A Glow Rekindled

Chapters

Sky Lantern
Pacific Dream
The Stair of Quao-Tshun
Dauntless
Old Friends
The Fire Within

Sky Lantern

I trot listlessly through the drifting grey mist, trying to summon some spark of motivation, emotion... anything at all really. I'd been so passionate, so eager to change the world, and where had it brought me? Trapped in a statue: a garden ornament for a neurotic tyrant, an oddity for tourists to gawk at.

My only retreat from the horror of being unmoving, cold stone is my mindscape. At first I filled it with fantasies of escape, of revenge, of ruling Equestria. As a year passed and the reality of my imprisonment weighed on me, the images changed to better times: the few moments of joy in my life, or an imagined normal pony life that I might have had if my parents hadn't abandoned me.

Now even those paltry dreams have faded. How long has it been? Three years... or is it four now? We were petrified in late summer, so... uh, I'm losing track. If this goes on I will surely lose my mind. I shudder at the thought of wandering these mists for decades, centuries... millennia?

A flash of movement catches my attention. Not in the dull fog of my mindscape; outside, in the real world. I dismiss the mists, which are somewhere between voluntary hallucination and lucid daydream, and accept reality: I am Cozy Glow, adorable pegasus filly and traitor to Equestria, petrified at the conclusion of my final battle with the alicorn princesses. My body is frozen in an eternal scream, my front hooves raised in a futile reflex to shield my face, my lower body fused to the petrified form of my once ally and mentor, the centaur Tirek.

Around me are the gardens of Canterlot palace, which might be pleasant if I hadn't been forced to stare at them for years now. Below me... a single blue-and-indigo form. Feathers, beak, the face and claws of a predatory bird... but not a griffon, his hindquarters are equine and his tail that of a fish: smooth-scaled and wide-finned.

A hippogriff stallion... taller than an adult pony, but perhaps still an adolescent: the adult hippogriffs I've seen were as tall as the alicorn princesses. The newcomer walks slowly over and makes a show of examining our statue, but his intense gaze soon settles on my stone form.

In the early days there were so many ponies, whole crowds, who came to gawk at me. The enemies of Friendship, the ones who'd nearly destroyed Harmony, imprisoned by their oh-so-smart and powerful ruler. A few cursed me, or ranted at me, or deliver one-sided lectures about how I'm worst filly ever and that I should have been a good little toady for Twilight.

I wanted to scream back that they were lies, that Twilight was a fraud, that... of course it was no good. The alicorns and that despicable draconequs took the ability to speak from me, then left me here, a silent witness. An example for every rebellious school-age foal of what happens if somepony dares challenge the princesses.

There were changelings too, making a pilgrimage to see the third member of our petrified trio: Chrysalis, their fallen queen. The bug creatures seemed to regard their former ruler with a strange mix of fear, reverence, pity and disgust. As for my old mentor Tirek, he drew only a few visitors: ponies that remembered his magic-draining, who spat on his statue, and the odd mystic or two who beseeched him to spill his arcane secrets... to no avail, as he's just as petrified and silent as me.

The flow of visitors slowly reduced to a trickle: now it's just the odd school trip or tour group. It's been... six months, maybe? ...since someone addressed me directly... right, that ranting unicorn mare had been when there was still snow on the ground. The flowers are blooming now... at least that obnoxious tour guide is nowhere to be seen. I could recite their 'these are the three worst villains of all time' speech in my sleep - if I could sleep - and I'm sick to my back teeth of it.

The hippogriff is staring at me... I search my mind, but I don't recognise him. He's quite a striking specimen, dark blue feathers fading to lighter at the tips, indigo scales, huge wings... what is he doing here? Stray from a field trip? He doesn't have bored look on his face that the usual tourists have. A flicker of excitement pierces the dullness in my mind and reflexively I try to speak, to say something cheery or at least flash a charming smile, but of course it doesn't work. I hate that my expression is frozen in fear... it's not how I want to be remembered.

The stallion turns to the side, and I spot something on his flank, mostly hidden by his folded wings. A clock face, perhaps? Right where a pony's cutie mark would be. Of course hippogriffs don't have cutie marks, and it's a bit too big to be a fob watch. He looks around, as if checking if anyone is watching, then he stares straight at me.

His eagle eyes seem to glow, and... in a flash, I'm back in the grey mists of my internal mindscape. Except... for the first time ever, I have a visitor! The navy-and-indigo hippogriff stallion is right in front of me: he looks around curiously at the drifting mists before his gaze returns to me.

"Cozy Glow, I presume?" he says in a measured voice, cocking his head in that bird-like manner griffons and hippogriffs have. He looks like he could have been Silverstream's older brother: if she'd had an older brother, that is.

I'm caught entirely off guard: I had no idea hippogriffs could do telepathy. Or is it just him... or is this being something else entirely? A disguised changeling? A spirit like Discord? Actually Discord? Or is he using an artefact of some kind... the mists around me are roiling, and I try to suppress them. Of course I'm suspicious about his intent, but I'm in a vulnerable position and any potential ally - or even a relief from eternal boredom - is a boon. So I pour on the charm.

"Golly! I sure am! Wow... it's been so long since I've said a word. Of course we're not really talking are we, but you know what I mean. You're in my mindscape, huh? That's some trick, especially for a hippogriff: mind telling me who you are, exactly?" I put a smile on my phantom face, but make my words forceful: scared or not I can't afford to show weakness. Story of my life, really.

"My name is Pacific Dream," my visitor says smoothly. "Please forgive the intrusion: your condition leaves no other means of communication. A little help from a magical artefact, to bridge our minds."

He pauses, taking a few steps to one side as he seems to size me up, his expression betraying nothing... though I find bird faces hard to read, at least compared to the average pony who couldn't pull a poker face if their life depended on it. Which mine sometimes did.

"Fear not, Cozy Glow," 'Pacific Dream' says. "I desire only to converse, and if you do not wish to do so, I will leave." He does sound rather formal, even for a hippogriff. Is he trying to seem older, more mature? He has that posh, slightly gravelly accent hippogriff stallions tend to have... it does give him a certain gravitas, despite looking about sixteen.

The rational part of me is still wary of this stranger, but it's been so long since I've had the chance to speak to anyone that I quickly squash any notion of telling him to leave me alone. I take an imaginary step closer to him, studying him closely. There's a strange aura to him... mystery? Like he has secrets... there's something slightly off about how he moves and talks. Too smooth and regular, especially for a teenager. The 'disguised changeling' theory is still in the running.

"Pacific Dream, huh? That's a nice name... you found a magical relic, huh? Or did you 'borrow' it so could do some 'research' in Equestria?"

I smirk, watching him closely for a reaction. Assuming he is a hippogriff... I don't know much about their culture, but it seems unlikely they'd knowingly lend an artefact powerful enough to do this sort of telepathy to a teenager. Did he steal it... maybe he'd heard about my little artefact collecting escapades, and was coming to me for advice?

"A pleasant chat with little old me... gee, that sounds nice. You've gotta know who I am: it's not like you just saw a statue of the greatest enemies of Equestria and used telepathy on a whim, right? You can here on purpose, so... what do you need to know?"

I smile sweetly again: there must be some piece of lore he thinks I have that he wants. Assuming I have it or can lie convincingly enough... can I make a bargain? What does he have to trade? Even knowledge of what's going on outside would be better than nothing. Though if Pacific is trying to accomplish something that would piss off Twilight... I might just give him a freebie.

Pacific turns to take a step in the other direction... and I spot a second clock face on his right flank, mostly hidden under his primary feathers. Carrying around two clocks strapped to your butt? Is this non-pony cutie mark envy? Or can those be the magical artefact he mentioned?

"I've heard the stories, yes. Read the newspaper articles. Even spoken to some of the witnesses. Pretty much every creature I've made enquires of believes you to be 'the worst pony ever'. Twilight's shame, her traitorous apprentice: she even has the schools teaching foals about you. Cozy Glow, the little pegasus filly who tried to erase magic and conquer Equestria, who allied with dark gods and demons, who probably kicked puppies just for fun. No one knows where she came from or why she did it: more of a caricature than a pony, really."

Pacific pauses for a moment, looking me in the eye. "Is that you?"

I feel... frustrated, but not surprised. Of course Twilight has turned me into a cartoon villain, a moustache-twirling monster who'd burn down everything for fun or whatever. I mean sure, I was a threat, but... maybe I should've made more of an effort to get my position across. No, Twilight Sparkle would've just shouted me down and suppressed all knowledge with her propaganda. That was what our conflict boiled down to really: whether I would be a character in her story, or she would be a character in mine. Unfortunately for Equestria, she won, and history is written by the winners.

"That's right, I'm Cozy Glow, the eviiiilest pony that ever lived," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "Spoke to witnesses, huh? Sounds like you know a lot about me, Mr. Dream. Come to get a few pointers on being evil?"

For some reason my mind flashes back to that ridiculous 'a better way to be bad' song I convinced Tirek and Chrysalis to sing with me, back in Grogar's cave. Was that really what counts as 'happier times' for me?

"Actually no... I don't know much about you." Pacific says. "It seems no one does. I thought it must be a cover up, so I snuck into the school, then the crystal castle. Read the records, even Twilight's diary. Even the alicorn princess of Equestria has no idea where you came from or why you did what you did... and apparently she doesn't care, because there's no record of her ever asking you."

Pacific sits down, parking his rump on the imaginary ground, his fish-like tail slayed out behind him. "That's why I'm here. Who is Cozy Glow, really? Will you tell me?"

