only magic in this world again!"
"No! This is our last chance!" uttered Sunset before passing out onto the floor.
The orb began to lower into the table as a vortex spread across its surface.
Starlight stumbled towards the table, reaching for an artifact with the intent to pull it from the connection.
"No! Stop! You'll ruin everything!!" yelled out Cozy as she flew over giving Starlight a hard shove.
Starlight fell onto the table, the orb reaching out and taking hold and pulling her in, but Starlight gripped the table with all her might. The orb lowered into the table as the vortex began to close.
"Let go!" screamed Cozy as she pounded on Starlight's hooves at the edge of the table.
"Cozy!" exclaimed Twilight, as she rushed in to grab her.
Starlight lost her grip, falling completely into the orb as it finished its descent, vortex quickly closing after her.
Twilight grabbed Cozy, shaking her vigorously. "Cozy Glow, why? I thought you changed."
Starswirl just lowered his head, shaking it lightly.
"Starlight..." said Sunburst. "That's it. We have no magic left. It's game over. Now, what are we supposed to do?"
Still gripping tightly to Cozy, Twilight scolded her, "First all of our magic, Sandbar, now Starlight. You've doomed us all, Cozy Glow!"
"Twilight..." said Sunset, as she struggled back to her hooves.
Cozy just looked back at Twilight in silence. She knew there was nothing she could say that Twilight wanted to hear or listen to from her.
"Cozy, I wanted to believe," started Twilight as she carried her to the corner. "I thought that if I could show you love, and tolerance, kindness, generosity, in spite of all you've done to us, there would be hope for you yet."
Cozy was roughly shoved into the small cage she found herself in earlier.
"Twilight, no..." said Sunset.
Twilight continued, "But you are simply unforgivable. No matter how hard I try, I cannot reach you. May Celestia have mercy on you, Cozy. It's the best I can do for you now." She turned and walked away, out of the throne room with tears in her eyes.
"Twilight, wait!" said Sunburst, turning to go after her.
"Let her go," said Starswirl.
"Cozy, I'm so sorry," said Sunset.
Cozy turned to face the corner and sat motionless, head down, and quiet.
* * *
Starlight woke up in a daze, stars spinning around her head as a tiny bit of rogue magic sparked around her into the air, fizzling up into the clouds joining the rest of the magical phenomenon that covered the sky. "Wh- what happened?" She asked out loud, looking around. "Here again?" She looked down at herself to examine her form. "Yep..." Starlight once again headed towards the school.
* * *
"I sure hope Sunset comes back soon," said Fluttershy.
"Me too,” said Applejack. “She better have some good news at that."
"I don't know how much more of all this magic our world can take," said Twilight.
Pinkie sat at the window, looking out into the courtyard with boredom. "I don't know how much more of sitting tight I can take," she said.
"And you're sure there is nothing we can do?" asked Rarity.
"Just wait, and watch the portal," said Twilight.
"I'm watching, I'm watching," said Pinkie, unenthusiastically. "Hey, there's Starlight!" she exclaimed, perking up.
"Through the portal? Is Sunset with her?" asked Twilight, rushing to the window to see.
"No, from down the street!" said Pinkie. "That pony sure can gallop!"
Twilight and the gang rushed outside to meet Starlight in the front of the school.
"Starlight, what happened?" asked Twilight.
"We tried to use the artifacts, just like they were used last time," answered Starlight.
"Yeah, and?" asked Rainbow.
"They worked. Just like last time, taking Sunset's magic. I fell into the orb again, that Cozy Glow. She..." Sunset paused as she slowly realized. "She must have seen what was happening, and pushed me in, so there would still be one last hope. That must be it!"
"Oh my," said Fluttershy.
"That Cozy must be one caring individual," said Twilight.
"She sure is something," said Starlight.
"So what's the plan now?" asked Applejack.
"We use this," said Starlight, holding up the artifact, tied on a string around her neck.
"A whistle? Not the worst fashion accessory I've seen, I suppose," commented Rarity.
"Hopefully it can contain everything," said Starlight.
"Only one way to find out!" said Rainbow Dash.
