Cozy Glow's Completely Normal Family

The purple and blue carpets that run the length of the School Of Friendships' halls are trodden over by a tired, purple pony who should have gone to bed much, much earlier. A warm cup of joseph softly floats beside her, encased in a soft, bluish glow. A vain attempt to best the bags that sit heavily under her eyes, but it's not like she ever learned proper bedtimes from her equally purple mentor.

That's right, it's the other purple pony, Starlight Glimmer. Having been made the Principle of the School a few years ago thanks to Twilight Sparkle, the equally purple Founder, once Starlight graduated from her admittedly short term as Twilight's student, It's been an... interesting challenge. Starlight finds she's settled into the role well, despite the hurdles. Positions of authority seemed to be places she naturally hovered to, and one where her control was reasonably limited to assisting friendship helped keep her on the straight and narrow.

Trixie was a godsend in her mornings, ever since she learned how to make actually good coffee. The two have been in a committed relationship for some time, having worked through most of their problems. They still have a day or two where they bicker, but... they have a few ways to make up for it. A few of the students pass by, greeting Starlight idly or carrying on with their conversations, as Starlight finally reaches her office door. She's pleasantly surprised to find a complete lack of a line when she arrives. Perhaps she could take it easy... the idea of stealing a nap was a scandalous, but equally tempting one.

She had little use for keys, using her magic to toy with the lock until it clicked. She knew the tumbles for every important door in the school, slipping inside before somepony thought it'd be a good idea to try and get in a good-morning friendship question.

Though recently, she's had to answer actual academic questions too. When the School of Friendship 'grew' from the tree of Harmony, Princess Celestia put a sizable donation forward to Twilight's friendship efforts. This drew significant local attention from the slightly rural, outdated in comparison level of Education from Ponyvilles schoolhouse, and a merger was discussed. Now, Standard Education has joined the ranks of the numerous classes being taught at the school, with Cherilee and the other Schoolhouse's old staff members joining the School of Friendships ranks as faculty. Not only Ponyvilles Fillies and Foals, but other young and old ponies alike seeking general education, or specialized classes, depending on their interests. Schooling was free, funded by generous benefactors usually related to those coming for the offered education, and lightly subsidized by the crown. In another few decades, the School might very well be the reason that Ponyville becomes Ponytown.

That had added a little bit of responsibility to her title, to say the least, but Twilight played the role of a very active Founder, making it a digestible task, and they had numerous well-meaning teachers to boot. Sighing to herself, Starlight sinks into her chair, setting the cup down atop her desk. A long, slow breath of mental preparation for the days tasks, primarily paperwork and guiding confused students, Starlight glances to her leafy confidant. Phillis, the ever-enduring potted plant, and receptacle to Starlight's often verbalized thoughts.

"Good morning, Phillis." Starlight the pony hums, settling in.

"Good morning, Starlight." Phillis the plant responds, startling the absolute shit out of Starlight.

She nearly falls out of the chair as she flinches back, staring at her plant as her hooves grip the desk for support. Sure, she'd always spoken to Phillis, but Phillis had never spoken back before! Had she always been alive? Had she --

A mouth, with a prominent snaggletooth slowly forms on one of Phillis' leaves, grinning widely. It's a very familiar snaggletooth that Starlight wasn't very fond of. The culprit leaf falls from Phillis, swirled by an unseen wind, depositing it directly on the seat of the chair across from herself.

It grows arms, and legs. At first, far too many to count; then, a tail. It sheds the extra limbs like a lizard might shed its skin, twisting and forming into the Draconequus' much more familiar shape.

Starlight shakes her head, resting it on a hoof propped on her desk. Oh.
"Oh! Hi... Discord. It's... goo-great, to see you again. Here. Un...supervised."

"What, can I not visit one of my friends, friends... friends, Starlight?" Discord grins 'innocently', sitting on the chair. Or rather, the chair sits on him. Or the chair is upside down, and he stands on it. Starlight stops watching, for her own slowly crumbling sanity.

"My, another late night? It's starting to show." He follows with a pang of worry, pulling at his eyelids. And he just keeps pulling, until they stretch down to his chin, letting them snap back up.