I can't help raising an eyebrow. This was unexpected to say the least. The idea that anyone would actually try to find out my reasons for doing what I did is almost too much to believe. No one's ever bothered to do that before: not Tirek, Starlight Glimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Grogar or rather Discord pretending to be Grogar... not even my supposed friends, the 'young six': I'd been a star student, then a villainess, then a minion, an great threat to Equestria... nothing more.

There was something... disarming about the way he asked the question. He'd really snuck in and read Twilight's diary? The real thing, not the 'friendship journal' Celestia had published as propaganda? Either Twilight's security is hopelessly lax or the hippogriff guy has more magical abilities than just telepathy.

I stare at him for a moment; trying to read Pacific's expression and body language, trying to figure out if it's a trick... but all I see is a curious teenager with a strange fascination with clocks and a desire to know about me. Though there's a strange tone to his voice... almost pity. How can anyone feel pity for the evilest pony ever?

For a few seconds I simply stand there staring at him, dumbfounded, until I finally find my voice. "You... really want to know? You're not just here to mess with me or something?"

I pause, considering my thoughts. Do I spin a plausible tale, or... am I really ready to share? "Why do you care...?"

"I care because..." Pacific's voice cuts off, and he's quiet for a moment before continuing. "Because I've seen enough to know that something is not right. Twilight is the most powerful ruler on Equus, and her actions do not match her words. Besides... I know how those in power can be... unfair, to those who strive to make a difference. How intent can be distorted, legacy tarnished or denied."

He hits me me another intense avian stare. "Will you show me the real Cozy Glow?" His beak opens a little: the bird version of a smile. "What do you have to lose?"

I find myself almost disarmed, caught off guard by this strange hippogriff. It's... weirdly refreshing. Someone who might listen... who might actually understand me. What do I have to lose? Nothing, really.

Part of me is screaming 'this is a trick', 'he's an agent of Twilight, she sent him to find out your secrets: he'll run back to her as soon as you've spilled the beans'. But... so what? There's no worse punishment for me than being imprisoned in stone for all eternity. I feel... vulnerable, paralysed and with a strange stallion touching my mind, but... it doesn't matter now.

This is my first, and most likely only, chance to tell my story and maybe change somepony's mind about me. I don't even care if he's working for Twilight. The stallion's smile is a little unnerving, but there's something... reassuring in it, as well.

I sit down next to him on the blank, imaginary ground, ruffle my wings and give a little smile. I'm still cute when I want to be, aren't I? "Golly. Well, when you put it like that... where should I begin?"

"Perhaps with where you came from?" Pacific asks. "Your school entrance form lists your parents as 'Cozy Blanket' and 'Evening Glow': Twilight tried to track them down, after you were imprisoned in Tatarus, but it seems they don't exist. You forged all the permission slips and made excuses about why they never came to the school, didn't you?"

His voice is matter-of-fact, not accusing or approving. "Some ponies say you're actually a rogue changeling, or Nightmare Moon's disowned daughter, or a thousand-year-old demon cursed into the form of a cute filly."

I can't help but let out a bitter laugh at the list of supposed origins. Ponies are superstitious at the best of times, but... a demon, really? "Nightmare Moon's daughter... how would... how would that even work, chronologically speaking? She was in Equestria for like a week before Celestia stuck her on the moon for a millennium, right?"

Though Nightmare Moon did sound like she had the right idea about some things: in a lot of ways Luna seems more practical than her sister.

"You did turn into an alicorn after all," Pacific replies, with a slight smile. It draws a bitter twinge from my stomach: I'd worked so hard to achieve that, it had felt so wonderful, and Twilight had taken it away. Just like everything else I've ever had.

"I believe there are two theories: one that Nightmare Moon cursed you to remain a pegasus filly until she returned, to hide you from Celestia, and that you've spent ten thousand moons moping about eating ice cream. Of course once she turned back into Luna and disowned you, you had to take matters into your own hooves."

"The other theory is that Nightmare Moon projected her spiritual form into the bedrooms of stallions every night, and eventually managed to conceive you while still on the moon. I understand this theory is very popular among certain stallions trying to explain to their wives why they were spotted with a unknown mare at night," he explains dryly.

That draws a giggle: in fact I have to supress the urge to howl with laughter at the sheer absurdity of it. The idea of Nightmare Moon getting frisky with dozens of stallions while trapped on the moon is just... well, it's just hilarious. Though in truth... almost every filly in Equestria must have fantasised about being an alicorn princess at some point, and the idea that you'd be a paragon of pony beauty who could get any stallion she wanted is as much a part of the appeal as the luxury, the respect and firing magical lasers from your horn.

"Oh wow that would be cool wouldn't it. Child of the moon, here to finish what my mother started. Never mind... yeah that's all nonsense. I'm a real pegasus filly, not a changeling or demon or anything like that. As for my parents... you got me there, I made them up. I... didn't have any parents. I was raised in an orphanage, from the day some mare abandoned her foal in a basket on their doorstep.

The surrounding mists of my mindscape swirl and solidify, forming into a building: a run-down orphanage sitting in swampy forest. Its once bright paint is faded and chipping, the timbers rotting and the sign of happy foals covered in moss. The scene shifts to the interior: clumps of grey resolve into colts and fillies, sitting around listlessly, bullying each other or trying to play with worn and broken toys. A grumpy-looking mare watches the foals with disinterest, changing
to scorn when they act out.

A place where hopes and dreams were drained away as fast as they can form: somewhere I've tried to forget as I searched for a brighter future, now returned from my memories.

"This is where you grew up?" Pacific says, seeming shocked as he takes in the scene. "I thought ponies were all about bright colours, songs, silly games."

"Sure... for colts and fillies who have loving parents to take them home to their warm, colourful rooms filled with toys," I say bitterly. Even the memory of the old orphanage is chilling and depressing, the mists of my mindscape reproducing stained walls and overcrowded rooms from the viewpoint of a foal.

"For a foal like me, left abandoned on the doorstep? I had a lumpy bed, a broken rattle, a stuffed pony with no eyes or mane, and a blanket threadbare enough that when I slept I couldn't tell if I was shivering from the cold or crying."

I stare at the memory... my stomach twisting as I relive that dank, muddy hellhole, stuck in the middle of nowhere. The caretakers varied between negligent and abusive, and that left its mark on the foals: angry and lonely, they'd taken out their frustrations on each other. This was a place where kindness, magic and affection went to die.

"I hated every second. But it made me tough... showed me what the world was really like."

"Ponies say that Celestia got rid of places like this centuries ago: her kingdom is supposed to be happy, prosperous, almost no crime." Pacific Dream says. "Are there no inspectors, no funding from the crown? No one came to help?" The hippogriff seems surprised, but if he thinks this is a lie, it's not showing on his face.

"Oh yeah. Every year, they moved the furniture around so they could pretend the adult quarters were the kid's bedrooms. Borrowed a bunch of toys from the rich families: told us to put on a show, and that they'd beat us if we said a word." My muzzle is twisted into a sneer: I can't help it, I hated the matron so much.

"That's the thing about ponies: we're so complacent, so gullible. We want to believe things are great, that our rules are good, so when they feed us a nice story we never question it. Because nine times out of ten, things are the way they seem, and nopony wants to think about the rest."

"I'm sorry, Cozy," Pacific Dream says, and again he seems sincere. "No foal deserves that."

The hippogriff reaches over and places one clawed hand on my shoulder. Dreamscape or not, it's my first friendly physical contact since... well, ever, if I'm honest, unless you count those insincere hugs from the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

I freeze. I don't know how to react: when the Crusaders tried to comfort me, or Twilight praised me, it was for my fake helpful persona. No one ever comforted or sympathised with me, because I never showed my real feeling. I sit there and... I suddenly feel my breath come fast and shallow, tears stinging in my eyes. I feel like my defences have been pierced: I shouldn't let some random stallion get to me like this... should I?

"I... I..." I can't even speak. How do I respond to this? How do I say how it makes me feel? Instead I lean in a little, forcing myself not to cry.

"It wasn't all bad," I manage to say. "There was the time I got my cutie mark."

"Ah... a pony told me you won it in a chess game against the Lord of Chaos, along with your evil powers." Pacific says dryly. Despite the sadness, I can't help but giggle again.

"That big ugly jerk? He didn't care about me until I was useful for his stupid schemes. I still can't believe Twilight cuts him so much slack - it's only because she wants to control his magic." Actually I secretly suspect Celestia engineered the whole thing so that Discord would feel guilty and indebted to her prodigy. I wouldn't put it past the old nag.

"No... I used to sneak away from the orphanage. There was this old farmer." The mists swirl and reform to show a younger Cozy fluttering into a barn, where an elderly stallion is pressing fruit. I was fearful, but also hungry, and the farmer was happy to share his lunch. The scene skips forward in time, showing him teaching foal me how to play chess.

I smile as time skips over two dozen shared lunches, two dozen chess games, getting a little better each time. Finally I win for the first time, and in a flash of magic a rook-shaped cutie mark appears on young Cozy's flank. She's overjoyed, laughing and flapping about the barn.

My heart skips a little as I relive those memories: sneaking out from the orphanage on those long summer afternoons, flying to that ramshackle old farmhouse, sitting among the crates and straw as Plum Pudding taught me to play chess. It was my time away from that hellhole, and the closest thing to a real friend I'd ever had. If it hadn't been for him, I
might have fallen into despair, like so many other foals there.

Of course it couldn't last. With dread and disgust I wait for the comeuppance: the matron marching imperiously into the barn.

"Sky Lantern!" she shrieks. "I told you if I found you outside again I'd bind your wings!"

Sky Lantern... the younger me... tried to escape, flapping frantically, but the older unicorn caught me in her magic, hauling me back to earth in a suffocating bubble.

