Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this story!

The Lang of Cozy Glow

* * *

"Your Highness! Cozy said excitedly as she finally entered
the throne room of Canterlot Castle. When she reached the steps leading up to
the princesses ' throne, she tilted her head, stealing a glance up: the princesses clearly
looked tired and exhausted. It was true that the lack
of magic affected Alicorns a lot, Cozy thought.

— We're listening to you… Cozy Glow? she tilted her head questioningly
Celestia. "I think I remember you, Twilight told us about you." What
is it? Is she back from Tartarus?
"That's just it, no..." said Cozy, deliberately sad.
The princesses gasped.

— But... it takes a day to get there and a day back, doesn't it?" They
should have been back by sunset on the third day, right? Luna
asked her sister.

"Yes, unless they were delayed on the way," she said instead.
Cozy — "or -" she cringed, startled.
"Or what?" Celestia said impatiently.

— Or… You know, Your Highness, I've heard… Oh, if only I'd known that before
Twilight and her friends went camping… But I didn't even have contact with
them to warn them! I was just told later that
Chrysalis was seen in the woods on the way to Tartarus…

"Chrysalis?" Celestia almost shouted. "Oh, no, they went on
the second day, when the magic of the creatures living in Equestria was still working, which means
it could…
"Sister, we need to go rescue Twilight and her friends right away!"

— Your Highness, will you both go rescue Twilight?" Oh, I'm so
grateful to you! After all, if not you, then who?..

"Yes, yes, I understand, Cozy Glow," Celestia said, raising a hoof. I promise
we'll get Twilight back. It means a lot to us and to Equestria, so...
Luna, have the most trained Earth pony soldiers gathered, and we
'll probably have to fight Chrysalis and anyone else who might have joined her
without magic - and it's going to be a very tough battle. We're performing tonight.
Thanks for the information, Cozy. We are very grateful to you.
— I am also very grateful to you, Your Highness! - with a big smile,
Cozy bowed once more to the princesses.
* * *

• The changelings are coming! Cozy Glow gasped. She could barely breathe —
  after all, she had never had to gallop so far to
  get here, to a small village on the northern slope
  of the Foal Mountains range, which she had to warn of impending trouble.

"Really?" "What is it?" asked the headman, a grizzled stallion who had obviously lived here
since before Cosey's parents had even thought of her.

"Very, very true," Cozy blurted out. "Princess Celestia herself
sent me here to warn you —" she waved
the rolled-up scroll with the Canterlot seal in front of the prefect, immediately putting it back in
her saddlebag. — They're coming from the direction of Canterlot, and given
that they won't even need to cross the mountains — they'll just pass
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through a tunnel half a mile south of here, they'll be here in a
few hours!

"Oh, no! What should we do? A mare in
the crowd of gathered villagers shouted in panic.

— You must leave your houses for a while and hide somewhere, or they
will arrange things here that none of you will envy!".. Cozy suggested.

"But where do we go?" Another of the local mares interrupted,
not panicking like the first one, but looking calmly, even defiantly, at the
messenger. "There's no way down — there's fields and meadows, and the changelings will find us
right away. Up — we'll all freeze in the mountains. Why can't Celestia, if
she already knows that, just let her go?…

"There's a magical crisis in Equestria, and the princess barely had time to send me
to warn you, let alone counteract
the changelings."…

— This is… But I thought I heard that the changelings are peaceful now
, or something... " one of the young stallions in the crowd suddenly asked.

"Yeah?" Cozy asked. "True, we've had some such rumors, but
I can assure you," Cozy shook her head, " if there are any changelings that are
peaceful, they're definitely not the ones that are moving here right now.

— So really, what do we do?" someone else in the crowd asked.
Cozy frowned thoughtfully and paused long enough
for the crowd to start making excited noises. Casually,
she glanced at a small gray building set back from
the village houses.
Powder warehouse.

She smiled happily and turned to the prefect. — You... you
don't happen to be a miner here in your village, do you?"

— Well, actually, yes, many of us are miners, we extract coal for our own purposes.
Equestrian Railways, and…

— I get it! Cozy jumped up and down. — You have explosives, don't you?" You
can be of great help to Equestria if you simply block up this
tunnel when the changelings are inside! You will even save Equestria
from this threat in these difficult times, when even magic has left us!
I'll personally give Princess Celestia a hand to introduce you to
the awards…
The village chief nodded happily.

Much to Cozy's annoyance, the villagers hadn't had time to mine the entire tunnel in the
last few hours, having confined themselves to the exits, and just as
the explosives were being planted, detonation cords were being pulled, and several
professional pony sappers were preparing their equipment, Cozy suddenly
heard the clank of armor and the clatter of hooves coming from the other side of the tunnel.
The crucial moment has arrived. She signaled the bomb squad
to stand by, and after waiting long enough for all the enemies to enter the tunnel,
she waved her hoof — and a second later there was a deafening pop, followed
by the rumble of rock collapsing. The archway of the tunnel entrance was a
jumble of boulders. A few seconds later, from the other side of the mountains,
through the thickness of the stone, another thud was heard: the entrance to the tunnel was now also
blocked.
— Hooray!" Cozy shouted happily.

— Hooray!" the sappers shouted that they had just turned the tunnel into a trap
under the thick stone-and slammed it shut as soon as the enemy was inside.
— Hooray!" The villagers shouted, many of them coming down here
5/23
watch the rescue of Equestria unfold. They thumped
their hooves happily on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. Even Cosi jumped up and down with joy — and
only stopped when the headman finally came up to her. They
discussed their victory over the Changelings, and Cozy pointedly
wrote down the village chief's name and name on one of the scrolls she had brought with
her, so that she could present him and his village to Celestia as
a reward for their military achievements, and finally said good-bye to the happy ones.
So she went back — even if her path now lay through
the inhospitable, snow-covered passes of the Foal Mountains Range, and not
through a tunnel that had just ceased to exist.

And of all the people present, only she knew that there was nothing for this village
Celestia won't do it.

Simply because now, thanks to her clever plan, both Celestia and Luna
and a squad of the best pony warriors in the Canterlot Guard are buried in a pile
of rock, and it's unlikely that they will get out of it, because they no longer have the magic to throw boulders
.
* * *

"Wait, I think I'm beginning to understand. So it turns out... the ruling
Princesses Celestia and Luna are dead, and since Prince Blueblood has been appointed
viceroy to Cludgetown, Princess Cadence to the Crystal Empire, and
Princess Flurry Hart is not yet of legal age, then
Twilight is the only princess who can take the position of ruler
Equestria?
"That's it. This part is quite obvious.

There was a thoughtful pause. The two men stared at each other across
the restaurant table, the silence broken only by a soft tune
played on the piano by a local unicorn musician. He kept getting lost — he'd been
trying to relearn how to use his hooves for days after the magic had disappeared from Equestria
, but it still wasn't perfect.

"Well," one of the others drawled, not so much to say
anything as to avoid hearing the piano player's mistakes, " but now that she's also
missing and there are no more princesses in Equestria
, her second-in-command, which is Adviser Starlight, was supposed to take over her duties. But
since she disappeared along with Twilight, we're taking her
second-in-command, Cozy Glow, instead. Did I get it right?

