Whether You Want It Or Not

by Roserado

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Drama, Equestria Girls, Cozy Glow, Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Sunset Shimmer
Length: 41604

Sunset Shimmer comes back to Equestria and discovers that she became an alicorn while she was away. It creates some problems. Hopefully Starlight can help.

Twilight Sparkle's coronation as the sole ruler of Equestria is right around the corner. To not disappoint her, Sunset Shimmer decides to come back to Equestria for the first time since her theft of the Princess's crown to attend.

Said Princess's student, Starlight, is there to greet her, but the two of them are surprised to find that Sunset is a princess herself - or at least an alicorn, and her arrival may have unintended consequences for a trio of recently imprisoned villains.

Published 2022-02-04 21:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-04-25 19:41:30 UTC

1.Wings (Whether You Want Them Or Not)

The sound of hooves against wood and the doors behind her slamming shut marked the end of Starlight Glimmer's trip back to Ponyville. A glance across the train platform she just stepped onto reveals a total lack of other ponies. None to greet her and, more importantly, none to ask her questions about the preparations that need to be made.

Starlight begins to trot off the platform as the sounds of the train continue to hum, reminding her of the time limit she's under. Her reprieve of responsibility only lasts for so long, but she's going to enjoy every moment of it she can. Maybe, if she's lucky, the new arrival will show up late, and Starlight will get an extra twenty minutes of leisure time, uninterrupted by queries about the upcoming coronation. For some unfathomable reason, Twilight decided to give her the job of helping to organize the whole thing.

As Starlight starts the short walk from the train station to the castle, she ponders what prompted Twilight to assign her such an important role. Sure, she's moderately competent at ordering people around (especially when they're willing), and she's done a good enough job as a guidance counselor, but that hardly seems like enough credentials to shuffle around thousands of ponies she doesn't know the names of faces of in order to prepare for the coronation of Equestria's next ruler.

She pauses. Putting it all together like that, it feels like a much bigger deal than what Twilight made it seem. Starlight scoffs and continues on, the castle now in sight. She hadn't been paying attention until now, but few Ponyville residents seem to be around. Only two or three were within Starlight's line of sight. This was unsurprising, as many had already left for Canterlot to attend the coronation. None of the usual chatter or bustle of ponies walking from here to there was present. It would've been unnerving if Starlight didn't know why they were gone.

In what Starlight is sure was the most disappointingly fast ten minutes of her life, she approaches the doors to Twilight's castle. As she opens them with a sliver of magic, she considers who it is she's actually going to be greeting and taking to Canterlot. Twilight gave Starlight specific instructions about how to handle her that she is sure got written down on a list somewhere. Where that list ended up, Starlight has no idea. All she really has to go off of are the vague things she can remember Twilight mentioning about her friend.

Something about her arriving out of the magic mirror they keep around that leads to an alternate world inhabited by things called 'humans'. Starlight has certainly never been there, and Twilight's friend hasn't ever come back, at least to her knowledge. What was her name again? It would be really embarrassing to have to guide somepony around that you're supposed to know the name of. Sun something?

Right, Sunset Shimmer! That unicorn that used to be Celestia's student before Twilight. She mentioned that offhand once. Starlight never felt it was appropriate to ask about her, despite the curiosity she felt. They hadn't been as close then as they are now. She probably could have afforded to ask a couple questions before she left, but her brain was overridden with thoughts of escaping her duties, even for just an hour or two.

The echoing of her hoofsteps across the walls of the castle reminded her once more that she was alone here, albeit temporarily. Not that much different to how it was normally, so it doesn’t bother Starlight too much. Now, where was the room with that huge mirror contraption…?

A rumbling interrupts her thoughts. The walls begin to groan under some invisible strain, and vibrations from the floor shoot up her legs and shake her body. Before Starlight can get her bearings, a sudden tremor knocks her off her hooves, the sound of her fall completely muffled by the deafening cascade of crystals ringing with energy. She only has a moment to right herself before the soundwave reaches its crescendo, and a sudden wall of white flashes out from behind a corner.

An immense pressure flows out of the mirror, filling the room with white light. As Sunset forces herself through, the pressure increases, only ceasing after her whole body is on the other side. The mirror seems to stick to her like molasses, only letting her go after she fully pushes herself through. The rumbling quiets down, and the light fades away, leaving a tired and confused Sunset standing alone in the now still room. She shakes herself back and forth, hoping to clear her head and gain her bearings.

"Haven't been back to Equestria in a long time… I guess they moved the mirror." she muses to herself.

A cursory look around the room reveals what she already knew; Twilight had taken the mirror to the human world from Canterlot and situated it in her own castle. Twilight had told her as much through the nearly filled book Sunset kept from her days as a pony. She had been putting off coming back for a new one as long as she could. Or for any other reason, for that matter.

A couple curious taps of her hooves on the floor help her feel sturdier than she did in the past couple moments. Her back feels heavier than she remembers it being.

Did I grow at all? I feel taller.

An idea pops into her head, and she turns around to face the mirror. There, she sees her human form, the body she's inhabited for years now, before the image slips away to reveal her current self. An orange coat, fiery red and yellow hair with tufts going here and there, and a confident but nervous expression.

That, and a pair of wings.

Her eyes go wide and she jumps backwards, the mirror image fading away. Frantically, she turns her head side to side, seeing just how real her wings are. As if they had a mind of their own, they extend outwards, the feathers ruffling with the sudden movement. The sudden sensation is alien to Sunset, and she exclaims in surprise.

Thoughts begin to run through her head, and her heart fluctuates with conflicting emotions. Shock, fear, excitement, and anxiety all bubble up in equal measures, dizzying her with the strength of which they've come forth. Head still turned to the side, her back twitches, and her left wing snaps forward, throwing her to the ground. Her snout bumps against the hard floor, the impact echoing through her skull.

"Oof."

After a moment, she brings herself back up to all fours, the dizziness quickly wearing off. As if the past minute was all an illusion, Sunset slowly cranes her head backwards, dimly wishing she just imagined it all. Seeing her hopes unrealized, she takes a moment to tuck her wings back in, resignation slowly setting in.

Why did I feel like something like this was going to happen?

"Hello? Is somepony there?"

An unfamiliar voice suddenly pierces through the haze of Sunset's thoughts, and her attention is immediately brought to the entrance of the room. She quickly looks around, hoping to spot something she can use to cover herself. A stack of books, a piece of mirror machinery, another stack of books, and a small cushion, devoid of blankets or coverings of any kind. There was nothing. A pony begins to round the corner as Sunset finds herself frozen in place, eyes locked on the doorway.

A lavender coated mare walks through, immediately spotting Sunset. Without any pause, she begins to speak.

"HI! You must be Sunset. I'm Starlight, Twilight told me you were coming. She's glad you decided to come to her coronation! I'm here to take you to… the…" Her voice trails off as she finally sees the feathery abnormalities attached to Sunset's sides. "Are those wings?"

"Yes." Sunset grimaces at how quickly she responded.

"Are they real?"

"Yep." No, you idiot! Why did I say that?

"Twilight said you were, uh, a unicorn."

"Yeah, so, about that. I didn't actually know I was an alicorn until I came through the portal and I was kinda freaking out over it. Pretty sure I still am."

Starlight, eyes still wide, slowly blinks, still trying to comprehend the situation. "Are you okay?"

Sunset opens her mouth to respond, pauses, thinks on it for a moment, and then speaks. "I think so? I'm not injured or anything like that, it's just kind of shocking, I guess?"

An uncomfortable silence hangs in the air between them. Neither can think of what to say, and for a couple moments, the anxiety in Sunset's chest grows and grows until it bursts out of her.

"I feel like you should be more surprised at this." For Celestia's sake, you did not just say that.

Starlight lightly shakes her head, and after seemingly regaining her composure, responds, "Maybe I just got used to it. I've only ever known Twilight as a princess, and I see her almost everyday. That, and being on speaking terms with Princess Cadence makes me more accustomed than most."

Sunset vaguely recalls Twilight mentioning the several times where she and her friends had to save Princess Cadence and the Empire she rules. It occurs to her that Starlight was one of the ponies that assisted during the last handful of disasters that struck Equestria. She's probably not an average pony.

An uncomfortable thought squeezes its way to the front of her mind.

"How would everypony else react to me being an alicorn?"

Starlight casts her eyes to the side in thought. "...Well, at the very least, it would interrupt the coronation, which is the entire reason you're here. I can't imagine everypony seeing a new princess seemingly appear from nowhere would make things go smoothly."

The color drains from Sunset's face, and her eyes dart here and there, slight panic beginning to take her. After a moment, though, a way out appears in her mind, and she rushes towards Starlight, suddenly pressing her front hooves against Starlight's shoulders.

"You need to help me hide my wings!" Sunset yells, inches away from Starlight's face. "I can't go out in public like this! I'm supposed to be here as a guest, not the next princess of Equestria!"

Starlight separates herself from Sunset and responds to her request, "Okay, I'm not saying I won't help, but is this really worth getting worked up over? I understand being surprised, but you look like you're about to implode from anxiety!"

Sunset starts to tap a hoof against the floor, nervous energy pouring out of her. "What do you think will happen if I just waltz through the streets of Canterlot, not even bothering to hide the fact I'm an alicorn? How fast would the news spread? I don't want to be a princess, I'm not cut out for it, not even a little bit! I didn't even want to come back here, but Twilight sounded like she would be sad if I didn't come, so I was just going to show up, compliment her fancy new crown or whatever, and then leave! I don't want all of this!"

While she catches a breath, Starlight speaks up. "Alright, alright, I get it. I'll help. Just, please calm down."

"Okay. Yeah, okay, I can do that." Sunset sighs, some of the tension leaving her body.

Starlight looks over Sunset's wings, the surprise not entirely gone. She looks back and forth between the wings and her face, her gaze not settling on either one.

"They don't look much bigger than Twilight's wings. Couldn't you cover them with a sheet, or a cloak? I bet that would do the job."

Sunset shakes her head in disagreement. "I don't know how to use these things yet, I'm pretty sure I'll end up twitching and shooting one of them out. I can't take that chance."

"Well, what can we do instead?"

Sunset ponders for a moment before looking back to Starlight. "You're a powerful unicorn, aren't you? You know lots of magic?"

Starlight sputters for a moment before properly speaking. "I, well, I-I wouldn't say I'm all that great. Twilight probably just said that to make me sound good."

Sunset squints her eyes. "I don't think Twilight would exaggerate somepony's abilities when it comes to magic. She talks about you more than you'd think."

Not that I remember much of that.

Starlight quickly trades a surprised expression for one of pleased contentment. "I suppose I know my way around a few powerful spells."

Heh. She kinda reminds me of Trixie.

A slight smile creeps into Sunset's words as she says, "Great! So, you should be able to make my wings disappear."

The momentary look of pride on Starlight's face falls away, and turns into one of contemplation. Her eyes look at nothing as she racks her brain for solutions to the problem that was just placed in front of her.

"I don't know if I can make them completely disappear, even for a few hours. I could definitely make them invisible, though. You'd still be able to feel them, and so would other ponies, but they'd be completely undetectable by eye. How does that sound?"

Sunset barely manages to keep her relief from being completely obvious. "I'll take it! Go ahead and cast the spell, I'm ready whenever!"

Without another word, Starlight takes a couple steps back, and her horn begins to glow a powerful light blue. She aims it at Sunset, and a bright beam shoots forth from it. The glow of her magic embraces Sunset, warping around her. For a moment, the space to her sides seems to bend inward, the light distorting. The moment passes, and sunset looks behind her to a seemingly smooth back, free of any additional appendages, feathery or otherwise.

Never thought I'd be so happy to see myself as an ordinary unicorn.

Her elation soon calms as she realizes she can still feel her wings, and even hear them as they settle back to her sides.

"You know, I really didn't think this was how this introduction was going to go."

Sunset turns back to Starlight, the latter still talking.

"Sure, I know Twilight tends to play up the best aspects of her friends, so I told myself I was just going to get rid of my expectations and see you as you were. Well, I, er, really wasn't expecting to see another alicorn. Guess I hadn't curbed all my expectations, huh?"

Sunset lets out a laugh, surprised at her behavior. "You know, from what Twilight told me, I thought you'd be more well spoken. Guess I thought wrong too!"

Starlight gapes her mouth for a second, but quickly covers it up with a fake insulted expression. "Why, I never! I can see Twilight never taught you proper manners, even with all those visits!"

"Heh. You're sounding like Rarity now."

With all the prissiness she can muster, Starlight asks, "Oh, am I?"

The two glance at each other before breaking into laughs, the chuckling fading away after only a few seconds.

Sunset looks at Starlight with amusement and asks, "How's that? Feel like a better introduction to you?"

Starlight looks back, a smile still on her face. "Much better."

The two ponies walk out of the castle and look out into the streets of Ponyville, the emptiness of it still somewhat off-putting. Wind skirts the open dirt roads, producing a sound like a whistle from far away. Starlight looks at Sunset next to her, the latter seemingly frozen in place. Only her eyes move, left to right, like she's scanning the horizon.

"What are you looking for?" asks Starlight.

Almost like she forgot Starlight was there, she snaps her head to face her. "Huh?"

"I know you haven't ever been to Ponyville, but it's not usually like this. Almost everypony has already left to attend Twilight's inauguration."

Sunset looks back out to the streets, her gaze falling on the houses and other structures that make up the town. "No, it's not that. It's just… strange to be back in Equestria. It's been a long time, but it also hasn't. Does that make sense?"

She looks back to Starlight, who responds, "I think so. I had to go back to my childhood home not so long ago, and that was really weird. I can't imagine it'll be any less weird for you to come back to Equestria, let alone Canterlot."

"Ah, yeah, that's… not something I'm really looking forward to, honestly. I probably would've stayed home if I thought Twilight didn't really want me there." she says through a frown.

Starlight turns her head to the side, stops, and quickly turns it back towards Sunset. "Well, maybe I can take your mind off of that for a few minutes. There's something we need to pick up while we're here before we leave for Canterlot."

She starts walking, and Sunset quickly follows her. "Where are we going?"

Starlight grins. "You'll see when we get there."

Sunset raises an eyebrow, but says nothing in protest. The two walk away from the castle, the sunlight that was blocked from its height now hitting them directly. Almost a minute passes by before Sunset spots another pony. She only sees a speck of movement for a moment before they walk behind a house and out of her sight.

It doesn't take long for them to reach their destination. Starlight brings Sunset to a place that looks unlike anything else that she had seen around.

"So, what are we here for?"

Starlight opens the door, her magic only covering the doorknob. She begins to walk in, and motions Sunset to do the same. She follows her, and takes in the sight. Mannequins, untidy piles of fabric, and several racks of clothing are scattered throughout the place. Realization comes to her soon.

"This is Rarity's boutique?" Sunset asks, almost in disbelief.

"That's right. We're here to pick up the dress she made for you, especially for this occasion!"

Sunset, still surprised at being in a place she had only heard Twilight talk about, nearly gapes at the revelation. "She made a dress for me? But, she… this Rarity doesn't even know me! Why would she?"

Starlight smirks. "Oh, It's not that complicated. Making a wonderful outfit for a good friend of Twilight's is as good of an excuse as any to put together a new dress. And besides, it's pretty generous. Wouldn't you say so?"

"I… guess you're right. That does sound like her. Just hadn't considered she would even think of me."

Satisfied with the surprise, Starlight turns and opens another door for herself. "Sounds like you're not giving her enough credit. I'll go fetch your dress and find something to put it in. You stay here and think about how incredibly thoughtful Rarity is. I'm sure that's what she'd want you to do."

She catches Sunset rolling her eyes before passing into another room and closing the door behind her. Vaguely aware of her limited time, she starts looking for where Rarity might have left the dress. Amidst the mess of fabrics and accessories she left in her efforts to complete everything before the departure, a single finished article is visible on a rack on the other side of the room. It's bright red color easily drawing her attention, Starlight walks over to it, careful not to step on anything on her way there.

She takes a moment to admire the small golden circles used to connect different parts of the dress together before looking away for something to put it away in. It takes her only a moment to spot an empty suitcase resting against a wall. She floats it over and lifts the dress, neatly folding it up with her magic. After the dress is situated in the suitcase, she closes it and begins to walk back to the main area of the boutique with Sunset.

The door swings open, and Starlight walks through to see Sunset sitting in the same place she left her. Starlight hums in thought as Sunset looks over to notice her.

"Got your dress! Rarity did a great job, as usual."

She hovers the luggage over to Sunset, who looks at it as Starlight releases her magic on it. It falls to the floor with a clack, prompting Sunset to attempt to pick it up with her hooves. After a few moments of fruitless struggle, she looks up to see Starlight pointing at her horn. She lets out a nervous laugh and covers the suitcase with her own magic, just barely redder than her blush of embarrassment.

An amused Starlight rolls her eyes. "Y'know, I kind of thought I'd catch you messing with your wings. Most ponies would be dying to try them out."

Sunset looks away from her, putting on a forced grin. "Heh, well, I've mostly been trying to forget that I've got them. Not being able to see them helps. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Oh, it was nothing. What are friends for?" says Starlight, now headed for the exit to the boutique. "Now, let's get to the train station before the conductor gets tired of waiting for us."

Sunset hums in response, and begins to follow her new friend out. Starlight takes a few steps outside before turning to see Sunset stopped after only a few paces, looking at the luggage that carries her new dress.

She raises an eyebrow and asks, "Um, is something the matter, Sunset?

Sunset continues to stare at the suitcase, as if she was peering directly inside. "Starlight?"

"Yes?"

A pause. "Rarity thinks I'm a unicorn, right?"

"Of course. You didn't even know you were an alicorn until you stepped through the portal!"

Another pause, before she looks back at Starlight. "So that means she made a dress for a unicorn."

"Yes? Why does that… matter… oh."

A look of realization appears on Starlight's face.

"Yeah."

"That might be a problem."

The two look at each other, then the luggage, then back at each other. Starlight speaks first.

"How about we think on how to deal with this after we get on the train?"

Sunset sighs in fake relief. "Phew. Putting off our problems until later? You're speaking my language, Starlight. I thought you were going to suggest something that a well adjusted pony might say. Had me worried for a second!"

Starlight snorts in amusement. "Don't get me wrong, I'm only saying that cause I'm worried about missing the train."

"Yeah, sure." says Sunset, now finally emerging from the boutique.

"It's true! We might be left behind if we wait around too long!"

Closing the door behind her, luggage carried by magic, Sunset joins Starlight in her short trek to the station.

"I believe you, I believe you. Don't have to convince me anymore than you already have."

"It sounds like you're only saying that to shut me up."

"Whaaat, I wouldn't do that! Would I do that, Starlight?"

A grin reaches Starlight's lips. "A few minutes ago, I would've said no, but now I'm not so sure."

A gasp of mock offence. "Starlight! And here I thought we were friends!"

Starlight breaks into laughter, and Sunset soon follows her. The sound breaks the quiet around them, filling the air with a warm glow, even if only the two of them can feel it.

The dull repetition of wheels clacking against rails is beginning to irritate Sunset. It's barely been fifteen minutes since they sat down in the otherwise empty train, but she can barely keep herself from nervously pressing her hoof against the cushion she's sitting on.

She's always been one to fidget, and a body with hands only enabled her further. Tapping fingers against a desk, repeatedly clicking a pen open and closed, and digging her nails into her palm were all options she had gotten physically used to. Incapable of doing any of them now has rendered her without an adequate way to expel the nervous energy that's been building up.

I guess having fingers is something I took for granted. Opposable thumbs, too.

A glance at Starlight, who is seated closest to the window, reveals she's staring through the glass, the mountain city of Canterlot just barely visible in the distance. After a moment, Starlight looks back at Sunset through the reflection, their eyes meeting. Sunset quickly turns her head away, the connection breaking off as soon as it began.

Did I seriously just do that? Could I be any more obvious?

She can hear Starlight adjusting herself in her seat, and after a moment with no response from her, Sunset relaxes her tensed muscles, grateful that she's not asking her about what just happened.

She's probably just being polite, there's no way she didn't see me staring at her like a weirdo. I'm barely keeping it together when I'm around this one pony, how am I going to deal with the crowds? On top of that, how in the world am I going to get out of talking to Celestia?

Tap.

Oh, and I just forgot about that, too! Great job Sunset, now you're back to square one. There's going to be a whole spectacle of her and Luna giving their authority to Twilight, there's no way I can avoid her!

Tap tap.

Maybe she'll be too distracted with everything else to look for me? Better yet, maybe she's so busy that she forgets I'm coming? No, there's no way. Twilight even said she was looking forward to it. She'll probably make time for me afterwards, if she hasn't already.

Tap tap tap.

How am I going to hide my wings when she finds me? Is that even possible? I'm so out of practice, I wouldn't even be able to tell if she secretly casted some detection spell on me when I wasn't paying attention.

Tap tap tap tap.

What if she reveals to everyone that I became an alicorn? They'll want to know why I kept it secret. What if they don't believe me? What if I have to stay as a princess? What if I can't go back through the mirror? What if I never get to see my friends again??

Tap tap tap tap tap tap-

"Sunset!"

"Ah!" she exclaims as she's taken out of her mental daze. "What is it?"

Starlight motions to Sunset's hooves, the front two of which are pressed together. "You were tapping your hooves together. They're louder than you think."

"Oh, I, uh," stammers Sunset, moving them back down to rest on the cushion. "Sorry. Nervous habit. Or, it used to be. I forgot it was something I do."

Starlight sighs, "It's fine. I'm more concerned with what you're so nervous about."

"It's just," she starts, "I know I was made an alicorn for a reason, and I want to be ready for whatever is going to come from that. I guess knowing that is making me feel like I can never really relax and let my guard down. So, I end up obsessing about it and can't get out of my own head!"

"Hm. That is a toughie…" Starlight responds, pondering her words. "Guess my advice would be to just trust things will work themselves out in the end. If you spend too much time worrying about the bad things that might happen, you'll miss out on all the good things that are happening."

Sunset slouches forward in her seat, a smile creeping onto her face. "Heh. Like how Princess Twilight's student is teaching me a lesson right now?"

"Yep! Like that." she says, a self assured grin making its way into her voice.

Before either can say something more, the sound of the train slowing against the rails whines throughout the cabin, and Sunset’s stomach lurches forward for just a second as the train comes to a halt.

Starlight looks out the window and exclaims, "Looks like we're here!" before standing up and motioning for Sunset to do the same.

She looks through the window as well, taking in the sights of the city. The tops of buildings in the distance, decadent and beautiful, are almost exactly as she remembered them being. And there, up against the sky, is the castle. She tries to peel her eyes away from it, but something odd sticks out to her. A faint plumage of gray, reaching into the clouds.

Is that… smoke?

"You coming?"

Sunset turns to Starlight, who is already by the exit, and leaves her seat, quickly catching up to her.

"Yeah, sorry. Was just, ah, wondering what to do about the dress."

Starlight playfully rolls her eyes, and turns to depart the train. The doors open, allowing the pair to exit. The two step onto the platform and are immediately hit with a barrage of strangers, all clamoring to get onto the train they just left. Being pushed aside, Sunset is able to make out some of the voices from those trying to get past her.

"Get us out of here!" "Out of my way-" "The city is under attack!" "I told you we should have stayed home-" "They're back!" "Let us on!"

She manages to break free from the pack, and looks around for Starlight. She, too, emerges from the crowd, and they look back to see what seems like dozens of ponies all trying to leave, fast.

"Starlight! Over here!"