"And you, Plum Pudding! You should know better than to encourage such disobedience!" the matron chastised the earth pony stallion.

"Now now Prim, she's just a filly," he said aimably. "Sky ain't doing no harm coming over-"

"Enough!" Prim Proper cut him off. "If she comes here again you'd better send her back, or I'll tell the sheriff that you kidnapped her!"

The matron stomps off, dragging the crying Sky Lantern behind her with her magic. The old mare either didn't notice that the filly had gained her cutie mark, or didn't care.

Pacific Dream could only watch the memory play out. His claws tighten a fraction on my shoulder. "That's horrible. That unicorn shouldn't be near young creatures, much less in charge of an orphanage. Did she really... bind your wings?" The practice is practically torture for a young flyer.

Anger twists my stomach, old hatred for the matron coming back. "She sure did. Prim was always doing that to the pegasi, she hated that we could fly out of her reach. The unicorns got nullifiers clamped on their horns, and the earth ponies... they just sat there and took it, for the most part." There was that one colt who snapped and smashed up the kitchen: it took four adults to restrain him, and none of us ever saw him again.

"She got her just desserts though." I let the memory shift to the orphanage in flames, the rotten structure burning to the ground on a foggy morning where the smoke would be hidden from airborne pegasi. The diffused glow gave the scene a dreamlike quality: fourty foals of various ages stood amongst the trees, watching their home disappear.

"Prim?! Where's Prim?" One of the adults shouted anxiously.
"I thought she was with you! Is she still in there?!" Another caretaker replied.

"You burned it down?" Pacific says. He withdraws his claw, but his tone remains neutral. "Destroyed all the records... and changed your name from Sky Lantern to Cozy Glow? Should I call you Sky, or Cozy?"

I frown slightly as Pacific withdraws his foreleg. I've never felt anyone touch me so... tenderly before, and already I miss the sensation now that it's gone. I want to reach out and... I don't know, touch him, hug him even. But part of me feels embarrassed at my own vulnerability. I stare at the flames for a long moment: they're as hypnotic now as they
were back then.

"Sky Lantern... Prim gave me that name. I hate it. Cozy... call me Cozy Glow." I say firmly.

"Officially? The chimney was cracked, soot caught fire and started a fire in the rafters. Must have happened when that colt went crazy a few months earlier. Such a shame that the door to Prim Proper's room jammed... and the shutters... those old buildings, right? I heard that by the time they pulled her out, the smoke and heat had burned her throat so much she never spoke again."

My tone is sing-song fake-cheerful, daring Pacific to call me a arsonist or attempted murderess.

The hippogriff just nods. "The end of such a place is no tragedy. The tragedy is that every guardian failed in their duty, until it fell on the shoulders of a young filly to take action."

I blink, stunned. No horrified gasp of 'How could you do something so awful!', no disgusted look of repulsion, even a pitying glance... none of the normal reactions ponies would give. Just... acknowledgement and understanding. Is it because he's a hippogriff, or...? "Gee, um, yeah. Couldn't put it better myself."

I find I'm a little breathless. He's... listening to me. I want to hug him and cry onto his shoulder in relief. If this is him manipulating me... it's working. I can't believe I'm being driven to feel so vulnerable, so grateful. Even if it's a lie, for now I'm going to go pretend it's real. Not like any of this is going to make my punishment worse, right?

"It was like... a clean slate, you know? A chance to reinvent myself. I decided nopony was gonna push me around again! Seems like none of those losers ever connected the timid 'Sky Lantern' they knew to the awesome 'Cozy Glow' they read about in the newspapers."

Pacific Dream smiles at that, his beak opening a crack. "I understand." I'm not sure why, but I feel like he really does. "What happened after that? Did you go straight to Twilight's School of Friendship, or...?"

I smile back, and this time it's genuine. I feel almost giddy, finally being able to share my story with a receptive audience... even if it's one kinda-hot bird-fish-pony stallion using telepathy while I'm stuck as a statue. Umm...

"Oh no. No, I had a... bit of an adventure, before that." I shift the mists around to the next stage of my life. The scenery becomes a bustling city: Baltimare. Younger me looks pretty dishevelled, stealing bread, begging for money, sleeping in attics. "Um... right. It took me a year or so to, uh, get a handle on things."

I'm a fast learner, but even for me, it took a while to learn how to manipulate other ponies into doing what I wanted. I move the scene forward... ah that's better. My frizzy mane and tail are replaced with neat curls and ribbons. I'm in the clouds, trotting around Las Pegasus, smiling sweetly and effortlessly convincing tourists to buy a 'poor lost filly' a hotel room.

"You look adorable." Pacific says. "And you weaponised it? That's fair... you left that orphanage with absolutely nothing. You had to work with what you had", the stallion says sadly.

I stare into his bird face... all those hours I wished Gallus paid attention to me like this, instead of being obsessed with that vapid Silverstream...

"After the fire, I can see why you wouldn't go to the authorities." Pacific cocks his head. "You never considered being adopted? Once you had the cute thing worked out, I bet good families would be lining up to adopt you."

All those stupid foalish fantasies of having loving, stereotypical parents come flooding back. "I thought about it, but, uh... it all seemed so insincere. So fake. Happy ponies everywhere, acting like everything is fine: but I knew it wasn't. How much ugliness was hiding behind their shiny facades? I saw so many 'good families' and just... I just wanted to knock those smug smiles off their faces!"

Pacific frowns at my outburst, and I instantly regret it, blushing and looking away. I guess the idea of attacking random ponies for being happy does make me sound like a monster.

"It's just... look, I can't keep up the cute and lovable thing forever, ok? Eventually the real me would slip out and it would all come tumbling down. Like it did at the school... like it did just now. Better to stay free, no one telling me what to do!

Pacific Dream steps closer and reaches out with his claw, gently placing it between my shoulders this time. My wings flutter involuntarily. "Is the real Cozy Glow so bad? Tell me more about her. You did go to Twilight's school, eventually. Every creature said you were the star student: Twilight's favourite, for a whole year. You're saying that wasn't the real you?"

The feeling of a claw between my shoulder blades makes my wing twitch involuntarily, but it's not... bad. Far from it. Why is this strange stallion being so nice to me? Didn't I just admit to arson, stealing and 'conspiracy against Friendship' or whatever Twilight was calling it now? This had to be a trick, right? My breath catches again.

"I... well..." How do I explain this to Pacific? I don't even know how to explain it to myself. I take a deep breath, and try to lay it out.

"So look, I was getting older, and I knew I was missing out on a proper education. I'm smart, but... library books only get you so far, and the cute filly thing wasn't going to last forever. I wanted to do something with my life, make a splash. Cozy Glow, a mare ponies would remember for centuries, not just an abused little filly!"

"I saw the flyers and... I thought this could be my big break. Personal tutoring by the Element Bearers! A chance to whisper in the ear of Princess Twilight! Fillies and colts from important families across Equestria and beyond!"

"So, I uh... forged a few of letters of recommendation, and I was in." I blush involuntarily. "Because I deserved a chance, ok! Like I said, ponies are so trusting, nopony ever checked my references."

"It's ok, Cozy. You were overdue for something good in your life, so you did what you had to do." Pacific Dream says reassuringly. "But you didn't answer my question. You did meet the Element Bearers. According to the school records, you were friends with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Heroic Six."

Was that what Sandbar, Yona and the rest were calling themselves now? "Your grades were excellent, and you appear to have earned genuine trust from Twilight Sparkle. That's why she was so upset, afterwards. You could've had any job in Equestria you wanted. So... why did you throw that away? Contact Tirek, imprison Starlight, and try to destroy magic?" The hippogriff's voice is more serious than ever: this is the crux of it, the key question he needs an answer to.

The mist swirls around us, reflecting my own turmoil as I struggle to get a handle on all of the emotions. Do I really have to explain this? I could just push him away... but I feel his claw on my back, and I can't. Even if this is just a shared daydream. He's listened so far, and I need to do this.

"Because I saw through their lies!" I shout. "The complacency, the wishful thinking, the... rot: it goes right to the top. Ponies worship the Princesses, the Element Bearers, they eat up every word coming out of their stupid faces... and because they're going to solve all our problems, keep us all safe, nopony lifts a hoof on their own initiative!"

I pull away from Pacific, shaking with fury. "Do you know how many times Equestria nearly got destroyed, just in the last decade? We won by luck, sheer luck and untapped bits of magic we conveniently had lying around. Where was our army? Our militia? Our magical research and containment force? When monsters come, all we have is the Princesses and a few ceremonial guards. And do you know why? Because they want us completely dependent on them!"

I turn back to Pacific, jabbing a hoof at him. "You're a hippogriff... you can see this, right? Right?!" I say desperately.

"When the Storm King came, we folded like a paper tiger. Our alicorns get taken out by a hornless unicorn with a bag of crystals, and the rest of us just roll over. It was your people that bailed us out. Sure you had an enchanted peral that could magically shatter the slaver chains, but that wasn't enough to win the Sixth Battle of Canterlot. We won because you brought a fleet of air dreadnoughts with beam cannons and marines!

"And what does Twilight do afterwards? Says we won because of 'friendship', pardons the traitor and makes no changes at all. They save never meet your heroes... well I met mine, and they turned out to be incompetent fools."

Pacific gives me a curious look. "You decided to eliminate magic... to save Equestria? You honestly thought ponies would be better off without it? What about the whole 'Cozy Glow, Empress of Friendship' thing?"