"Yes, that's what I'm telling you. Note also that Cozy Glow is already over
the age of majority, although not yet an adult; but since
she already held a senior position as a deputy deputy
Twilight, then she is automatically considered an adult.
"Sometimes I don't understand our laws, Panty…

— If you hang around in high circles with Moe, you won't even understand it. By
the way, I'm up now, too — I'm the Duke of Fancy Pants now. That's definitely
worth a drink to, isn't it, Friend Golden Gavel? The new duke
smiled slyly, and the two stallions laughed loudly at each other.
"You always knew how to find your place, Panty.

• And then! Okay, I think the "drink" part should be postponed until after
  the coronation. I still need to be present in the VIP box — the position
  obliges. And the girls will be happy to see you there, too.
  "It's rare to find yourself sitting next to the Duke," he said, grinning.
  Golden Gavel. "I'm surprised the coronation isn't even a week away."
  6/23

— Well, how else?" If it is proved that the deputy will continue to hold the leadership position
, then this deputy is immediately considered to have taken this position.
Even for the monarchs of Equestria, it works. Under our laws, Cozy Glow
officially became the ruler of Equestria and received full power.
"It's a wonder Chrysalis didn't take the throne herself when it was empty.

"Yeah, that's what I don't understand," Fancy Pants said, spreading his hooves. — When
the news of the princesses ' deaths came, we were all waiting here for Chrysalis. But she never
came.

— I think there's something fishy going on here." After all,
no one had seen the bodies of Celestia and Luna, and no one in their party had escaped. The only
reliable witness to the battle is Cosi herself, and all we have are
a few swords and helmets, and one of Celestia
's bloodstained hooves.

"Every other person, friend Golden Gavel, suspects that something is wrong.
But the law is the law, so the only thing we can do is accept
it and watch.
"I think you're right, Panty," Golden Gavel sighed.

Fancy Pants looked away and called the waiter over, passing him a handful of bats,
spilling a couple of them on the floor as he still had difficulty manipulating
his hooves instead of using his magic telekinesis. Leaving the waiter
to pick up coins from the floor with his teeth, the stallions left the restaurant and walked in silence
towards Canterlot Castle.

The tower clock in the main square struck three o'clock in the afternoon. The trumpets blow
, and, moments later, accompanied by the guards in shining
armor, on the balcony Internatskola castle appeared low filly in
a sparkling white dress and, after a moment, rose is specially
prepared for her podium, decorated with the emblem of Equestria: the sun and
the moon, surrounded by two alicorno, more recently, moving these lights in the sky
and is now considered the tragically dead in battle.

"Hello, my little ponies! Raising a hoof, she called out to
the people. The crowd responded with an ecstatic clatter of hooves.

— As you know, our country has fallen on hard times. Until a month ago
, no one knew that this terrible catastrophe could happen at all, which deprived
the whole of Equestria of magic. The best scientists of our country are struggling to solve this
problem, but so far, alas, no success is expected…
The crowd roared in frustration.

— And despite the ordeal that fate brought us,
we lost all the light of Equestria in a matter of days. We can say that our
country was actually beheaded. Princess Twilight Sparkle and six
of her friends, the Elements of Harmony, and her apprentice and second-in-command, Starlight
Glimmer, took a risky trip to Tartarus to make sure that
Tirek, famous for trying to steal Equestrian
magic last time, didn't break free. Alas, nothing has been heard of them since
they entered Tartarus. And given that there is no other way
to open its gates than by magic — they will probably never
leave it again. But we will always remember them, their sacrifice will not be forgotten…
Cozy wiped away a tear with a hoof. The crowd was also crying here and there.

— ... And that was just the beginning. Before the news came that our
brave seven had been seen entering Tartarus, it was suspected that
Princess Twilight and her friends might have been attacked by Queen Chrysalis in the area of the forest
beyond the Foal Mountains. Princesses Celestia and Luna and I organized
a rescue mission — but Queen Chrysalis was expecting, as it turned out,
7/23
it is us. We fell into a trap — and in a hard battle, we were simply
destroyed. I was the only one who escaped — and who brought you this sad
news…

Cozy continued her speech as the six students from the Friendship School
who had come to Canterlot for the occasion watched in
disbelief from the outskirts of central Square.

"I don't like this," Sandbar said, scratching behind his ear. No, I can
understand that Cozy, despite her ego, still saved the friendship school
from Neisei and freed us after he caught us, but still, she
has risen too high, and it seems to me that such sudden fame is beginning
to overshadow her sanity.

"I don't know," Ocellus said, shaking her head. — Then why didn't she let
the chancellor let you go in the first place?"

"Maybe it was some clever plan of hers. In the end, she still
released us herself the next day.

— But the magic wasn't completely gone yet, and we might have been able
to do something." Didn't you say yourself that you put on this show just
so you could get Applebloom, Scootaloo,and Sweetie Belle to help you?" Maybe
if there was something you could do, we could save someone…
— Well, what to think about it now, now it will not help anyone.
"Hey, did you hear that? Gallus interrupted, pointing a wing toward the balcony.

— ... And now we must come together to face the
threats that await Equestria together. This is no longer the time to relax and
enjoy life carelessly — especially when our magic has been
taken away from us and all the princesses have been stripped away. These are hard times for us, so I
just don't have a choice. I am announcing that Equestria will be reorganized first.
The Equestrian Empire, and I, Cozy Glow, take on this heavy burden and
declare myself Empress…

— You… Look at what she's doing! Smulder could barely find the words to
comment on Cozy's speech, while the others, unable to say
anything, watched in amazement as two ponies from the castle servants placed
the Empress's tiara on Cozy's head.

— ... And in memory of my mentor, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I will
consider myself her successor, the Empress of Friendship." Will you be my
friends, my little ponies?.. Cozy said to the crowd.
— Yes! A hum of thousands of voices echoed across the square.

"And... and what do you call it?" Gallus, the first to recover from
his shock, looked around at the other five friends.
"Glory to Equestria! A voice came from the balcony.
- Pony glory! the crowd responded, thundering as hard as they could on the pavement.
"That's how common sense dies-to the sound of enthusiastic hooves.", —
Silverstream mumbled sadly to herself.
* * *

... For the second day, Equestria was under Cozy Glow's control. No,
nothing terrible has happened yet — at least, worse than the disappearance
of magic and all the princesses at the same time. Canterlot,like all the other cities in Equestria,
was slowly coming back to life-even if this life in the absence of magic was
completely different from the old one. Even the Friendship School,
which Cosi has officially handed over to six of her most outstanding students,
has started a new school day. However, the classes were sluggish: the idea that
8/23
the former teachers, led by Princess Twilight, disappeared, and apparently forever
— did not motivate the students at all, and the fact that
their yesterday's classmates were now engaged in teaching — even more so. Energy level
Silverstream was nothing compared to Pinkie Pie; uncompromising
Gallus could hardly have made him look anything like Rainbow Dash;
Yona's bluntness was nothing like Applejack's openness, Ocellus was nowhere
near Fluttershy's conflict-free attitude, and Smulder and Rarity had only
a love of jewelry in common. And even Sandbar, who offered the smartest ideas
to all six of them, knew that these were foals ' games compared to what Twilight could
come up with.
However, he still tried to match.