Starlight looked around, "We need to get high."
"I gotcha!" said Pinkie, reaching into her pockets.
Starlight pointed at a structure attached to the school, "There. The tower. Let's go to the top," she said.
"Oh, that too," said Pinkie, as she pulled out a piece of homemade candy, unwrapping it and eating it. She offered some to the others, but they each declined except for Starlight, who reached out but was halted by Applejack.
"Trust me," said Applejack. "You don't want to."
"Starlight retracted, "...OK."
...
"300,997. 300,998. 300,999. Four hundred thousand!" said Pinkie as they all reached the top of the stairs."
"Pinkie, what in tarnation were you counting?" asked Applejack. "We can't possibly be that high up!"
"The number of licks of candy I've had this week, silly!" answered Pinkie, pulling the stick out of her mouth, giving it a final lick before discarding it. "Four hundred thousand and one!"
The wind at the top of the tower gusted heavily and was cold. "Oh, this is just absolutely horrible for my hair!" said Rarity, trying to keep control of it with her hands.
Starlight walked up to the railing, putting the whistle up to her mouth. "Here goes nothing." She took a deep breath and began to blow as her horn lit up, activating the whistle.
Magic began to flow into the whistle as it started to glow brighter and brighter. The sky grew angry as colorful lightning streaks began to strike all around, starting small fires and blasting craters into the dirt. Starlight was out of breath, but the storm had so much more to offer. She drew in more air and proceeded to have another go at it.
"I think it's working!" yelled out Twilight, barely audible over the noise of the inclement weather.
"I think she's just pissing it off!" yelled out Applejack.
"It's dieing. It's fighting to survive!" replied Twilight.
Small patches of bright blue sky began to appear amidst the low hanging cloud cover. Twilight pointed, "There!"
"I see it!" said Rainbow Dash.
Starlight had trouble standing as she began to grow lightheaded. "Easy there, sugarcube," said Applejack, as she moved to help support Starlight.
Starlight rested for a brief moment. "It's ok. I'm ok. There's just so much of it," she said, taking another deep breath and continuing on.
* * *
The armored carriage gently rocked from side to side as it made its way down the road. It was musty inside, with the only light shining in through a small barred window in the back. Cozy had the bench all to herself while two guard ponies shared the bench directly across from her. The chains weighed down on her, nearly too heavy for her to lift. She sat quietly, staring down at the shackles around her hooves. Loud thumps could be heard and felt on the walls of the carriage as it rolled, from rocks having been thrown by the mob of angry ponies, their combined ravings and insults indistinguishable from one another.
The rocking stopped for a moment before starting up again, the rumble of the cart changing tones and textures as the hateful voices from all around outside faded off. The cart made a final stop. There was a pounding on the back door, followed by a series of rhythmic clickings.
The Door opened revealing a guard pony on the outside. "We are here," he said in a stern, authoritative voice.
Cozy was lad out of the carriage, squinting into the bright light as her eyes adjusted. Her chains dragged heavily along the floor; they were never meant for a foal so small. "Keep moving, prisoner!" prodded a guard.
Cozy winced as she trudged on, being led down a long hallway, into another long hallway. The floor was pristine, save for the trail of scratches and scuffs her chains left. The walls were white, the ceiling vaulted, all carved from stone and well lit by torches that gave off a warm, yellow-tinted light.
* * *
The sky grew clearer and clearer as Starlight worked her magic.
"I think we're going to be ok!" said Twilight. She no longer had to yell so loudly over the noise of the storm.
"I sure do hope so," said Fluttershy.
The winds had begun to die down while lightning stopped reaching the ground and only jumped from cloud to cloud as that too began to die. Starlight paused for another break while the others patted and stroked her coat, offering words of comfort and encouragement. She learned to just accept the fascination of her pony self from that world.
* * *
While relatively short, Cozy endured what seemed like an eternity as her trial went on. Witness after witness was brought in to testify on the recent events. Cozy was surprised at the number of those that spoke on her behalf, but the evidence was damning. Most damning were her letters to Tirek. Twilight had taken them with her out of Tartarus.