The mention of my past ambition stings, but I push that feeling of humiliation and disgust aside. "Of course we'd be better off! Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek, the changelings, the shadow pony thing... none of those threats would exist if there was no magic! With no alicorns to save the day, ponies would have to step up... and yeah, I admit it, I thought I could be the one to show them how."

Even in this illusionary mindscape, my cheeks are burning red. "Look, I made sure to leave wing magic unaffected. We'd still be able to fly fine, ok? And as for the unicorns... ugh. You know the princesses are total unicorn supremacists, right? Starlight, Tempest, Stygian... you know there was this one unicorn who tried to take over another world? Sunset, she was called."

"And how does Twilight punish these traitors? Hugs, apologies, cushy jobs, VIP apartments in her castle. But if a little pegasus filly dares to challenge the status quo? Straight to Tartarus!"

I let out a long breath. "Peace was never an option, not really. As a pegasus, there was always a glass ceiling for me. As soon as Twilight found a powerful unicorn filly she could mould to suit her needs... I'd be shoved aside." I stand and stare defiantly at Pacific, waiting for him to condemn me as a madmare.

The hippogriff stares back for a moment, his expression unreadable. All around us the mists have changed into a fractured mess of still-life scenes: imprisoning Starlight in the magic drain, proclaiming myself the 'empress of friendship' wearing that silly school badge as a crown, screaming defiance at Twilight moments before the alicorns throw me in Tartarus.

"Thank you, Cozy," the stallion says at last. "I'd suspected... but now I know. Do you realise what would have happened if you'd succeeded? The impact on the planet of removing magic... the ecological collapse and mass extinction?"

I don't answer, staring down morosely at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. Sure I know that now: Chrysalis had ranted about it more than once. Even Tirek admitted that he considered burning down the world preferable to another millennium stuck in a cage. I guess I'd just... not thought things through.

"I was twelve, ok? Eleven actually, when I first wrote to Tirek. I had to do something, I saw an opportunity and... golly, maybe it was a mistake, but at least I tried." Do I sound whiny? I hope not.

"Can you really say that the Princesses are doing a good job?" I murmur.

For a moment, a haunted look flashes across Pacific's face. "No... you are correct. On that matter at the very least. As for the allegation of unicorn favouritism, I have no personal experience of course, but I find it quite plausible. Unicorns do seem to play a disproportionate role in Equestrian history, for better and worse."

Again I'm struck by how formal Pacific's language is, especially for a teenager, and not in the fake-cultured way that unicorns from Canterlot finishing schools tended to speak. Silverstream wasn't that way at all: is it a stallion thing on Mount Aris?

Pacific turns to regard a scene in the mists: Princess Luna throwing me into a cell. I look dirty, bruised, defeated... not my finest moment. "For 'Conspiracy to Pervert and/or Destroy Friendship, Magic and the Equestrian Way', you - a filly who'd just turned twelve - were sentenced to life imprisonment in Tartarus."

"The royal decree received no judicial review and permitted no appeal. Raven Inkwell made an effort to notify your parents, but... as I said, nopony managed to trace you back to the orphanage."

I watch myself hurled into the cell: dragged out of the air by magic again, just like Prim locking me in the closet at the orphanage. Except this time I was being thrown in the most secure prison on Equus by one of our immortal alicorn rulers. That's kind of impressive, right?

"Yeah, like I said, nopony ever questions the princesses. If they did that to me, then I must have deserved it." Bitterness wells up in my voice. None of my so-called friends raised a hoof to defend me. "And I'm sure all the unicorns were howling for my head, after I inconvenienced them for a day or two."

My wings twitch with irritation. "At least they put me in next to Tirek, so I had somepony... some creature to talk to."

Pacific nods again. "The magic-draining centaur... your mentor? Your real mentor, that is, not... whatever Twilight thought she was. Did you escape together?"

The experience of revisiting these dramatic, emotional and formerly private events with a strange stallion is... odd, to say the least. Like I've passed on and reached the shadowlands, being judged on my earthly deeds... that... that isn't where I am, is it? I gulp, trying to dismiss the superstitious notion, then look away.

I don't want to let him see how much this whole conversation is affecting me. My whole past, dredged up. Pacific might be manipulating me... or he might just be a weird, curious bird-horse... but after years locked in stone this is overwhelming. I feel exposed... but I want to keep going, to see this through. I try to summon my cheery facade, to cover up everything I'm feeling.

"Well gosh, Tirek? He was more like... an uncle? A cranky, disreputable but cool uncle who's happy to show you his secret stash of illegal fireworks." I don't want to admit how desperate I was for a father figure: enough that a bitter, ancient ape-horse got the job.

"I'd love to say I came up with a cunning plan... but no, we didn't escape. We were summoned."

I make the scene shift: Tirek and I are chatting... I'd made him that ridiculous 'best friends rock sculpture', to try and break the ice. I think I was getting to him... but then we both disappear in a swirl of dark magic. The memory changes to a dank cave, where we come face to face with a lanky changeling queen and a shadowy unicorn king. I watch myself hide behind Tirek's legs: I wasn't acting. One minute I'd been making a rock sculpture, the next I was trapped in a cave full of merciless tyrants and monsters, with no way to defend myself.

"So... Discord teleported you directly to his cave?" Pacific Dream askes intently.

"The official story is that the Lord of Chaos pretended to be Grogar, a sorcerous ram from ancient legend, and offered you a chance to attack the alicorns. As some sort of misguided training exercise for Twilight? You agreed, but then betrayed him and took his magic to use against the princesses."

"Are you kidding me?" I shout. "Like I had a choice? Like any of us had a choice?"

I wave my hoof, willing the memory a few minutes forward. Grogar-Discord is there, towering over me with his glowing eyes and growling voice. With a flash of magic he hurls us all against the wall of the cave and pins us there. Even Sombra and Chrysalis, with powerful magic of their own, are helpless in the face of such arcane might. Disguised Discord rants for a bit about how we're all weak and fit to be nothing but his minions: Sombra gives him a bit of lip and is threatened with a swift execution.

"There, you see? It was obey or die horribly. Or... it sure seemed like it to us. Geez, they really let Discord off the hook for this? 'Training exercise', my ass." I grind my teeth at the sheer unfairness of it all.

Pacific shakes his head. "I'd suspected entrapment, but this... this is outright slavery. Did Twilight fall for his lies? Or did she know about this, and let him walk free anyway?"

The stallion stares at the image of Grogar for a moment, his wing half-spread and his talons clenching. Then he turns back to me. "I know he sent Sombra to his death, in a mockery of a solo attack. The Element Bearers killed the shadow king, with some help from Discord... just as he intended. But then you found a way to strip the Lord of Chaos of his magic?"

"I sure did! But if I'm honest... that was mostly his stupid fault as well. He sent us to get the Bewitching Bell."

I look into the mist: sure enough, it shows a montage of me, Chrysalis and Tirek climbing Mount Everhoof. The changeling queen impersonating Twilight to entertain us around the campfire... good times. At least, as good as hanging out with a couple of ancient tyrants can be. I convince the changeling to let Tirek borrow her magic for a while, then I fly into the cave at the mountain peak and grab the old bell.

"I don't know what his plan was, but of course we weren't going to let him have it! So I hid the bell... it took a few months to figure it out, but we worked out it could drain magic from one creature, store it then give it to another. The funny thing is... we didn't even get Discord's magic! We powered up using magic that was already in the bell: Grogar's, I guess. The real one."

The mists of my mindscape swirl and form into the scene: the three of us in the cave as the bell activates and releases its magic. Chrysalis gets a new crown, Tirek bulks up and I... I turn into an alicorn. My finest moment, really.

Pacific Dream stares at the memory. "It seems the 'official report' is a tracery of lies. One wonders how many of Twilight's published accounts fall into this category."

The hippogriff stallion looks at me, forlorn and trapped in my own mind, and then at the image of alicorn Cozy, grinning triumphantly with her new horn, customised regalia and expanded wings. "You look so happy. Confident. Really rather... pretty." He looks away before I can see him blush.

I look away as well, blushing and trying to hid a small smile. For a moment the thought makes me giddy... did he just say I was pretty? That's the last thing I expected from this strange bird horse. Then a pang of deep regret courses through my whole body as I watch my younger, more hopeful self preen in front of us. The feeling of being an alicorn had been... intoxicating, to say the least.

"Oh yes... it was my moment. For once ponies would look at me and not see some helpless stupid filly. I had real power... enough to do anything I ever dreamed. Enough to change Equestria. I wish it had lasted. I wish... I could be that filly again. Do things differently."

"You took away Discord's magic, then attacked and imprisoned Starlight, Celestia, Luna, the Pillars and the Element Bearers... but Twilight escaped to the Crystal Empire?" Pacific says quizically. "You very nearly won... until there was some kind of jailbreak."

The blue hippogriff fixes me with another of his signature inquisitive stares. "Say you could go back... what would you differently? Different tactics, or different strategy? Perhaps Twilight would have accepted you as an ally, if you'd betrayed Chrysalis and Tirek."

"Join Twilight... are you kidding me? Oh sure, maybe she'd accept my 'redemption' if I gave a good sob story. Turn me into a lackey like Discord or Tempest, use me to prop up her regime. But she'd never accept me as an equal, or a successor... she'd never let me change anything."

I stomp my hoof for emphasis. "What would I do differently? Well..."

I've had a lot of time to think about this. A new scene forms out of the mist: the battle in the throne room. Celestia and Luna fall for my bait and fire magic beams at me: I absorb them into the bell. Brilliant move, if I dare say so.