"Guys, I have a few questions for Cosi. How would you like to
go to Canterlot after school today? — What is it? "he asked the other members
of the six at the afternoon teachers' council.

• Yes, how much can I do? Gallus demanded. - Yesterday Canterlot, today
  Canterlot… Three hours there and three hours back — it's a little exhausting, you know!

"Gallus is right... Yona is tired! But if Sandbar insists, Joona
agrees. Only…
"But why are we all needed there?" Ocellus interjected timidly.

— That's what I wanted to talk about. You don't see any strange behavior
Cozy? All the information about what happened, we know only from her words. I think we should ask her some questions."
— She
even gave us our degrees ahead of schedule and put us in charge of teaching — as if
she wanted to do us some kind of honor so that we wouldn't ask her questions."…

— But it's really inconvenient to ask questions now, " she sighed sadly.
Smolder.

"And that means we have to ask them," he said with a firm shake of his head
The sandbar. — Well, are you with me?"

And, even if reluctantly, and not immediately, everyone in the room
nodded.

The evening train to Canterlot arrived at the station at almost five o'clock, just an
hour before the end of receptions at the castle. The guards looked skeptically at
the guests as they entered the gate — usually at this time, the princesses were no
longer receiving anyone new, there was barely enough time to deal with
those who were already waiting for an audience inside. But Sandbar stubbornly hoped that Cozy would not
refuse them. In the end, it was necessary to at least try…

It was about a quarter of an hour before they finally reached the door
of the throne room. Surprisingly, there was no usual queue for such a time
. The guards didn't even flinch when the six of them sat down
in the chairs that had been prepared for the visitors — so there was still a chance to make it…

Finally, outside the door, I heard the sound of approaching hooves — and a voice
Cozy:

— ... Still, consider changing the first line of the anthem,
which is "Equestria, the land I love" to something like "the land of Cozy Glow". Still
, this is a matter of national importance…

The door suddenly opened and a filly with glasses and a
stack of papers in her mouth came out. She was frowning, as if she and Cozy had had a
complicated conversation, and they didn't seem to agree. As the filly
walked away down the hall with her head down, Cozy,who was still standing in the doorway,
finally saw the last of the guests.
"Oh, is that you?" Cozy grimaced for a moment, but then, as if nothing had happened.
sometimes she smiled again. — Come in, but please note that I don't have much
9/23
time limit. Don't let anyone else in, " she ordered the guard, receiving
a nod of acknowledgment from him, and led the six of them deeper into the hall.

As the six of them followed Cozy, Sandbar studied the interior. The place
was empty-it was clearly a hall for two Alicorns, not one
pegasus boy. Cosi seemed to be lost in the background of carpets, tapestries, impressive
stained glass windows and stairs leading to a high throne, also too large for
the current empress. Sandbar looked up: above the throne hung a large
blue cloth with many stars surrounding a large red
chess rook, on either side of which were painted the moon and the sun.
"Don't tell me —" he began.
Cozy caught his eye.

"Oh, that?" she waved a hoof. "Yes, the new coat of arms and flag of Equestria.
It was accepted today, you have to match the situation, " she added matter-of-factly
, leaving Sandbar and the other six at the bottom of the stairs and
climbing the stairs to the throne. After sitting down on it, she finally
asked:
— So what did you want?"
Sandbar took a deep breath.
"Cozy, we have a few questions for you…

"Empress Cozy Glow. Or " Your Majesty." I'm not your
classmate right now, I'm the ruler of Equestria, so please keep up appearances.

Joona started to stomp on the floor in anger and shout something, but Sandbar
stopped her in time.

— All right. After all, Your Majesty, please tell me, is it
normal to take power like this and actually seize it, not just in
the friendship school, but in the whole country? Redraw symbols, change the form of government and
all that… We haven't gotten used to losing Twilight, Celestia, and Luna yet,
and here we are…

• what? All right? Cozy interrupted Sandbar and looked at
  him in surprise. — It's legal. And this is the main thing. Once both the ruling princesses were killed, eh
  If Twilight and Starlight are trapped in Tartarus forever, then I,as their second-in-command,
  must accept their full powers. You see, guys, I'm not arguing that I don
  't know much about Celestia, Luna, and Twilight — I'm not even an alicorn. But I
  'm learning. And I'll learn. I have no other choice: by law, I was supposed to be
  in charge of Equestria, and I had to do it. And the symbols, and that's all — are
  for raising the pony's self-awareness. They should look at their ruler
  and see her not as a surrogate for Celestia and Luna, but as someone who will unite and lead them
  if something happens. After all, this is what a strong politician, leader
  and fighter should do, right?

Sandbar took a step back and looked at the floor. He should have
said something in response, but nothing came to mind. But the words were found in
Ocellus:

— And what about the main problem that led to all this?
she pointed to the window. "That is, magic that has disappeared from Equestria.
Maybe I should have done that first. Eventually, it will give us a chance
to get Princess Twilight back, and then…
Cozy frowned.

— I know. The best unicorn scientists in Equestria are already doing this, but they
've all admitted that it's impossible. Alas, we'll have to live with that somehow.
— But how could you give such a confident answer in just a couple of days?
"Look, you know what? It is not for us to argue with the luminaries of magical thought.
If they said so, then it's true. I don't want to hear any more about it. Here
10/23
When one of you shows that magic can be brought back to Equestria, that's
when we'll talk.
There was a moment of silence.

"One more question," Gallus said lazily. — Not that I'm too
surprised, but still, are you the only one of Celestia's entire squad that survived the battle with Chrysalis
?" Gallus ignored Cosi's scowl
of displeasure at this treatment and continued, " When my ancestors lost
battles, we carried the wounded and dead off the battlefield, not to mention there
were many who survived. And when…

Cosi, coming down from the throne, stopped his speech and led the six of them to
a glass-enclosed table against the wall, and with the air of a professional
tour guide, began::

"Now, when the Celestia and Luna Memorial Hall opens, these exhibits
will be in it. This is all that's left of our party — " she said, running her hoof
over the few helmets lying under the glass and the hoof with the bloodstains on
it. — The next day, I and a lot of other ponies checked —
there was nothing else left at the battle site. Maybe Chrysalis needed our bodies for
some kind of evil experiment.…
"And no one tried to catch up with her?"
— Why?" To die like Celestia's squad?
"Indeed," Gallus said grimly.

— Don't be afraid. When I have more friends, we will definitely find them
Chrysalis and show her how Equestria avenges its princesses on those who don't
understand the ideals of friendship." — I
have scheduled a meeting with the ambassadors of Griffonstone and the Dragonlands for the day after tomorrow, so
that they will recognize the Equestrian Empire and enter into a military alliance with us. At
the very least, this will already be a success in the fight against Chrysalis…

"But it's very strange that she didn't come straight to Canterlot now, not yet."
Equestria is so weak... " retorted Ocellus.

"You know what? I don't know what's going on in your ex
— mom's head, "Cosey almost shouted at her," maybe she's just completely out of
her mind, or maybe she's saving up for an attack on Canterlot. Cozy,
noticing that Ocellus was shrinking, either from
fear or resentment, and hiding behind Smulder, stepped back.