"Dear Tirek! Thank you for your oh so helpful advice, the plan is working perfectly, Golly! Love, Cozy Glow" 😀
"Dear Tirek! Twilight and her stupid friends all followed the table again. You were right about Discord, so easy to convince him to fool them all! Love Cozy Glow" 😀
"My Tirek, Just thinking of you! Lots of love! Cozy Glow" 😇
"Tirek, I don't want anypony to get the wrong idea, so I think I will just go on with the plan we came up with. You will have your gift soon! Cozy" 🙂
"Dear Tirek, tomorrow I will do it. I hope you will be so proud of me. Empress Glow." ☺
When the time for Cozy to defend herself came, she did not speak. Sunset was powerless to read or help her.
She was placed in a small cell just big enough for a bed and a water hole she wasn't sure was a place to drink from or a toilet, or maybe both. A single guard stood at attention on the outside of the bars, unmoving. Cozy sat on the bed in silence as the time passed.
* * *
Starlight lowered the whistle, wiping the sweat from her brow. "I think that's it. Or maybe it's full. Starswirl didn't give me a manual with this thing."
The sky was bright and clear. Students roamed the lawn of the campus down below, exploring the damages from the magical storm.
They all headed downstairs and to the portal in front of the school.
"Well, it's been... interesting," said Starlight. "I'd stay, but I'm a pony. That and I need to fix my world." She used the whistle to deliver some power to the portal, restoring it to proper functioning order.
"We'll miss you!" said Pinkie, tieing her arms around Starlight's neck.
Starlight blushed, "Thanks, Pinkie. You're one of two, but I'll miss you, too."
They each exchanged hugs with Starlight, offering their own words of encouragement and thanks.
Starlight approached the portal, looking back once before passing through.
* * *
Books littered every surface of the library in piles ready to come cascading down. Sunburst poured through them tirelessly while Starswirl sat and watched patiently.
"There's got to be something in here somewhere," said Sunburst, closing a book and reaching for another.
"I'm afraid there is nothing new to be gained from an old book. I have seen every page of this collection and more time and again. There is little more that this library nor I can offer on this situation, not with the resources that we are left," said Starswirl.
The door opened as Starlight burst through, "Then how about I bring a better resource? There you guys are! Where is everypony?"
"Starlight! You're alive!!" exclaimed Sunburst. "When you let go of the table, we all feared the worst!"
"It's a good thing I did, or else I might have ended up like Sandbar," said Starlight. "Cozy knew and saved me. I should thank her. Where is she?"
"She's on trial, in Canterlot. Everypony is there. They want justice. It's not looking good, Starlight," said Sunburst.
"Maybe this will help," said Starlight, holding up the whistle.
"The whistle? Does that-"
"Contain all of the world's magic? It does. We can fix everything now," said Starlight.
"One question," continued Sunburst. "How do we get the magic out?"
Starswirl stroked his beard. "You may be able to compromise the structural integrity of the artifact, thus releasing the magic within back into the realm. Having been brought back to the same plane of existence as its original host, the magical energy should have no trouble finding its way back, restoring power and order to things as they once were, in a matter of speaking. You should be careful to--"
"Like this?" asked Starlight, as she held the whistle high into the air, casting it to the crystal floor with great force.
The whistle pinged off of the floor and bounced into the center of the room, spinning to a stop. A blinding light began to emit from a large crack in its side and began to glow brighter and brighter.
The three looked at the whistle, then at each other. Starswirl blinked before uttering a single word: "Run."
They ran down the halls as fast as their pony legs could carry them as the halls lit up in an expanding shower of light almost too bright to make out any detail.
"This way!" said Starlight. She used her magic to open the front doors to the castle as they bolted through.
The three made it just past the threshold of the front doors when a concussive wave hit them from behind, propelling them into the air and away from the castle.
Cracks ran rapidly through the crystalline structure as beams of light leaked out. Wave after wave of hot wind emanated from within with a deafening sound, rumbling for miles. In a final volcanic blast of light and explosions, the castle was reduced to rubble as millions of tiny spheres of magic flowed out from its center, into the sky, spreading out into the land.