Looking to the voice that called her, Starlight pairs up with Sunset once more, an expression of confusion on her face. She opens her mouth to speak, but instead looks at something past Sunset, above her. Sunset turns to see what she sees: a bright orange and yellow beam of magic shooting into the sky, at the other side of the city. The beam fades, and another goes off, piercing the clouds it passes through.

The two turn away to face each other again, and after a moment, Sunset finds the words to say.

"Guess we can put off the dress a little while longer?"

2.Volunteered (Whether You Want To Be Or Not)

The city is in chaos. Starlight runs in the direction of the castle, with Sunset following right behind her. Amidst the panicking residents, abandoned carriages, and stray guards fruitlessly attempting to calm the crowds, her destination seems very far away.

An earth pony runs into Starlight, nearly knocking her over, and continues past her without even noticing the impact. She stumbles, but a quick hoof from Sunset to support her prevents her from falling over.

"Are you okay?" asks Sunset, looking out at their surroundings for any more possible obstacles.

"Uh-huh." Starlight grunts in response, shaking off the hit.

"Are you sure? That stallion was going pretty fast-"

"I'll be fine," insists Starlight, already beginning to move towards the castle again. "I'm not going to let something like that stop me when everypony might need our help."

Sunset continues after her, the fear of being left behind stronger than her uncertainty. In the distance, the castle looms, and the plume of smoke she saw earlier continues to rise into the sky. Their hooves stomp against the ground, masked by the panicked clamoring of ponies all around them.

Starlight moves a few paces right, avoiding a fancy carriage with a broken front wheel. Her eyes shoot back and forth between the space in front of her and her destination, which seems to not be getting any closer, despite how fast she runs.

How long is it going to take us to run all the way to the castle in this mess? Ten minutes? Twenty? Half an hour? How bad could things get while I'm not there? Can I afford to leave things be for that long?

A split-second dodge to the left from a speeding unicorn shrieking their lungs out tells her all she needs to know. Without stopping, she turns back to Sunset, still just a few paces behind her.

"Sunset!" she shouts, "Can you teleport?"

A surprised Sunset replies immediately, "I used to, but now I have no idea! Why?"

Starlight stops in her tracks, leaving Sunset to slowly skid to a stop a couple spaces ahead of her. She turns and moves back to Starlight, expecting an explanation to her question.

"We don't have any time to waste. Do you think you can teleport to the castle?"

Sunset's eyes expand, and she looks side to side, her front teeth beginning to chew on her bottom lip. She nervously scratches the back of her ear with her hoof and speaks, just loud enough for Starlight to hear her over the background noise.

"Maybe, but I'm so out of practice, I might end up somewhere completely out of the way, or high up in the air! Do you think we have to?"

Starlight nods, and looks into Sunset's eyes as she says, "It'll take a bit out of me, but I know I can do it. But, I don't want to leave you behind, either. If you really don't think you can do it, then I can teleport us both, but it'll really tire me out. Moving both of us that distance will mean I can't do much when I get there. So, I need to know if you're willing to try to make it."

Sunset looks into her gaze, a feeling of certainty emanating back at her. It settles her nerves just enough for her to respond, "I don't know if I can do it, but I'll try."

Starlight exhales, steps back, and straightens her back, still looking at Sunset. "Then let's not waste any more time. I'll see you there."

Sunset nods at her, and after a moment to close her eyes, Starlight tries to drown out the sounds of the ponies around her. Blocking out the hooves pounding against pavement, the commands barked by a nearby royal guard, and the clack of wooden wheels of a distant carriage.

Envisioning the entrance to the castle in her mind, Starlight channels her magic, feeling it pulse in her horn. She sees her hooves against the ground there, the etching of markings on the doors, and the grand height of the castle that almost stretches into the sky. Her own magic envelops her body, and her gut is twisted as she's moved through space.

The sounds around her shift, and she opens her eyes as the feeling in her stomach leaves as quick as it came. In front of her is the gate, just as she saw it in her head, albeit with the huge doors opened instead of closed, each with several holes blown through them. Two unicorn guards, each one either side of the entrance, quickly ready their weapons and point them at Starlight.

"Identify yourself!"

Starlight backs up a step, and slowly says, "Starlight Glimmer, of course. I've been in and out of here all this morning! What's all this about?"

The two guards look at each other, and put away their weapons at the same time. The one on the right turns back to Starlight, and his words freeze her in place.

"We apologize, ma'am. We had to make sure you weren't Chrysalis in disguise."

"You - what? How-"

Before she can finish her question, a pop behind her causes Starlight to turn her head. A red magical aura fades five feet in the air, and a surprised Sunset Shimmer falls sideways onto the hard stone below.

"Ow!"

Another groan escapes Sunset as she tries to bring herself back to her hooves. Not bothering to turn back to the guards, Starlight gallops over, immediately giving Sunset support as soon as she reaches her side. It takes Sunset a moment to stand back up, her expression looking dazed.

"I'm okay, I think! Forgot how hard teleporting is." she says, the weight on her left side supported by Starlight. "What do we do now?"

Starlight looks back to the pair of guards and proclaims, "We're here to help. Where are the princesses?"

The two take steps away from the doors, and point their hooves inside. Taking that as permission to enter, Starlight, still supporting Sunset, begins to guide her to the entrance of the castle.

After only a moment, Sunset lightly shakes her off. "I'm good now; thanks for the help. Now, let's find Twilight and figure out what's going on!"

Starlight nods, and the two of them gallop inside without any hesitation. The doors pass them by, and the interior of the castle greets them. It seems almost untouched by the disorder outside, with only a few blast marks made from magic here and there. All the fanciful decorations for the coronation still adorn the pillars and walls, somehow spared from the conflict. Bits of purple, gold, and silver are sprinkled across vast swaths of white and red, making the castle interior look even more decadent than it usually does.

Royal guards are scattered around, giving them a glance and nothing more before resuming their duties, though Starlight can't spare a thought to what those might entail. Her thoughts are occupied by questions, assumptions, and dread for what the guard earlier said to her.

There hasn't been a huge fight here, or at least not a massively destructive one. Hopefully that means no pony was attacked. Oh, I'm not kidding myself, those beams we saw from when we got here were huge! If they were from who I think they're from…

Looking ahead at the split path before them, Starlight realizes she needs to make a decision. Left, towards the throne room, or right, towards the great event hall? It only takes a moment of deliberation to decide.

"Follow me!"

After going up the stairs as fast as she allows herself, she banks left, taking the path to the throne room, hoping to find her friends there. A quick glance behind her reveals that Sunset is still right on her tail, and with that confirmation, she redoubles her efforts, galloping even faster.

The two make it to the long, wide hallway that separates the entrance hall from the throne room. The bold red carpet softens their hooves against the floor, but their running doesn't slow down from it. Ahead, the doors are closed, and another pair of guards remain in front of them. Seeing the pair of unicorns approach, they begin to open the doors, which Starlight mentally thanks them for.

They rush inside, only slowing down when they see the ponies they came here for. Not so far away is Twilight Sparkle, head adorned with a crown, and hooves covered in gold. Behind her, Celestia and Luna face each other, though the noise of the doors and the sound of hooves against marble makes them turn to Starlight, as well as the apparent unicorn behind her. Next to Twilight are the other five Elements of Harmony, who notice the new arrivals as well.

Thank Celestia they're okay!

The first to announce their presence is Pinkie Pie, with a resounding celebratory squeal that bounces all around the room.

"They're heeeee-rrrrrre! We thought you two were gonna miss out on all the festivities, but instead you just missed out on all the other crazy stuff that happened!

The others now noticing their arrival, Twilight smiles in relief and turns to greet them. "Starlight! Sunset! You made it, and you're both okay!"

As she approaches Twilight and the others, Starlight asks the question that's been on her mind since she arrived. "What's going on? The whole city is in a panic, and it looks like something awful happened while I was away!"

Luna steps forward and speaks to the two directly. "We know not the exact cause, but the three villains that my sister and I, with the aid of Discord, turned to stone, have been freed!"

Starlight gasps, and the mare beside her grimaces. Sunset, half out of genuine want to know and half in a bid to not have to look at Celestia, turns to Twilight for answers.

"Do we know what set them free? Anything that can tell us how this happened?"

Twilight shakes her head, a frown present on her face. "We don't, and the only thing we have as a lead is a sudden surge of magical energy we detected from Ponyville. It occurred right around the time Starlight should have arrived there to pick you up. Was there anything strange the two of you noticed after Sunset arrived?"

Starlight and Sunset turn to look at each other, both of their faces in a frown. Starlight sighs.

This is what I get for hoping for a break.

Sunset doesn't think she can get more stressed out than she currently is. Her legs are locked in place and her muscles are as taut as a rope being pulled from both ends. On top of her secret alicornhood, she's nearly face to face with Celestia, who she's trying very hard not to look at, not even a little bit. Oh, and her ascension may have freed a trio of villains she barely knows anything about.

Why does everything have to happen at once? Why can't I just deal with one problem at a time like everypony else??

As if on cue, Twilight starts to ask Sunset a question, causing her head to turn towards her as fast as physically possible.

"You're sure you don't know anything about the strange magic we detected? You two were the closest ones to its source when it happened."

Immediately, Sunset replies, "Nope! Don't know a thing about any of this, Twilight. Right, Starlight?"

Starlight turns to Sunset, her expression betraying her surprise.

Come on, Starlight! Back me up here!

After a second of thought, Starlight says, "Right! Right, we don't have a clue about whatever magic happened. Nothing at all!"

Immediately picking up from Starlight's statement, Sunset continues, "All that happened was this: I came out of the mirror, Starlight showed up, we went to Rarity's boutique to pick up my dress, boarded the train, and arrived to the city like-"

"Sorry darling," Rarity chimes in, "but did you manage to bring it with you? I'd hate for you to lose it in all this mess!"

Somewhat taken aback by the unexpected question, Sunset slowly replies with "...I think I left it on the train?"

"Oh, well that's-"

She's cut off by Applejack, who covers Rarity's mouth with her hoof.

"We ain't exactly got time for that, Rarity! There's bigger issues than one a' yer dresses goin' missing!"

She glares at Applejack and lowers her raised hoof, but doesn't say anything else. Attention falls back to Sunset, who concludes her previous statement of obliviousness.

"Yeah, basically, we don't know either."

Real convincing, Sunset!

Despite the uncertain tone of her voice, it seems to have convinced the others. Rainbow Dash looks annoyed, and Fluttershy seems to curl inwards just slightly more than she already was. Twilight looks back and forth between Starlight and Sunset before turning back to the rest of the group.

Eager to shift the focus onto something less incriminating, Sunset opens her mouth to speak. Starlight, however, beats her to it, already beginning an inquiry.

"So, I'd like to help, and I'm sure Sunset does too, but we still don't know what the plan of action is here. What are we doing to deal with the villains? Surely just standing around isn't going to fix everything?"

A quick "That's what I'm saying!" from Rainbow Dash is hushed by Applejack, and Celestia steps forward to answer her.

Oh no, it's her, she's here, she's talking, she can see me, please don't look at me-

"You are correct, Starlight Glimmer. Nothing will be solved if we do not act - thus, Twilight has, with the aid of my sister and I, crafted a plan to deal with two of the three villains."

Her voice isn't any louder than Luna's, but to Sunset, it booms with an authority that shakes the very ground she stands on. It takes all of her willpower to look directly at her former teacher, but even so, she can't manage to look into her eyes.

Celestia continues, "Tirek is the only one of the three we know the current location of, and he is also our biggest threat. Every moment he rampages through Canterlot is a moment he grows stronger. Neither Luna nor I am able to directly face him, and as it stands, the Elements of Harmony, in whatever capacity they exist within their six holders, are still the only things that can defeat him directly."

Well, there's nothing I can do about that.

Sunset quickly glances at Twilight, who is in rapt attention despite already knowing everything her mentor is saying. The urge to snort in amusement is quashed by the overpowering need to not draw Celestia's attention.

"We do not know the location of either the changeling queen Chrysalis, nor the pegasus Cozy Glow, but we have a measure to find one of them. As soon as she broke free, Chrysalis disguised herself, and we lost her soon after. However-"

Her horn dimly glows a brilliant gold as she brings something to the center of their group: a small stone, barely bigger than an eye, with some of its edges chipped.

"With this remaining piece of the statue she became, we've been able to put together a tracking spell of sorts that should lead any unicorn directly to her. They must simply supply the stone with magic, and they'll see what direction Chrysalis is from their current location."

This sounds more doable.

"However," she continues, "in our haste to put this spell together, we cut corners, and a limitation was necessary. Once the stone from the statue is paired with a unicorn, they'll be the only ones able to use it. So, whoever claims the stone must follow through and aid the search for Chrysalis until her capture."

Okay Sunset, this is your chance to get out of here, make up for your mistake, and go home. You need this.

I need this.

"I'll do it!"

"You will?" asks Starlight, face scrunched in confusion.

Everypony then turns to look at Sunset, and she tries to put the knowledge that Celestia is one of them as far out of her mind as possible. Despite the eyes she feels boring into her, her next words are spoken with confidence.

"And Starlight will come too!"

Starlight's eyes bulge out of her head, and only a single phrase escapes her mouth to convey her shock.

"I will?!"

Luna steps forward and speaks to Sunset directly, the tone of her voice inquisitive, but free of suspicion.

"Are you certain, Sunset Shimmer? I know you were a powerful unicorn, but much time has passed since you last practiced magic."

Confidence, Sunset. Confidence.

"I'm positive. I know we can-"

Her assertion is cut short by Starlight moving right up to her, and in a voice sharper than Sunset remembers her having, Starlight says, "Sunset, do you mind if we speak in private for a moment?"

Before she can answer, the mare wraps her foreleg around Sunset's neck and practically drags her away from the other ponies. After they get out of earshot, she removes her leg and puts it back on the ground, her agitation clear.

In a quiet but angry hiss, Starlight asks "Are you out of your mind? We only just got here, and you want to go off and fight the queen of the changelings?!"

"What else did you want me to do? I only have so many options here!"

Starlight rolls her eyes. "Oh, and your best one involves making me go along with whatever crazy plan you come up with, no matter how dangerous? Chrysalis hates me, you know! Once she realizes I'm after her, she won't let me out of her sight!"

Without missing a beat, Sunset replies, "Oh, that's great! We can totally use that to our advantage!"

Starlight groans in response, hanging her head low for a few seconds. Bringing it back up, her expression looks more inquisitive than agitated.

"No offence Sunset, but I've known you for all of two hours. What makes you think I'd be okay to go off on a changeling hunting mission with you?"

Sunset begins to tap a hoof to the ground, the noise it creates not reaching her ears.

"I thought you said we were friends! Isn't this the kind of thing friends do for each other?"

Frustration biting at her, she responds, "Yes, I did, and we are, but this and that are different things! Most friends don't willingly endanger themselves by trying to defeat villains with each other on a whim!"

"Really? I do this kind of thing with my friends all the time." replies Sunset, face neutral.

Starlight stares at her, saying nothing. After a moment, Sunset scratches behind her ear with her hoof, looking away from Starlight's stare.

"Ok, yeah, I see your point."

She looks back as Starlight, her stare remaining unbroken. A few seconds pass, and Starlight breaks it off, eyes darting this way and that, gears visibly turning in her head. A sigh escapes her, and she looks back.

"Look, Sunset, just why did you think I would go along with this, no questions asked?"

Sunset casts her gaze downwards, sheepishly muttering "Well, you said you wanted to help…"

"I-" Starlight starts, pausing herself. "I guess I did say that, didn't I?"

She turns her head towards the other eight ponies, all waiting for them to finish. Twilight notices, and turns to wave her hoof at Starlight, who smiles in return.

Turning back, she asks, "Were you going to do this regardless if I came with you or not?"

After a few seconds, Sunset replies, "...Probably? I guess I was just 'trusting things would work out', as one pony put it."

Sunset looks back up, eyes hopeful. Starlight sighs, cocks her head to the side, and, after a moment of thought, the expression on her face softens, her eyes betraying her resignation.

"Fine. You got me! I'll go along with your featherbrained plan. Just let me take care of this kind of thing from here on out, alright?"

A grin immediately spreads to Sunset's lips, her joy obvious.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! I'll make sure you won't regret this!"

Starlight scoffs, a smirk now present on her face as well.

"Pff. Yeah, I'm sure you will."

The two turn to walk back to the others, who start to notice their return. Unable to contain her excitement, Sunset yells out, her elation clear to everyone.

"She said yes!"

Pinkie Pie pops out from behind Luna and asks, "Ooh! Are you two getting married?"

Starlight plants a hoof against her face.

Twilight takes a deep breath, the look on her face determined.

"So we're all clear on the plan, then? Me and the other Elements of Harmony go after Tirek to take him down with the magic of friendship, Starlight and Sunset track down Chrysalis and defeat her with their magic, while Princess Celestia and Princess Luna take care of things here in Canterlot to prevent things from getting worse. Everypony got it?"

"Er, one last thing, Twilight dear-" says Rarity, "What about the other one, that Cozy Glow? Were we simply putting her off?"

Twilight nods. "On her own, she won't be able to last long, especially if we deal with the other two before she can get to them. We can think about her after Tirek and Chrysalis are dealt with."

Rainbow Dash hovers over from one to the other, excess energy moving her around. "Yeah, she's for later, but we've got butt to kick now! What are we waiting around for? Let's get going already!"

The other nine ponies present all nod in affirmation, with varying levels of energy. The group of six consisting of the Elements gather together and move towards the exit, their hooves stampeding against the ornate marble floor. In just a few short moments, they're gone, the sounds of their movement already fading in the distance.

Wasting no time, Starlight nudges Sunset, dragging her gaze away from the doorway those six just went through. She points her eyes to the stone, trying to remind Sunset of what they need to start their mission.

Come on Sunset, don't tell me you forgot we needed that already?

Luckily, her efforts were not for nothing, and Sunset focuses her attention on the stone. Luna and Celestia seem to pick up on this, and each steps forward, an equal distance away from the stone as Sunset.

Luna turns her gaze towards Sunset, her voice calm but assertive. "Are you prepared for the spell, Sunset? Remember, once the stone is paired to you, none other than you may use it. You are certain this is what you want?"

Sunset turns to Starlight, who backs up a few paces, shaking her head.

This one's all you, Sunset.

She bites her lip, and turns back to the two princesses. After sharply inhaling, she declares, "I'm ready when you are."

The horns of the princesses glow, a deep blue and bright gold, and the stone begins to float in between them, an equal distance away from all three. Two thin beams of magic emerge from the sisters' horns and merge at the stone, enveloping it. The blue and gold merge, melding and separating as they shift around each other, before firing out from a single point.

The beam, now a synthesis of color, hits Sunset directly on her horn, the force of the magic almost pushing her back. She pushes her hooves into the ground as the magic completely covers her horn. After only a couple seconds, it ends, and the magic ceases, leaving behind an orange static around the stone. Sunset's eyelids flutter before opening completely.

Wordlessly, she levitates the stone with her own magic, and with nothing more than that, a transparent red arrow emerges from the stone, pointing left from Starlight's perspective.

Luna breaks the silence. "Seems Chrysalis is headed northwest. Perhaps she aims to return to her hive, though it has not been hers for some time. You two now know where you must go."

As if there was never any doubt, Sunset nods, and brings the stone close to her, the arrow from it disappearing. She glances at Starlight before quickly turning towards the exit, already beginning to make her leave.

You're that ready to get out of here, huh?

Before following after her, Starlight turns to the princesses.

May as well be polite while they're still in charge.

"Thank you for your help, princesses. We won't let you down."

Without waiting for a response, she turns her back as well, a slight skip in her step as she tries to catch up to Sunset. She's faster than she looks, Starlight notes to herself.

Celestia calls out to them, her voice stopping the two in their tracks.

"Good luck, you two. I have faith in the both of you."

Starlight glances back, smiles, and nods, satisfied with the orderly fashion they managed to execute that order of events in.

That was very tidy, all things considered.

"And, Sunset?"

Or not.

Celestia calls out to them again, her tone slightly different in some way. Sunset freezes in place, her invisible wings stiffening, and after a second, cranes her head around to look at her former mentor.

Their eyes meet. A gentle smile spreads across Celestia's face, her gaze softer than Sunset ever remembers it being.

"It's good to see you again."

Sunset smiles back, just for a moment. Starlight sees her turn around, facing straight ahead, and matches her pace as she runs to the exit, away from the princess of the sun.

3.Assistance (Whether You Want It Or Not)

The doors of the castle thud as they close. Starlight recalls that they always sound like that, but for some reason, the noise feels different this time. Shaking the thought off, she looks to Sunset, standing beside her. The orange mare has the tracking stone in her hoof, her head tilted down to look at it.

As the two walk away from the castle, Starlight can't help but feel that the tension Sunset had earlier has somehow transferred over to her. Now that she's outside, the whole of their mission feels much larger than it did when it was just something they were talking about. It was some goal to be accomplished later, rather than the reality she now had to deal with.

The urge to sigh arises, but she squashes it down, replacing it with a desire to prepare for the task ahead.

There's no use in thinking about how much I don't want to do this. It needs to happen, and I'm one of the ponies that's going to make it happen. That's all there is to it. No overthinking this!

Her mind made up for the time being, she turns to Sunset, intent on creating a plan. After a second, she notices the attention, and puts away the stone, presumably tucking it in one of her invisible wings.

"So, what's on the agenda? What's the first step in your master plan to make us heroes?"

Starlight squints her eyes. "Please don't tell me that was your motivation for taking this up."

Sunset tilts her head up. "No, that was a joke. Seriously, though, it can't be that hard to deal with one bad guy on their own. Just blast some magic at them, and we're done!"

How I wish that were true.

"Magic won't just instantly solve all our problems. Believe me, I'd know better than most. I doubt we're going to get anything better than that tracking spell, anyways. No, we need supplies for the journey, first and foremost."

Puzzled, Sunset raises an eyebrow. The two continue to talk while they gradually walk away from the castle gates and into the city.

"Supplies for the journey? You make it sound like we're going to be searching for Chrysalis for days!"

"Well, we very well might be." Starlight replies matter-of-factly. "Think about it. Chrysalis slipped away within minutes of becoming free. If she headed directly for a way out of the city, she may already have escaped Canterlot. If she has, then we need to be ready for the time we'll spend on the road."

Sunset looks like she just swallowed a frog. "I, um, didn't think about that."

Starlight glances at her in disapproval. "Well, that's why I'm here. To think about these things, and plan ahead. You're welcome in advance."

Sunset opens her mouth to speak, shoulders hunched, before her energy slowly leaves her. She looks down and mumbles, the words escaping her lips indistinct. After a few seconds, she looks away from Starlight and speaks clearly.

"...Thanks."

Starlight cocks her head. "Thanks? For what?"

"For, I don't know, going along with my nonsense. You didn't have to keep my wings a secret. I wouldn't have blamed you if you told everypony."

Starlight huffs, a small laugh escaping her. "Oh, that? Don't worry about it. I wouldn't do that, especially when you made it so clear why you didn't want anypony to know. You were nervous, sure, but I could tell you really didn't want to mess things up for Twilight."

Their hooves move against the ground, buildings of businesses and high end restaurants coming into view.

"Well…yeah," Sunset says, voice dropping in energy. "She's the whole reason I'm here, after all. In more ways than one."

Starlight looks around, moving her attention from one place to the next, trying to ignore the residual chaos still present. "Well, that's at least one thing we have in common."

Sunset turns her head back towards her companion. "It is? What do you mean by-"

"Oh, here we go!" says Starlight, abruptly cutting her off.

She points to what appears to be a clothing shop, with mannequins displayed in windows out front. Just like all the other places around, it looks far more high-end than the usual places Starlight shops at.