"By the way, do you have any other questions?" My time is running out, so I'd better
ask you to leave the hall." "And... well,
just in case, I advise you to think less about what I'm doing, and
less doubt, otherwise you might end up, say, under a charge of
high treason," Cozy looked pointedly at the six of them.
— It's not that I don't believe you're doing this out of good intentions, but
try explaining it to the other ponies…
* * *

It was dark when the last train from Canterlot arrived in Ponyville.
The six of them were walking slowly away from the station, toward the school and the now
-deserted Twilight Castle, when the train gave a short honk and began
to pick up speed, continuing on toward Applesauce, taking the
few overnight passengers with it. In fact, with the loss of magic,
perhaps not much has changed in Equestria. The trains were still running;
the sun and moon were still gliding across the sky, even if they were not there.
controlled; clouds floated uncontrollably across the sky and rained down on
the ground only when they wanted to, not when they were forced to by the Pegasi, now known as the Pegasi.
11/23
shared the fate of earth ponies and settled on earth, after their
cloud cities were blown across the sky by the wind-but the rains themselves did not disappear. It
might have been a serious problem, but the enterprising Empress
had just sent a lot of money from the Canterlot treasury to build homes
for the Pegasi who had lost their heavenly homes, and they probably
respected her more now than they had Celestia a week ago. She also paid attention
to unicorns — many of those who used to work on magic projects.
They were doing research, and now they were dealing with irrigation and animal husbandry-helping
Earth ponies not to starve to death in conditions where animals and the weather
behave unpredictably. Magic — a thing without which it would seem that Equestria
would not exist — was not so necessary in the current Equestrian Empire, as
it turned out.

"You know what? Sandbar suggested. — I don't want to go home now."
Let's go to the Tree of Harmony and see what's wrong with it."

— You're the one who went?" Gallus tilted his head. "Go through the Ever-wild Forest
at night?
- Sounds like an adventure! The resilient Silverstream perked up.
- Joona go where her friends go! Joona stamped her foot.

"That makes sense," Ocellus said. — With the loss of magic in
The Ever-wild Forest has become much calmer and safer.
"Well, I'll go with you," Smolder said.
And the six of them set off.
* * *

The scene they saw was depressing. The tree looked very bad:
the cave floor was littered with shards of fallen twigs, it was drooping and cracked
— and no longer radiated light. Because of this, the cave was in darkness,and only the moon,
which hung happily in the sky directly opposite the entrance, threw some unnatural
glare on a small patch in front of the tree itself.

"You know, I guess Cozy was right," Sandbar said with a sigh. Since the magic
is gone even from here, there's no point in doing anything further. Until now
, we hadn't even considered that the truth was on her side, not ours.
Perhaps, in the circumstances of Equestria, this was
the only solution that Cozy could use. After all,
we don't have a single clear proof either.

Sandbar's answer was a painful silence. Everyone knew that
there was nothing to object to.

"Joona is tired," Joona mumbled sadly. "It's getting late and I want
to sleep…

"Yes, let's sleep here for a change, and then just go
straight to school tomorrow morning," Ocellus agreed.

The friends dragged a pile of grass and leaves into the cave-right under the trunk
of the dried-up Tree of Harmony, and settled down on it all together, as if during
their "friendship hiking trips". The dream didn't take long…
* * *

"Dark... cold… Lonely... " somewhere in the distance, in the pitch darkness,
a ringing voice wailed, slightly reminiscent of Twilight's voice.
"Who's there?" Sandbar whispered. Darkness had also gathered around him —
I couldn't even see my own hooves. He was standing on something else.
12/23
hard and not soft — or maybe it wasn't standing, but just floating in the air or floating in
a stream of water. It was even difficult to tell which was up and which was down.

"I... I checked on you, and you came over..." the same voice said reproachfully
.
"Us?" Who! Who's talking?..

— You... can handle it... or not… Or leave me here forever...
You are there, I am here…

— What are we talking about?" Sandbar shook his head — and suddenly realized that he had no
head. He doesn't even have a body. For some reason, this terrified him — it was as if
he felt what it meant to be in this eternal darkness, without any form and without
the ability to get out of it.

"Help me?".. — What is it? " a stranger from the dark asked in an almost tearful voice
.

— I - I don't even know how to help!" Sandbar started to run toward
the voice, then realized a moment later that he didn't know the direction. The voice seemed
to come from everywhere — but still from a very long way away.
— You... can you rely on your friends?"..
Sandbar thought for a moment.

"I-I can probably rely more on them than on myself,"
he said hesitantly.
The voice didn't answer, but somehow Sandbar was sure it was his own.
the owner smiled, almost imperceptibly, painfully…
* * *

Sandbar awoke abruptly, as if jerked out of a dream. Nobody knows what
caused it: the sun that had just risen, and
his bright morning light was shining directly unceremoniously inside the cave,
or Yona, which in the dream, I managed to slide straight on Sandbar, crushing him
to his considerable weight to the stone trunk of the Tree of Harmony, or that he
slept upside down, and now his head was on the hard rocky floor
of the cave. He looked around at his friends: they were all gradually waking up as well.

"I'm probably going to ask you a strange question," he muttered, " but did you
happen to have a dream just now where it was dark and lonely and someone was asking
for help?"

Smulder stopped rubbing her eyes and opened them wide.
The sandbar.
— How do you know that?"

"No, how do you both know that?" Gallus asked, his voice raspy from sleep
.
"Wow! Silverstream flapped her wings. "One sleep for six!"

"I'm sure the Tree asked us to help," Ocellus suggested.
After all, it came to us in the form of Professor Twilight… You do remember,
don't you?

"That's right," Sandbar mused. — It really
checked us out and chose us. Which means he needs help… Which means we
can still help!

"So it's too early for us to give up," Gallus snapped his beak. — I wanted
to tell you all this yesterday, but I couldn't find an argument.

"But now we have an argument," Sandbar said, looking around at his companions, " and
we know we can do something. And I want to ask you, my friends: is there
anyone here who doesn't believe that Cosi is to blame for what is happening in Russia right now?
Equestria?
13/23
No one said anything, and Sandbar smiled triumphantly.

"Excellent,"he said. — Then we create our own
secret organization, which will have to find answers to questions about how
to bring magic back to Equestria and revive the Tree of Harmony, how to bring back the professor
Twilight and her friends from Tartarus, what really happened to the princesses
Celestia and Luna and their posse, and finally to remove Cosi from the throne she
occupies because of loopholes in our laws. So from now on, we consider
our organization established! Hurray!
— Hooray!" Silverstream asked happily. "I've never been to any of them before."
a secret organization!..
* * *

"...So, let's see what we know, " Sandbar began the first
meeting of the newly formed secret organization. "First of all, Cozy can't
explain the fact that Princesses Celestia and Luna and their party are missing. I suggest
we search all the way to Tartarus and try to find anything that might
indicate the real reason for their disappearance.
- Joona agrees! Joona nodded vigorously.

"Second, it's very suspicious that she doesn't even want to hear about
trying to bring magic back to Equestria. She doesn't understand all
the implications, and I don't think she'll even be interested in the fact that the Tree of Harmony
itself is almost dead. Perhaps she's afraid that the presence of magic in Equestria
will reveal some of her dark deeds.
"That's right," Smolder said.
"Third —" Sandbar began.

"Third, you are under arrest by order of Her Majesty the Empress Kozi
Glow and you will be tried on charges of treason, "
a loud voice suddenly rang out from the direction of the cave entrance.