Landing some distance away, Sunburst, Starlight, and Starswirl got up, dusting themselves off, and turning to look in awe at the destruction.
"Twilight's gonna be pissed," said Sunburst.
"My, how fun!"
The three turned to see a fourth had joined them, a tub of popcorn in hand.
"Discord?" asked Starlight. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, this was just simply too good to miss. I can't wait to see the look on Twilight's face when she finds out."
"And where have you been this whole time?" asked Sunburst.
"I've been at home, of course. The only space between two organized worlds is chaos, didn't you know?" replied Discord.
"You were stuck there, weren't you?" asked Starlight.
"The truth is, I had a visitor stop by that I just had to entertain. Well, he entertained me. It was very entertaining." Discord chuckled to himself, lightly.
Starswirl levitated discord a few feet away. "It would seem that magic is back, and our work is done here."
"Oh, why so serious all the time?" asked Discord. "How about we visit some dear old friends and see how things are going, now?" asked Discord. He snapped his fingers and the three popped out of sight.
* * *
The four alicorn princesses all sat around a large table. Sunset stood next to Starlight.
"I just don't know what went wrong," said Twilight.
"We may never know," said Celestia.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Twilight," comforted Cadence.
"It would appear that our magic has returned," noticed Luna.
"Indeed," said Celestia. "Regardless, the crimes against ponymanity have been committed. Nothing can change that, nor the trouble that Cozy has gotten into."
"What will happen to her?" asked Sunset.
"That is what we are here to decide," said Celestia.
"She will be powerless to harm anypony else if sent to Tartarus," said Luna.
"No. Not Cozy, she's just a foal," argued Sunset.
"A foal perhaps," said Celestia. "But capable of the unthinkable, nonetheless. While everypony has suffered because of her, two, in particular, have suffered the worst. This simply cannot be excused."
"Excused?" said a disembodied voice. "Are you sure you're not using Cozy as an excuse, Celestia?"
Discord popped into view, bringing Starlight with him.
"Starlight!" exclaimed Twilight, relieved.
"Starlight! you're alive!" followed Sunset. She turned to Celestia, "better make that just one pony who has suffered the worst."
"Where are the others?" asked Twilight.
"I sent them home," answered Discord. "Now, what's this I hear about suffering?"
"Sandbar," said Twilight. "He's dead. Lost to the void. When the vortex closed, and he was," Twilight paused.
"Cut off?" asked Discord, turning his hand into a pair of scissors, making a snipping sound.
Twilight nodded sadly. "Half of him stayed here, in our world."
"I let go of him," said Starlight. "I was hoping he made it back out before it was too late, but I saw it close and he wasn't completely through. That's the last thing I remember before waking up in Sunset's world. He wasn't there when I woke up. I didn’t know where he was."
"That's all very interesting!" said Discord as he rubbed his chin.
Twilight began to grow impatient with Discord. "You could stand to show a little respect, Discord. Sandbar was my student and a good friend. He was kind and always helpful to anycreature that needed it."
"You don't say!" said Discord. "Well, I was never really one for formalities, now. What will you do? Bury his legs? Or perhaps make a rear-end table from him?"
Starlight elbowed Discord in the side, hard.
"Oh, you ponies are no fun. No fun at all."
"This is hardly a laughing matter," said Celestia.
"Chaos may be your domain, Discord," said Luna, "but even you know life is not something to be toyed with or made trivial."
"How could you be so cold?" asked Sunset.
"Am I?" asked Discord, turning blue as icicles began to form on his body. "I hadn't noticed!"
"Enough!" demanded Celestia. "If you have nothing to contribute to the proceedings here, I must ask that you take your leave, immediately!"
Discord shook off the icicles and returned to his natural color. "Oh, but I do have something to contribute."
"This better be good," said Twilight, through gritted teeth.
"My contributions are always good!" replied Discord. "I bring a gift. My newest piece of decoration. To tell you the truth, I grew rather bored with it quite soon after I got it, but you might have a better appreciation for it, Twilight."
"What could you possibly bring that I would appreciate?" asked Twilight.