"Just what I was looking for. We need saddlebags for the road, so hopefully we can find some here. And, also, someone to sell them to us. Maybe we'll get lucky."

Sunset looks to the shop, then back at Starlight. "Are you sure we'll find saddlebags here? I kinda doubt there'd be anything actually, well, useful at someplace like this. Besides, this place looks really expensive!"

Starlight waves off her concerns. "Oh, the cost won't be a problem. Sure, it'll be a bit pricey, but I have enough saved up for-"

She cuts herself off, a single realization stopping her train of thought.

I don't have any bits on me.

She turns to Sunset, who looks back at her, confused and expectant. Thoughts begin to whirl in Starlight's mind as possible solutions to their new problem all crop up. None of them seem very practical, and the ones that are aren't what she would describe as "legal".

"So, I just realized something."

"What's that?" Sunset asks flatly.

"I don't have any bits on me."

"Oh. That's a problem."

"Yes, it is." says Starlight, unable to look Sunset in the eye.

A smirk arises on Sunset's face. "I guess 'thinking about these things' and 'planning ahead' didn't last very long, huh?"

Starlight groans.

"That was, what, two minutes? Three? Good streak."

"Sunset." exhales Starlight, already exasperated with the verbal jabs.

"Maybe next time you'll make it to five!"

"Sunset!"

"Whaaat?" asks Sunset, still smiling. "I'm just keeping you humble!"

Starlight huffs. "Are you even taking this seriously?"

Sunset puts a hoof to her chest and proclaims, "I am taking our mission to find and capture Chrysalis, the former changeling queen, one-hundred percent seriously. I am not, however-"

She pokes Starlight's chest with the same hoof.

"-taking you completely seriously."

Starlight squints her eyes and leans her head forwards, an edge creeping into her voice. "What is thatsupposed to mean?"

"It means," replies Sunset, "that if I have to be completely serious for several days straight, I'm gonna go crazy. Just let me have this."

Starlight closes her eyes. Another sigh of resignation.

I've been doing that a lot today.

"Sure. Fine. Just, don't lay it on too thick, alright?"

Sunset, looking satisfied with herself, places her hoof against her chest once more.

"I promise I won't make fun of you too hard."

Starlight rolls her eyes, resignation turning into acceptance. The moment passes, and the scenery comes back into view. Despite being this close to the castle, things are relatively hectic.

Even if I did have any bits, I doubt I could find anypony to sell me anything. They're all probably hiding or trying to leave the city in panic.

Sunset interrupts her thoughts. "So, what are we going to do now?"

Starlight ponders her question. "Well, I guess we could just borrow from Celes-"

A loud pop hits their eardrums, and a white flash of smoke appears from nothing in front of them. A figure emerges from it, taller than both ponies stacked on top of each other. Two different horns, and limbs of all kinds. A rapturous voice cuts through the air.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

Sunset's mouth drops. Starlight holds in another massive sigh, choosing instead to exhale through her nose.

I really do not need this right now.

"Discord?" she asks pensively, already expecting the unexpected. "What are you doing here?"

His fingers snap, and a large "#1 HARMONY FAN" foam finger appears on Discord's right hand. A hat with Twilight's face on it also appears on his head, a fake purple horn sticking out of it.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here for the coronation! My good friend, Twilight Sparkle, is becoming a queen! How exciting!"

Starlight raises an eyebrow. "A queen? Since when? Her title isn't changing, she's just… getting a new job."

Discord snorts in disagreement. "Oh, they can call her whatever they like, I know the truth."

"And what's the truth?" asks Starlight, already somewhat used to this kind of conversation.

"That she's becoming a queen! Really, Starlight, were you listening to anything I just said?"

I have to speed this up.

"Uh-huh. So, why are you here? And by 'here' I mean directly in front of us, and not literally anywhere else in the city?"

His ever-present grin seems to stretch just a bit wider at that question.

"Oh, you're no fun! But fine, if you must know, a little birdy told me all about the princesses' plan to deal with those three loose troublemakers."

Another snap of his fingers, and Discord disappears, only to reappear as a small brown bird with his same horns, now perched on Starlight's left shoulder.

"It was just so sickeningly sweet watching those prim and proper princesses worry themselves to tatters over the two of you! It was almost enough to drive me to tears. Tears, I say!"

Despite the size, his voice is unaltered, and just as loud.

"The little birdy was me, by the way. I bet you didn't even notice I was there!"

From behind Starlight, a full size Discord reaches his claw over and plucks his bird-self from its perch. The two ponies turn to see him chucking the thing in his mouth, and swallowing it whole. Without any pause, he continues his lengthy explanation.

"So, I thought, why not see off my other good friend Starlight Glimmer and find out what kind of pony she's trusting her back with? I can't just let her get suckered in by the allure of a brand new friendship!"

His grin is now so wide it seems like it'll break the edges of his face any second.

"So, imagine my surprise when I happen to overhear that this fiery young unicorn is sporting a pair of wings!"

That seems to shake Sunset out of her stupor. Her eyes focus on the draconequus, anger beginning to show on her face.

"Not only that," Discord continues, "but this is a secret, one kept by Starlight herself! What a fantastic turn of events!"

Sunset raises a hoof. "You-"

Before she can utter another word, Discord's claw stretches over to her and snatches the mouth off of her face. A low pitched mumble is heard from her, and upon her realization, she becomes even angrier. Discord nonchalantly throws the stolen mouth somewhere behind him, quickly resuming.

"Now, I know you're probably frustrated, but believe me when I say that I was only eavesdropping out of concern for my friend! What a relief it is, that if things go south, she has a lovely little piece of blackmail she can use to keep you in line. I couldn't be more relieved!"

Struggling to keep up, Starlight stammers out a question.

"Sooo, you uh, don't have any problems with us going on this dangerous mission together?"

Discord sports a fake surprised expression. "Any problems? None at all! In fact-"

He lowers himself down to Sunset's level and pinches her cheeks, mouth still missing between them. She looks equally as confused as she does furious.

"I'm grateful! Adding a new alicorn to the mix, right as Twilight ascends the throne? Oh, think of the drama! The rumors! The - dare I say it? - chaos!"

Sunset shakes off Discord's cheek pinching, and rubs one side of her face, glaring at him.

Undeterred, his speech goes on. "Not the bad kind of chaos, mind you, like the kind Tirek is creating right now. No, the fun kind of chaos! The kind I can enjoy without having to even lift a finger! What a gift you've given me!"

He pauses, and lifts his chin up. A thin smile of satisfaction crosses his lips, and he looks down at Starlight and Sunset.

"It's only right that I return the favor."

He snaps his fingers, and an avalanche of stuff piles onto the two unsuspecting mares. Something sharp pokes Starlight's left side, and she's pretty sure she just crushed something with her right hoof. Quickly emerging out from underneath the newly formed piles, Starlight looks around to see Sunset doing the same. Her mouth is now back on her face, showing a frown of indignation.

Examining the things Starlight now finds herself sitting on, she finds several items she was planning to get for the journey. Tents, packaged food, canteens, bandages, and other assorted goods that would prove useful on a trek through wilderness, or at least a long camping trip.

A glance at Discord shows that he was simply waiting for them to get their bearings, as he breathes in to speak once more.

"Oh, I suppose this is all going to be a bit too much to carry, isn't it? No matter!"

He snaps once again, and Starlight finds herself standing right next to Sunset, saddlebags on both their backs. Turning her head to look closer at them shows that her saddlebags have her cutie mark as the latches, just as Sunset's saddlebags have her own.

"It's all in there, I promise!" he remarks, pointing a claw in the air. "Packed away as tight as can be. You have my quality guarantee!"

Attempting to take things in stride, Starlight turns to him. "This is all pretty sudden, but I'm sure this will come in handy. Right, Sunset?"

"Wha?" Sunset says, just barely keeping herself coherent.

Come on, keep up!

"I said, this will all be very useful, and we should be grateful to Discord for understanding our situation. Right, Sunset?"

Understanding dawns on her, and she immediately replies. "Y-yes! This is all super great. Thank you, I guess?"

Discord eyes her suspiciously for a moment before his usual demeanor comes back.

"Think nothing of it! This is merely the repaying of a debt. You gave me a gift, and now I'm giving you a gift. Its as simple as that!"

What was it I thought earlier? I had to speed things up? Did a great job with that. Go, me.

"Not that this wasn't nice, Discord, we really appreciate all this, but can we please get a move on?" asks Starlight, her exasperation starting to show. "We don't have all the time in the world."

"Oh of course, of course!" he says, waving his hand at her. "I'll let you be on your way. Just, ah, one little piece of advice."

He leans his head in close to Starlight and moves his hand over the other side of his mouth.

In a not-so-quiet voice, he whispers, "You might want to refresh that invisibility spell soon. Innate alicorn magic is harder to suppress than you'd think!"

Starlight groans internally, and Discord moves away from her, the grin back on his face.

"Well, I'm off to badger Princess Celestia. Ta-ta!"

He waves his claw, and a puff of smoke removes him from their presence. After a second, it clears, and the two mares are left by themselves once again.

They stand there for a moment, not saying anything. The world seems to calm down without the embodiment of chaos nearby, even as the two are distantly aware of the state of the city. Neither moves, nor do they turn to look at the other. Only a vague sense of their hooves touching the ground beneath them seems to keep their minds from floating away into the sky, never to return.

The idea that Starlight should stay on Discord's good side, no matter the cost, bubbles to the surface of her mind, fought in equal measure by the idea that she should never interact with him ever again, for as long as she lives. The two ideas collide, and neither comes out as a victor. Her mind is a battlefield, and there have been no survivors.

These bags are kinda heavy.

The errant thought brings her back to reality, somehow refreshing in its mundanity. Moving her body as fast as it'll go, she turns her head to Sunset beside her. To her surprise, Sunset is already looking at her. Starlight decides not to think about how long she was staring into space.

"Hey, Starlight?" inquires Sunset, breaking the silence.

"What is it, Sunset?" she responds, her voice dragging.

"You've got some weird friends."

"Don't remind me."

The stone and its arrow are leading Sunset and Starlight away from the castle and towards its outskirts. Rather than solid dirt and rock, the ground beneath their hooves is supported by expertly designed architecture and magic. The wall that marks the edge of the city is getting closer and closer.

The expansive high-rises and complexes that mark the center of Canterlot have drifted away, and the two now find themselves in one of its tightly-packed residential areas. Despite not being nearly as fancy and pristine as the castle, the buildings here are still distinctly Canterlotian, its certain style permeating the whole city.

A red arrow floats in front of Sunset, pointing directly ahead. Her magic surrounding the stone, she pulls it back. The arrow disappears, and a quick unlatching of her left saddlebag lets her stash it away safely.

"Looks like we're still headed in the right direction. Do you think Chrysalis is still in the city?" Sunset asks.

Starlight looks to the wall just ahead of them and ponders the question. "I think it's likely that she's already escaped. Nopony would notice if a lone griffon or pegasus flew over the wall during all the chaos."

Sunset replies, "Well, Tirek is pretty distracting."

"Distracting is…" Starlight hesitates, "a generous way to describe the magic laser beams that he shot out while rampaging across the other side of the city."

Sunset looks back. Up in the sky, the holes in the clouds made by Tirek's errant magic are still visible. She looks forward again and shrugs.

"Yeah, well… I guess I'm pretty desensitized to this kinda thing."

Starlight smirks. "Y'know, I was starting to pick up that idea myself."

Bearing a grin as well, Sunset gives her a playful hit on the shoulder, and the two start to walk again. Despite how the day has been so far, Sunset can't help but feel relaxed, like the goal ahead of her will be no more difficult than a walk in the park.

Two of Equestria's best magic users, a tracking device, and plenty of supplies against a single, disgraced queen? I think we'll be just fine.

Her mental image of an easy task ahead is interrupted by a gasp from Starlight. Sunset focuses on the sight in front of her and immediately understands her companion's surprise. Without realizing it, they reached the end of the road, with the wall that protects the city directly ahead. An unexpected aberration lays before them, one that nearly dashes Sunset's newfound confidence in her mission.

On the face of the wall in front of them is a huge blast mark, centered at a point close to the ground. A gaping hole in that spot is clear to see, and the sprawling green fields and forests of the distant land below are just barely visible from where they stand.

On either side of the hole in the wall is a royal guard, both sprawled on the ground, their bodies still. Sunset's gut begins to twist, and she wordlessly rushes forward to see to the one on the right. Following her lead, Starlight does the same for the one on the left.

From a short distance, they looked unharmed, but up close Sunset can see that the chest armor of this guard is dented inwards. She moves a hoof to press against the guard's neck, hoping that the worst isn't true.

A second passes, with no response. Another second passes; still nothing to indicate a pulse. Before a third second passes, a brief beat of blood flowing tells Sunset that the pony lying before her still lives and breathes.

The knot in her stomach slowly begins to unwind as she checks over his merely unconscious body for any obvious injuries. She finds a few minor scrapes along his side, but can see nothing else. Everything tells her that this pony will be fine, but a nagging presence in the back of her head manages to sneak to the front of her thoughts.

What if he really had been badly hurt? Could I have actually done anything?

Starlight's voice breaks her out of her short contemplation.

"This one is out cold, but they seem mostly fine. What about yours?"

Sunset turns to the left and faces Starlight, who passes the hole in the wall to bring them face to face once more.

"Well, the one over here is alright too, more or less." Sunset states. "Do you think Chrysalis is behind this?"

Starlight looks from Sunset, to the guards, to the wide gash in the stone between them before shaking her head.

"This doesn't seem like something Chrysalis would do, at least not on purpose. From what I understand, she would try to keep a low profile, attract as little attention as possible, and flee before anyone could seriously look for her. Which is exactly what we're doing, actually. Maybe we just missed her."

Sunset walks over to the section of the wall that's been marred by whatever force broke a hole in it. She brings her face close to it, examining the black scorch marks that've been emblazoned into the brick. Embers from the effect seem to have already burned out, but something catches her eye.

Underneath the pitch black that now covers the outer layer of the wall is a subtle but still present sickly green hue. With no hesitation, she puts forth a hoof and tries to scrape off some of the black gunk. It falls off with little effort, and small bits of neon green ash fall away with it.

Turning back to Starlight with a look of certainty, she puts forward her hoof. Starlight glances at her before lowering her head and examining the residue that remains on Sunset's hoof.

"Know anypony with green magic that would want to punch a hole out of the city, while also willing to knock out a couple royal guards to do it?"

Starlight backs up a step and looks Sunset in the eye. "I only know one, and she's no pony."

Sunset glances at the hole, and the distant land below it. "I had a feeling you were gonna say that."

A sigh escapes her. The two stand there a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. Starlight moves past Sunset, and makes her way towards the hole, as well as the drop that leads to nothing. She comes right to the edge, and peers down.

Curious but apprehensive, Sunset slowly steps up to the place right next to her. The maw of the world seems to open to her, a vast empty sky pressing against her face, her chest, her legs. The wind cuts through her fur and the feathers of her wings she nearly forgot she has.

A precarious bit of rock is all that prevents her and her friend from falling into that long, steady drop down. Her heart falls to her hooves, and she nervously takes a step back.

"Hey, uh, S-Starlight?" she sputters, "Why are you looking down there? Don't we have to do something about these two?"

Starlight says nothing for a moment, her gaze still stuck on the land below. Sunset starts to chew her bottom lip, anxiety spiking her nerves.

Come on, what am I even worried about? I've been this high up plenty of times before. I used to live here, for crying out loud! Why am I nervous about this now?

"Sunset?" Starlight asks, breaking Sunset's train of thought.

"Yes? What is it?" she replies, the nervousness still present.

"I think you need to learn how to fly."

"I need to - huh?"

"Like, really soon."

Sunset blinks. Logically, she knows what Starlight is asking of her, but for some reason it doesn't make any sense at all.

In disbelief, she asks, "Why would I need to do that?"

Finally turning to her, Starlight states, "It would be much faster for us to fly down there and directly chase after Chrysalis than taking the long way around on land. If you're as smart as Twilight said you were, I'm sure you'll see it's true."

Eyes darting here and there, thoughts turning and chasing themselves in her mind, the wheels in Sunset's brain suddenly rush to a stop.

Did she say 'us'?

Balking at the implication, Sunset looks Starlight in the eye and bluntly asks, "Since when could you fly? I don't see a pair of wings on you! How would you…"

Wait, she made my own wings invisible. Has she done that before? Maybe she's had practice? Surely, it wouldn't be hard for her to cast the same spell on herself…

Mouth drawn in a flat line, Starlight interrupts her thoughts. "I can already tell what you're thinking, and no, I am not hiding my own pair of wings. I may be a powerful spellcaster, but that's not because I'm an alicorn."

Sunset leaves her mouth open for a moment before quickly slamming it shut, a blush spreading across her face.

"Oh! No, of course not; that would just be silly! Haha, ha…"

Her embarrassed laughs quickly trail away, and from a quick glance, she sees Starlight roll her eyes, amusement clearly visible in her expression. Starlight turns her gaze back towards the empty space ahead of them, and her expression quickly turns from one of amusement to one of shock. Immediately alarmed, Sunset whips her head around to the area her friend is looking at.

Just a short distance in front of them is a pegasus hovering in the air. Her coat is salmon-pink, and her mane and tail are a mess of curly light blue locks. Her cutie mark is a brown tower with light stripes, or perhaps a certain chess piece. She looks just as stunned as Starlight does.

What's a filly doing out here, and on the other side of the wall no less?

Sunset looks back and forth between the two. Starlight's expression, turning into one of apprehension and tension, causes a shot of fear to show up in the face of the pegasus. Both are as tightly wound as can be, and it seems like anything could set them off.

Confusion trumps any feeling of caution Sunset feels in the moment.

"Am I supposed to know who this is?"

4.Fall (Whether You Want To Or Not)

Starlight is convinced the universe is playing a practical joke on her. Someone, or something, is pulling an elaborate prank on a massive scale, and she just so happens to be it's unlucky recipient.

First, it was getting pushed into the lead role of coronation preparation agent (or whatever that job is called). Second, she had to deal with an undercover alicorn. Third, all the effort of her first task went up in smoke because of the side effects of her second, and fourth, she got roped into a quest to defeat an enemy that's already been beaten half a dozen times before.

Finally, before she can even get her current assignment off the ground, she's hit in the face with a pony she never expected to see again. Of course, all while her ally has no idea who this pony is.

Someone out there is getting a real big laugh out of all this.

Cozy Glow's initial fear at bumping into Starlight has subsided, and now she sports a cheeky grin, almost certainly at Starlight's expense. She can tell that Sunset doesn't recognize her.

I have to make sure Sunset knows what's going on so we can deal with this before she tries to get away. I can't let this opportunity go to waste.

Just as Starlight opens her mouth to warn her companion of the enemy directly in front of them, Sunset speaks directly to them.

"Excuse me, are you lost? This is no place for fillies."

Almost immediately, Cozy Glow's expression turns from one of thinly veiled smugness to utter helplessness and fear. It's fakeness is obvious to Starlight, but Sunset's face makes it clear that she believes it.

How are you buying this? Twilight said you were smart!

With a dramatic sniffle, Cozy Glow speaks of her woes to Sunset, keeping her distance all the while.

"Oh, I am lost! I got seperated from my mommy, and saw this big, scary bug monster!"

Starlight's eyes go wide.

She knows that Chrysalis came through here. Maybe that's why she came here? I definitely can't let her go now!

Sunset exclaims, "That's terrible! Look, come over here to us, and we'll make sure you get back to your mother. Starlight, can you-"

I can't take any chances.

Sunset's words are cut off by a sudden beam of magic from Starlight's horn. It zooms right towards Cozy Glow, who narrowly flies out of the way. The smug look returns.

Horsefeathers.

"Starlight, what in Equestria are you-"

"Trying to catch Cozy Glow!" snaps Starlight, cutting her off again.

She shoots another beam at Cozy Glow, who dodges it much easier than she did last time. Starlight internally groans at how fast the little pegasus is in the air. Sunset scoffs, and looks back at Cozy Glow, who flies out of the way of yet another magic beam.

"There's no way that's Cozy Glow! This little filly is, well, a filly! She's way too young to be Cozy Glow!" shouts Sunset, her face scrunching from the confusion. "And stop shooting at her!"

"No!" yells Starlight, shooting another beam at Cozy Glow in defiance.

She flies around it with ease. Sunset turns back to her, a mixture of worry and rising anger turning her face a slight shade of red.

This isn't working! I need a new strategy, and I need to convince Sunset before Cozy Glow says anything to sway her more.

"Did Twilight ever tell you how old Cozy Glow is?"

Starlight's sudden question throws her off guard, and she takes a moment to think about it. She turns to Cozy Glow, who is still flying in the air beyond the wall.

Slowly, Sunset responds. "...She didn't, but still! What kind of filly studies under a princess and goes on to try to take over the world?"

Starlight stares at her. She raises an eyebrow and leans her head forward, the obliviousness of Sunset's question momentarily making her forget to keep an eye on Cozy Glow.

"I don't know, Sunset. What kind of filly would do that?"

Sunset opens her mouth to respond before pausing and clamping it shut. Realization seems to have hit her, and Starlight exhales in relief. Sunset looks down in embarrassment, her face quickly becoming flushed.

"Okay, I pretty much walked into that one. I'll believe you now." she says, idly tapping her hoof on the ground.

"Thank Celestia! Now, can we please deal with Cozy Glow?"

The two look back out towards the open air, and see Cozy Glow slowly drifting away from them. She notices their attention is back on her, and her eyes go wide as she sees another beam from Starlight shoot towards her. She quickly ducks out of the way, narrowly avoiding the spell.

I can't hit her like this. I need her to stop moving to even give my freezing spell a chance to connect. How can I get her to stay in one place?

Her mind instantly considers the newly formed flier standing right next to her, and a plan begins to form. It only takes her a moment to decide what she should do next, and another moment to convince herself that it'll actually work.

Before she has a chance to speak, Starlight asks her, "Do you trust me, Sunset? I need you to do something."

Apprehension immediately shows on her face, but after a moment of hesitation, she replies.

"I trust you, sure. What is it?"

"What I need you to do is simple." says Starlight, "You just need to get Cozy Glow to stop moving, in any way you can. If she's in one place, I'll be able to land my freezing spell on her.

"Okay, I guess? How am I going to do that when even you can't land a spell on her, though? It's not like I can just tackle her to the ground."

Starlight stops a frown from appearing on her face. "Remember when I said you needed to figure out how to fly?"

Sunset stares at her, puzzled. "Yeah? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, you're about to learn real fast."

"What the hay does that-"

Starlight's magic wraps around her before she can continue. Without saying anything, she takes off Sunset's saddlebags from her back and places them behind her, causing the mare to turn in confusion. Immediately after, the magic flings her forward into the open air, like she weighs nothing at all.

Her body flies towards Cozy Glow, who zips out of the way without much effort. The magic leaves Sunset, and her forward momentum gives way to the overwhelming power of gravity. Her scream of surprise fades away remarkably fast. Starlight can still see her falling, though. It's quite a long way down.

I'll have to apologize for that later.

The pink pegasus still hovering in mid-air turns her gaze to Starlight. Surprise becomes acceptance, and acceptance quickly becomes smugness. Daring to fly just a bit closer, Cozy Glow speaks to her former guidance counselor.

"So, was that your plan to catch me? Throw your friend at me and hope she knocks me out of the sky?" she questions, her voice dripping with amusement.

"Oh, pretty much," Starlight lied, "I missed with all my spells, so I figured a bigger projectile might do the trick. Guess I was wrong."

Cozy Glow laughs. "Of course you were wrong! Something like that wouldn't work on me."