The conspirators turned in the direction of the voice. Several
Canterlot guards were already standing there-unicorns in armor and weapons ready — and
after waiting a few moments, they began to slowly approach the six.
There was no escape route, and Sandbar backed away in horror, wishing there
was only one way out of the cave. Although even if there were several of them, it
wouldn't change anything — the guards would probably block them all. He
squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for them to grab him, drag him out, and there,
He would be chained up and dragged to prison-or wherever
the conspirators were supposed to be sent — but a sudden cry from Joona made him turn to look at her.
- Joona is not a cheater! Yona do everything right!
She lunged forward, right into the guards ' outstretched swords.

"Joona! Sandbar shouted at the top of his lungs, but
it was unlikely that his shout would have stopped the yak from running at full speed. All he could do was
watch as…

... As Yona jumps up at the last moment and kicks the two
front guards with all his might. Of course, they would have had time to react, but now they
had to use their swords in an unusual earth pony style; they
hesitated, and that was enough time for Yona to strike. Like skittles
in a Ponyville bowling alley, the hapless guards flew into their fellows, and
the orderly line became a disorganized pile.
There was no need to explain anything to Yona's remaining companions: they immediately ran after him
He followed her out, buying himself a little time while the guards
tried to get up and chase them.
14/23

But the trained ponies of the Canterlot Guard would have caught up with them
if Sandbar hadn't shouted for the others to split up. Yes, some of them
might get caught,but the rest of them can handle it…
* * *

Sandbar had seen Gallus and Ocellus captured at the very beginning —
relying too much on their abilities, their ability to fly and transform into
anything. But without magic, these abilities didn't work, so the guards had no
trouble catching up with them. He had seen Smulder and Silverstream disappear into
the Ever — Wild Forest, and now he didn't know if they had evaded the pursuit. But
the two of them managed to confuse the Canterlot men, who were not equipped to run through the forest with
swords in their teeth, and hide in a small ravine at the far
edge of the forest. It took Sandbar a lot of effort to dissuade Joona from
rushing to save his friends, because if they did, they would be caught too, and
would not help matters in any way. There was no point in going back to Ponyville either
— since it was obvious that the guards were already waiting for them there. So instead, they
decided to go on the first mission of their conspiracy club-to explore
the road to Tartarus.

They walked for half a day to Canterlot Mountain, hiding from possible pursuit in
the woods and tall grass, swimming across rivers, bypassing villages and the village itself
Canterlot Mountain — so small to look at from a distance, it was
actually gigantic considering the size of its base. The sun was just beginning
to set when they crossed the railroad toward
Fillydelphia and Baltimore, and ahead of them they saw the blue
outline of the Foal Mountains, fading into the haze in the distance, as they made their way north, where
the entrance to Tartarus lay in one of the Crystal Mountains ' ridges. It was still a few hours
before sunset when they finally hit the road
, only to reach the Foal Mountains and find that the tunnel that had been
cut through the mountains was littered with rocks.

"Something's weird," Sandbar told Jonah. — The road is clear, it obviously
went a few days ago. It looks like the entrance was just blocked up. It's
not a good idea to spend the night looking up into the mountains, so I suggest we camp
right here. At the same time, we can try to sort out the blockage — just in case it's not very
big, and then we'll save at least a day to cross the mountains.
Especially since — - Sandbar looked at the wreckage with interest — " it seems that this
collapse was not natural, and then someone blocked the entrance on purpose…

Sandbar was silent for a moment, just long enough for his sharp
ears to pick up some vague sounds coming from the other direction…

"Look, there's someone out there! Sandbar blurted out. Whoever it is is in
trouble, we need to help them!

Jon didn't need to be forced. She immediately scrambled up the rock
pile and began to break the stones one by one — the sounds became clearer, and
finally, after another boulder was smashed into the rubble, a
small hole was formed in the rubble — through which a head soon peeked out.

A dusty head covered in stone chips, trembling, with sunken cheeks — and
a long horn entangled with strands of a mane of many colors that had already lost a lot of color, but still
distinguishable.
Sandbar, seeing this, was speechless — it was Joona who asked the question for him:
"P-p-Princess Celestia?!.
— You… You've come after all, " Celestia said, her voice barely audible and tired
I closed my eyes.
15/23

...It was very hard. Joona liked to wreck everything, but I don't think she'd
ever wrecked so much in her entire life. Moreover, they were not soft pieces of wood,
but hard and sometimes sharp stones. Several hours passed before they finally
punched a hole in the rubble through which
the exhausted ponies could begin to be carried out, and through which their more resilient
companions could crawl. Sandbar and Yona brought them water from the nearest river, bandaged
up those who had been injured while inside — of course, many of them didn't know what to do.
they gave up hope and tried to free themselves until they collapsed
or injured their legs: without magic, digging out from under the rubble was
an impossible task. Sandbar even had to run to the nearest
village to use the money that some of Celestia's warriors
had to buy food for the ponies who had been trapped under the rock for three days —
and they were lucky that the tunnel entrances were blocked with large stones, so
that air could pass through the rubble.

Sandbar and Joona listened to Celestia and Luna talk about how their party
had entered the tunnel, seen the exit collapse in front of them, and rushed back
— but by then the entrance was already blocked up. The saviors,in turn,
told them about what Cozy Glow had said to them when she took over Equestria —
their story infuriated Celestia, and the princess even tried
to teleport to Canterlot to restore order there-for a moment
forgetting about the lack of magic.

It was then that Sandbar finally realized clearly that even if there was no
evidence, but only assumptions, it was not worth giving up trying
to prove them — as long as there was at least some possibility that the guesses
might turn out to be true.
* * *

Silverstream, Smulder, Gallus, and Ocellus lay chained on
the floor in the middle of Canterlot Castle's throne room.
It was almost becoming a habit for them to come to Canterlot almost every day —
but this time they couldn't have refused, because they
had been brought here by force. Now the guards were standing around, pointing their spears
at the conspirators, and Cosi was walking a little further away.

— So you've decided to create an organization that aims to
illegally seize power in the Equestrian Empire. Just because you
had a dream that you can't even fully describe. And
this is despite the fact that you received from me exhaustive answers to all your
questions a day ago. What blatant ingratitude — " Cosi
shook her head in displeasure. — Just for the fact of creating such an organization — what an
audacity! — you're in danger of being banished to Tartarus ... ah, he's locked up forever now, heh-heh.
Well, the Canterlot dungeons will be a good place for you too…
- Verdict… It hasn't been taken out yet, " Gallus said, cringing.
— Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Actually, yes," Ocellus said to Cozy. — You've basically avoided
answering questions about whether anyone is trying to bring magic back to Equestria, why
there's so much weirdness about Celestia's missing squad, and why Chrysalis
didn't even think to attack Canterlot after the victory."…

"First of all, not 'you', but 'Your Majesty'," Cozy said proudly
as she climbed back up the stairs to the throne. - Secondly, it's simple: I do not
know. Do I have to know everything? What do I tell you, Celestia?
16/23
"I think they mentioned me here?" A familiar voice called from the doorway.