Discord was... well, he didn't get away with his little Grogar stunt, to put it lightly. Fluttershy was tasked with carrying out a rehabilitation sentencing that involved understanding that subjecting your friends to nigh-world ending torment was in fact, not the maneuver, and had half his power sealed in the Bewitching Bell, which now sat in the Princesses firm grasp. Once he'd been deemed improved, he may have the power back. This was projected to occur in the next three decades, as Discord had been making terrible progress.

Although, for not the most terrible reason.

"Yes, I'm aware of the bags under my eyes, Discord. Very astute." Starlight grumbles, sipping her coffee.

"Actually, I was going to point out the grey hair, but --"

"The WHAT --" Starlight sputters, spraying precious Joseph across the room.

"Kidding, kidding." Discord holds up his hands, window-wipers popping out of his eyelashes to scrub his eyes clean of the spit-take.

"Discord, I'm going to alert the Princesses." Starlight firmly warns, wiping her mouth clean with a hoof. She could tolerate some degree of tomfoolery but Discord was still on thin ice.

"Yes, I'm sure you would, party-pooper. No, Starlight, I have an actual reason to be here. One that attributes to your little school, and some of its..." His face scrunches, fingers raising.
"Students." He says mockingly.

"...Then spill it, Discord. And no tricks."

"No tricks."

"Pinkie Promise?"

"Actually, Pinkemania is part of the reason I'm here. Do you remember the Bewitching Bell, Starlight?"

Starlight's eyes narrow, just waiting for him to offer some hairbrained scheme to fork it over and return his powers early.

"Well, before I got my powers halved... I got my powers returned, as I'm sure you remember." Discord begins to explain, idly floating around the room on a legs-crossed, relaxed pose.
"Only... I didn't get all of it back. A sliver of my power was missing -- and has been, since."

That catches Starlight's curiosity, the furrow in her brow slowly disappearing.

"It took me time to figure it out, but I believe those that tasted my magic... kept a small part of it with them. I'm sure you've noticed Pinkemania has been a touch... more Pinkie, in recent times?"

Starlight tsks. As one of the Schools Teachers, Pinkies hijinks had seen a marketable increase in... absurdity, following that whole event. Appearing suddenly, producing items of absurd size or complexity on the spot, and her brand of physical... 'comedy', which had already presented itself as unusual, involved even more physics-and-anatomy bending, if not outright breaking, then normal.

"...I have always felt like I'm the only one who noticed, since the Elements had been so used to Pinkie before." Starlight muses aloud, Discord nodding in agreement -- his head makes a rattling sound, eyes bouncing numerous times as they catch up.

"That's why I came to you, Starlight. You notice these things." Discord hums with approval, spinning around in the air.

"So... what, you want me to get your power back from Pinkie? How would I even do that -- and why would I?" Starlight asks, incredulous and suspicious.

"Oh, no. By this point, that sliver of Chaos has all but merged with her. For all intents and purposes, it's gone." Discord tuts.

"Then... why bring it up?" Starlight questions.

"There's another. A second. One that I'm sure you're familiar with, that I believe dabbled in my magic." Discord warns, holding up a single finger, that splits into a second, wriggling around.

"...But nobody else used the bell, that we saw. Only the villains that are..." Starlight trails off, eyes widening. Discord watches her expectantly, nodding as he watches her realization settle. Chrysalis. Tirek. And...

"...Cozy Glow?!" Starlight slams a hoof on her desk. The two had a difficult history, neither quite the fan of the other. At all. 'Rehabilitated' or not, Cozy's stark personality didn't make her the most popular figure in Ponyville. The one doing most the weight-pulling in that category was her doting husband, who vehemently stood to her defense, and was most of the reason that terms had been agreed to allow her to live in Ponyville.

"It took me years of sniffing around, but I tracked it down. Like Pinkie, it's deeply settled in her now, and I doubt I could get it back. But... that's only one side of the potential problem." Discord explains -- a suitcase poofs to existence beside him, and Discord adjusts his tie, before rummaging through it.