A twinge of irritation causes Starlight's eye to twitch.

"Well, now that you don't have any more tricks, nothings stopping me from just flying away. How are you gonna explain this to Twilight?" gloats Cozy Glow, eyes closed in contentment.

"Who said I was out of tricks?"

Starlight's horn shines, and a sparkling blue aura envelops her body. A sense of weightlessness sets in, and her stomach drops as it adjusts to the sudden lack of gravity.

Always hated that part of this spell.

Her hooves leave the ground, and her body moves directly forward. Now in midair, Starlight's grasp on the flight spell comes back to her all at once. A grin slips onto her face as Cozy Glow's smug air of confidence evaporates in front of her. With only a second of buildup, Starlight thrusts herself towards Cozy Glow, the surprise in her expression as clear as day.

"Let's see how long you can keep dodging."

Her scream is drowned out by the wind. It buffets Sunset's body as she falls, like a constant wave of air crashing into her from below. She manages to open an eye long enough to see just how far she has left to fall. It's a small comfort.

Okay Sunset, think! What is the easiest and most reliable way to land down there without crash-landing into the dirt and breaking every bone in my body?

Magic? Maybe, but it's risky. I'm way too out of practice to try anything with teleportation again, and even an ordinary slow-fall spell would take so long to cast that I'd barely start to slow down before hitting the ground.

More spell ideas pop up, and each of them is discarded just as soon as they arrive. She reaches a conclusion to her short train of thought.

I really do have to learn how to fly, and as fast as possible.

This sucks.

Realizing this is why Starlight took off her saddlebags, she flexes her wings. Like a spring put under pressure, they reflexively shoot out. Instantly, the force of the wind feels more spread out than it did before. Her descent is slower now, but not nearly slow enough to stick a safe landing.

I can do this one of two ways. Either I slow myself somehow and touch straight down, or I turn my downward momentum into something horizontal. Which of these two is easier?

Sunset makes an attempt to flap her wings. The movements are strenuous and slow, with little changing about her speed. It takes more effort than she thinks it should, and after a few more failures to decrease her speed with her wings, she stops, and lets them fold back against her body.

So, that probably won't work. I have no idea how pegasi slow down enough to land safely!

Deciding on her next and most likely final option that doesn't involve magic, she looks straight down. Instantly, the moisture is ripped off her eyeballs from the force of the wind, but she keeps them open. The ground is much closer to her now, and she guesses that she's fallen about halfway down from where she dropped.

A burst of panic flares up, and she begins to wonder if she can actually manage to do what's needed to touch down safely. Unable to break through it, she decides to simply do everything she can to make sure it works. In this case, though, it just means trying not to mess up.

All I have to do is glide to ground level and dig my hooves into the dirt to slow down, right? How hard can it be?

Probably really hard.

Forcing her eyes to stay open, she brings out her wings again, feeling the wind buffet them just as it did before. Tilting their direction downwards and tucking her hooves in feels no different than it did before, but she keeps it up regardless.

After a few moments, something changes, though she can't tell what. Instead of looking directly down, she looks up a bit, to the space directly in front of her. Nothing has appeared before her, no magic portal opening to take her to safety. It's invisible, but Sunset can tell there's something different in the direction she's facing.

Somehow, there seems to be a line leading her to where she wants to go. She can't see it with her eyes, but she can almost feel it, like a tug in the air that's still blowing past her. She flaps her wings, not to gain height, but to push herself forward. Her body moves along the line.

Her wings flap again, continuing to move her forward while she continues to drop. The wind doesn't seem to be such a brutal force this time, like it's flowing past her rather than against her. Another flap of the wings, and another, and yet another.

The words in her mind fail to describe the sensation, but she can feel herself thrusting forward, extending along the line, faster and faster the more she beats her wings against the air. She doesn't let up, beginning a steady rhythm that gradually gets faster. Her wings push her forward, move her along the line, in a way that feels right. Feels like this is exactly how it should be done.

The ground below her is close now, but she's moving forward faster than she's moving down now. A surge of excitement washes over her, momentarily dominating her fear. Energy rushes through her, and her wings pick up speed again, moving her ahead even more than before. The plains below are dangerously close now, but she knows that she can pull this off.

A few more strong flaps upwards angle her to be parallel to the ground not so far below. Just high enough to scale a small house, and Sunset soars through the air, flying along at an incredible speed. The plains below whiz by, the various shades of green all mixing together and extending past the bottom of her vision. The rolling ups and downs of the landscape pass her by, trees coming and going from her sight.

She angles her head upwards, and the bright blue of the sky extends in every direction but one. The vast gray of the mountain Canterlot rests on stretches into the atmosphere, stopping just at the ends of her sight. Higher she flies now, away from the ground. Her wings beat heavier, pushing her towards the city above.

Up and up she goes, the air now brushing down on her from above. Directing her aerial direction is almost natural now, flapping her wings and zipping through the air feeling just as exciting as exerting herself in the sports she takes part in at CHS. Despite the excitement, though, something makes her slow down.

Her wings beat against the air, but no longer hard enough to propel her upwards. Her speed slows to nothing, and she stops in midair, the regular fluttering of her wings enough to keep her from falling back down.

Sunset looks over the space she just flew above, and nearly gasps from it. In between the walls of the city above and the land below, she's able to take it all in. The rolling green hills, the flat grassy plains, and the loose forests all continue into the distance, but she can still see so much. The breadth of the land is laid bare, and she wonders if she could have ever seen it this way if she discovered flight later.

It goes far beyond what she ever bothered to see when she lived here. What if she had never noticed this? All of this feels so impactful. The roaring majesty of nature and the exhilaration of flight seems so clear to her at this moment that she wonders how she never saw it before.

Her mind automatically answers that she logically couldn't have noticed how flying felt before, as she's never flown. The thought brings down her elation just enough for her to remember why she had to fly in the first place. She looks up at the edge of the city she has to return to. A few small lines of blue light catch her eye, and she recognizes it as Starlight's magic.

Looks like she's still having trouble with Cozy Glow. I guess I should probably go up there and help her out.

…

I'm still gonna get her back for pushing me off, though.

A brief but powerful flap of her wings shoots her upwards as she follows that invisible line that leads to her destination. She reaches the height that Starlight and Cozy Glow are at in short order, barely taking less than half a minute of flight.

Starlight Glimmer is enshrouded in her own magic and is flying around at a speed that's almost unbelievable for a unicorn. Cozy Glow is being chased through the air by said unicorn, dodging a constant barrage of spells. Her speed, too, is impressive, but Sunset has a feeling that they wouldn't be able to compare to a well experienced adult pegasus.

Unfortunately, she is not a well experienced adult pegasus, nor a well experienced alicorn. She feels lucky she got the hang of flight as soon as she did, even if she was forced to. It's obvious that she wouldn't be able to keep up with either of them for long.

Despite her arrival, neither seems to have noticed her as both are too preoccupied with the chase. A tiny voice in the back of her head says that what they're doing looks really fun, but she ignores it. Instead, she picks up on the direction the two of them are headed, which is towards her. A chance to end this early has arrived.

Not bothering to attempt to hide herself, Sunset beats her wings forward, launching herself directly at Cozy Glow. The incoming mass of orange and red is immediately noticed by her, but it's too late to change course. Instead, she shifts the angle of her wings, and flies right past Sunset, the tips of their wings nearly brushing against each other.

(Get away from me! I'm not going back there ever again!)

The foreign thoughts linger in Sunset's mind a moment before completely dissipating. Mouth hanging open, a question springs up that nearly distracts her from keeping herself aloft.

There's no way that's what I think it was. Do my geode powers work here too?

Before she has any time to ponder the possibility, Starlight floats over to her, stopping just a few feet away.

"Good, you're here! Help me catch her, like I told you before you fell!"

You mean, before you threw me off?

Her look of agitation is seen by no one as Starlight zips off towards Cozy Glow as soon as she finishes talking. Her frown only deepens as she realizes the irony of a unicorn being better at flying than her, an alicorn. Determined to right that wrong as soon as possible, she flies after her.

Despite her wings feeling sore from all the flying she's already done, she pushes them into overdrive, catching up to Starlight in a few seconds. Once Sunset reaches her side, she slows to the pace of her companion. It annoys her that she doesn't have to slow down much to do so.

"Starlight, I have an idea! You should-"

She's cut off by the unicorn shooting the same spell she hasn't hit a single time at Cozy Glow, who zips to the side. Sunset notes that her magic reserves must be incredibly deep for her to be constantly firing off intermediate level spells without visibly tiring from it, not to mention a flight spell on top of it all.

Only when Starlight turns to look at her does she speak again. "You should try and lead Cozy Glow back towards the wall. I'll hide against it, and jump out at her when she passes by so you can freeze her!"

"Sounds like a plan!" says Starlight, who rushes off to enact it.

She wastes no time in firing off a few more freezing spells at the pegasus ahead of her. One of the beams connects with a chunk of rock on the mountain below them, and the surrounding area is almost instantly covered up. A small sheet of purple transparent crystal extends over and around the chunk it hit, magically sparkling under the sun.

Well, at least it's not gonna hurt her when she finally gets hit by it. Me too, I guess. I'll just be… completely unable to move. I can handle that.

Shaking her head, Sunset clears her thoughts and remembers their simple plan. She looks to the wall that covers the edge of Canterlot and scans it for areas that could work. It doesn't take her long to spot a section that curves inwards, giving her ample space to fly in and out when needed.

Giving Starlight and Gozy Glow a glance, the two seem as occupied in their chase as they were before she got here. Turning back, she ducks into the hiding spot, wings still flapping. She laments there being no outcropping of rock to rest on, but quickly chastises herself for her laziness.

Come on Sunset, focus! You have to be ready for when Starlight brings Cozy Glow over here, and you can't do that when you're sitting down!

Despite this, she acknowledges her wings are even more tired than they were before. Just keeping herself hovering in one position takes effort, even if it is harder for her than others. She wonders how long it took for Princess Twilight to adjust to her new wings. Surely Twilight got the hang of it as quick as she did, right?

Hopefully I don't have to keep this up for long.

As if it was a response to her own thoughts, the sound of a spell hitting the wall somewhere to the left of her drags her out of her head and into reality. Now fully alert, the second spell hitting the wall doesn't phase her. What did, however, was just how much closer that one was. Cozy Glow would be here any second.

And so she waited, ready to pounce.

It only takes a second for the pegasus's pink and blue shape to arrive in Sunset's peripheral vision. Without thinking any further, she rushes forward as fast as she can. The whites of Cozy Glow's eyes become visible, and Sunset braces for impact.

The pegasus hits her square in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Taking a deep breath in, Sunset wraps her legs around her target, pressing the filly's wings to her back. She turns her head up as they begin to fall. Their eyes meet, and as Sunset's eyes glow white and her mind is flooded with emotions and memories, a cold wall of crystal engulfs them.

Starlight is ecstatic. Finally, something has gone right today! Thanks to Sunset, Cozy Glow was still just long enough for Starlight's spell to connect, encasing both of them in a singular crystal. Leaving no room whatsoever to move inside, it was a perfect trap for an evasive little trickster like Cozy Glow.

Her satisfaction crumbles as Starlight sees the chunk of crystal drop down just a moment after it forms. With nothing to keep it up, it descends like an anchor into the empty space below it. Panic sprouts in Starlight's mind as she rushes to catch up, flying downwards as fast as she can.

Going from stationary to top speed in seconds makes Starlight's stomach turn upside down, but she pushes down the urge to slow herself. Despite going as fast as her flight spell will allow, the crystal only seems to be getting further away. The ground is rapidly approaching, and options are running out.

I need to slow them down, but I can't move the crystal around while my flight spell is active! Levitating something of even that size would take too much out of me. I've already used so much magic; I'm barely able to keep this one spell working by itself! How can I prevent the crystal from crashing into the ground while keeping myself from falling?

Wind cuts through her fur as her brain works through possible solutions, and something clicks. Not having any time to think of other options, she lines herself up with the crystal to act out the very first thing she thought of. Now directly above the crystal, she cuts off the spell that keeps her propelled through the air. Immediately after, she casts her magic out to envelop the crystal, forcing it to levitate.

It comes rushing toward her, and just before it impales her on one of its edges, she forces it to quickly levitate downwards. It still hits her, knocking the wind out of her and leaving her pressed flat against its surface. Looking through the transparent crystalline structure shows the canopy of a forest rapidly closing in.

Her heart beats heavily in her chest, seeing only a moment or two before their collision with the surface. Her stomach lurching, she nudges the crystal she's clinging to forward and up. The downward momentum converts into horizontal movement, and Starlight sees the trunk of a tree come closer and closer.

The crystal containing Sunset and Cozy Glow slams against the tree. The shock of the impact rolls through Starlight's body, which is instantly launched off the top of the crystal. She instinctively closes her eyes, and after a second her head is thrown side to side as her fall is broken by the leaves and branches of another tree. They poke and scrape against her as she tumbles, getting closer to the ground every second.

With her own movement completely out of control, she attempts to make her body limp. She can't tell if it works or not. After a few long moments of descent, the tree runs out of branches, and Starlight is unceremoniously dumped on the ground. A dull thump accentuates her crash landing. The feeling of soft, grassy earth doesn't quite reach her brain. It seems too busy spinning around in her head to process new information.

Starlight lets out a low, extended groan as all the pain catches up with her at once. Groggily opening her eyes, the world tumbles and sways, tree trunks dancing side to side in her vision. Shaking her head from side to side doesn't seem to help.

I change my mind about the universe. It's not playing a prank on me, or some kind of joke. No, I’m definitely being punished. I don't know what the punishment is for specifically, but I'm certain that's what this is.

Hastily planting her two front hooves on the ground, the world in front of her sways again. She looks down, trying to blink away the stars at the edges of her vision.

"I am never…"

She sits there a moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

"...doing that…"

She squeezes her eyes shut and fully stands up. Her two back legs are shaking.

"...ever again."

Her eyes open, and her sight seems to have mostly come back to normal. Her legs quickly gain stability, and her eyes properly focus on the space in front of her. She doesn't risk shaking her head again. The stinging from a dozen different shallow cuts and bruises distract her from fully thinking about her relative success.

A tree just ahead of her has nearly been uprooted, with the crystal she almost touched down on landed at its base. The dizziness she still feels almost clears up, and she tries to walk to it. Slow, careful steps gradually bring her closer to the vessel containing both her ally and her enemy.

Fallen leaves crunch and fold under her hoofsteps. Starlight peers through the crystal and sees its two captives upside down. They are still in the same position they were when she cast the spell, with Sunset wrapped around Cozy Glow. Starlight sits on the forest floor as she observes the strange sight in front of her.

Two bright white lights shine from the eyes of the orange alicorn inside. Her mouth is agape, as if she's shocked by something that Starlight cannot see. The eyes of the pegasus snap to Starlight as she comes into view. They seem bloodshot, and tears bead at the edges. The rest of the face is hidden by Sunset's body pressing against her. For some reason, Starlight gets the impression that Cozy Glow is staring right through her.

Starlight can't tell which of the two of them is making her more uncomfortable.

She can't make sense of either of their gazes. The anxiety they inexplicably make her feel is almost strong enough to distract her from the fall she just suffered. The solution to this anxiety comes to her instantly, and she lowers her head in turn.

Her horn glows a sparkling blue. A spell is shot forth, and the crystal is unmade.

5.Memory (Whether You Want It Or Not)

An avalanche of information hits Sunset. The entirety of a life faces her, it's depth threatening to send her into unconsciousness. It comes so fast that she's almost entirely unable to comprehend it all.

Emotional highs and lows fly past each other, the intensity of them giving her whiplash. Thousands of moments of anger, fear, agitation, disgust, joy, satisfaction, and apathy hit her at once. Yet, all of these feelings struggling to upend her mind into the ether are overshadowed by an incredible wave of longing that permeates it all. A single, common thread that links nearly every disconnected emotion to a small handful of intense thoughts.

I wish that was me.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could have that?

Why can't they see what I'm doing for them?

Maybe I'm not supposed to understand.

It's not enough.

There's nothing wrong with doing things this way.

What if it's all true? It can't be.

I need more than this.

These strings of thought repeat, over and over, casting a shadow over all the others. Nearly every other feeling is overshadowed, destined to fall into the ever-present want for something. It's impossible to tell what. There's not enough time to contemplate it before the feelings pass, immediately subsumed by memories.

They flash by at incredible speeds, hopping from one to the next without pause. Edges from the previous memory bleed into the current which blurs into the next, forming a whirlwind of sights and sounds. They play in no particular order, chronology totally absent from the jumbled mess she's experiencing. Bits and pieces from years ago jump straight into events that can't have happened more than a few months ago. There is no throughline, nothing to latch onto to make sense of it all.

Without warning, the ocean of memories comes crashing to a halt, slamming against a mental wall. A single event, bursting with color, forms the only gateway into something unlike everything else Sunset has experienced up to this point.

A single day begins and ends in just a few moments. The clearest visions of it stick to her, like they're begging to be remembered. The elation of victory and triumph overcomes the desperate longing just long enough to become normal. It falls away to despair as the satisfaction and completion is taken away, leaving a terrible hole in reality.

Something so incredibly important was gained, and in half a day, it was gone. The hole it left leads through a crack in that impassable wall, through which no color peeks through.

Everything is calm beyond the wall. There is nothing to feel, save for that one lingering sensation. Time stops moving there, for there is nothing to differentiate the days. There is nothing here.

Unbidden, she exits the storm that makes an entire life and enters something different.

A void surrounds her. Total, complete darkness, with not even a single speck of light. No land, no objects, no creatures, not a single thing in this world to view. A vast, all consuming nothingness is all that can be seen. There is no more.

She doesn't know how long it's been since this started. A day or two, possibly. Perhaps a week, perhaps a month, perhaps just a single hour. It's impossible to tell.

There are no markers to anything, nothing to gauge the passage of time. No stops and starts, no pauses, no brief moments of return to normalcy before descent back into the void. Only the all consuming dread of a single thing distracts her from this.

It's the pressure.

Her senses do not work here. Her eyes do not see, her nose does not smell, her ears do not hear, and her tongue does not taste. More than all of these, though, her body cannot feel. No sensations are able to pierce the infinite blackness that extends in every direction. None but the pressure.

Every part of her immobile body experiences it. Every strand of hair, every lash on her unblinking eyes, every tooth in her mouth, even the organs in her gut feel the pressure. It comes from every angle, attacking from every direction. Up, down, left, right, in front, behind; it comes from everywhere. Everywhere but inside her.

This force pushes into her, but not physically. Her body is as inert as ever, unable to move despite her attempts. Even as she tells them, they do not respond, like the nerves connecting her brain to the rest of her body have been severed. No, this sensation is immaterial.

It overpowers almost every other thought she has, dominating her mind with its constant, uninterrupted presence. It never gets weaker or stronger, but it never gets easier either. It simply is; an inviolable rule that must always be enforced by the nature of the universe itself.

It never stops, and it never ends. It goes on, and on, and on, with nothing to break the silence. No one else is here but her, and there will never be anyone else. There is only her, and the black, empty eternity that stretches out before her.

Cozy Glow thinks this is what being dead must feel like.

She can't think of much more than that.

She doesn't know how long she's been here. She doesn't believe she ever has. Maybe it's supposed to be like that. If she could understand time, it might be too much. Too much to think about. It might break through the pressure, and where would she be then?

Something is different. She can barely even recognize it, but something is different. Something about the pressure that pushes into her. Something about the depth of the void before her. Something about the disconnect between her mind and her body.

Something is changing.

The pressure does not lessen, but it shifts. It bends, folds just slightly away from her. Something is regained, but it's impossible to tell what.

A pulse flows through her. Where it starts and where it ends, she can't tell, but it happened. For the briefest of moments, she felt something. Something real, and not imagined. Like she was always able to tell the difference between the two.

Ahead of her, now, is something familiar but yet still so completely strange. A light, out there in the distance. Just a pinprick, really, barely able to be seen. But there is nothing else to see, and so it is the only thing that can be seen. It's mere existence draws her attention.

Just barely is she able to identify what comes from it. She knew what this feeling was, at some indeterminate time in the past. Some part of her recognizes it as a good thing. A certain sense she knows she wants now, craves more than anything.

Warmth.

The light grows, and so does the warmth chasing away the foul emptiness around her. What was nothing is now something. The pressure begins to leave, like its being removed from the universe itself.

Her body comes back. Hooves, ears, mane, tail, legs, chest, head, eyes, ears, mouth. They all return, and blood flows through her veins once again. The warmth is inside her now, all around her, flooding all that there is.

Cozy Glow exists once more.

The stone cracks.

Everything changes.

She can feel again. She can feel her body and everything attached to it, feel the ground beneath her hooves, feel her lungs breathing fresh air in and out. Bountiful relief floods her mind as the ever-present burden of pressure no longer blockades her very mind from thought. She was free, and nothing could be better than that.

And yet…

Nothing makes sense. The world is a blinding collage of colors and shapes, movement and lights, but they're all nonsense. It all shifts this way and that, blurring together into one intangible rainbow colored slurry. Greens stretch out and are countered by yellows, which are overturned by reds, which are subsumed and eaten by blues. It is a singular amalgamation of indecipherable information that she is completely unable to parse.

She moves her head from side to side, the slight movement feeling intensely strenuous. The world in front of her bends and tilts, shapes caving in on themselves and lights flickering in and out of existence. The sight in front of her is a puzzle that exists in a dimension higher than she can perceive. Completely inscrutable, ever-changing, and painful to look at. That is what Cozy Glow sees.

And the noise.

A cacophony of sound swirls around her head. Her ears swim in an ocean of noise, unable to tell one rancorous blast of thunder from another. The volume is deafening, and yet still too quiet to make out what anything means. Whether it's words, explosions, hoofsteps, or shouting, everything collides with everything else, turning the very air around her into mayhem. All of it is simultaneously thumping right against her eardrums and still so far away she can barely hear it.

She can tell things are happening around her. It's impossible to tell what exactly, but the kaleidoscope of shapes changing and subtle vibrations in the ground betray the activity of others. A single gray blob amidst the mess seems to grow larger and larger, overtaking the colors around it. It barely registers as some kind of creature before she realizes it's doing something.

The tip of a spear thrusts past her head, cutting through the ocean of colors. The metal edge glints in the sun, it's glare close enough that Cozy Glow could taste it if she tried. It's not scary. Something in the back of her mind says she should feel scared. Terrified, even. For some reason, she isn't.

The pole that makes up the rest of the spear comes into focus. Detailed, carved wood goes past the metal tip and extends to its base. Something gray and gold holds the bottom of the spear, it's form still indistinct. Her eyes can't seem to make sense of whatever is trying to hurt her. She knows that logically, someone must be holding the spear, but the shape just can't register as a pony in her mind.

It doesn't make any sense, but of course, nothing makes sense.

Time moves in slow motion as the spear is retracted, the jumbled up mess of colors preparing to thrust it at her again. The instinct to dodge out of the way, to evade, to move even a single inch in any direction is absent. She barely feels like she's even here. She still isn't scared.

A familiar, horrible noise like hooves on a chalkboard tears through the sludge that is reality. Something bright comes from the jumble of gray and gold, and the spear is dropped. A new jumble of colors enters her vision. It's a mixture of red and black, but washed out, like the colors have lost their splendor. The bright light from the first blend of gray and gold is taken into the new blend of colors, and within seconds, it stops.

The red and black turns, and moves its head towards her. It speaks, and the world starts to make sense again.

"Well? Don't just sit there! Get up!"

With that, everything becomes clear. The grass under her hooves, the air she's breathing, the sun high above that bears down on her back. The face in front of her comes into absolute clarity. It can only be one creature.