"See, I absorbed the princess magic, but it mixed with Discord's stupid uncontrollable chaos magic, and we didn't know how to unmix it again. I would've worked it out eventually... but if I'd dumped Discord's magic on some clueless pony before the fight, I could've absorbed Celestia and Luna's magic immediately and tripled my firepower! Plus... control of the Sun and Moon? That's a sweet deal, right?" I'm grinning eagerly at my own fantasy.

"Oh most certainly, but would that have sufficed to win the day?" Pacific countered. "I understand that at the final confrontation, you were hit by the greatest concentration of harmonic magic in recorded history. Stripped of your powers and alicornhood."

I don't want to see it, but the scene appears in the mist anyway: the choking shame and humiliation of my final defeat. My past self screams in terror as rainbow lasers arc through the sky, painfully burning away my horn and new-found magical abilities. To add to the humiliation Chaos-Pinkie drops a giant cupcake on the three of us, then finally Discord, Celestia and Luna imprison us in a statue. Behind them hundreds of creatures are watching with satisfaction: all of 'the great and the good' turned out to smack down this threat to the Ancien Régieme.

My heart pounds in my chest as I watch the scene. I've relived it many times already, so many times... and every time I wince as my younger self screams helplessly under the onslaught of magic from the Elements of Harmony, the Pillars and the so-called 'Heroic Six'. Being thrown against a wall by Discord had nothing on this.

"I know, I know! If only I'd studied the bell better, if only I'd tried harder to get Discord's chaos magic under control... but he lost to just the Elements, right? When they turned him into a statue, twice? Honestly... nothing could've prepared me for that. Even now I can still feel it. The crushing disappointment. The agony of having my magic ripped out and dispersed, the sheer terror... of knowing that nopony would save me, or even speak up for me. I was totally at their mercy, and guess what: they were all out."

I turn away, gritting my teeth in anger. Even if I found a way to escape this statue, how could I ever come back from that. Being utterly humiliated in front of all of Equestria. When I turn back to Pacific Dream, my voice is forlorn, defeated.

"I don't know if I could've won. There are some things I could have tried, if I'd known what was coming... but it was over so fast, I never had a chance." There... that's it. The end of my story. The hippogriff has what he came for.

"I'm sorry, Cozy Glow, truly." Pacific Dream says gravely.

"You are a brave mare... perhaps the bravest in Equestria. What you accomplished, you did without any of the wealth, knowledge, approval and powerful allies that Twilight enjoyed. You stood up for the truth, and you never gave up. You don't deserve this fate," the stallion tells me, looking deep into my eyes.

It's too much: I have to look away, as I can feel imaginary tears welling up in my eyes at the stallion's honest praise. When this surreal conversation had begun I'd expected judgement, condemnation, even mockery... but not any sort of respect. His words bring a strange, bitter-sweet feeling: it's not quite a comfort, certainly not an apology - it seems he's not here on behalf of Twilight after all - but it's almost a... kindness. I don't know what to say, so I just offer an uncomfortable smile of acknowledgement.

"Gee. Um... thanks. But life's not fair, right?" I look around awkwardly. "So... that's it. My life story. I guess this is it? You're going to go write an expose, or at least a school report or something."

I want to ask him to come back and visit me sometime, but pride makes me hold my tongue. I'm half-expecting him to transform into Discord and reveal this was all a mean-spirited prank.

"Ah, well... I must now admit that discovering the truth behind your legend was not my sole motive for visiting you today. The situation is, alas, even worse than you might imagine. After all I've heard, warning you is the least I can do." Once again, Pacific sounds impossibly grave and mature, at least compared to Silverstream, my main point of reference for hippogriff behaviour.

"If you would permit me to share certain memories of my own... ?"

Author's Note

'Cozy Glow burns down the orphange she was living in' is something of a cliche at this point. Or more charitably, we might say it is the most common trope for her origin story. The author's sympathies determine whether it's a perfectly wholesome orphanage vandalised by a psychopathic filly, or an evil house of horrors destroyed by a traumatised survivor.

Cozy's age is quite variable in fanfic: from eight to twelve if she's actually a filly - usually younger if the tone is comedy and older if it's more serious. Twenty to thirty for fans who subscribe to 'Baby Doll' theory (though not many of them seem to write Cozy stories), centuries to millenia when she is actually a demonic entity in disguise. Here I'm assuming the School of Friendship has a similar grade structure to US high school, and Cozy was a young-looking eleven when she joined.

If you've read 'The Hours of My Guilt', you can guess what Pacific is about to reveal.

Pacific Dream

I raise an eyebrow, some of my suspicion returning, but curiosity as well. What could be worse than being stuck as a statue for all eternity. Some threat to Equestria? Something... that I might be able to help with? I feel a tiny flicker of hope: could he convince Twilight to release me, even temporarily?

It all seems a bit far-fetched, but it's not like I have anything better to do. "Sure, why not? What do you want to show me?"

Pacific's memory doesn't form from mists. Instead it's drawn in glowing lines like the work of a manic magical painter, gaining detail until it resolves into a sharply rectangular window: one that looks into Canterlot palace. An ornate room filled with finery, a gold-inlaid desk and behind it, the tyrant herself. Twilight Sparkle. The sight of my alicorn nemesis isn't what chills me though: no, it's what's on her desk.

A stone carving of... me. An exact replica of my petrified form, complete with my hooves pressed against my terrified face. How very like Twilight to make a copy, a prize head on her wall. Is it supposed to remind all her visitors what will happen to them if they oppose her rule?

"I observed this in Twilight's private office three days ago," Pacific says simply.

There's another pony there: a pegasus with blue fur and a rainbow tail. Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty. "Come on, Twi!" Rainbow says, "You don't just make a replica of the worst pony ever for old time's sake! What's it for? You gotta tell me or I'm coming back with the whole gang."

The sight of my petrified form was already like a dagger to my heart. Then Rainbow Dash chimes in and twists the dagger in the wound. I'm not 'the worst pony ever'... am I?

"Were you there? Or... is this some sort of scrying?" I ask. The castle is supposed to be warded against that, but it never stopped Discord so I guess it's not infallible.

"I was there but she couldn't see me," Pacific says cryptically.

In the memory, Twilight Sparkle gets up and looks around the room. Her horn glows and door lock clicks, while the shutters slam shut. When she answers Rainbow it's in an ominous hiss: "You have to promise you won't tell anypony about this! Not Pinkie, not Applejack, not even Princess Celestia. Nopony, do you understand!"

Rainbow Dash gulps, then answers quickly: "Sure thing, Twilight. My lips are sealed. Promise! You know you can trust me, right?"

Twilight nods. "You're the element of loyalty. And that's why I'm going to tell you... She's pure evil, Rainbow. Not just the 'worst pony'... pure, ontological evil. It's been three years... and Cozy Glow still pops up in my dreams, laughing at me. She's going to get out somehow, I just know it. And when she does, it's going to be worse than last time. I've got to stop her, Rainbow. I have to destroy her. Before she destroys us."

The alicorn princess is leaning forward over the desk, her wings spread and her mane wild. Rainbow stares up at her monarch with wide eyes.

I look between the memory and Pacific Dream, feeling confused, horrified and angry all at once. Sure, I knew Twilight was angry with me, but this... this is just paranoid insanity! "So... the mighty Princess of Friendship still isn't over me? It's almost flattering..."

In truth it wasn't flattering: it was chilling. The all-powerful ruler of Equestria just said that I'm not even a person: apparently I'm some kind of primordial evil. "Twilight's scared of me? Even stuck as a statue?"

A feeling of dread was rising in my stomach. 'Destroy me'... when I'd been trying to psych myself up to executing Starlight and Celestia, when I had them in the dungeon, I'd talked about 'destroying them'. I couldn't bring myself to do it, and maybe that's why I lost. But Twilight... she was supposed to be the good guy, wasn't she? Not just the good guy: the benevolent princess, who literally wrote the book on Friendship and Harmony.

"Indeed she is," Pacific says. His control over the memory projections seems more precise than mine: he'd effortlessly frozen it when I began to speak, and now unpauses it.

"You don't mean... she's just a filly!" Rainbow Dash protests."

"She's not just a filly! Why do people keep saying that?! She's a... a demon, a temptress, a... force of corruption! She turned my school against me, she outsmarted Discord, oh and she NEARLY DESTROYED BOTH MAGIC AND FRIENDSHIP!" Little sparks are shooting off Twilight's horn: the alicorn is practically foaming at the mouth. "She doesn't even have a horn... how could a normal pegasus filly have done what she did? No, Rainbow, this... this has to be done."

"So, you're gonna just... just smash her." Rainbow says angrily. "Kill Cozy Glow in cold blood, and replace her with that lump of rock so nopony knows what you did?"

I'm utterly aghast at the memory, staring at Twilight's hysterics with a mixture of horror and disbelief. What sort of 'Princess of Friendship' talks like this? I'd never have guessed how truly scared and obsessed she is! Making me an 'ontological evil' so she can justify murdering me.

"Twilight's lost her mind! And she's going to KILL me, when I can't even fight back!"

I'm starting to panic: I turn to Pacific Dream with pleading eyes. "You're sure this is real? That you're showing me exactly what you saw? You didn't make this up for some sort of weird prank, right?"

"Such a prank would be in exceedingly bad taste," Pacific says coldly. "And I fear mere death would be a kindness compared to what Twilight has planned."

The memory begins to play again. "She won't be... dead, exactly," Twilight says carefully, as she sinks back behind her desk. "She'll be a pile of gravel, buried in an unmarked hole. As long as the spell is not broken, she should remain conscious. No different from her current imprisonment really, save that there will be no risk of escape.

"You're going to smash her and bury her alive?" Rainbow shouts back. "Stuck in the dark until the sun burns out? Come on, Twilight! This is... monstrous! Nopony deserves that. What were you thinking?" Now Rainbow was up on the desk, stomping a hoof to emphasise her argument.