"So Cozy Glow still having access to Chaos Magic somehow isn't the bad part?" Starlight mutters.

"Somehow, no. Two more bad parts, I'm afraid. One... I don't believe mine was the only sliver of magic missing." Discord mumbles. His tone is... surprising un-playful, despite his actions. Honestly, even his usual bit doesn't feel as amusing as it usually does. "But you'd need to follow up on that one. I'm not chasing that lead."

It sets a foreboding tone for Starlight.
"What?" She asks, confused.

Instead, Discord continues.
"Two... I don't believe Cozy is the sole holder of said Magic anymore." Discord states bluntly, slamming the suitcase shut with a click. He's holding... a photograph? Starlight can't see it from this angle, but its a simple, printed polaroid.
"Not much I can do about it in my position... and, it might not even be an issue. I'm hardly the one to make a call like this." Discord snorts, holding the photo out towards Starlight.

She goes to reach for it, but he tugs it away.
"This... I leave this to you to decide, Starlight. I know how you feel about Cozy Glow, but I believe you might be the only one level-headed enough to decide this for yourself."

Her? Level headed? Why was Discord offering her praise? Her reach falters in soft confusion, a pang of worry settling deep in her.

"Discord, you can't..."

"I know. Just... look at it. And decide yourself, what it is that you see." Discord sighs uncharacteristically, before quickly flashing that snaggle-toothed smile.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a picnic with Fluttershy -- we're reviewing how to help a distressed friend, and how recruiting all their prior villains does not actually help. Who knew? Anyway, I can only pretend to be going to the bathroom for so long. Ta-ta~" He waves, the same arm branching off and growing a second arm that snaps it's fingers -- and he's gone.

The polaroid idly floats down, landing picture-down on her desk.

Starlight is alone in her office once again. Why had he been so... aloof about the topic? A sliver of not only his power, but somepony else's who was trapped in the bell...

Starlight racks her brain for a moment, hooves to her temples, eyes widening.

The Princesses. The Bell had usurped their powers too, if she was remembering right. Chaos Magic... Sun and Moon Alicorn Magic? Even a sliver was plenty...

But Cozy Glow was rehabilitated. Like herself. Sure, personality wise she wasn't interested in making friends... but she settled down. She had a job in town, a family... a husband and three children. She abided by the rules, the restriction on her being allowed near the school, and...

Starlight's eyes widen.

Cozy's children. That attended this school.

Cozy, a Pegasus. Who birthed a Unicorn, and an Earth Pony, as well as a Pegasus. Who were born with Cutie Marks. All unexplainable things, but if she held a sliver of that level of magic... A grim realization is settling over Starlight, and her gaze slowly shifts to the photo Discord left on her desk.

Of all the things he could leave, why a photo? A photo of what? A tense worry settles in place of that realization, staring at the photo for a long time. Her horn glows softly, poking at it.

It reeks of Chaos magic.

... Discord said it was up to her to decide if she should look. Things were peaceful, now. Cozy wouldn't plan anything that would ruin the life she'd built, right?

But she was one of the villains who nearly returned the Windigos, and almost brought ruin to Equestria. To be frozen with Chrysalis and Tirek... there were few villains of that caliber, and Cozy was one of them. In fact, their Cozy still yet remained in that stone.

And it was Starlight's fault they now dealt with an Adult Cozy Glow. Twilight had claimed equal responsibility, but...

Hm. Part of her wants to ask Phillis for advice, but... maybe she'd take a break from talking to her plant. Discord put a sour taste in her mouth in regards to that.

Starlight sighs, slowly. Her coffee was getting cold. She was the Principle of the School of Friendship... graduated student to one of the Elements, and had gone on several Friendship quests, including helping the Princesses themselves. She had to look. There was no reason to let this dread sit in her chest any longer.

Slowly, she lifts the photograph, staring at it. Something felt wrong about it.

It's... a family photo. That's it? They --

The polaroid shifts unnaturally, strangely warm to the touch. It pulses with a thick, vile magic, akin to a heartbeat, revealing Discord's implications.

Oh.

Buck.

She needs to speak to Twilight, and quickly.