Tirek.

His face looks almost like it did when the two of them were in Tartarus together. Sullen and gaunt, with the rest of his body lacking the muscle she had come to expect from him. All the power he had stolen was gone, but even so, he still towered over her.

It's clear now what's been happening around her. They're in a courtyard of some kind, with trimmed shrubbery and ornate decorations scattered around. All along the ground are ponies, mostly unicorns, with fancy armor, each of them collapsed. The colors of their coats are muted, showing the aftermath of Tirek's thievery. He's looking at her now, a scowl on his face.

Cozy Glow struggles to speak. "Where are we? What happened to us?"

The first words out of her mouth are rough and slow, like she's only remembering how to talk as she's doing it. Tirek snorts and gestures to the unicorn that's downed right next to her.

"Isn't it obvious? There's only one place this many royal guards would be protecting. Besides, I recognize this flimsy garden. We're in Canterlot, and the royal castle at that! Of all the places to be left to rot…"

Memories of Grogar's bell and the loss of the powers it granted bubble to the surface of her mind. All the missing pieces fall into place, and a realization is made.

We lost! After everything I tried, nothing was good enough to overcome their friendship! What could I have done differently? How were the three of us not enough?

Wait, there should be three of us. Where is…?

"Where's Chrysalis?"

Tirek laughs at her question. "Ha! As soon as she broke free, she changed form and ran with her tail between her legs. I bet she's already made it out of the castle by now."

Confusion clouds Cozy Glow's mind. "She just left us? But we're a team!"

He simply exhales in response, seemingly lacking the energy to give a retort. Even after absorbing the magic of a half dozen trained unicorns, he can't compare to his previous glory. What were once bulging muscles and towering horns are now skinny limbs and pointy nubs.

Cozy Glow huffs, irritated but not dismayed by her teammate's departure. She's sure she can convince her to be a part of their trio again. If she can ever find her, that is. A quick flutter of her wings shakes off the bad feelings that had started to rise since their stone prison fell apart.

"Well, it's sad that she left so soon, but the two of us are still together! I'm sure we can think of a way to turn things around." she states confidently.

Once we find Chrysalis and get her back on board, I'll whip up something that can get us back on track. We might not even have to wait long, actually; maybe she's just transformed into a bird or something, and she's waiting to get back to us when it's safe? Golly, will she be impressed with what we do next!

She lifts herself off the ground with a single flap of her wings, and quickly rises up to Tirek's eye level. Just as she had done in the past, she lands on his shoulder and settles in. He grumbles in response but does nothing to push her off. Despite his current level of strength, he supports all her weight with little effort.

A shout from across the courtyard draws their attention. Two new ponies stand next to each other, their faces hostile. The first is a tall, white coated stallion without a single armament, aside from his horn. The second is a mare with a pink coat, luxurious regalia, and the combination of wings and a horn. The identities of these two instantly click in Cozy Glow's mind, and a glance at Tirek tells her that he recognizes at least one of them.

Why are they in Canterlot? What's going on that would require them to be here?

It occurs to her that she has no idea just how long they were imprisoned for. It could have been days, weeks, months, or even more than a year.

Her thoughts are interrupted by noise from an enemy in front of her. The stallion - Twilight's brother, if I recall correctly - puts his hoof down and calls out to them. "Evildoers! We don't know how you escaped your confines, but it doesn't matter. We will turn you back to stone before the day is done, mark my words!

A burst of anxiety spreads through Cozy's body before she settles herself. One look at Princess Cadence makes it clear that she isn't quite as confident as her husband. The look on her face is one of shock, hesitation, and dismay, which contrasts with her companions boastful claims. Upon further inspection, the stallion, Shining Armor, doesn't seem to be much of a threat, given what Tirek has already done to six well-armored unicorns of similar strength. How much damage can he possibly do when Tirek can just take his magic away?

Mental assurances that all he's doing is a bluff works wonders to cool the mental fires that came from his claims. Tirek being completely unfazed helps, too. More productive thoughts are already beginning to fill Cozy Glow's head, pushing out the ones related to fear of further imprisonment.

Looks like they don't know how we broke free, either. Not a big deal! I bet I can play these two like a fiddle. I just have to make sure Tirek doesn't blow it before I get the chance.

She leans close to Tirek's ear and whispers, "Let me handle this."

He eyes her suspiciously but says nothing. He crosses his arms and Cozy bounces off his shoulder into the air, her wings easily keeping her aloft. Looking over their adversaries, a scheme begins to form.

A smile, disquieting in its insincerity, springs up on Cozy Glow's face. A distraction would be all she needed to make them vulnerable, and her absent teammate had given her the perfect opportunity to do just that.

With the sweetness of a jar full of honey, she greets them. "Hey Chryssy! I know you don't like it when I call you that, but I just can't resist!"

The rulers of the Crystal Empire, clearly alarmed, whip their heads around. When they don't see the fearsome changeling queen behind them, they turn back to face Cozy Glow, confused but on their guard.

"Looks like you got one of them! We've only been free for a few hours, but you already managed to snag somepony important. How'd you pull that off so fast?"

We can't have been free for more than ten minutes, but they don't need to know that.

Shining Armor scoffs, though his confident stature isn't quite as pronounced as it was a minute ago. "Nice try, but neither of us can be Chrysalis. I've been with Cadence almost all day! Is it really possible that one of us got snatched in this castle full of guards in the past couple hours?"

Cozy Glow's smile grows wider. "That's what I was gonna ask! But, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is which one of you is her!"

Princess Cadence narrows her eyes. "What do you mean, which one of us?

Cozy laughs. "Just what I said, silly! I can't tell when she looks like somepony else anymore than you can. All I know is that she said she would come back here when she…what was it she said again? Right, when she had 'caught her prey!'"

Lying through her teeth was nothing new to Cozy Glow, but she was making this up as she went. The smoothness of her delivery was due only to her experience, not the preparedness or complexity of her lies. That the ponies who found them had past experiences with the currently absent Chrysalis was a brilliant stroke of luck.

That luck would mean nothing if other variables were to arrive before the current ones were dealt with.

This has to end before somepony else shows up. They need to question themselves and each other so they forget about Tirek and I. They'll never let him get close enough to take their magic otherwise.

"So!" she exclaims, "Which one are you?"

They look at each other, suspicion already showing on their faces.

They need a push in the right direction. They've never met me, so I can play up the playful filly angle to get them started.

Flapping around in mock excitement, Cozy puts on the face of an excited child that's just been given a mystery to solve.

"Ooh, is this some kind of game? I thought you didn't like those, Chryssy! Gosh, how exciting! Now, don't tell me yet! I wanna figure it out myself!"

Tirek groans in agitation. The royalty in front of Cozy Glow give her glares that betray their befuddlement before turning to each other. She keeps the act up, her mouth in a static smile that, at a distance, seems perfectly genuine.

Shining Armor waves his hoof, like he's moving the accusations aside. "Cadence, don't listen to her. This is all a distraction to prevent us from capturing them! All we have to do is deal with them before they can regain their strength, and-"

Princess Cadence cuts him off. "I just remembered something. A minute ago, you said that we've been with each other all day, right?"

Shining glances at Cozy Glow, like he's making sure she's still there, before answering his wife. "Right, so there's no way either of us could be Chrysalis."

She looks him in the eye and says, "But, there was one moment when we were apart. An hour ago, I left to use the restroom, and came back after. We didn't see each other for five minutes."

He stares blankly at her for a second before his eyes widen, remembering the moment. "I…forgot about that. Still! It doesn't mean anything. Before our wedding, I wouldn't have been sure, but now? I'm positive that you are exactly the same person I've been in love with for years. No changeling is ever going to fool me again."

He speaks with certainty. His tone conveys his confidence, and the affection towards her is clear. Yet, Cadence doesn't seem convinced.

"I believe you. I don't think you'd ever be tricked by something like that again. But, how do I know that you're you? How do I know that you're my Shining Armor?"

Cozy's smile widens.

Shining, taken aback, stumbles over his words. "I - you - what are you saying? You don't seriously think that I could be Chrysalis in disguise, do you?"

"I don't want to believe that either of us are fakes!" she says, desperation in her voice. "But I can't be certain. I need to be sure before we deal with them!"

"Hold on a second!" Shining exclaims, already clearly exasperated. "Why in Equestria would Chrysalis go for me instead of you? She's already acted like you once, and she had everypony fooled! Wouldn't it be much easier for her to act like you instead of me?"

Cadence nods her head, but doesn't look convinced in the slightest. "Maybe so, but who was the pony she was around most before the wedding? Who was the one she got the most firsthoof experience with out of everyone?"

Shining opens his mouth to answer before he realizes the answer. He looks away for a moment, thinking of what to say next. Eyes narrowed, he turns back to Cadence, newfound suspicion in his gaze.

"Well, what about you? Just because I might have been an option for her, that doesn't mean I can rule you out just yet. You said you were certain I wouldn't be fooled again, but how do I know the purpose of that wasn't to, I don't know, make me lower my guard? How can I be sure that she didn't get you instead of me?" Shining asks, pointing a hoof at her.

Cadence gasps and brings a hoof to her chest. She retorts, and his eyebrows furrow. Their back and forth continues, getting louder and louder as it goes on. Cozy puts a hoof to her chin, contemplating their behavior.

How is this working so well? All I did was ask a few questions! Aren't they supposed to be madly in love with each other? Why isn't Cadence just talking about how much she loves him? Wouldn't that be enough to-

Something clicks, and Cozy's internal questioning stops. She has to hold a hoof over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.

She can't prove anything to him! If Shining Armor really is Chrysalis, then as soon as she shows her love for him, Chrysalis would just consume it all, leaving her helpless and weak! She can't even rely on him proving himself to her, as it might all be an act! Best of all, he's too much of an idiot to realize any of this! This is too good!

Tirek mumbles something under his breath, his boredom beginning to show. The amusement of the situation takes a backseat as Cozy remembers the purpose of the whole ruse. Unable to wipe the smirk off her face, she slowly backs up and speaks to him. The volume is barely below normal, as the bickering of the royalty ahead of them becomes akin to a shouting match.

"This is your chance! Get up close and eat all their magic while they're distracted!"

He snorts in annoyance at her order, but complies regardless. "Don't have to tell me twice…" he mutters, beginning to march forward.

Despite his distaste for her methods, the hunger in his eyes shines through, and his irritation is forgotten for the magic treasure trove in front of him. He walks past Cozy Glow, his steps overtaken by the sound of the argument. The prince and princess only notice his presence as he leans down and places a hand on each of their shoulders.

They face him in anger, but that quickly turns to horror as realization sets in. His mouth opens, and the sound of a whirlwind cuts through the air. Two orange beams come from them, their magic condensed into something unnaturally consumable. Waves of color are torn off their coats, and the magic is pulled directly from their horns. A mixture of exhaustion and pain touches their faces before they collapse in a heap, defeated.

The deep blacks and vibrant reds return to Tirek's coat as he grows in stature and strength. He looks like what Cozy Glow remembers him being: physically strong, intimidating, and confident. He laughs, almost giddy at the surge of power he just attained. He flexes his newfound muscles, clearly excited to be back in a powerful body.

Cozy glides to the ground, triumphant. Some nagging voice at the back of her head says that this victory was too easy, but she smothers it with thoughts of relief. The two of them stand a fighting chance now that Tirek was back to his normal strength, and once Chrysalis was back in the fold, they could get back to finding some other way to rule Equestria.

Just as it should be.

She walks up to Tirek, a spring in her step. "So!" she exclaims, genuine excitement in her voice, "Now that that's done, what's next? Are we gonna go take the other princesses' magic? Maybe beat up the Elements of Harmony? Oh! How about ransacking the castle for magical artifacts? That sounds like so much fun!"

She pauses, eyeing Cadence and Shining armor on the ground. "Actually, maybe we should catch Chrysalis before she leaves Canterlot. Let's go do that first, then we can get to the fun stuff!"

A deep grumble emerges from Tirek. He turns and looks down at Cozy Glow, his aggravation as clear as day despite his newly reclaimed power. "We aren't going to do any of that." he says through grinding teeth. "We won't be doing anything together. I'll be off to do whatever I like; I could care less what you do."

Cozy huffs in indignation. "Golly, you're confident! What makes you think you're not going to need me out there? You

"Oh, please," he drawls, "what could you possibly give me now that I'm back to normal? Cheerful advice? A massage? Hah! There's simply nothing worthwhile enough to keep you around for."

Her eyes widen in surprise, and her face quickly turns to a scowl. "But, why?! I helped you, now you should help me! We're supposed to do things for each other because it's better for both of us in the long run! That's what fr-"

She cuts herself off. She knows she shouldn't say that about the two of them, even if it's true.

"That's what teammates do!"

He chuckles, no joy in his laughter. "Oh yes, you gave me some assistance just then. But I didn't need it. I don't need you, or her, or anyone else to get what I want! The only thing that's ever proven to be useful to me is power. Power that you have none of!"

He returns to his full height, his form blocking out the sun above her. "The idea that I could ever make use of the two of you as something more than bodies that hold my future magic is a ruse. A lie, one that I no longer believe!"

Cozy stares at him, speechless. He continues on, fully cognizant of the way she's looking at him. "The amount of magic in that bell was glorious, and I was deluded into thinking it was best divided in three. If I had taken all of its magic, all its power for myself, I would have been unstoppable! We were weak as a team, not strong, and you are just as much a fool as I was to believe it."

I can't believe it. He's throwing me away.

"The bug was right when she made herself scarce. Putting my faith in a narcissistic, delusional roach and a deceitful, weakling pony was a mistake, one I won't be making again! I should have taken matters into my own hands as soon as I had the chance!"

His words send shockwaves through her heart, though she doesn't know why. Her lip trembles from a mixture of anger and something else that she can't quite identify.

"You'll regret leaving me behind!" she spits out, fury dripping off her words. "This will be the worst mistake you've ever made!"

His eyebrow raises. "Oh? And what are you going to do to make me regret it?" he asks mockingly. "Do you really think you can do anything to me? The only reason I haven't taken your magic as well is because you have so little that it wouldn't be worth my time. Time that you're now wasting!"

He leans in close, his face mere inches away from hers. "Get out of my sight, or I'll leave you laying here like the rest of them!"

Fear clouds her mind, and she steps back. She opens her mouth to speak, but any further protest dies in her throat. Without anything else to convince or trick Tirek to keep her around, the only choice she has left is to accept his ultimatum.

Her teeth gnashing, she turns and lifts off of the ground, flying away with her back to Tirek. Only a small part of her consciousness pays any heed to the walls of the castle she's flying over, despite all the dangers that march below. Her mind is already fixated on her next goal, the fears of capture and loss fading away to determination.

I'm going to find Chrysalis, convince her to get back with me, and when Tirek sees the two of us working together, he'll forget all about this solo act stuff! I can still pull this together, it's not too late! Everything can still go back to normal. Everything will be fine.

And if it can't, then I'll make it fine.

Time skips ahead. The scenes blur together, hours turning to seconds. Something cracks over all of it, throwing the memories aside. It all catches up to Sunset, her consciousness slamming back into her body. A lingering sense of panic is all that's left as she finally disconnects from the pegasus she had been holding so close for what felt like so long.

Author's Note

Sorry this ended kind of abruptly. It'll make sense next chapter.

7. Friendship (Whether You Want It Or Not)

The angry filly glaring at Sunset bears her teeth, a hostile energy present in her stance. Sunset is frozen in place, her surprise preventing her from forming words. Her thoughts are a jumbled mess. Dread that she's been found out and shock at the rapid shift in Cozy's demeanor throws her decision making abilities into disarray. Her mouth moves, but no words come out.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Do it already!" shouts Cozy Glow, taking Sunset's attention back.

She says the first words that come to mind. "Do what?"

Cozy scoffs at her. "I don't know what you're playing at and I don't know why you were hiding your wings, but I don't care anymore! Just throw me back in Tartarus so we can get this over with!"

What in Equestria is making her act like this?

Sunset takes a couple steps forward, her hoof snapping a twig as she does. With as much sincerity as she can muster, she says, "Look, Cozy Glow, I don't want to do that. Seriously. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Oh, sure," Cozy hisses, "you won't hurt me, but eternal imprisonment is just fine for you princesses. As long as it's not painful, you think anything goes! Well, all of you can stuff it!"

Wait, did she just say 'eternal'? They were planning on keeping her in there forever?

A chill runs down her spine, and her wings shake from it. The forest around her shrinks away from view, and suddenly, the small, furious filly is the only thing she can see. At once, the pieces fall into place, and she begins to feel the same anger she's sure Cozy Glow is feeling.

She hates me because she thinks I'm a princess, and she hates the princesses because they punished her beyond what she deserved. Even if they didn't know what they were doing to her, I can't side with them right now. She needs to know I agree with her or she'll never trust me.

Sunset takes a deep breath and says, "I know being in that place hurt you, which is why I won't let them put you back there. No more statues, and no more Tartarus; I swear."

Cozy takes a step back, and the anger on her face is replaced with shock. "How do you know-"

She cuts herself off. The anger returns, though it's diminished, muddied with curiosity. After looking over Sunset's appearance, she asks, "Why have I never heard of you before? If you're a princess, shouldn't you be more famous? Earlier, you didn't have any wings. Were you hiding them?"

She picked up on that pretty fast.

Hesitant to put all her cards on the table, Sunset thinks of all the context to her situation she would have to talk about if she gave away the wrong detail.

Choosing her words carefully, she says, "I didn't ascend that long ago, and I've kept it a secret. Even if I would be accepted as a princess, I don't want that kind of power or the responsibility that comes with it. Equestria is probably better off without me in it, anyways."

I'm leaving out a lot there, but it's technically not a lie!

For some indiscernible reason, Cozy Glow appears to calm down a bit more from what Sunset says. The filly opens her mouth to speak but freezes before any words come out. Her face contorts in confusion, and she cranes her head back to look at her wings. She becomes agitated once more, though it doesn't seem to be directed at Sunset this time.

"What the… why, why can't I-" she stammers, "Why won't my wings do what I tell them to? Why aren't they-"

Not wanting her to become any more upset than she has to be, Sunset interrupts her. "Don't worry, they aren't broken or anything like that. While you were, well, out of it, Starlight cast a spell that stops you from flying. It was to prevent you from simply flying off and making us catch you again when you woke up. She said it would last-"

Whoops, almost let that one out.

"It'll last until she gets rid of the spell, so if you try and run away, there won't be any way to get your flight back. For now, you're stuck on the ground. I'm sure you're going to get a lot of walking done in the near future - whether you want to or not."

Despite the revelation, Cozy doesn't seem very perturbed. If anything, she appears mostly relieved that her wings weren't broken somehow. She huffs, leaving the last of her irritation behind.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I always wondered why the princess would make someone like her a guidance counselor, but it makes sense now."

"What does that have to do with her being a guidance counselor?" Sunset asks, staring at the filly quizzically.

Ignoring the question, Cozy exclaims, "Gosh, what am I saying? Who cares about any of that! What about you? Your wings are way more interesting than her magic. How'd you get them? When exactly did it happen?"

Sunset scrambles to adjust to the new line of questions.

Oh man, when DID it happen? I haven't even thought about that! I've been so preoccupied with making sure my wings were kept under wraps and taking on this mission that I've barely had any time to consider it. Obviously it happened before I returned to Equestria, but what could have made it happen? What could Harmony have decided was a great enough act that it, somehow, deemed me worthy?

She thinks back on all her best moments, all the times she did something worth remembering. All the times she had managed to harness the power of friendship to fix a problem. The possibilities are narrowed down to three moments, then to two, then to one. A single event that, in hindsight, was eerily close to what she might imagine an ascension being like. Realizing that she never considered what it meant for Harmony to temporarily give her wings and a horn, Sunset wonders how she never put the pieces together until now.

"Let's just say I saved Twilight Sparkle with the power of friendship and leave it at that."

The pegasus raises an eyebrow. "You're friends with the princess of friendship?"

"Yeah, she has a tendency to make that happen."

Cozy takes a few seconds to process this. She squints at Sunset and holds a hoof to her chin, like she's trying to closely examine her. "So, you're an alicorn that doesn't want to be a princess, so you're keeping it a secret. You're also a friend of Twilight Sparkle, but you don't tell her everything and are confident enough to disagree with her…"

Sunset slightly tilts her head to the side. "Yeah, that sums it up. Where are you going with this?"

All of the furious hostility that Cozy Glow had shown to Sunset was now entirely gone, all that energy now funneling into something else. There's a twinkle in her eyes, and Sunset isn't sure whether to be relieved or worried by it.

"And Starlight?" asks Cozy, eyes gleaming. "Does she know all of this too? How much, if anything?"

Some part of her wonders why Cozy Glow is asking so many questions, but her mouth moves before she can consider it further.

"She's the only pony who even knows I've got these things, aside from you. She's the one who cast the invisibility spell on them in the first place. If she hadn't caught me before somepony else did, I might never have been able to keep them hidden in the first place." she says, motioning to the wings on her back. They flitter in place as if to emphasize their presence.

Cozy nods, appearing to perfectly understand the situation. "So that's why she threw you off. She knew you could fly, so it was both a distraction and a way to set you up to get me."

Sunset considers mentioning that Starlight knew perfectly well that she didn't know how to fly, but stops herself. No need to appear less competent than she actually was.

"I swear, I'll get her back for that…" Sunset mumbles, eyes cast to the sky.

The excitement that had been building in Cozy diminishes for a moment, but it quickly comes back. The pegasus stares at her, like she's trying to analyze more facts out of the alicorn's face. Sunset looks back at Cozy and in the blink of an eye, a smile appears on the filly's face, so quickly that Sunset wonders if she somehow forgot the past few seconds.

"Say, what's your name, Ms. Not-A-Princess?" Cozy asks, sweetness coating her words.

It only occurs to Sunset just now that she had never properly introduced herself. She mentally admonishes herself before posturing like the many proud nobles she had been forced to deal with in the past. Head held high, she answers with clarity and mock seriousness. "My name is Sunset Shimmer, failed student of Princess Celestia and princess of nothing."

Bowing with the exaggeration of an ameteur actor, she says, "It's nice to meet you, Miss Glow. How may I disappoint you today?"

Cozy Glow lets out a single laugh. "You're much funnier than Twilight."

"I try."

Cozy Glow takes a step forward. She looks Sunset in the eye, her smile still present.

"Ms. Shimmer, do you think we can be friends?"

Sunset's mouth hangs open in surprise. "You want to be friends with me? I thought you hated me just a few minutes ago!"

Cozy waves her words away. "Well golly, that's water under the bridge! This was all just a big misunderstanding. I can see you're not like the others, and I think we could really benefit each other!"

She begins slowly walking back and forth, smile still present. "If I go along with you and Starlight on your quest to recapture Chrysalis-"

She stops. "That is why you're out here, right?"

Wow. Starlight was right, she is pretty sharp.

Sunset nods, and Cozy continues her pacing. "If I choose to come with you and assist in your mission, it would help out a lot, you know? I could tell you all about what Chrysalis is like when she's alone, or her strategies for hunting, or anything else! You'll have a much better chance of catching her if I'm with you."

She turns in place and begins to pace the other way. "And, of course, I'll promise not to cause any trouble while I'm with you. Also, I won't complain about the spell Starlight cast on my wings. If it makes her feel better, then that's something I can accept."

Sunset's eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, seriously? You're fine with not being able to fly the entire time you're with us?”

She shrugs, seemingly nonchalant about being unable to use her wings. "If that's what it takes, then that's what it takes!"

Cozy holds out her hoof. "What do you say? Friends?"