Everyone in the room turned
to see Celestia standing in the doorway of the throne room, surrounded by Sandbar and Jonah.
Cozy's mouth dropped open in surprise at first — but she quickly pulled herself together.
"Here! You wanted Chrysalis, so here it is. Guards, attack!

The guards, who had been surrounding the prisoners and were now
looking at each other blankly, didn't move.

• Who is being told?! Cozy shouted. — Don't you remember what happened at
  Cadence's wedding?"

As the guards, clearly confused by this turn of events, tried
to pick up their spears from the floor, Celestia-Chrysalis spoke calmly:
— I'm not Chrysalis. I have proof.
Cozy looked at her incredulously.

"Here," she started to smile, but a moment later the smile faded from her
lips. "Oh, no..." she whispered to herself. — I can't move the sun, can I?"
Equestria has no magic…

"Nice try, Chrysalis," Cozy chuckled. "Now, guards,
take her!"

Celestia tried to hide her panic. "Luna, bring
the others in," she commanded, watching as the guards with spears
approached her.

"Oh, and you brought your changelings?" Cozy wasn't surprised when
Princess Luna entered the hall with a couple of warriors from her and Celestia's squad.

"But all the changelings have left Chrysalis!" She doesn't have any of us!
Ocellus shouted desperately.
The guards started to stop, but Cosi shouted at them:

— Who do you believe, your Empress or a changeling brat like Chrysalis
?" Celestia's dead, I can see for myself. Cozy
waved a hoof at the evidence table against the wall. — They
can only fool you, they're changelings!" We made the mistake
of thinking that they had corrected themselves!

The Empress's guards began to push Celestia toward the entrance. But at the entrance
, more and more ponies from the "lost"squad were coming out from behind Princess Luna
. And it seems that a fight would have been inevitable by now…

But suddenly the heavy silence in the throne room was broken by the sound of breaking
glass. The stained-glass windows on both sides crumbled, and
a dozen griffins from the west side and a group
of dragons of various colors and complexions from the east rushed into the hall at the same time through the empty window openings.

"We announce -" began a gallant griffin in a decorated
uniform.

"We announce..." the war
dragon said at the same time, holding out her wand.
They both froze and looked at each other.
"Gilda?"
"Amber?"
"Colonel-General Gilda, not just Gilda!
"The dragon Lord is Ember, not just Ember!
"Ah-ha-ha-ha," the two leaders laughed in unison.

"Let me guess, you're here..." Gilda waved her wing dismissively at
Amber.
"No, let me guess. You're here... " she said.
"To declare war on Equestria?" — What is it? " they asked each other in unison.
17/23

This scene caught the attention of everyone in the room,from Cosi herself,
who was now looking from Gilda to the other two, clearly not understanding what was going on.
Ember and back, and to the guards, who now looked up
in surprise at the dragons and griffins floating in the air.

"Hey! Can you look down? Sandbar finally broke the silence,
standing next to Celestia.
The two warlords looked down.
"Oh, you're Smulder's friend!
"Oh, you're Gallus' friend!

"Yes, yes, it's me, Sandbar, at your service." We also have
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna here all of a sudden."

"Wait, they're dead. Right there like all the princesses of that, well, and all
that… Well, as they say, " Gilda hesitated, so confident.

"As you can see, I'm here," Celestia said, seeming pleased to receive an unexpected
visit from the generals of the hostile armies who had just decided to go to war with the enemy.
Equestria. — Someone said we were supposed to have died in battle, but these two
brave ponies — sorry, brave pony and yak."
Sandbar, and then the Yons, found us under the rubble in the Foal Mountains.
"What blockage?" This is all nonsense! Cozy shouted. "This is Chrysalis and…

"And you, Cozy, didn't even try to save Twilight and her friends from Tartarus,
" Celestia continued matter— of — factly, " even though there is
another key in Canterlot's treasury that can open
the doors of Tartarus.

• Artifacts don't work! Is everyone so stupid that they can't understand it?
  Cozy continued to shout.
  "The artifacts work, they just don't have magic in them.
  "There is no magic in all of Equestria!

Celestia frowned and ignored
the guards who had been trying to attack her a moment ago, but were now
backing out of the way in terror, as she began to approach Cosi step by step. - There is no magic in
Equestria. But it exists outside of it. And considering that you didn't think of
that fact…

— What's 'beyond'?" Cosi shouted back, but stopped
when Celestia pointed up to see Gilda and Ember floating in the air
, surrounded by the dragons and griffins of their advance troops.

— We can open the gates of Tartarus and let out Princess Twilight
and her friends-Starlight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, —
Celestia looked up at the invaders, Rainbow Dash and Spike. If you
can help me get the pony's magic back, of course."

"Wait a minute. But what if we don't bring magic back to the ponies and just
conquer Equestria? A gryphon asked Gilda.

— Really, why do we need to help these ponies? They don't have magic, we can
just take the jewels away from them, and — " the dragon hovering next to Ember
announced his offer.

"Shut up! Gilda snapped. — My friend Rainbow Dash is in trouble. And if I
don't agree to it, then she will stay there forever, in Tartarus. She taught me
loyalty, and I wouldn't trade any of Equestria's riches for her. Correctly,
Emb ... the dragon Lord Ember?

"That's right, Colonel-General Gilda. My friend Spike is also there. And
even if it wasn't there,
we'd get a lot more out of working with Magic Equestria than we would from taking it and looting it now. And I won't
be a dragon lord if I don't know how to make a profit!
18/23

"That's it, my little ponies... and not just ponies," Celestia said with an admonitory
smile to the four conspirators — whom Joona and the others had met.
Sandbar was released from their chains while the Cosi guards
huddled warily against the walls. — I believed Twilight would teach you — and your races —
the value of friendship, and I see she did.

"Okay, that's enough! Cozy Glow shouted. — I'm ending this farce. Guards!
Take these six, as well as all the changelings, to their dungeon! The trial is over. And
as for our warlike guests, I,the Empress of Equestria,
command…

Gilda and Ember exchanged glances. The gryphon nodded to her
fellow countrymen — who immediately rushed down to Cosi. A
moment later, she was lying with her feet twisted on the carpet in front
of the throne, and the tiara that had rolled off her head was lying nearby.

"Technically, I'm representing Griffonstone here, and I declared
war on Equestria and took you prisoner. What do you say now, captive Empress, haha?

"Mhmf! Cozy muttered something, but the carpet drowned it out, making
Gilda burst out laughing.
Celestia, meanwhile, went to a small table against the wall and pushed back the glass.

"So this is the evidence of our demise?" "
What is it?" she asked Sandbar. "I see Cosi has broken into our armor vault, and — - she
picked up her hoof and twirled it - "my personal wardrobe. How
ugly…
Celestia stared at it for a moment, then licked it.

"I didn't know alicorn blood tasted like cherry juice," Celestia said, barely
able to contain her laughter. — We'll have to ask our
warehouse managers to look through all the barrels and find the one that Cosi bathed him in. It's
unhygienic. I wear it on my feet, and she wears it in her hands…
* * *
Amber had been trying to figure out what Celestia wanted from her for several minutes:

• So, in short… We take this "key" that will be brought to us now, I
  pump some of my magic into it with my staff, then what? We're sending
  one of our own people to open Tartarus, right? Plus a few more to
  get Spike and the others here?" It looks clear…

"Yes, Lord Ember, that's right. I will— when I do prove my claim to the throne
-formally express my gratitude to the dragonlands for their help…
Amber looked away thoughtfully.