"I'm the princess, Rainbow. That means I have to make the hard decisions. What if Cozy gets loose, and actually pulls off one of her schemes? To... boil the oceans, or brainwash everypony into eating meat, or... whatever evil things she dreams of. I couldn't live with myself."

My teeth are clenched, tears well in my eyes and my throat burns. And they call me evil? Despite having to fight what seemed like all of Equestria, I didn't even kill anypony - I would never subject a creature to torture like this. If Pacific isn't making this up... then Twilight is coming for me. My only advocate is this jock with the flashy mane and she's clearly going to fall in line behind her princess.

As for Twilight... it's like a twisted parody of what I meant when I said Equestria needs to be more practical. Twilight finally admits she needs to make 'hard choices' and does she build a real army or order mass inspections to check for abused foals? No, she decides to secretly execute a helpless filly!

Pacific pauses the memory for a moment and walks over to me, standing close so that his wing brushes against mine. He remains silent as the last of the scene plays out.

"Is... is it going to hurt?" Rainbow Dash asks. "Twilight! Is she going to be in pain, after you... smash her up."

"I don't know, Rainbow. Maybe? Does it matter? This is Cozy Glow we're talking about," Twilight replies, her tone exasperated.

"What about Chrysalis? Tirek? The next villain who comes along?" Rainbow objects "Are you saying Celestia should've smashed Discord when he was a statue? Turned him to gravel?"

"Yes. No! Maybe." Twilight said, losing her composure. "Look, Rainbow: Tirek, Chrysalis, they're just monsters. We can handle monsters. They'd never work together... until Cozy Glow united them."

Twilight pauses to glare at the stone replica of my terrified form sitting on her desk. "She's... insidious, Rainbow. If Cozy gets out, she won't just try to conquer us, she'll corrupt my little ponies. Turn them against me. So... she gives me no choice."

I've never heard such venom in Twilight's voice. When Rainbow finally replies her voice is small, quiet and resigned: "When are you gonna do it, Twi?"

"Thursday night," Twilight says. "I've found some reliable ponies to- to carry it out." The memory ends, fading into the mists of my mindscape.

I stare blankly into the mental fog, my brain trying to process the horrible truth. It's all real: Twilight is truly going to kill me in the worst way possible. Buried in darkness, still conscious but suffering in agony for untold eons until the spell finally fades and I die. I can't control it any more: tears roll down my face. This is where my story ends? In an unmarked grave, with a fake stand-in so no one will ever know of Twilight's crime?

My heart is twisting, my stomach feels sick. I pull away from the hippogriff: his offer of comfort seems hollow now. What could possibly make me feel better about this?

"So this is why you came? So you could get my... my... last will and testament, before I'm executed?" I hiss.

"Why did you even show me this? So you can see me broken, crying, before the end?" My rage at Twilight is boiling over, and Pacific Dream is the only target at hoof.

"Oh, Cozy Glow..." Pacific says sadly. "Of course I would not show you this if it was truly your fate. I do confess, that when I came here I was not entirely sure: could you truly be the great, irredeemable evil that Twilight believes you to be?"

The stallion's beak opens in a smile. "It is clear to me that you are not. You recall that in Twilight's hour of need, the Royal Hippogriff Navy sortied to liberate Canterlot?"

"Even after she tried to steal your Pearl of Freedom. Because she's Miss Perfect who can do no wrong." I say bitterly.

"Quite." Pacific snorts. "I supect the Queen was more concerned with the safety of her daughter, while the Admiral wanted to strike at the Storm King while he was exposed. No matter: my point is that it is something of a tradition for hippogriffs to come to the aid of pony mares in their darkest hour. And perhaps one might be enough." There's a gleam in his eagle eye as he looks at me. He couldn't mean... is it possible?

My eyes widen... is there really a way to save me?

"W-wait... so you really did come to... help me?" The last part is a whisper of disbelief: I can't allow myself believe this is genuine. I can't accept hope, only for it to be dashed: this must be a dream, a hallucination. Yet, that gleam in his eye... I had that gleam. Once upon a time.

"How? The spell that turned me into a statue... it was cast by two alicorns and a demigod. How can you possibly pull this off?"

"Ah, now that is somewhat complicated." Pacific takes a few paces away into the mental mists, then the hippogriff looks over his shoulder at me as if inviting me to follow. "Would you like to hear my story? Not as famous or dramatic as yours, but perhaps of some interest all the same?"

I'm still wary: I'm dreading the revelation that Pacific is just some delusional bird-horse, that he believes the power of friendship or honesty or love can get me out of this. I mean sure, Cadence and Twilight can weaponise blind devotion, but they're backed up by raw magical power and hordes of followers. For regular ponies, those are just fables: dangerous ones, when it leads them to ignore more practical means.

But I'm hardly going to reject my only possible saviour, so I follow Pacific Dream into the mists. I'm still waiting for the punchline of this cosmic, nightmare joke, but... I don't have anything to lose at this point, so I play along.

"Sure, I guess. I mean, go ahead. I'm all ears."

Pacific seems to pick up on my scepticism, keeping his distance as he summons a new memory. I see a younger version of the stallion at a table, covered in handwritten notes and bits of junk. He's tinkering with some sort of rusted mechanism, maybe trying to repair it. Maps and painting are pinned to the walls, most of them pretty old and worn. He's inside a wooden room filled with carved furniture and crystals: a hippogriff home, presumably.

After a few seconds an adult stallion enters and begins to berate the colt: "Pacific! Why aren't you ready for sea cadets!? I swear, if you're late again I will throw that nonsense back in the ocean!"

"Daaaad! I've nearly got the compressor working!" young Pacific whines.

"Hmph! A future officer doesn't waste time on junk! He should be learning tactics, protocol," Pacific's father replies. A willowy hippogriff mare enters the scene, presumably Pacific's mother.

"Now dear, perhaps he's going to be an engineering officer. Chief of Naval Architecture, even!"

She smiles, trying to defuse the situation, but Pacific slams his claws on the table. "Or perhaps I'm not going to be in the Navy at all! It's my life and I-"

His father grabs him by his feathered crest. "Don't even think about it! My father was an officer in the Royal Navy, and his father before him, and you will not let this family down, Pacific!"

I watch as Pacific's parents argue. I can't say I'm not jealous of having any sort of family, but I can sympathise with being told how to feel, how to act, having your choices made for you. I don't get how this connects to a plan to save me from eternal torment, but I guess Pacific is building up to that.

The memory freezes: Pacific looks a little embarassed. "They weren't bad parents," he says, "just very... traditional."

"So... your dad wanted you to be in the navy, like him? What... what was that thing you were working on?"

"Oh yes, he was dead set on it," Pacific nods. "The old rooster was always making me practice formation flying, sailing, fencing, airship handling... couldn't handle the notion that I might want to do something else."

"I wanted... well, I wanted to do something exceptional. Unusual. Make a mark on history. When I heard all those stories about mad geniuses, strange monsters and dangerous artefacts that threatened the status quo... honestly I sided with the antagonists more than the heroes. Because they were pushing the boundaries of what was possible, exploring the unknown, while the heroes were just trying to keep things the same."

"That's why I was interested in artefacts: new and ancient. How they were built, what they could do. Hippogriffs don't have innate magic, other than our alternate forms, so that was the only way I could touch, well... the extraordinary. And... that's why I ended up running away from home."

I watch a brief image of colt Pacific sneaking out of his tree-like house and flying away into the night, with a bulging pack on his back. My curiosity starts to kick in, taking the edge off the all-pervading sense of doom.

"So you ran away from home, to be an explorer and find... what, treasure? Ancient relics? All those mysterious things nopony is meant to know?" A tiny thread of wonder manages to peek out through my despair. I've been there myself: pegasi are supposed to leave all that stuff to unicorns, but I didn't care what I was 'supposed' to do. A kindred spirit perhaps, except that I was driven to find a way to bring down the alicorn princesses, to show ponies the truth, while Pacific Dream seems to have chosen this path as an end in itself?

"And now you're... what? An archaeologist? Adventurer? Engineer? All of the above?" This could fit right into the pony fiction genre of 'ignoring the naysayers to find/follow my cutie mark', except that hippogriffs don't have cutie marks.

"Something along those lines," Pacific says modestly. "I took the opportunity to investigate a few legends, follow up on some notions I had, but at first I found nothing. Treasure hunting is a storied profession, after all, and most relics have long since been plundered: sold to collectors, placed in museums or, if they are truly powerful, hoarded by the alicorns in their vault."

"I was about ready to give up when I came to Griffonstone. The Hall of Antiquity was long since closed of course: looted and practically a ruin. And yet..."

The stallion shows me a memory of a broken-down museum, full of smashed display cases. Portions of the roof have collapsed, and junk litters the once-grand hallways. Pacific Dream makes his way carefully through the unstable structure, until he comes to an intact case holding the remains of a brass mechanism. It's been thoroughly smashed, just a pile of twisted gears... and the shards of two clock faces.

"Cozy, have you heard of the Clock of Chronorius?"

My eyes light up as the memory unfolds. This is getting promising: ancient artefacts of real power. The Clock is pretty obscure, but I'd read about it during my research, when I was looking for a way to drain the magic from Equestria.

"I sure have! Chronorius was a minotaur, right? He made it for the god-king of... Tharasas? Tharakas? Some lost city in the far south. It was supposed to control the flow of time: made the king and his nobles immortal, gave his warriors super-speed and froze his enemies in their tracks. But... it was smashed, right? In the slave revolt that destroyed the city. The griffons took the remains with them as a trophy."