Sunset looks at the outstretched hoof and thinks back on all she knows about the pony in front of her. Not what she's been told by others - the story she had been told about Cozy Glow was different to what she had seen for herself. The righteous but ultimately incorrect choices of the princesses shouldn't affect the decision she's about to make. No, she had to trust herself and her own judgment here. Her powers haven't lied to her yet.

The wild onslaught of thoughts and memories that she experienced from Cozy Glow taught her little, but it did give her something. The outline of the pony's personality was all that was clear, but it was more than the sum of its parts. All its separate pieces - longing, anger, hope, pride, helplessness - betrayed the shape of an individual that was much deeper than anypony else had given her credit for. Underneath all the plotting, the deception, and the care for those she conspired with, was a young pony who had made mistakes.

Tirek had cast her aside once he no longer needed her. Chrysalis had, from what Sunset could tell, given up on ever reuniting. Now she was alone, without anyone to rely on, and desperate for someone, anyone to cling to. Cozy thought she hated Sunset just for her appearance as a princess, but managed to convince herself that an alicorn could become an ally in just a few minutes. The very first pony that wasn't openly hostile, and she tries to make her a friend.

Had there been no other opportunity? Was there not a single other creature that thought that she might be worth saving? If even the Princess of Friendship thought the filly was a lost cause, would anyone say otherwise?

Sunset knows the answer. If Twilight hadn't given her a second chance, she may have never had the opportunity to become who she is today. Someone had to show her the light, or her life would only have ever gotten darker. When everyone else was against her, Twilight was the one that opened the door to a better way. All she needed was another chance.

Maybe she could be the one to give Cozy Glow that chance.

Screw it. What have I got to lose?

She moves forward and extends her own hoof, pressing it up to Cozy's. "Friends."

Cozy beams, and Sunset can feel genuine excitement coming from her. The connection drops as soon as their hooves depart and return to the ground. Despite this, Sunset can't help but feel invigorated herself.

An idea pops into her head. "Oh, by the way? Just Sunset is fine, there's no need for that missus stuff - that is, as long as I get to call you Cozy."

The response is instant. "I think I like the sound of that!"

The filly's grin is infectious, and Sunset finds herself smiling despite all that's happened today.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Starlight flies through the air, her magic propelling her upwards. Her ascent back up to Canterlot is much slower than her descent, as she's the one controlling her speed. Her saddlebags are still on her, and the weight is starting to tire her out. Either that, or the amount of magic she's been casting is finally catching up to her. She can't figure out which.

Her mind is preoccupied with other thoughts. Despite coming up with the plan to de-wing Cozy Glow and force her to come with them, Starlight can't shake the feeling that taking her would be a big mistake.

There's way too many variables to account for now. How am I going to juggle searching for Chrysalis, traveling for Celestia knows how long, keeping Sunset's wings hidden, AND making sure Cozy Glow won't mess anything up along the way? There's no way I can do all that by myself! I should have just taken the little evildoer back with me so I can drop her off at the castle. Why did I have to come up with that stupid plan?

Wind buffets her from the side, distracting her from her thoughts and throwing her mane in her face. She groans aloud and waits for the gust to subside, not willing to use any magic to alleviate the minor annoyance. Just barely able to keep herself rising through the air, she has no choice but to endure it.

A single hair flies in her mouth. She spits it out, but that only allows more to take its place. She groans again, louder this time.

Why do I have to deal with this? Why do I have to go on this quest? Why am I, somehow, the only pony around that could have helped her out? How do these things keep happening to me?

She groggily moves her hoof up to her face and removes the stray hairs from her mouth.

Maybe a better question would be 'why can't I just take back what I said?' I can just tell Sunset that I changed my mind, right? Surely she would understand if I explained to her why I was wrong and that it's a really bad idea to bring Cozy Glow along, right? Right?

Right.

With that thought, some of the worries that had been building in Starlight's mind instantly fade away. No Cozy Glow means no glancing over her shoulder to make sure she's not causing trouble, no keeping one eye open at night to prevent Cozy from throwing all their supplies away while she slept, no slowing down to keep pace with a pegasus that can't fly, and no potential turncoat when they do finally catch Chrysalis. Starlight lambasts herself from fifteen minutes ago for coming up with the ridiculous idea to get information from the filly in the first place. It was clear to her that anything she might gain from bringing Cozy along would be a drop in the bucket for their efforts, while at the same time gaining an ocean of problems that didn't make it worth the effort.

The ledge from before comes into sight. Starlight gently touches down, careful of the loosened stone she's stepping on. A quick look around reveals Sunset's saddlebags on the ground, right where she left them. Or, more accurately, where Starlight made her leave them.

The unicorn levitates the bags onto her back, setting them on top of her own. The additional strain from the twice heavy load makes her groan again, momentarily wishing that she didn't have to come back for them. She quickly brushes those thoughts aside, knowing full well that without the magic stone that Sunset was connected to, there would be no way to track Chrysalis, rendering their mission a failure before it even started.

Sighing aloud, Starlight walks back to the edge and forces her horn into action once again. The all too familiar sensation of her stomach flipping isn't lessened any by knowing it's coming. With the additional burden, she takes herself off the ledge and starts to fly back to her destination. Her thoughts swirl around once more as she steadily sends herself down.

Hopes for what the journey could be pop up, taking her mind off of the weight. Perhaps it takes no more than a few days in the wilderness, with only the companionship of a new friend to keep things interesting. Perhaps they find their quarry in an hour, and this whole adventure is over before it truly begins, letting everything go back to normal. Perhaps her extremely basic survival skills and somewhat rational mind are enough to keep them out of trouble.

Perhaps she's being too optimistic.

The distance is crossed in no time despite the slower speed. The forest rushes to meet her, and she slows herself to slip into it.

I think they were somewhere around here…

Her hooves touch the ground. Her flight spell ends, and the weight of the bags bears down on her. Not willing to yell out to find Sunset quickly, Starlight looks around for any traces of her previous landing attempt.

The shine from a tiny shard of crystal catches her eye. She walks to it, and finds another shard close by. Happy to have found a trail so soon, she follows the pieces until she hears a familiar voice. Starlight follows it, and confirms that it belongs to Sunset. All the optimistic thoughts of a short and sweet adventure with her new friend come to the surface, putting a smile on her face.

She trots into the clearing where she left the alicorn, and all the excitement that had been building falls away. Sunset is sitting, relaxed and composed, wings in full view. Right beside her is Cozy Glow, telling the punchline to a joke Starlight isn't privy too. Sunset laughs, and the pegasus beside her giggles in return.

"Sunset? What in Equestria is going on here?"

The two turn towards her. The surprise on their faces quickly fades away, though their smiles do not. Starlight slowly walks forward, almost in shock at what she's seeing.

"Starlight, you're back!" exclaims Sunset, watching the unicorn come closer. "Me and Cozy Glow managed to work something out, and she's agreed to come with us!"

"Has she now?" says Starlight, disbelief dripping from her voice.

As if to disorient her even more, Cozy Glow speaks up. "Yup! Sunset and I are already turning out to be the best of friends!"

Starlight stops. She stares at the two, considers her idea of ditching the pegasus, and concludes that it's now next to impossible. She stifles a scream of frustration, clenching her jaw at the ponies in front of her.

Sunset smiles like she's happy to have made a new friend.

Cozy Glow grins like she's just won the lottery.

Maybe this won't be so nice after all.

"Mind if Sunset and I have a little talk?"

Starlight's question was said less like a polite inquiry and more like a demand. Sunset looks to Cozy Glow for approval despite the agitated look on Starlight's face. Cozy nods, her smile still present. Taking that as affirmation, Starlight takes Sunset to the edge of the clearing, just out of earshot.

The unicorn places both sets of saddlebags down on the ground, relieving herself of their burden. She groans, her lethargy beginning to show itself. Sunset sees her look back and forth between herself, the ground, and Cozy Glow. A scowl forms on her face.

Sunset starts to consider the idea that Starlight might not actually be all too happy about her new friend.

"What are you doing?" Starlight asks accusingly.

Sunset raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean, what am I doing? I'm going along with what you said earlier. Didn't you want her to come along with us?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, I know what I said, but I didn't mean this! Making her come with us so we can use her for information and turn her in when we're done is incredibly different from accepting her as some new pal to hang out with!"

She gets close and presses a hoof against Sunset's chest. "Let me make it crystal clear. Cozy Glow does not want to be friends with you. She wants to use you to get what she desires, and that's it. She doesn't care about you, or anyone, or anything that won't benefit her in some way. She's a liar and a manipulator, who you absolutely should not fall for!"

Sunset gently pushes the hoof away and responds with uncertainty. "That doesn't… I don't know about that. She seemed pretty genuine to me. When I looked through her memories, I saw the kind of pony you and Twilight described to me, but I saw a lot of other stuff too. She's not as cleanly cut as you think."

Starlight shakes her head in confusion. "Sorry, you looked through her memories? Is that why your eyes were creepily glowing when you were still in the crystal?"

Sunset nods. "It's an ability I have. I can experience the memories of others, and even feel what they're feeling. It usually only works when I'm actually making physical contact, though."

Starlight's expression turns to one of judgment. "I don't know if I should feel touched or grossed out that you're so willing to admit that you practice black magic."

"Huh? It's not-" Sunset stops, realizing why Starlight made that connection. "Okay, I can see how it sounds like that, but trust me, it's not."

"You're rooting around in somepony else's head and messing with their memories. How is that not black magic?"

Sunset taps the ground with her hoof. "Well, first off, I'm not messing with anything. Nothing is actually being changed. It's strictly an act of observation."

Starlight hums in such a way that makes it clear she doesn't believe anything Sunset is telling her.

She rubs her leg absentmindedly. "Do you really think I would know that kind of spell?"

Starlight looks away. "Well… yeah, kinda."

Sunset almost feels offended by that, but she remembers all the things that Starlight knows about her and decides to leave it.

"Okay, fair point. I'm serious about it not being black magic though! Its just something I'm able to do on the other side of the mirror that transferred over to this side. Nothing dark or sinister about it!" Sunset says, pointing at her for emphasis.

Starlight just stares at her for a moment. "Y'know what, I'm just going to accept that this totally-not-black-magic is a thing you can do and move on, cause if I don't, we'll be here all day."

"That's probably a good idea."

Starlight lets out a long exhale and looks back to Cozy Glow. The pegasus hasn't moved, and seems to be lost in thought. A smile still rests on her face, slightly unnerving Starlight. She turns back to Sunset, not quite as certain as she was before.

"Look," Starlight sighs, "I don't blame you for believing her, or getting suckered in by what she says. Everyone else did, me included! I'm sure she pulled out all the stops trying to make you think she's harmless."

Sunset laughs. "Hah! I wouldn't say that. If anything, I'm the one that had to convince her we weren't enemies. She was so mad when she woke up, it took her like five minutes to realize her wings didn't work!"

Starlight narrows her eyes, examining Sunset's expression. "That doesn't sound like her. It was probably just a ruse, or she calmed down enough to realize it would benefit her more to get you on her side or something. I mean, look at us, we're arguing about this right now because of her! This is exactly what she wants!"

Sunset glances over to Cozy Glow, who is sitting idly in the same spot. She notices the attention this time and flashes a big toothy grin, waving a hoof. Sunset lifts her hoof to do the same before Starlight pushes it back down to the ground.

"You know," says Sunset, drawing her words out, "I don't really think we're arguing. I think you're playing this way out of proportion and things aren't as bad as you say they are. I think you're assuming the worst out of her because that's all you've really seen. Believe me when I say that she genuinely does want to be friends; I can feel it. Maybe you should give her a chance!"

"Give her a chance?" she asks, her voice raising. "I distrust her as far as I can throw her, and I'm pretty sure I could launch her for miles!"

Sunset can't help but laugh at the mental image of Cozy being launched through the sky just like she was earlier. Starlight doesn't seem so amused.

"Sunset, this is serious! Getting buddy-buddy with her is going to be a big mistake. How can you not see that?"

Sunset sighs. "Look, I know she's done some bad stuff in the past. So have we! But we didn't keep doing bad stuff because we had friends to show us there was a better way. We got second chances, and opportunities to do things right. Why shouldn't she get the same?

"I-" she starts. The wheels in her mind turn, trying to come up with a reason not to. Any justification to deny Sunset's request at all, and she would take it.

She can't find a single thing to say. She looks at the ground, knowing her arguments have led her nowhere. A sigh escapes her.

"Alright."

Sunset perks up. "Alright? You'll give her a chance?"

Starlight points a hoof at nothing in particular. "Just a chance! I still think she's trying to play you, but fine. Maybe she does deserve an opportunity to prove herself. Maybe."

Sunset grins, and her wings rustle in excitement. "That's great! I'm glad you'll give it a shot."

Starlight puffs out her chest, exaggerating her confidence. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm expecting her to show her true colors sooner or later. But sure, I'll play along for now."

Well, that's better than nothing.

The two lift their respective saddlebags onto their backs and turn to Cozy Glow. Sunset calls out to the filly, taking her out of the comfortable thought bubble she had been in. She stands to greet them, eager to begin the journey. They're ready to move on in no time at all. Departure takes only a minute.

Sunlight shines through the leaves in the canopy. It hits the three ponies off and on, the rays shifting this way and that. The rustle of the trees is calming, soothing in a way that only nature can be. There are no marks of civilization to be found, save for the bags the mares are lugging around. In fact, the three ponies seem to be the only creatures around. Birds are singing, but nowhere close to them.

They walk with purpose. Each has a different reason for coming along, but their goal is the same regardless.

Cozy Glow considers just how lucky she really is. First, breaking out of that horrible statue was a miracle. The thought that she would have to spend even a single second more in that place is enough to make her wish for Tartarus. The reason she and her former teammates were freed is unknown to her, but the how isn't important.

Despite her efforts, both her allies gave up on her. Ego crushed her ties with one, and apathy ruined her chances with the other. Neither was her fault, but this is obvious. That they were unable to see her true worth after everything they had been through meant they were simply fools blinded by their own feelings. All their power and all their potential for teamwork means nothing in the face of blind, fleeting emotions.

They had let her down. Friendship had beaten them together, just as it had beaten them apart. The three simply weren't enough to compete with the overwhelming magic of the princesses' friendship. Of course, this doesn't mean friendship itself was an enemy - far from it. After all, the reason for their loss wasn't due to any major flaw on their part. Sure, the three bickered and disagreed, but they all helped each other when they needed it. They put their trust and faith in the ones beside them, just as their enemies did.

Yes, they were friends. Even if Cozy was the only one who knew it.

Her methods were sound. Being friends with two of the most powerful beings she had ever met should have been enough, but it wasn't. No matter how strong they were together, they simply were no match for the overwhelming friendships the princess possessed. Twilight Sparkle's friendships were simply stronger and more numerous than hers, and that was enough to win. This should have been obvious, really. The personal connection to an alicorn princess can't be overstated, as the positives that both sides gain are so numerous that even Cozy Glow would have a hard time counting them all.

It only makes sense, really. Social hierarchies and political ladders could be climbed if you had a princess on your side, but the reverse is true as well. How can a princess rule without subjects, without those she can rely upon when challenges arise? True friendships such as those Twilight Sparkle has will surely benefit everyone involved, which is what makes them so desirable.

Why else would anyone be friends with her?

And now, after being cast aside by the two friends who decided she could give nothing worthwhile, Cozy Glow finds herself with a once in a lifetime opportunity. A golden chance had been placed in her lap, and she took it as soon as she could. Friends with a potential princess, one who agreed with her and could sway others to her side? She would have to be crazy not to take it.

Not only that, but she has the opportunity to convince not only her, but the other princesses that she could do good. If she assisted in the capture of her former ally, it would put her in a good light. It wouldn't be hard to spin things in a positive way for herself. She would have to play the long game, but with this, she could get back on her hooves. All she would need is time to get back to the heights she reached with Chrysalis and Tirek, and to keep everyone fooled all the while.

She walks behind Sunset and Starlight, who move side by side. One of them glances back every once in a while, just to see if she's still there. They'll get used to her soon enough. She already has Sunset wrapped around her hoof, and it's only a matter of time before Starlight gives in and accepts her once again. She knows she'll have a chance to be the one on top again.

All the pieces are in place. All she has to do now is pick the right moves.

8.Share (Whether You Want To Or Not)

Sunlight peeks down at them through the leaves above. Their hooves press into the dirt, crunching leaves in anticipation. Sunset holds the tracking stone in front of them with her magic, the bright red hues imbuing the stone with energy. An arrow comes from it, transparent and orange, pointing directly ahead of them. Sunset smiles in satisfaction and brings the stone back to her bag, the arrow disappearing as soon as she does. She tucks it away, pressing the latch closed with her wing.

"See? I told you she was headed in the same direction!" pouts the filly behind her, cheeks puffed out.

Cozy has no right being as adorable as she is. Though, I guess I must've been at least as cute as her when I was her age. I guess I can let it slide.

"I know Cozy, but we had to be sure. What would we think if you told us to go this direction, and it turned out to be the complete wrong way?" Sunset chides, animosity entirely absent from her voice.

"But it wouldn't have been." the pegasus grumbles, her voice fading away with her annoyance.

Sunset snorts at her remark before looking over to Starlight, who doesn't look so amused. She smiles at the unicorn, earning back a smile in return, albeit a less enthusiastic one.

Pointing her hoof, Sunset states, "Welp, we have a job to do, so there's no reason to stand around here any longer! Let's get going!"

She walks forward, the other two ponies quickly taking their first steps as well, matching her pace. Their hooves press down against fallen twigs and crisp leaves, the forest floor a reminder that they're heading off deeper into nature. Though there is no clear path ahead, the trees aren't densely packed together, leaving plenty of room for the three to walk as a unit in a relatively straight line.

Half a minute passes before Sunset realizes that nopony has spoken since they began walking. She glances at Starlight beside her and Cozy Glow behind them, wondering if she should say something or just let the silence linger.

She doesn't get the chance to decide, as Cozy speaks up before she can. "So! Now that the three of us are working together, we should do some friendship building exercises to deepen our bonds!"

Her suggestion causes the two mares in front of her to look back, puzzled expressions on their faces. The two contemplate what Cozy said for a moment before responding.

Sunset starts, "Friendship building exercises?"

"To deepen our bonds?" Starlight finishes.

Cozy Glow seems proud of her idea. "Uh-huh! We barely know anything about each other since we've only been on good terms for a short time, so it would be great to share some basic information about ourselves."

Starlight scoffs. "Just some basic information, huh? What's next, telling each other our hidden weaknesses and secret vulnerabilities? I'm sure thatwill really help us bond."

Cozy Glow rolls her eyes and grins, like Starlight just told her a mildly funny joke. "Well golly, of course we'll discuss our strengths and weaknesses! We need to be perfectly in sync with each other if we want to take down Chrysalis! But all that tactical stuff can come later, when we're more familiar. We should just focus on the simple things for now! So, what do you say?"

Oh man, she's serious about all this. What kind of twelve year old talks about tactics, and the strengths and weaknesses of their peers? Aside from me, I guess.

Oh, wait a minute. Is this what I sounded like when I talked about magic as a filly? No wonder nopony could put up with me.

The pegasus puffs her chest out, like she's expecting the two of them to leap to the ground and bow to her for providing such an exemplary conversation topic.

Instead of that, Starlight raises an eyebrow and questions her. "How is sharing random facts about us conducive to capturing Chrysalis? Do you think just talking about ourselves is really going to help us out?"

"Of course it will!" Cozy replies cheerily. "Just by knowing more about another pony, you become a little bit closer to them. With every new thing you learn from a pony, your understanding of them grows, and eventually, its easy to guess what they want for lunch, or what they'll do if you act nicely to them, or how they'll respond to stressful situations. It's all so useful!"

Starlight gives her a blank stare. "...Is that how that works?" she says flatly, her tone indicating it wasn't a question.

The pegasus stomps her hooves as she walks, her irritation obvious. "Well, if you have any better ideas, I sure would like to hear them!" she huffs.

A twig snaps under the filly's hoof. Sunset speaks up before Starlight can respond. "Come on Starlight, what's the matter with it? I think telling each other about ourselves would be much more interesting than just trodding along in silence. I, at least, want to know more about you. Don't you want to learn more about me too?"

Starlight's ears droop. "Well, if you put it like that…"

Cozy's smile returns, and she proudly proclaims, "It's settled then! We'll all take turns and talk about ourselves bit by bit. This is going to be so much fun!"

The pegasus is practically bouncing up and down with how excited she is. Sunset doesn't have to use her powers to tell that the enthusiasm is genuine.

"It does sound fun," she interjects, "but what should we do to determine order? And how long is each 'turn' going to be before we move on?"

Cozy looks at Starlight to her left and then to Sunset on her right. The alicorn's tail swishes around when she notices the filly staring at her.

"How about we go from left to right?" the filly proposes. "Starlight tells a fact about herself, then me, then you. Then we go back to Starlight and do it again!"

Sunset nods. "Sure, that works. What counts as a 'fact' here, then?"

Cozy answers immediately. "Oh, it can be anything! The facts can be as small as a food you find tasty or as big as a secret you've never told anypony. As long as it's fun or interesting, you can share it!"

Sunset has to stop herself from laughing.

Being pretty obvious about what you'd rather us talk about, aren't you?

Sunset turns her head back towards the mare beside her, who's still keeping pace. "What do you think, Starlight? Sound good to you?"

"Sure, it's all fine with me." she says absentmindedly, her gaze momentarily distracted by the sights of the forest. "I can go on random tangents sometimes, so I'm sorry about that in advance."

Sunset chuckles. "That sounds just like Twilight."

"I'll take that as a compliment." she quickly replies.

The unicorn's expression is just a bit brighter now than it was a moment ago. It's not hard for Sunset to notice the edges of her lips turning up in a slight smile.

Note to self: Starlight likes being compared to Twilight. I guess that's another thing we have in common.

Sunset's wings shift and readjust. She feels a slight anticipation for the game they're about to play. Despite the lack of competition in it, she can't help but feel excited to do something relatively normal. After hours of surprises and strenuous activity, the prospect of walking alongside a couple friends and chatting about unimportant things is refreshing.

"You go first, Starlight!" says the filly. She seems more excited about the game than Sunset does.

Maybe she's looking forward to a distraction more than I am.

The unicorn hums in response, taking her time to think before saying anything. A moment of wait passes.

The unicorn quietly sucks in a breath and speaks. "I once discovered an underground oasis buried beneath Ponyville. Does that count as a fun fact?"

Cozy rapidly nods her head up and down. "For sure! How'd you find it?"

Starlight waves her hoof in the filly's direction. "Oh, it's not that interesting. You wouldn't want to hear the whole story."

Sunset speaks up. "I would. That sounds way more interesting than what my first fact was going to be!"

Cozy lets out an emphatic "Yeah!" that's just barely not loud enough to hurt their ears.

Starlight sighs in defeat. "Well, if you both think so, then alright. It all started when I bumped into this pony named Maud…"

The weight on Starlight's back feels heavier than it did just a bit ago. She knows that she's probably just tired from walking an hour straight, but she can't shake the feeling that Discord is making her saddlebags heavier over time, and she's only noticed just now. It's unlikely to be the case, and even more unlikely that he would outright sabotage their trip under the guise of help. Discord is, among many things, Starlight's friend. She has faith that he wouldn't do something like that, even for a laugh.

But it's not impossible, and that's why she can't stop thinking about it.