"Now now, Twilight. You know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth!" said Discord as he wagged his finger at Twilight. "Or should I say, a gift colt in the mouth? Or perhaps, the mouth is better than the end you were stuck with."
"Get to the point, Discord," growled Celestia.
"Very well. To complete your set, you may have this:" Discord snapped his fingers, and a large plaque appeared on the wall, mounted to it was the front half of Sandbar."
"Discord! For the last time, this isn't funny!" exclaimed Sandbar, furiously.
"But you see?" asked Discord. "It gets better every time you say that!"
"Sandbar?" asked Twilight. "But, how?" She turned to Discord.
"Don't you remember what I said? Oh wait, silly me. You weren't there when your castle was destroyed."
"What?!?"
"I was very clear when I informed Starlight here, that in between the boring organization of this world and the next, is my world."
"When I let go of Sandbar,” said Starlight as she began to explain, “He didn't come with me to Sunset's world, he got lost in Discord's chaos realm," added Starlight.
"It's true! I was busy outside, un-watering the grass when I saw the most peculiar of sights floating by. Luckily for Sandbar, I had half a mind to collect the half of him and bring him inside."
"Yeah, yeah. But can somepony get me down from here already?" asked Sandbar.
"Where would the fun be in that?" asked Discord.
"Ok, Discord. I think that's enough, now," said Starlight.
"Oh alright. But he will be much more difficult to dust off if he is loose, running around," said Discord as he snapped his fingers.
Sandbar popped off of the wall and appeared as one piece, standing on the middle of the conference table.
"Strike two from the list of those that suffered," said Sunset.
"I'd like to think I still suffered," said Sandbar, looking himself over, checking all his parts before hopping off of the table.
"Indeed," said Celestia. "But it still doesn't change what Cozy Glow has done to us all, and what would have been had it not been for Starlight and Sunset, here."
"And me!" added Discord.
"But Starlight, Sandbar, they're fine now," said Sunset. "Magic is back where it belongs, no harm, no foul."
"Were it so simple,” said Luna.
“The ponies of Equestria will fail to see it that way,” said Celestia. “They will demand justice. Angor and unrest will cover the land if Cozy Glow is not dealt with accordingly. Even if she were punished, and later freed, it would not be safe for her to walk the streets of Equestria ever again," she continued.
"Punishment for her crimes is not just for Cozy's sake, but for her safety as well," added Luna.
The room went silent. Twilight spoke up, "We must send her away," she said, hesitantly. "She can no longer be a pony among us."
Sunset thought for a moment before speaking up, "Not a pony..."
"What are you thinking?" asked Starlight.
"I know a place where she can have a second chance," replied Sunset. "A place where magic is not a problem, and nobody will have known of her past mistakes. A fresh start. She can attend school, make new friends. I will make sure she is well taken care of, and keep her out of trouble. You have my word. It's what she needs. I know it."
* * *
Twilight and friends were at their usual hangout at the portal monument in front of the school.
"I hope they're alright," said Fluttershy.
"Darling," said Rarity. "If anybody can handle rogue Equestrian magic, it's Sunset."
"Yeah!" said Rainbow Dash. "She's got the home-field advantage over on that side!"
"It's true. I just can't help but to worry, sometimes," said Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy, you worry all of the times," said Applejack.
The portal came to life and Sunset stepped through. "Hi, guys. Did you miss me?" Twilight and her friends all jumped to their feet surrounding Sunset in a big group hug. "Woah! Easy now! I got these for you."
Sunset distributed the necklaces to their rightful owners. "Here you go. And you. This one's yours."
"I feel better already!" said Rainbow Dash, giving her magical stone a kiss.
"Girls? I'd like you to meet someone very special. Please make her feel welcome."
Just then, an adorably short young girl with blue curly hair stepped out of the portal, blinking her rust-colored eyes into the bright new world. She stumbled as she tried to find her footing, not used to walking upright or moving without the aid of pegasus wings. "Golly!"
Author's Note
Hey, thanks for reading! While it's my first fic posted here, it's only my second fic ever written. Please take a second to say something below, I read and appreciate all the comments, complaints and suggestions!
Thanks again,
Golly4Ever