"And, of course, I'll allocate fifty pounds each of rubies and sapphires from our
treasury to cover your expenses and as a reward,"
Celestia said with a sly smile.

"Now, that's what I understand. With a
chuckle, Amber slammed her fist down on Celestia's hoof as a sign of making
a deal.

Celestia only had to say a few words to one of the guards
, who nodded in agreement and hurried to the treasury to get the key. Truly,
the last twenty-four hours have been filled with amazing luck-as if she herself
Harmony was helping Celestia regain her lost Equestria. It is not every day
that you are rescued from the rubble when you have already given up waiting, it is not every day that you
get to the "trial" of your comrades in the throne room of Canterlot
Castle, and it is very rare
for two squads of soldiers from neighboring states to rush into the hall during this meeting with the intention of declaring war on the
19/23
war and take the "ruler" prisoner.

... And then, just a few hours later, Twilight and her friends — though
without Starlight, who was already being searched all over Equestria-were standing
in front of Celestia in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. The operation to evacuate
the Tartarus captives went perfectly. Ember's dragon companions took them to
the capital of Equestria in what they call a breeze, and when Twilight and her friends spoke at
a quickly assembled court session about what they had learned from
Tireka — no one had any more illusions about who was responsible for the
events of the last three days. Cozy Glow immediately took the suspect's place,
despite all her protests — she never managed
to pass a law restricting the judicial power during her short reign. None of
the jurors had any doubts about her guilt — and after a brief
discussion, stripped of her title and position, screeching and
struggling frantically, she was already being dragged towards the castle dungeons, and Celestia,
once again wearing the crown on her head, took her rightful place on the throne.
But one problem - apart from the missing Starlight-remained unresolved.

"Twilight, even though we have managed to restore justice and
overcome all the snares that Cozy Glow has placed in our path, we still have
a responsibility to ensure that Equestria is now devoid of magic. I don't dispute that in
critical situations, we could use the magic of our now
— new allies, the griffins and dragons, " Celestia nodded towards
Gilda and Amber, who were standing next to Twilight. "But ponies without magic can hardly live
a full life. And if you study this question, I believe you can find
a way to bring magic back to Equestria."…

"Hmm, Princess, I have an idea. At least I know one
place where our magic flows all the time. But ... I'll need
Lord Ember's help in Ponyville to do that…
"Again?" - indignantly raised her paws to the sky dragon.

"I've still got a hundred pounds
of emeralds in my treasury, of course," Celestia said with a wink.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Amber said with a shrug. - In short, sit down, over there, on the
Garble and fly. Ponyville, you say?..

When a pair of dragons, one of which was mounted on a pony, disappeared into one of
the still-unsealed window openings in the throne room of Canterlot Castle,
Celestia smiled happily. Twilight wouldn't be Twilight if
she didn't know how to solve any problem. Even unsolvable — at first glance…

"Okay, Amber, put some magic in this book," Twilight said,
handing the dragon a small but beautifully designed notebook.

"Dragon Lord Ember," she corrected the princess grumpily, but
she poked the cover with her wand anyway and began to concentrate the spell. After
a moment, the notebook lit up — and Twilight immediately opened it.

"Dear Princess Twilight, Something unimaginable is happening here! It's the
end of the world. Imagine, Director Celestia's car turned into a giant
pumpkin, and instead of asphalt on the roads, we have buttercream since yesterday!
And that's not all: although Spike is now happy with what is happening and has become accustomed
to hunting for flying kettles, yesterday he was almost devoured by a shark
that got out of the sewer manhole. It looks like your magic is leaking back to us
, but it's no secret that it's not leaking, it's pouring like a waterfall. And
the worst part is that I woke up in the same bed with Starlight today!
Honestly, no matter what my mom suspects, I'm not interested in girls, I don't
understand where she came from! Please come and clean up the mess, eh?"
20/23

"Princess Twilight, I write to you, but instead of your answers, I
have words in the book that the caller is out of range, what happened?"

"Twilight, I can't go through the portal! It doesn't work! I'm in a panic, what
should I do?"
"Twi, help!!!"

"It's all clear. Sunset needs help! Amber, there's no time to explain,
quickly! I need magic! Twilight dragged the dragon into the next room
of the castle, where a large oval mirror stood among a pile of strange magical devices
.

"Lord Ember! The dragon protested, but still directed
the beam of magic in the direction Twilight had indicated. Something hummed and rustled,
the surface of the mirror lit up,and Twilight
jumped straight into it without a second's hesitation.
So what do I do now?.. Amber stared at him, dumbfounded
the surface that has become mirrored.
* * *

— My dear subjects, My little ponies!
Princess Celestia and her now large retinue greeted the people of Canterlot once again from the main balcony of the castle, which was bathed in the evening sun
:
Twilight, Starlight, and Princess Luna were standing next to her, and on the other side —
Sandbar and Yona. Celestia took a deep breath and smiled happily
as she continued:

— It's been a tough week for each of you. This time
, it wasn't just Canterlot or the ever— troublesome Ponyville that was affected by the tragedy,
"the Princess pretended not to hear Twilight's nervous chuckle,"
this time, all of Equestria was affected. Each of us is wrong, and we who
rule you are wrong, too. Fortunately, there are loyal ponies among us, and not
just ponies who, despite everything, do not put up with the situation, but defend
their truth to the last, and it was they who saved Equestria this time. To our
loyal friends, Sandbar and Yona, I have today issued a decree conferring the title of
the heroes of Equestria; without them, my sister and I,along with dozens of other ponies,
would probably be dead by now. I also thank our
allies, Dragon Lord Ember and Griffonstone Colonel-
General Gilda, for even though they paid us a visit to declare
war on the Equestrian Empire, it turned out to be a war of liberation that helped destroy
the imperial regime of Cozy Glow and restore the rightful princesses to power. Finally, I
can't help but thank my student, Princess Twilight Sparkle, who
I was able to take such important steps in bringing magic back to Equestria — as
well as a pony stranded in the next world. And it is only thanks to her that my
sister and I can once again restore the thousand-year-old tradition that I
think you have missed during this difficult week. Well, sister, come on? —
Celestia nodded to Luna, and they both lit their horns at the same time.

The sun rose to the roar of the crowd in the main square
Canterlot Castle disappeared over the horizon — and a moment later the moon rose on the eastern side
of the sky, illuminating the towers of Canterlot Castle with its silvery
light-the towers on which
the blue flags with the sun and moon flanked by two alicorns fluttered again in the gentle evening wind created by the Pegasi
.
And all the ponies down below were sure that the flag would still be visible over Equestria.
21/23
- its inhabitants will be able to cope with any problem, no matter how unsolvable it
may seem.
* * *

The sound of hooves echoed through the deserted evening halls of Canterlot
Castle. Twilight was restless. It would seem that after the terrible events
of the last days finally everything is back to normal: equestris magic
managed to return to the place from the human world, where she was sent Causey, the Princess
was saved and returned to the throne of Canterlot, the war
of Griffintown and Dragon land Equestria was prevented, and most
importantly, all ponies were again happy to live the usual life. But Twilight,
as she nervously strolled through the castle this evening, couldn't figure out what
was wrong with all of this. Why doesn't it feel like the problem is solved? And
tomorrow he would have to leave the castle and return to Ponyville-v
Canterlot didn't have much to do… All her friends had already left —
they had important things to do. Rainbow was busy restoring Cloudsdale,
which had been almost completely destroyed by the absence of magic; Fluttershy
had to run around Equestria and solve the problems of numerous
animals affected by the magical cataclysm; Applejack and Rarity
organized a Fund to help victims of a pony, and now they had no
one free moment; even the usually frivolous Pinkie took on
an important mission to deliver a bustling and exciting point in the history of this
incident because, in her words, is not to say that all ended well, if
it ended not with a storm of party in honor of the victory in every big city
Equestria. Only Twilight didn't know what she needed to do.