The itch to open her saddlebags and take inventory of everything Discord packed for them is there, but the suspicion that it'll either backfire or be incredibly disappointing is too strong. She knows she should, that it's better to do sooner rather than later, but she doesn't want to open that can of worms just yet. Despite Discord's helpful demeanor, nopony can ever be completely certain that he means what he says. For all she knows, he could have stuffed a dozen frozen snakes in these bags, and as soon as they're taken out, they reanimate and turn the next fifteen minutes into a reptile-zapping cleanup job.

Sure, they're probably filled with a bunch of legitimately useful things too; she believed him when he said that he was returning the favor. It would be just like him to give another "gift" alongside the real one. At least, that's the conclusion Starlight reached after overthinking her current circumstances.

Thinking about all the possibilities of what exactly these bags could contain is enough for her to put off digging through them until later. Beyond their supplies is the practical reality that they now face, that of simple traversal. Sunset can fly now, and while she looks pretty physically fit to Starlight, it's not practical for even most pegasi to fly for a day straight, and then to get up the next morning and do the same thing again. Starlight's flight is limited as well, both because of the energy required off the spell, and from the bags she would have to carry the entire time weighing her down. Now that she thinks about it, Sunset would also have that problem.

Lastly is the issue of Cozy Glow. Even if Starlight could figure out some way for her and Sunset to fly a great distance that wouldn't completely drain the both of them, Cozy Glow still needs to be accounted for. Removing the spell on her wings is a non-option, which means that one of the other two would have to carry her along. Magic would probably be required, but the strain on Starlight would be too much to handle for long distances, and she doubts Sunset is a comfortable enough flyer to multi-task magic and flying at once for hours at a time.

The pegasus would be a dead weight that neither of them are prepared to compensate for. Despite the capabilities shared between the three of them, they're limited to walking. They'll have to rely on their hooves to get them where they need to go, just like everyone else.

Everyone except Rainbow Dash, maybe.

This wouldn't be much of a problem if all they were doing was trekking across Equestria for fun - not that she thinks it is any fun. No, they're after someone, and that someone is both dangerous and on the move. They can't just keep pace and hope they eventually find Chrysalis with her guard down; they need to catch up and capture her before she hatches some insane plan to recapture her former glory. Chrysalis cannot be forgotten and left to her own devices. Everyone learned that the hard way.

She needed to be found as soon as possible, this much was certain. This is not a leisurely jaunt through the countryside, this was a mission that she and Sunset had been given by the princesses. Coming back to Canterlot with empty hooves wouldn't mean they'd be punished, she knew that. However, it would mean that they had let down Twilight, and that was much worse.

Starlight glances at to her right, seeing Sunset walking next to her. She looks at her face for only a few moments before turning back.

I have a feeling she wants to disappoint Twilight about as much as I do.

She doesn't know Sunset's full story, but she knows that the alicorn only found her way because of Twilight, just the same as her. She'll have to ask her more about it later, but for now, she's satisfied just knowing that they share similar motivations to not fail in their mission.

I'm getting distracted.

She forces her mind towards more relevant thoughts. Assuming they aren't lucky enough to find a town or a lone inn when night falls, they would need some kind of shelter when the day is done. Maybe Discord had packed them something for the occasion, but it's just as likely that he didn't. She needs to find out just how prepared the three of them are for an extended trek through the wilderness.

She clears her throat, grabbing her companions' attention. They continue to move forward as Starlight turns her head to the side to face the both of them.

"So," she asks, "have either of you gone camping before?"

Sunset speaks up first. "Depends on what you mean by 'gone camping.' I've been to a campsite once, and did some camping activities while I was there. That was all part of a scheduled trip though, so it was more like a particularly nature-heavy vacation than real camping."

"I guess it's better than nothing?" Starlight says, unsure of her answer. "What about you, Cozy Glow? Happen to have any experience in the great outdoors?"

The two ahead turn back to face Cozy Glow as she responds to the question. She looks uncertain about the question, and responds slowly.

"If staying away from other ponies by hiding out somewhere in the badlands counts as camping, then yes, I do have experience!" she says with a smile.

Sunset responds before Starlight gets a chance. "You stayed out in the badlands? When? How?"

Cozy rolls her eyes, as if the answer to her questions were obvious. "Oh, it was after Grogar - or, Discord, actually - broke me and Tirek out of Tartarus. He brought us, Chrysalis, and that Sombra fella to this old stone structure in the middle of nowhere. I thought it wasn't that great at first, but there was a place to sleep and free food, so it wasn't all bad. I even had enough supplies to make cupcakes!"

The two mares stare at her in befuddlement. Cozy Glow realizes that the two have stopped in their tracks, causing her to come right up to them.

She looks back and forth between them and asks, "What?"

A moment of quiet passes as neither can bring themselves to say anything. Starlight breaks the silence, bringing forth her questions.

"Um, Cozy Glow?" she asks, carefully articulating her words. "When we were sharing earlier, you said you lived somewhere comfortable when you described living with Tirek and Chrysalis. How can a random stone structure in the badlands anything be close to comfortable? You may as well have been hiding out in a cave!"

Cozy rubs the tip of her chin and hums in thought. "You know, now that I think about it, it was a lot like a cave. There were these little streams that went through it, and every other wall had moss growing on it. It wasn't insulated very well, either. The cold air got in so easily…"

Sunset leans in to face Cozy directly. "And you thought that was comfortable?" she asks, the tone of her voice betraying her worry.

Cozy's mouth falls in a line. She gently pushes Sunset back, putting some space between them.

She answers the question like she's talking to a filly half her age. "No, I never said it was comfortable. I said I was comfortable. That's what's important."

Sunset backs up. The two mares look at her, waiting for her to elaborate. The filly glances at them both before sighing. Giving into their stares, she speaks.

"When I stayed at the School of Friendship, I was always acting. Telling other ponies 'oh, it's no problem' or 'it's not a big deal, I can handle it' every day was so… annoying. I thought at least once, somepony would realize that I didn't really believe any of the nice things I was saying. But, no! It was so easy to convince everyone I was telling the truth that it almost became boring."

A sigh escapes her as she gazes into the distance at nothing in particular. "Tirek and Chrysalis never believed any of my sweet talk. It was so obvious I would never convince them that I just didn't bother. The only times I tried out my innocent little filly act was just to mess with them, which was actually a lot of fun!"

She slowly rolls her eyes. "I never had to act around them to get what I wanted, and there was just no use in pretending. That's what made it so much easier to be my cute and lovable self! I didn't have to worry about somepony catching me doing something bad, since that's what the three of us were going to do anyway!"

She finishes her explanation with a smile. Starlight simply stares in mild shock. "I'm surprised you're saying any of this out loud."

Cozy shrugs nonchalantly, though the gesture is somewhat hampered by her static wings. "Why wouldn't I? I don't have anything to hide; not anymore. Golly, everyone in Equestria must know about me now! I couldn't act innocent even if I wanted to!"

Her voice is light and cheerful despite the meaning of her words. Starlight glances at the pony beside her, hoping to glimpse at some hint from her that might make it clear if the filly's attitude is real or not. It's in vain, as the expression on the mare's face is just as confused and conflicted as her own.

Sunset puts on a smile as she turns back towards the direction they were walking in. Still looking at Cozy Glow, her expression makes clear the intent of her next words.

"Well, I'm glad you don't feel the need to play pretend anymore.

"I guess." the filly responds, her voice still upbeat. She follows after Sunset, a slight but noticeable skip in her step. Starlight only sighs as she trods along behind them, her slow pace just barely enough to catch up.

The three begin to walk in silence. Starlight feels a hint of anxiety starting to swirl in her gut, despite the absence of anything that would normally cause it. More confused about the sudden feeling than anything else, she runs through a mental list of what might have caused it.

Am I forgetting something? I already thought about our supplies, so it's not that. Sunset? I've got a few ideas for what to do about her wing problem, so it's not that either. Is there something important about all this that I haven't realized yet? Maybe something to do with Cozy Glow?

What was it she said? Everyone in Equestria must know about her by now? Why does that make me feel so-

Oh, right. Everyone knows what she looks like, and with the news that the other two villains alongside her have been released… ugh. That's going to be a headache.

Sunset clears her throat, taking the unicorn's attention away from the future problem she just discovered. With the eyes of the other two on her, Sunset asks a question.

"So, Cozy. About that cave-like place you stayed in - it wasn't uncomfortable, was it? You made it sound like it just wasn't something you were used to. Is that true?"

She turns her gaze away from Sunset, thinking about her answer. "Hmm. Well, yeah, for the most part. It really wasn't so bad. It was a cozy enough place, once you got used to it."

Sunset laughs dryly. "A cozy place, huh? Nice pun."

Cozy raises an eyebrow. "Huh? I didn't… oh. Oh, yeah! It was pretty good, wasn't it?"

The edges of Sunset's lips turn up in a smirk. "You didn't even realize you made one, did you?"

Cozy immediately scoffs and puffs her chest out. "How do you know it wasn't on purpose? It should be obvious I set that up in advance."

"Yeah, I'm real convinced." The smile on Sunset's face persists.

Oh Celestia, I'm going to go insane before we even get anywhere close to Chrysalis!

Starlight interrupts their banter with another question. "Yes, yes, you two are best friends now, I get it. Can I please get an actual answer to my original question that we've all forgotten about? Do you have any experience with camping or not?

Cozy Glow shows a smile that Starlight suspects is completely artificial. "I guess I haven't, but golly, it can't be that hard to learn."

Starlight grunts in annoyance. "Yeah, that's about what I expected. Three ponies on a trek through the Equestrian countryside, and only one of them has actually gone camping for real. How did I become the one pony around that's the most knowledgeable on camping of all things?"

Sunset turns up an eyebrow at that. "You are? How much experience do you actually have, then? No offence, but you don't really strike me as the camping type."

Starlight huffs. "Well, you're right; I'm not. I was dragged along to a single camping trip by Applejack with the rest of the girls, and it was terrible. She had me carry all this stuff we never ended up actually using, but she insisted it was all very important! That turned out to just be a bad joke, but that doesn't mean I didn't pick some things up afterwards. I was hoping I wouldn't ever have to put any of it to use, but here we are."

Sunset hums in thought. "Yeah, you really don't seem like much of an outdoorsmare. I can't say I've ever really enjoyed that kind of thing, either, so I kinda get where you're coming from."

Starlight sighs in acknowledgement. "It's not just 'that kind of thing', it's this kind of thing. We have to figure all of this out by tonight, or our mission to find Chrysalis is as good as doomed!"

Sunset plucks a stray leaf out of her hair with a bit of magic, talking all the while. "Why are you so certain we won't find her by tomorrow, or even tonight? For all you know, we could run into her before the sun goes down."

"I know that," she sighs, "But what are we going to do if that doesn't happen?"

"Then…" Sunset turns her head to look at the saddlebags on her back. "I guess we hope that Discord packed us enough lunches to last the whole trip."

"Ugh, I am not looking forward to that." Starlight says with a pained expression. "Anyways, what were you thinking would happen if we DO find her tonight? Didn't you say we were just going to blast her to bits with magic or something like that?"

Cozy's ears flatten and Sunset replies. "I did say that, but I was only half serious about that. What I really meant was that you would blast her with magic."

What!?

Her words are feverish and gradually rise in intensity as she speaks. "Excuse me? You were the one who volunteered me for this mission! Now you're telling me that, when we finally encounter Chrysalis, I'm going to be the one doing all the work? Are you kidding me?"

"Look, I know this is selfish of me, but I'm not saying this because of you. I just… I don't think it would be a good idea for me to start using magic again."

"Seriously?" Starlight asks, surprised by Sunset's answer. "From what Twilight told me, I thought you'd be thrilled to practice magic again! I know you haven't really had the chance to do much since you arrived, what with the wings and the trouble in Canterlot. I know you pulled off that teleportation spell, but it's obvious you're out of practice. Why not refamiliarize yourself while we're out here? Why not use magic at all?"

Sunset casts her gaze away from the unicorn. Her eyes unfocus and she stares at nothing for a few seconds, either suddenly deep in thought or simply considering how best to respond. She opens her mouth for just a second, shutting it right after. Neither Starlight nor Cozy Glow press her, and a moment passes.

The alicorn quickly glances at Cozy before fixing her gaze on Starlight. Finally, she asks, "You know how I, uh, was in a place where I couldn't use magic?"

The unicorn looks at Cozy out of the corner of her eye. If the pegasus is reacting to this information in any way, she's not making it obvious.

Acknowledging that Sunset wants to talk about the human world without giving too much away, Starlight responds in kind. "I remember. You spent a long time there, didn't you?"

"Long enough to get used to not being able to use my horn." Her voice is low, like she's not entirely sure of what she's saying. "I never forgot how much I enjoyed it. Learning new spells, testing them out, tinkering with the ones I knew inside and out… It was so, so satisfying. I don't know what I'm going to do if I'm reminded of just how incredible magic can be, only to have to forget about it after I'm done here."

She speaks with deliberation. "I can't get used to my own magic when I know I'm only going to lose it again. I already had to do that once, and I really, really don't want to do it again. It's better if I only use magic when I have to, like with the tracking stone. The fewer spells, the better."

Starlight is at a loss. For all the indignation her tone betrayed earlier, she felt it difficult to refute the mare's wishes.

What do I even say to that? I can't just ask her to ignore her feelings, that would be so mean! Twilight wouldn't do that. She would try and come up with something that helps her friend while still doing what she set out to do! I just need to figure out how to actually do that.

No immediate solution makes itself apparent. Knowing Sunset is expecting some response from her, she decides to shelve the issue, making it future Starlight's problem.

"I understand. I'll figure out some way to make it work without your magic, don't worry."

Sunset smiles, and the warmth it brings is almost enough to convince Starlight that her procrastination was a good decision. Before she can think about that, though, her other companion speaks up.

"What about your wings?" asks Cozy, inserting herself between them. "Are you going to pretend you don't have them either?"

Sunset nods her head. "Pretty much. They're not as important to me as my horn, but flying is still something I won't be able to do when I go back home. I've been trying to not think about them, and I figured the best way to do that is to just turn them invisible and act like they don't exist. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"

Cozy chuckles derisively at her. "Oh golly, Sunset. That won't work at all!"

The two mares either side of her glance at each other, then turn their heads back to Cozy. When neither of them return her with a question, she continues on.

"I think I'm missing something here, but I'm guessing you somehow didn't even know you were an alicorn until today, right Sunset?" she inquires with a twinkle in her eye.

Starlight shoots a look at the freshly minted alicorn.

How did she figure that out? Was it really that obvious? Did you tell her something you shouldn't have? What were you talking about when I wasn't here?!

Her frantic mental interrogation goes unnoticed as the mare responds to Cozy's question instead.

"Yeah, you're right. How could you tell?"

Starlight wishes that Sunset would have opted to not give any important information away to the tiny schemer, but she knows that blatantly sidestepping the question would just confirm what the pegasus has already deduced.

"Well," Cozy begins, "any healthy pegasus as old as you would know they'd have to preen every now and then. Feathers come loose and wings get dirty after a while, and it gets yucky when a pegasus doesn't take care of that stuff. You would already know that if you had to deal with them for longer than a week; you can't just ignore them. Most pegasi would look at you funny if you told them you acted like your wings didn't exist!"

Sunset looks at Cozy with an unfocused gaze. Her mouth is just slightly open, not moving at all. After a moment, a single "Huh." escapes her. It's followed shortly after by something slightly more intelligent.

"You know, I feel kinda stupid that I never thought about that. I just always assumed that pegasi cleaned their wings like they did everything else, with no extra steps. Wings needing maintenance isn't really something I ever considered, but it sounds pretty obvious when you point it out like that."

Cozy laughs. "Well golly, it is obvious! Did you not have any pegasi talk to you about their wings when you grew up? I think most ponies do!"

Sunset grimaces. "Well… I grew up in Canterlot and spent all my teenage years learning magic, so I didn't really have many pegasus friends. Or, uh, any at all. Pegasi cleaning habits never really came up in my studies."

"I guess that explains it." says the pegasus, who isn't hiding her smug grin whatsoever. Her expression quickly turns to something more inquisitive, however, as she looks more intensely at the alicorn next to her.

"It's interesting that you could fly without knowing anything about your own wings, though. It takes pegasi years to learn how to fly like that! Do all alicorns just know how to do it right away, like you?"

"Well…" Sunset slowly turns her head towards Starlight, eyeing the unicorn from the side. Her eyes silently plead for Sunset to not say what she thinks is about to be said. Her silent wishes are not heard.

"I actually didn't know how to fly right away. I had to learn on the spot, when Starlight tossed me off that cliff at the edge of Canterlot."

Starlight groans internally as Cozy Glow's head whips around to face her.

"Really? You just threw her off?" Cozy asks, her eyes and mouth wide open in surprise.

Starlight sighs and answers. "Yes. Weren't you there? You saw me do it."

For once, she seems flabbergasted. Her mouth moves up and down, clearly intending to speak, but nothing coherent comes out. After a few moments of confused sputtering, she manages to form something resembling a sentence.

"But - you - why? Why THAT? Why not anything else?"

Sunset mutters the word "exactly" as Starlight tries to answer the messy questions.

"Look, between convincing Sunset you were who you were and shooting spells to keep you occupied, I didn't really have a lot of time to think it over. It was the best thing I could come up with at that moment."

"You must not have had very many ideas, then." Sunset playfully jabs at her.

Starlight laughs through her nose. "Oh, I had plenty of ideas, I just knew most of them wouldn't work as well as the ones that involved chucking you through the air. It was simply the best way we had to achieve our goals; trust me."

Sunset puts out a performative pout, small dimples forming on her cheeks. "You know, I'm not completely sure I believe that."

She rolls her eyes in return. "Oh, come on. It all ended up working out, didn't it? In fact, you pretty much learned how to fly because of me, didn't you? You've got nothing to complain about."

A haughtiness envelops her words, making the sarcasm clear. The alicorn responds stiffly, without a drop of emotion. "Of course I don't. I'm so grateful that you taught me how to fly since I definitely wouldn't have figured it out myself. I love being forced to master new parts of my body on the spot if I don't want to become a pony pancake when I hit the dirt. It's the best."

Its almost impressive how robotic her voice manages to be. Despite the obvious lack of sincerity, Starlight still holds her head up in pride.

"I am going to get you back for that, by the way."

Starlight snaps her head to the side and faces Sunset, clearly surprised at the declaration. She opens her mouth to speak and studies Sunset for a few seconds before saying anything. "...And, when will that happen?"

Sunset looks her in the eyes, a cheeky grin on her face. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

Starlight laughs nervously in response, but says nothing. Sunset and Cozy glance at each other and chuckle at her reaction. She swallows nothing and tries to mentally recenter herself, pushing her thoughts away from whatever plot the two of them are going to conjure up later.

A distraction comes easy, though, as the trees ahead of them begin to thin out. The other two notice as well, and all of their attention is drawn to what lies before them. The trio parts the last of the woods and emerges on the other side, exiting the forest.

A vast plain stretches out into the distance. Miles of open, flat terrain lay in front of them, green grass and meadows as far as the eye can see. The distance they traversed in the forest was nebulous; there was no point of reference to judge how far they had gone, no obvious landmark to guide them. The forest now seemed inconsequential to Starlight, as she gazes out into the wide countryside she now realizes she'll have to walk across.

The hope that she'll somehow spot their quarry while peering over the distance ahead is dashed as soon as she tries. If the changeling queen wasn't within eyeshot already, it likely meant that she had already crossed the distance. They were already a few steps behind.

As if to emphasize the urgency Starlight was now feeling, Cozy Glow springs out in front of her and Sunset, bouncing with newfound enthusiasm. She turns and faces them, excitedly questioning, "Well? What are you waiting for? Pull out that rock and let's keep going!"

Starlight assumes the alicorn is feeling similar to her, as she simply complies without a word, pulling the tracking stone out of her bag. Holding it aloft with her magic, the arrow springs forth, pointing forward and to the left a tad. Taking that as reason enough, Cozy flips around and trots in that direction, head held high.

Starlight turns to Sunset, wordlessly asking if the mare knew something that she didn't. Sunset simply shrugs, continuing on in an effort to catch up with the smiling filly. Starlight sighs, already tired from the traveling she knows she'll have to do. She picks up her hooves and puts one in front of the other, coming up behind Sunset.

The sun, no longer hidden by the shade of the forest canopy, shines down on her, filling her with warmth. She peeks up at the sky, just to check the time of day. The sun has descended some since Starlight last checked a clock.

Must be around three or four in the afternoon.

The realization that only a few hours ago, she and Sunset were on board a train headed to Canterlot, completely unburdened by all they would encounter once they arrived, strikes her with a sudden sense of longing for the familiar.

What I wouldn't give for this to all be one long, luxurious train ride back to Ponyville…

6.Comfort (Whether You Want It Or Not)

A searing white light hits Sunset's eyes as the crystalline prison around her is shattered. Her body is thrown backwards and lands on the ground, the softness of the soil cushioning her fall. Her wings extend out reflexively as if they were trying to break her fall after the fact. She blinks hard a few times, the whiteness receding to the corners of her vision.

She groans as she makes an effort to right herself. Her head feels attached to her shoulders only by a thread, like it's filled with so much air that it would float away if it were cut loose. Her front hooves push her up to a sitting position, and the weightlessness lessens. The feeling is replaced by a pounding at the front of her head, which has Sunset sucking in a breath in response.

Didn't think it was possible to overuse my powers, but this pretty much proves it. If this is what happens every time I do, I don't want to do it again unless I really have to… ugh, of course it's something like this. I bet all Fluttershy would have to deal with is a sore throat, or Rainbow Dash would only have to lie down for a while. Lucky me, getting the power to have a splitting headache!

She tries to take in the scene in front of her through half-open eyes. Directly ahead is a tree, felled next to several others. She surmises that she's in some kind of forest now, noting that the trees extend on into the distance. Quite nearer than any of that, though, is a familiar lavender coated mare bearing a worried look. She leans in and holds the end of her hoof up to Sunset's chin, examining her face.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Probably…" murmurs Sunset, moving Starlight's hoof away.

"Are you sure?" she asks. "It was a pretty rough fall."

Sunset hums in confirmation, something she regrets instantly as the vibrations from it irritate her headache further. Forcing her eyes to open fully, she examines her companion. The mare in front of her is covered in scratches all over; her mane is in total disarray, with a twig or two sticking out of it. The saddlebags she was gifted from Discord are miraculously still strapped to her back, without a single scratch or tear on them. Somehow, this doesn't surprise her at all.

Sunset raises her eyebrow. "Huh. You don't look so great either, Starlight. Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself right now?"

Starlight almost jumps at the realization, and she begins to examine herself in response. Unable to come up with a rebuttal to Sunset's statement, she plainly states, "Yeah, well, like I said - it was a pretty rough fall."

"Right." Sunset responds curtly. Her gaze shifts away from Starlight to the other pony in their presence, only unnoticed until now because of her small size. The pegasus known as Cozy Glow lies at the foot of the fallen tree, her eyes open but unfocused. Her hooves rest atop her head, like she's protecting herself from something yet to come.

A vague sense of discomfort hits Sunset. It intensifies the thumping in her skull, causing her eyes to automatically shut in pain. Like a chain, her emotions still feel connected to Cozy Glow, her already overused empathy powers being pushed even further. The feelings being transmitted to her are indescribable, foreign to anything Sunset has felt herself. Despite the unfamiliarity, it's clear to her that whatever these feelings are, they’re negative.

Sunset tries to mentally distance herself from the pegasus, focusing her thoughts inward. The headache and the alien emotions dissipate with each other, finally leaving Sunset with a clear mind. She opens her eyes to see Starlight turned to Cozy Glow, head tilted down. With her horn pointed at the still pegasus, it begins to glow, a spell preparing to cast. Sunset's heart leaps in her chest.