That's why I hadn't bothered with the Clock: if the griffons could have fixed it, they would have. The cat-birds wouldn't leave such a powerful weapon on the shelf. That meant it was beyond repair, and the question was academic after Twilight left the Crown of Grover lying around. Still, I felt a tiny bit of pride at my ability to recall obscure lore. I glance at Pacific's flank... I'd almost forgotten about the clock faces. Could it really be...?

Pacific Dream smiles in admiration. "Excellent! Three years frozen in stone and you're still sharp as a tack, Cozy Glow. Indeed that is the legend: the idea that I could fix the Clock where the griffons failed was, I admit, a long shot. Yet when I examined the remains, I was confident that they were not from the Clock of Chronorius."

The memory skips ahead to the slightly younger Pacific extracting the mangled gears from the case, then prodding at them with tools from his backpack.

"The mechanisms were mismatched, and quite mundane: the 'runes' were just decorative engravings. In fact I identified parts from three conventional clocks, two clockwork automatons and a music box - all smashed up and mixed together. In other words, a decoy: the fate of the real Clock was a wide open question!"

I share the smile, enjoying the chance to flex my knowledge in front of someone who seems genuinely impressed. If this was the present, I wouldn't get my hopes up: the real Clock may have escaped the slave riot, but that didn't rule out any number of other things that could have destroyed it. But Pacific is choosing this particular memory to show me, skipping over all the dead ends, so I can see where this is going.

"So you were on a quest to track down the real Clock of Chronorius? I bet that was exciting."

"At times," Pacific acknowledges. "Artefact hunting is long hours in the library, weeks in the wildness searching for the ruin, punctuated by a few minutes of terror as you trigger a death-trap or come face to face with a hydra."

I nod along: I've certainly been there. Pacific Dream condenses the search into a few flashes of memory.

"Of course I read everything I could about Chronorius..." A vision of the hippogriff sneaking into the restricted section of Canterlot Library: just like I did, when we needed information on the bell. "...and it turned out he founded a sort of monastic order, on an island off the coast of Abyssinia. So I flew all the way down there, only to find their temple had become a pirate hideout." An image of bloodthirsty harpies drinking grog in the comandeered temple.

"I told them I was a historian: given my age, likely they guessed that I was a treasure hunter, but they still accepted my last emerald in return for a look at the undercroft. There was a map... an outlying shrine with a pictogram of the clock! It turns out that island sank in the Great Earthquake of 354 CE..." A memory of Pacific Dream in hippocampus form, swimming down through the tropical ocean. "...so it's fortunate I'm a hippogriff, really!"

The final image is of Pacific levering a boulder out of the way and finding the intricate brass clock nestled in the sunken ruins of the shrine. The fish-horse stallion seems overjoyed with his find. "And there it was, the Clock of Chronorius, intact although not exactly functional."

I'm completely absorbed in the story now: not that there's been much competition, since I was turned into a statue and left in the palace gardens. Searching out a lost source of mystic power is exactly the kind of thing I'd do. That wonder and excitement when you finally lay eyes on it: I'd give anything to feel that again. I just hope... that this isn't a hallucination.

"Golly... that's great, Pacific!" Excitement and fear collide in my heart: would this be enough to break the petrification spell? "Buuut... I guess being underwater for a few centuries has gotta gum up the works. You got it working though, right?"

Pacific nods eagerly. "I certainly did. Thorough cleaning, polish, oiling, replaced a few linkages and it was working like new." With a sweep of his wing, he shows me another memory: Pacific is sitting under a tree on the sea shore, on some distant tropical island. The brass clock with two faces is sparkling clean. The stallion places a pineapple in front of the device. With a twist of a lever, the fruit ages into a rotten mess. The blue-and-indigo hippogriff twists it back again, and the fruit de-ages into a fresh pineapple.

Then he tosses a pebble in front of the clock and presses a button. The rock freezes in mid-air, time itself ceasing to flow as far as the pebble is concerned. The younger Pacific Dream laughs with delight.

"Alas, that triumph was followed by the stupidest decision of my life. I resolved to return home and prove to everyone that I'd been right: that I was a great explorer and engineer."

I'm enthralled by the demonstration. Control over time itself! The possibilities were literally endless. Tharun had a good thing going, offering immortality to his vassals in return for their loyalty, but that was just scratching the surface. If I could get my hooves on that... oh. Return home? Really?

"Wait, wait, wait... you had power over time, something beyond the strongest unicorns, and your first thought was to prove you were right? To your parents?"

I can't keep the scorn out of my voice... possibly because I knew what it felt like to be that stupid. Gullible. To believe in authority figures, to want to impress them even if it meant giving up your own dreams...

Pacific Dream hangs his head. "Not my finest hour. You have to understand, the Mountain-Sea Kingdom is very big on duty. Do your part to defeat defend the Griffish Isles, for Queen and Country and all that. I'd run away, but... I didn't want to abandon my heritage. My friends. So I returned, and in my foolish pride I thought I could be a hero."

The stallion summons an image of flying to Mount Aris, reuniting with his mother, demonstrating the power of the Clock to his stunned and furious father. "Alas it didn't turn out that way."

Another memory, of hippogriff royal marines with tridents and armour, storming into the house. "By order of the Queen, I am to impound this Category A dangerous device! Pacific Dream, you will be incarcerated for questioning at Her Majesty's pleasure. Now take your claws off that bloody thing!" the marine captain shouts. Pacific looks to his father, but the older stallion only scowls.

"Okay. I guess, I, uh..." In the memory, the young stallion lunges for the button. Before the adults can react they're all frozen in time: mother, father and marines alike. Pacific Dream grabs the enchanted clock and flies out of the house.

I flinch at the scene: I knew that anguish, of being torn between doing the 'right' thing, being the obedient little filly everyone wants, and following the path that calls to your heart. The former is always a lie: you play by the rules, only to get the rug pulled out from under you.

"Yeah, that's how it goes... the second you pull out power that threatens the Princesses... or I guess the hippogriff Queen, they get scared. Try to control you, or destroy you."

I stare at the frozen soldiers: hippogriff marines are no joke. Tougher than our mostly-ceremonial royal guards, for sure. "You made it out though... right?" It was either that or spending time in the dungeons followed by a jail-break.

"It was a close shave, but yes, I escaped." Pacific confirms. The next memory is of Pacific flying frantically to a dock, where mothballed airships are kept. The hulls of hippogriff ships are organic, grown into scalloped teardrop shapes before being hollowed out. The larger cruisers and giant battleships have two or three hull segments, but Pacific heads for a smaller ship, only the size of a house. Guards shout and flap after him, firing bolts of magic from their tridents.

"Purloined an old Defiance-class corvette. The chaps at the yard weren't keen on me taking it." Pacific lands on the ship, but as he's getting the hatch open he takes a magic bolt to the gut. The young hippogriff cries out in pain, collapsing into the ship with smoking feathers. Bleeding heavily, he desperately sets up the Clock before he loses consciousness. In a flash of magic, time is rolled back and the mortal wound vanishes, like it never happened.

"Of course they sent a squadron in pursuit, but I managed to hook the Clock up to the ship..." Pacific's 'corvette' powers up, beams of light fanning out like a harp on each side as the magical drive engages. The sleek ship starts to fly away from the imposing Mount Aris, but the sole occupant is having trouble crewing the vessel alone. Several larger ships launch and quickly close the distance... until time distorts and the corvette streaks off to the horizon, moving at impossible speed.

I had my doubts at first, but it turns out Pacific Dream is a bit of a badass. My heart leaps into my mouth as he takes the hit, then I stamp my hoof in delight as he heals the wound. I actually cheer as he commandeers the airship and leaves the royal navy in the dust.

"Yeeees! Go Pacific!" I laugh happily. "So, going home was dumb, but at least you scored a sweet airship for your trouble. Those ignorant monarchists were only going to lock the Clock in a vault anyway. Uh, do- do you still have the ship?" The Clock was a good start, but a mobile base of operations would be awesome. "The other hippogriffs have gotta want that thing back, right?"

"Oh yes... they want it back alright, not so much for the ship itself, but because they can't bear to see one of their prized vessels in the claws of an outlaw." Pacific smirks. "But they haven't found Dauntless yet, and as long as I'm careful where I park her, I don't think they will."

"So you're a pirate-archeologist-engineer-adventurer?" I can't help but smile at the sheer... audacity of this bird-horse guy. I'll admit it: I love the whole thing hippogriffs have going on. Those sharp beaks and claws, always ready to defend themselves, but not on the edge of savagery like griffons... quite the opposite. Hippogriffs did 'beautiful' and 'elegant' without feeling the need to make everything cutesy. I mean ok, those fish tails do look kind of silly and the mares all seem to be airheads, but...

"The Dauntless! That's an awesome name! I bet you've got it upgraded with force shields and tractor beams and invisibility and... the laser cannons still work, right?"

"Ah, yes well I was thinking along those lines," Pacific admits. "But my initial concerns were more prosaic. Dauntless had been put in reserve and I was short on provisions and spare parts. I couldn't exactly stroll into town and peruse the marketplace, with Her Majesty's Secret Service chasing my tail fin."

"So I thought... what's better than one legendary magical artefact? Two legendary magical artefacts!" Pacific grins: the expression is somewhere between goofy and crazed. " Did you hear about the Genesis Bird? The whole thing with the Element of Generosity, covering Ponyville in gilding and crystals?"

Genesis Bird, Genesis Bird... I think back for a moment... oh right. Rarity told us about it during one of her fashion lessons. A cautionary tale...