She paused at the window and looked up at the star-spangled sky,
thinking. The stars don't care if there's magic in Equestria or not, they don
't care what happens here on earth. They just stare down in silence, and
no matter what happens here, it doesn't hurt them in any way.

Twilight remembered the stars on her cutie mark. The magic of friendship is what
they represent. But, unlike the stars in the sky, earthly friendship is much more
fragile: despite the fact that it is not so easy to achieve, it is easier to destroy it
.

She sighed and went where she thought her sense
of duty called her.

It was chilly and damp in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle. It
was also lonely, and the feeling of being cut off from the world weighed on my nerves. Twilight
shivered, but kept walking — until finally, around one of the corners
, she found what she had come here for.

One of the many prison cells,
with a pink-and-blue lump that barely looked like a pony lying on the rocks in the corner.
"Cozy?" Twilight called softly.

The little bundle stirred, making noises of displeasure, and a minute later Cosi,
dirty, with a tangled mane and bruises on her muzzle that had apparently
been sustained while trying to resist the Canterlot guards, came to
the cell's bars.

"And why are you here?" Do you still want to make fun of me? After everything
I've done…

Twilight listened to Cozy's lengthy tirade in silence, then bowed
her head and asked softly, " What's the matter?":
— I don't understand why you did all this. Many ponies have been affected due to
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lack of magic. Some of them might even have died, and it's a great blessing that
everything went well. Moreover, you almost killed some of them with your own
hooves. How did you get to this point? Have I never been able to teach you
friendship, so that you can understand that any problem can be solved without using
force? Are ponies really just faceless figures that you can
sacrifice for your own goals? What were you looking for? The authorities? Riches? Fame?

"What were you looking for?" Cozy raised an eyebrow, as if she didn't understand Twilight's question. —
What was I looking for?" Friendship, of course!

There was a moment of silence as Twilight sat down in front of the bars
of her cell, puzzled.
— How?".. Why?.. After a pause, she asked in surprise.

— Why not?" Yes, because friendship is power! When you have a lot of friends,
you are not afraid of anything! And if the entire population became my friends
Equestria, I wouldn't think of anything!

"I see I really couldn't teach you —" Twilight
looked down at the floor with a sullen expression. As soon as you
hurt someone in order to make more friends, it reduces
the whole point of friendship to zero.

"You don't understand this, Princess of friendship: you've always been surrounded
by friends. They swirled around you even when you persistently
ignored them — you don't have to mind, we studied your background at school. And
when I was little, no one wanted to be friends with me!

— Why not?" Twilight asked, surprised. — You'll always have
friends around you. Even Pinkie, who grew up on a stone farm almost isolated from
the rest of the world, was still able to find friends…

— When she, like the rest of your friends, got some help." No need,
princess, the story of the appearance of the six of you cute cars was actually one
of the introductory classes in the first year of the friendship school.
"But -" Twilight stammered. — There are always relatives, parents…

"Parents?" Ha! They were the first to get me into an elite
elementary school in Las Pegasus, two grades up — because that's
what my development tests showed. They were not interested in me —
there was no question of friendship with them, and for my classmates I was "this little girl", which they also
envied that I was sometimes better than them in some subjects. Where can you even
understand what friendship is? I even came to Ponyville when I finished
my senior year there and went to Friendship School to learn — since my parents
didn't care where I was or what I was doing, they probably didn't even notice me leaving…
Yes, I may have often failed my friendship theory exams, but where was
I supposed to get it right?

Cosi, who had started out cheeky and impudent, was now growing sadder and sadder, and her voice was
now more regretful than anger or hatred.

— I should have noticed you earlier... eh, why didn
't I?"..

"Because you and Starlight were too busy all the time, and I was always
helping you," Cozy sat down on the floor of her cell and fell silent.
Twilight stepped closer and saw Cozy gritting her teeth.

"I guess I really should have been a regular student and stayed out
of things I shouldn't have," Cozy said, shaking her head. — Since childhood, I tried to calculate
the results of my actions many steps ahead, and it seemed to me that I could
achieve a goal in this way... without suspecting that this goal is not
worth it at all. I know that now. But what does it affect now? It's too
late…
Twilight, despite Cozy's sad mood, was glad of something in her eyes.
words — and then blurted out:
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"Since that's the case, I'll give you a second chance.

Cozy looked up in surprise. — Why?" Have I
done too little?

— Because by leaving you here, I'm finally signing off on my
powerlessness to solve this friendship problem." And I will doom you to the impossibility of learning
what true friendship is. Chancellor Neisei was right about something when
he closed our school at the very beginning: acting on our own and not according
to a proven standard, we run the risk of making mistakes. And I
made such a mistake… But I want to fix it. And I'll give you a chance to correct your
mistake, too. In the end, I can see that there is still some good left in you, that you have simply taken
the wrong path. Just a little more — and you
would have crossed the line of no return because of your inexperience. Of course, you can't escape from your past
mistakes, and complete freedom of action for the first time, nobody will give, but
if you then be able to regain his good name and find friends, not
because I have to, but because to live without friends is not possible, I
'll just be proud of. And for this you need…

Twilight started to explain to Cozy what her condition was, but she
already understood. She went straight to the bars and bowed her head in shame.
Twilight and said:

— Now I understand how wrong I was and why my goal was also
wrong — "she sighed and added," I'm sorry, Headmistress
Twilight.
"Well," Twilight smiled happily, " you passed the test.

Twilight went to great lengths to convince Celestia that Cozy didn't
need to be locked up in Tartarus right now for everything she'd done,
including trying to kill Celestia and Luna herself.
Tartare would have been merciful-centuries ago they almost immediately executed for such a thing. Even
before, the princess ' apprentice would never have thought of arguing with her
mentor — but now Twilight was sure that it was in a different way than Dove's.
Give me a second chance, don't solve this friendship problem. And in the end, Celestia
trusted her.

"Well, — she had said. — I see that you continue not only to teach
everyone around you friendship, but also to learn yourself. Looks like this has been a lesson for you...
Or rather, even for all of us.

And as Twilight stood on the platform of Canterlot South Station with the freed Cosi
, waiting for the train to Ponyville, the former captive asked:
"What are we going to do now, Master Twilight?"..

Twilight smiled mischievously and looked at her new —yet another-
student.

"The same as always: learning the basics of friendship, of course," she said. After a
moment's thought, she added — " The first thing we need to understand is that it
's never too late to do this. No matter how much you learn friendship, and no matter who you are,
even the princess herself — you can never know