"Wait!" Sunset jumps forward, shoving Starlight to the side, but not hard enough to knock her over. She jerks her head up in response, the spell firing into the open air above them, it's light illuminating them for just a moment. They settle, and Starlight stares at Sunset, surprised but seemingly not upset.

"What was that for? I had to undo the freezing spell to let you out, but I still need to put another one back on her so she can't escape again!"

Sunset sighs and turns to Cozy Glow. "Hold on a second. Look at her, Starlight. Doesn't it seem like something is wrong with her? Her eyes are open, but it doesn't look like she's actually seeing anything. She's not even reacting to anything we're saying!"

Starlight also turns to the pegasus, whose wings are pressed tightly against her body. The two step closer, and nothing changes in her demeanor. Her breath is hitched in her throat, and it's hard to tell that she's even breathing, though Sunset knows she must be.

Starlight nods her head in agreement. "You're right, something definitely is going on with her. Should we… do something about it?"

Without hesitation, Sunset replies. "Yes! Of course we should!”

It looks like Starlight means to disagree, but she keeps her mouth closed, choosing only to watch as Sunset gets closer to Cozy. The filly is still unmoving, save for the faint shivering that's only noticeable up close. A rush of anxiety flows through Sunset as she sees the scene for what it is.

She's unresponsive, shaking, and trying to protect herself from something. This is just what Fluttershy is like when she has her freak outs! What was it she called them? Panic attacks? Shoot, how did we make her relax when she had them? Come on, Sunset, think! What did Rainbow Dash always do to calm her down?

Grimacing at how long it took her to notice, she walks next to the filly, reaching out a hoof in uncertainty. She rests it against Cozy's hoof, mentally preparing for the worst. Cozy flinches, but otherwise stays the same. Sunset exhales, glad that the filly didn't immediately bolt from the contact. The thought that her powers could have connected them again without her meaning them to crosses her mind, and she sends a silent thanks to no one in particular that they didn't.

She casts a fretful glance at Starlight, hoping for some kind of encouragement. She looks completely baffled at Sunset's actions, saying nothing but quite obviously judging her.

She's no help. What makes panicking ponies calm down? What do kids like? I'm completely drawing a blank. This should be obvious to me! What, I can manipulate nearly every student in a high school but can't figure out how to get a single pony to stop freaking out? How do Rainbow and Rarity make it look so easy? Oh Celestia, I'm so bad at this!

Wait. What was it that Celestia always used to do for me when I had a bad day? It was so simple, but it always made me feel better. It was something with her wings, and her hoof against my back. How did she do it again...?

The mare sits down next to Cozy, pressing her left flank against the filly's right. Despite the invisibility of her wings, she cautiously moves her left wing over, draping the pegasus in a cover of feathers. Her condition doesn't immediately improve, but nothing negative happens as a result either. Taking this as reason to go further, she takes her hoof and gently presses it against the middle of Cozy's back.

Slowly, she begins to move it around in a circle. The motion is deliberate, and she avoids the sections that connect to Cozy's wings, staying away from the sides. She presses in just a bit more, her hoof looping around and massaging the same place she started at. It goes around the circle again, completing rotation after rotation. It becomes automatic, the mare barely having to focus on the motion to make it happen.

She looks at Cozy Glow's face. Her eyes are still vacant and unfocused, but her eyelids are beginning to droop. The shaking is beginning to lessen, the constant shivering retreating back into her. Daring to take it a step further, Sunset leans down, bringing her head right behind Cozy's.

I think she used to say things, too. Things meant to comfort me. I can't remember the words she spoke. Maybe that part doesn't matter so much. It was always her tone of voice that seemed to do the trick. Those were the only times I ever heard her speak like that…

Her thoughts trail off, but the idea remains. Keeping her voice just above a whisper, she speaks in the gentlest tone she can muster.

"It's okay. You'll be just fine now. Everything will be okay."

The sound that comes out of her mouth is unlike anything she's used to. Her ordinary casual demeanor and confident attitude is gone, replaced with a sensitive and gentle tone that she can't ever remember using.

"There's nothing here that can hurt you. Nopony will do anything to you now. You're safe."

The words come to her, reaching out like they want to be spoken. She doesn't have to think about the right thing to say. She doesn't have to think at all. All that matters is the emotions she wants to convey, and how she wants the pony next to her to feel. It all comes naturally.

"Shhh. You can relax now. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. It's okay to take a break. It's okay to rest. You can take as long as you want. Everything is fine now."

The movements of her hoof don't stop through any of it. The thoughts, the feelings, the soft words of safety that go from one to the other blend in with the continuous massaging. The circular motion continues on, it's pace steady and its path set to repeat indefinitely. The fur her hoof moves through barely feels like fur anymore. It's become completely natural to her touch, like something would be missing if she wasn't in contact with it.

Cozy's head, which has been slowly drifting further and further down, finally rests against the dirt. Her eyes, still hazy, shut at last, and the shaking ceases entirely. Her breathing returns to a natural state of ins and outs instead of the sharp, anxious inhaling and exhaling it was before.

Sunset's wing stays draped around the filly, and the motion of her hoof continues. After a few more moments of quieter and quieter whispering, she stops vocalizing to her, letting silence fill the space. She lifts her head up and slowly breathes in, taking in a deep breath of victory.

I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe that actually worked!

Taking her attention away from Cozy Glow, Sunset lifts her head up and sees Starlight staring at the two of them. Her expression is one of incredulous confusion, her gaping mouth accentuating the look. Seeing Sunset finally looking back at her, she hisses a terse "What are you doing?" under her breath.

In an equally quiet but harsh voice, Sunset replies, "I don't know! I don't know what I'm doing! I have no idea what the right way to do this is!"

Starlight gapes at her again for a moment before regaining her composure. "No, not that! Why are you trying to help her with… whatever's going on with her? This is Cozy Glow! A criminal mastermind who almost destroyed Equestria twice! And now you're… rubbing her back like she's some innocent little foal that's just had a nightmare!"

The reminder that the one she's comforting has tried to take over the world a couple times doesn't much lessen the urge to tend to her.

Something occurs to Sunset. "Wait, you weren't going to do anything to help her?

Starlight seems confused at the question. "No? I thought you were going to cast a muscle relaxant spell on her or something. That's what I would have done, not whatever this is!" she says, pointing a hoof at Sunset and Cozy Glow.

It's Sunset's turn to stare in bafflement. "Why in Equestria do you know a muscle relaxant spell of all things? And why did you think it was the right thing to use in this situation?"

Starlight waves her hoof around in a circle, like she's turning an invisible wheel. "Well… you know how if you sit on your leg for too long, it starts to get all fuzzy and tingly and weird?"

Sunset nods slowly, confused at the sudden change in topic.

Starlight continues, "So, this spell helps to get rid of that by totally relaxing the muscles in whatever has that weird feeling. Makes all that fuzziness go away, at the cost of being, uh, unable to use the limb you cast the spell on. But hey, it works!"

She turns her head to the side and looks away from Sunset. "...It also happens to be good for immobilizing somepony trying to run away from you."

"Wha-" Sunset starts, cutting herself off. "Starlight! Seriously?"

She turns back to Sunset, throwing a hoof in the air. "What? I used to be evil! You already knew that!"

Sunset holds up a hoof and opens her mouth to respond. Before she can, the sound of Cozy Glow shifting and mumbling in her sleep stops the both of them. Sunset keeps herself still, holding her breath while she waits for something else to happen. A few tense moments pass before the pegasus adjusts herself, settling against Sunset once more. She lets out the breath, allowing herself to relax somewhat.

Maybe I should have Starlight use that spell on me once this is all over. I could really use some kind of magical shortcut that forces me to chill out for a while.

Starlight sighs and presses a hoof to her face, keeping it there. Sunset can only guess what she's thinking about. The unicorn breathes in through her nose and slowly exhales, putting her hoof back down afterwards. She takes a few steps forward and begins to speak in the same hushed tone as before.

"Look, Sunset. I don't really get why you're doing all this, but you have to let me do something to keep her in check. Remember before I made you fly-"

"Is that how you're putting it?"

Starlight continues like Sunset hadn't said anything. "-Cozy Glow said something about a bug monster. That ‘bug monster’ was obviously Chrysalis, right? I don't think she was making that up. We know that Chrysalis was there, and Cozy probably assumed that we were looking for her, which we were. Or, are, I guess."

Sunset curtly responds, "What's your point?"

"My point is," she states, "If she wakes up without us taking any precautions, she'll just fly off and we'll be right back to square one. But, if we can somehow keep her around, we might be able to get information about Chrysalis out of her! And, as a bonus, we get to turn in Cozy Glow when all is said and done. We can't just leave her be!"

Sunset clicks her tongue in annoyance. "I'm not going to let you put her back in one of those crystals again. Don't ask me why, cause I'm not totally sure myself, but trust me when I say that it would be a bad idea."

"I figured," Starlight says calmly, "which is why I propose a compromise. Instead of the crystal, how about I use that muscle relaxant spell I mentioned? If I concentrate it to only the tendons that control her wings she should still be able to feel them, but until I undo the spell, she’ll be unable to use her wings to fly! How about that? Nice middle ground, huh?"

"What? That's not how that works! It would wear off at some point, like the invisibility spell you cast on my own wings earlier. You can't just permanently make someone's wings stop working with a spell!" Sunset quietly exclaims.

Starlight nods. "Of course you can't. But she doesn't know that! She should think that I'm a talented spellcaster after seeing me in action. Which is true, obviously. Even as clever as she is, there's no way she could know the intricacies of the magic involved with this kind of spell. We just have to tell her that I 'turned off' her wings, and that I'm the only one that can turn them back on again. That way, she's forced to come with us, while being unable to fly away! What do you think?"

Sunset looks down at the sleeping pegasus. She looks calm, like her current situation was something that had played out dozens of times in the past. From the sight alone, Sunset could mistake her as somepony who is used to being here, away from the trappings of the trappings of a society she can no longer take part in.

It would be impossible to tell she had been hurtling through the air while confined to a crystalline prison fifteen minutes ago if all there was to go off was her current situation. Laying here in front of Sunset, she seemed like an angel that had come down to rest amidst nature, and not the clearly flawed pony she really was.

The rational part of Sunset's brain screams at her that this is a criminal that tried to both get rid of all magic in Equestria as well as take it over with two certifiably evil villains. It's difficult to connect the two images of Cozy Glow, especially considering she was experiencing the whole of her life less than half an hour ago, though it was through an incredibly sped up outside perspective where nothing really made sense.

All that she could really grab onto was the vague feeling that this pony was someone who was entirely on the wrong path, and had some incredibly misplaced priorities, among other flaws. The other, more resonant feeling was that she had been in Cozy's position before. She, too, had been completely lost and lashing out at anypony that scorned her and admonished her overzealous goals. Which, in Cozy's case, was every single authority figure in her life, as well as all of Equestria.

I think I can work with that.

The magnitude of it all is quietly realized as Sunset makes her decision. "Starlight?" she asks, grabbing the unicorn's attention. "I think I'll go with your idea. Make her stay with us, get information out of her, and turn her over once we've got Chrysalis. I'll agree to all of this on one condition."

Starlight brightens up, clearly pleased that Sunset wasn't fighting her on the plan. "Great! What's the condition?"

Sunset plainly states, "Cozy Glow never has to be trapped, imprisoned, or physically confined by either of us from here on out. That's it."

Starlight looks like she's about to question the statement, but backs down before she says anything argumentative. "You know what? Sure. I can totally deal with that. No imprisonment, no problem. There's ways to get around that, anyways."

Before Sunset can ask what she means by that, Starlight's horn begins to glow, and she steps forward to press it against Cozy Glow. A brief sparkle shines over the pegasus' wings before fading away. Though visibly unchanged, Sunset doesn't have to think very hard to realize what spell was just cast.

I wonder how long that spell is going to last. As a matter of fact, I don't even know how long the one she cast on me is going to go for. She said it was a day, but...

The sight of Starlight's flight spell being cast tells Sunset she isn't going to get an answer to any of her questions anytime soon. The now hovering unicorn quietly announces, "I'm gonna go pick up your bags while we've got time. Can't leave that stone behind, right? I shouldn't be gone too long, but keep an eye on her while I'm away."

Sunset nods, and taking that as confirmation, Starlight rises, flying off into the sky. Her shape in the air quickly gets smaller and smaller until she disappears from view entirely, the glow of her magic obscured by the sunlight and tree leaves.

Sunset looks back down to Cozy Glow. Her repetitive hoof motions had stopped at some point during her conversation with Starlight, and her hoof now simply rested on the filly's back. She sighs, unsure of what, if anything, she was going to do about this.

Starlight keeps telling me how dangerous she is, but I can't help but feel like there's something she's missing. I know she wasn't lying about any of the things Cozy Glow did, but there's something that isn't adding up. Maybe I just don't get it, and there's something that makes it obvious why she's so evil. Whatever it is, though, I haven't seen it.

Yet.

Still pressed against each other, Sunset can again feel the lingering connection to Cozy Glow's emotions and memories. They're not forced this time however, instead reaching out naturally, the same way it had felt for humans with her geode. Perhaps she could get something more concrete that could clear everything up if she tried to connect again, without the strange confines of the crystal muddling everything.

If nothing else, I owe it to Starlight to not mess up this mission by getting caught up in a scheme of Cozy Glow's when I'm the one who made her join me in the first place. It was pretty easy for me to believe her when I didn't know who she was. Hopefully looking at some of her other memories will keep me from falling to her tricks in the future.

Reaching out to the sleeping filly, tendrils of thought from Cozy Glow's mind connect to her own, and the two begin to link together.

Who knows? Maybe I'll find a memory with Chrysalis that'll give us some clue as to where she's headed. Wouldn't that be nice…

Someone from below had seen her. Cozy Glow wasn't exactly sneaking around, soaring away from the castle in the middle of the commotion. Perhaps a royal guard was on the lookout, or maybe a foreign dignitary happened to look up by chance and recognize her. She didn't realize they'd noticed her until a couple spells nearly fried her behind.

To say she managed to get away would be untruthful. Yes, she had escaped the castle in one piece, and yes, she lost most of the guards who rushed after her in the twisting and turning streets of the city. Most is not all however, and two remain on her tail, running after her with seemingly endless stamina and precision. The glimpses Cozy managed to catch of the sun show that not much time has passed, despite how long she feels it's been since the chase started.

Her legs and wings ache with the mixture of running and flying she's been doing nonstop since she'd been found. The sounds of hooves pounding against the ground behind her is all that's keeping her moving forward, her above-average stamina just barely able to keep her going.

She turns a corner and thrusts forward with a burst of speed from her wings, desperate to lose the ones after her. Ahead is an open street with the wall that marks the boundary of the city at the end. Cozy internally curses her luck before she notices a plain-looking pegasus close to the wall. Seeing a chance to use this random passerby to her advantage, she runs directly at them.

The pegasus, a mare, notices Cozy, and her eyes widen at the guards closing in. Banking on the stranger either not recognizing her or not knowing who she is at all, Cozy swoops behind her, putting on the mask of a scared filly in need of assistance.

The royal guards close in, and with her back literally against the wall, Cozy prepares a mighty plea for help to convince the (hopefully) unsuspecting mare to assist in her escape. The opportunity never arises, however, as something takes the attention of all three newcomers.

A fierce growl erupts from the seemingly ordinary mare, and a wave of green envelops her body, forcing Cozy to step back. In her place stands a creature nearly twice the size, one with a large crooked horn and holes through her legs. Cozy breaks into a smile, appreciating the supreme magnitude of her luck.

The changeling queen's horn shines a bright neon green, and two beams simultaneously shoot out of it. They go past Cozy Glow on both sides, and she hears the two guards groaning in pain behind her. Not bothering to check if they went down or not, she comes out from behind Chrysalis, excited that things are finally turning up.

Without moving her head, Chrysalis looks at Cozy Glow, her expression betraying her slight agitation. She speaks, the tone of her voice dry and intimidating.

"You."

Cozy's smile only widens. "Me!"

Cozy Glow moves in her sleep, disconnecting the rush of sights and sounds that Sunset had been receiving. She shakes her head, refusing to let herself feel disappointed. Undeterred, she nudges closer to the sleeping villain and initiates the viewing of her memories once more.

She's gone. Off into the woods, the last chance for Cozy Glow to come back to prominence disappears from view, her black outline slipping into the shadows. A feeble attempt to call out to the changeling falls flat, and the pegasus is left standing alone, whispers of wind over the plains now the only thing to keep her company. Now without a plan of action, her mind begins to wander.

She loses track of time in her thoughts, ruminating on how and why she's now stuck in her current situation. After rumination is contemplation, however, and the latter takes precedent in her mind. Unable to let herself be paralyzed by indecision, a plan of some kind is needed to save her. To pick up the pieces, confidence and analysis is required.

There's no way this is the end. I can still find some way to make this work, there has to be some plan I can put together that can salvage this mess. There's a way out for me, I just have to figure it out! If there's an opportunity to get something back so I can win them over, I'll take it. I just have to make sure I'm there for it.

Her allies are gone, one abandoning her for his own goal and the other doing the same for lack of one. Betrayal is never fun, but that's not what's threatening to send her over the edge from a sudden surge of anger. Her blood boils at their inability to see her for what she is: an asset.

Can't they tell how useful I would be to them? The only reason we ever teamed up was to benefit ourselves by helping each other at the same time, and there's no reason that would stop now! This is all just a big setback to our goal, so why are they treating it like our cooperation was a total failure? We got closer to ruling Equestria than we ever would have apart!

All three of us came so close to what we wanted, but we lost in the end, even together. But don't they understand it's not over yet? We were set free! We were all together! We could have taken advantage of the chaos to take back what was ours! Why can't they see the benefit of working together? Why can't they ever just accept that I can give them as much as I take?!

Her jaw is clenched, grinding her teeth together. A low growl comes out of her, though the sound is somewhat muffled by the wind. She's tempted to scream out her frustrations, but she knows she can't afford to be so careless. The rational undertow of her mind keeps her emotions in check, and the growl subsides.

Maybe I don't need to have actually convinced Chrysalis to get Tirek back on my side. He thinks that she left because she no longer saw the value in teamwork just like him, but if I tell him that I managed to convince her otherwise, it might make him more amenable to the concept again. Even if he gets skeptical that I didn't bring her with me, I can make it seem like she's off doing some other mission that the two of us agreed on. Yeah, I can see him falling for that.

Once I'm back in his good graces, I can coast along until I figure out a more permanent solution to keep up the ruse. If the princesses and their friends are too busy panicking about Tirek and I, they might not have a chance to think about Chrysalis much, which would allow me to come in and make something up. If there's some non-existent Chrysalis going around disguised as someone, then anyone can be suspect, and I won't have to prove anything!

She rubs her temples, her train of thought moving a million miles an hour.

Ok, maybe that part won't work out as well as I think it might, but I can deal with that when I get there! For now, I need to get to Tirek, tell him I got Chrysalis back on our side, and convince him to team up with us again. That's totally doable! Sure, it might be much easier to get there if he just believed everything I said, but he's suspicious of me now. Still, I've got a real shot at this! All I really need to do is get past the city's security and get up close to Tirek. I can talk my way through the rest of it.

With the outline of a plan forming, she lifts herself off the ground and begins to fly. Far higher than the ground is where she found Chrysalis, and the best way back into the city is through there. Despite her agility, her stamina wasn't the best, and so, climbing the mountain with short bursts of flight would have to do.

Her mind still ticking away, she ascends the mountain that holds Canterlot, getting closer and closer to the newly made entrance to the city. With her wings, the journey back up doesn't seem to take longer than five minutes, though she knows it must have taken more. Coming off the side of the mountain, she scans the wall of the city for the hole her former teammate blasted through it. Before long, she spots it, and soars over to it, excitement beginning to creep back into her.

Just as she reaches it, she notices something different. Upon the edge of the road that led to the wall are two ponies, both facing each other. Unicorns, one orange and one lavender. The latter looks familiar, but from this distance, it's hard to tell.

She gets closer, and her identity clicks as their faces come into view. Starlight Glimmer, alongside somepony unknown to her. The excitement turns to elation as a whole host of opportunities arise just by a known element appearing before her.

Starlight turns and sees her. A smile rises on Cozy Glow's face.

It goes by so fast. The plotting, the watching, the taunting, it all passes in the blink of an eye. It barely sticks to her mind, just a whirling set of sights and sounds that go from one to the next without pause. The orange one is thrown, and she jeers at the one that threw her.

Starlight comes after her. Amusement turns to surprise. She can't fly fast enough. Surprise turns to fear. She's going to be put back into that place, deprived of sight or sound or touch for the rest of time. Fear turns to panic. Everything is over if she's caught, but she can't escape. One mistake and it's over. One slip up and it's an eternity of that horrible, endless nothingness.

The panic doesn't leave her. The chase goes on. Her wings only get more and more tired, each terrified flap signaling the end, yet it's just barely staved off. The orange one is back. Dodge her and don't think about it. Her eyes flashed, but the panic driving her forward leaves no room for thoughts, only the blind instinct to run away.

She flies in circles. Against the wall, the beams from the one chasing her just barely miss. She can see that same hole in the wall up ahead. Her only way out is through there, losing the doom encroaching upon her. If she could just make it to that spot, she would have a chance.

A flash of orange. Something solid collides with her, and her wings beat once, twice. A presence engulfs her, presses against her in all the worst ways, clamping her wings to her back. Held in midair, it's as if she's floating, suspended in one spot. It's so disgustingly similar to the sensation that dominated her mind in that place that it makes her sick.

And after that, without warning, she loses the ability to move. All at once, her body is frozen. The pressure is suddenly here, pushing into her from all angles. The lights from outside don't matter anymore.

Her world becomes a prison once more. The fears that have been plaguing her erupt into an overwhelming sense of despair and horror. It was all for nothing. She's right back where she started.

Yet, it is not the same as it was in that deep, endless void. There are sensations to experience, sights to see, things to feel. Her prison is different now.

But panic provides her no avenue to appreciate this difference. All her mind tells her is that she is trapped again. Immobile. Inert. A death without finality.

For how long?

She cannot consider this, as time slips back into the realm of fiction. The expanse in front of her may as well be infinite. Her mind, too, is put into stasis. Thinking without comprehension, to not suffer the agony of truly experiencing this all for the second time.

The blood flowing through her veins turns to ice, and the vision her eyes still possess flows away to nothing more than vague shapes and colors. Her senses retreat inward, to return only when it is safe.

Time passes. It means nothing.

Something cracks. A burst of light blinds her, and the prison is broken. She can't know if it's for the last time.

"Get away from me!"

Sunset is jolted out of the memory as a hoof strikes her side. She quickly stands and backs up, her senses quickly becoming reacquainted to the reality around her. Her eyes focus on Cozy Glow, who she realizes kicked off of her in order to create distance between them.

A flash of surprise is all Sunset sees on her face before it changes to something else. Shock, fear, and unfettered anger is what appears in her expression. Sunset opens her mouth to speak, but the pegasus shouts at her before she can.

"You're a princess!" she spits, scorn embedded in her pronunciation of the last word.

Jolting from the accusation, Sunset immediately counters her claim without thinking. "Listen, I don't know where you got that, but I'm not-"

The sound of ruffling feathers stops her. She turns her head to the side, dreading what she thinks she's going to see. Splayed out in full view are a pair of wings, both connected to her. She flinches, and they immediately retreat, folding up against her torso. Slowly turning her head back to Cozy Glow, she sees the filly bursting at the seams with hostility.

I am SO getting Starlight back for this.