"It's like this golden bird statue that's supposed to be able to create anything you can imagine, right? Spike found it in some old ruin and of course he gave it to Rarity, because he's got a hopeless crush on her." Bleh. Get some taste, Spike.

"She kind of went mad with power, creating all this stuff she thought people wanted, until Spike snapped her out of it by telling her that her style sucked and no one liked her gaudy crap. Turns out Rarity has self-esteem problems, who knew." I roll my eyes.

"How did it end... I remember. Twilight got hold of the bird, deactivated it somehow and locked it away in Celestia's vault." Because of course she did.

"That was a hippogriff artefact, you know?" Pacific says. "Stolen from the Winter Pavillion by the sphinx Sasamratu, eventually recovered by the griffons and purchased by Duchess Iridium in exchange for the land that Griffonreach now sits on. It belongs in a... oh who am I kidding. Queen Novo would probably just use it to magic up jewellery and canapes. In any case, I felt justified in retrieving it from Canterlot Tower."

With another wave of his wing, Pacific shows you a memory of him sneaking into the nearby palace. The bulky Clock of Chronorius is strapped awkwardly to his back. He uses it to freeze a patrolling guard in time, and then a little later he fires a prolonged burst into an elaborate magical lock. It flashes and crackles and after a few minutes fails entirely, releasing the heavy door to swing open.

Pacific trots into the vault, looking in awe at the treasures lining every shelf. He spots the Genesis Bird, like a cross between a hawk and a peacock sculpted in gold and platinum. As soon as it leaves the shelf, a magical alarm is triggered, filling the air with an obnoxiously loud wailing sound. A force field starts to form, but before he can be trapped Pacific uses the Clock on himself, slowing down time (from his perspective) and letting him zip out of the castle before anypony can react.

I watch the daring heist with excitement. Another top-tier relic, and this bird-horse just waltzed in there and snatched it! My mind begins racing, envisioning all the uses for a bird statue that can materialise any object you can imagine.

"You're gonna be the most wanted hippogriff in Equestria if you keep this up!" I giggle, wondering if Twilight finally took the hint and beefed up her security after this embarassment. "Watch out, or they'll freeze you into a statue and put it right next to mine! Or..." The mirth drains out of me as my mind returns to my alicorn nemesis: specifically the image of her ranting and raving, demanding that I be smashed into gravel and buried in an unmarked hole.

"Pacific... you're saying you've already got immortality, and unlimited wealth? Why are you bothering with rescuing me? What could you possibly need me for?" For a moment I think 'maybe he wants a marefriend', but that's ridiculous. A handsome, dashing and now filthy rich stallion would have mares hanging off him wherever he went: why would he bother trying to de-petrify a notorious villainess, who's been stuck as a filly for the last three years.

Pacific gives me an odd look... at first I think it's pity, but it's not. Regret, yes... concern? Hope? ...compassion? I can't describe it, but those soulful bird eyes makes me tingle with an unfamiliar feeling.

"Oh, Cozy Glow," Pacific Dream says softly. "This is a rescue, not a recruitment. You don't have to repay me. I'm doing this... because the secret execution of a rebellious filly is an abomination. Because rescuing a smart and courageous mare is a genuine pleasure. And because... you deserve to have something nice happen to you, Cozy Glow. The world has been cruel and unfair to you, and I for one deem that unacceptable."

This has to be a dream, a hallucination, a trick, a joke, it can't be...

I'm stunned. My cheeks are burning... phantom tears fill my eyes. I want to hold on to Pacific's soothing words and wrap them around me like a warm blanket. 'But you've seen the real me!' I almost scream. How can anyone be so... so pleasant, so respectful, so... foolish, when they know the truth?

"You... you really think that? T-That I'm smart, and... brave? You want to... to do something nice for me?" Part of me is screaming that I mustn't believe this, that there has to be a catch, but... I'm tired. Tired of being afraid, tired of being alone. I shove that voice out into the darkness, where I don't have to listen to it. I look up at Pacific with wide, hopeful eyes, like a lost little filly who's snuck out from the orphanage.

"You really think... I deserve to be happy?"

Pacific trots over and puts one of his enormous wings over me. The gesture is a gentle one, but the feel of feathers covering my whole body might as well be a tidal wave of sensation. "Of course you do," Pacific reassures me. "You tried to do what you believed was right... and in a few short years you've accomplished things most pegasi barely dream of. You never gave up, not to tyrants with pretty smiles or selfish monsters. You just need... a little help."

I shiver, despite the phantom warmth... it's such a simple thing, but how I yearned for it. The most basic expression of pegasus love: wrapping your wing around your child, or your special somepony. I used to watch pegasi hugging their children and my guts would twist with envy. Why was I denied that basic pony contact?

Even though I know it's not real, that we're still in my mindscape, I want to just... hide under here forever. The feeling of a protective, caring being wrapping me up, shielding me... it's intoxicating. But I know the safety can only be an illusion, as long as I'm frozen in stone and Twilight is coming for me.

"Gosh... this is nice... so warm and soft." I sigh, not wanting to break the moment. "But if she's really gonna to smash me... we're running out of time, aren't we? What's your plan?"

"Time... is not a concern. In fact less than a minute has passed since I first made contact." You look at Pacific in surprise: seriously? You didn't see him carrying the Clock of Chronorius. The clocks on his flanks... was he able to disassemble it? Use those pieces in isolation?

"I must confess however... I am not quite as I seem. Not exactly a hippogriff, any more. There is one last memory I have yet to show you, and when you see it... you might think better of accompanying me," Pacific Dream says gravely.

Huh. That... makes a lot of sense, actually. Time manipulation... so we wouldn't be interrupted by some random royal guard asking the suspicious hippogriff why he's been staring at the Legion of Doom statue for the last hour.

"I knew it! You're actually a changeling, aren't you!" Pacific looks utterly confused, and I have to laugh. "No no, don't tell me... you're a sleeper agent for Nightmare Moon, formed out of shadow-stuff and moonbeams! She hid you in an egg and left you to grow up on Mount Aris!"

"I- No, that's not... you are being illogical," Pacific splutters.

I giggle. "It's ok, silly. Go ahead and show me: I promise not to freak out."

Pacific Dream shakes his head, as if to clear his mind. Then he stares into the mists, and a new memory surfaces. You see a cramped space with walls that look like they're made of pearl, with pipes and wires snaking everywhere. Crates, tools and miscellaneous gear are strewn about: the lower deck of the Dauntless, presumably.

The past image of Pacific sets the Clock down on the floor, then begins to examine the Genesis Bird. Time skips forward: I watch him prodding at it with tools and referring to musty scholarly tomes. Eventually he gets frustrated and holds the golden bird up at eye level. It seems inert: a mere sculpture, not a powerful artefact.

"Come on! I know you were working, just a few years ago," *He says rhetorically.* "I wish I knew what Twilight did to you. I wish I knew... how to get your power back." It seems silly, talking to a golden bird, until... the emerald eyes flash with bright green light.

Pacific drops the bird, but it floats up in front of him, beaming its light into his eyes. The stallion is transfixed... and energy seems to flow out of him, into the artefact. His feathers wilt, his flesh shrivels... and Pacific Dream's greying corpse slumps to the floor. Maybe it's part of the memory link, but somehow I'm certain all life has been sucked out of him. The deadly Genesis Bird is left floating serenely in the silent cabin.

"No! Pacific, don't do it! Ugh, how could you be so..." My voice trails off: I'm horrified. Not so much at the sight of my would-be rescuer reduced to a corpse. Messing with magical relics is a dangerous business: Twilight isn't lying when she says some of them have to be locked away. Draining life force... yeah, that makes sense. Twilight probably dispelled the bird's energy supply, and it refilled itself from the only available source. Those ancient artisans didn't mess around, and they weren't big on safety features.

No, what's really scaring me is the paradox. Pacific Dream is here, in my mind, but I just saw him die. Either some sort of weird time magic is going on, or I've really gone crazy and I'm hallucinating this whole conversation..

"Tell me... uh, y-you... you set the clock to reverse time automatically? It brought you back to life? How else can you be here?" I stare up at him with wild eyes.

Pacific shakes his head. "That's a good idea, but alas the Clock had no such automation. With no one to activate it, it could not reverse my demise. My return was by other means."

He looks back to the memory, and the scene unfreezes. For a long while the golden bird just hovers there, emerald eyes glowing. Then it starts to move... slowly at first, almost hesitantly. It circles around the cabin, sinking lower and stopping to hover in front of Pacific's corpse. Almost like it is inspecting its handiwork, it seems to me. Can a magical artefact feel remorse?

Then it turns... to the Clock of Chronorius. For a moment I think it's going to activate it, wind back time and restore Pacific Dream to life... but instead it just settles onto the top of the casing.

Another pregnant pause, as everything remains still. Then the eyes of the golden bird glow brighter... and the clock begins to change. The casing expands and splits, while the innards sprout struts and linkages. New gears pop into existence in flashes of green light, slowly at first and then faster and faster, until it's a manic flicking. The clockwork construct rises on four legs, gaining articulation, a head and then a tail. A hippogriff... as I watch the Genesis Bird transforms the Clock of Chronorius into an impossibly detailed mechanical replica of a hippogriff.

Deep blue feathers form: first the primaries, then secondaries and contour feathers. Artificial fur covers the hindquarters, while scales and fins wrap the mechanical tail. The Genesis Bird is hidden inside, but the clock faces... they remain on his flanks. The same clock faces that adorn Pacific's hips now.

A perfect replica of Pacific Dream, standing motionless in the belly of the airship. As the magic completes his work, suddenly he's alive with motion. He blinks, then gasps. His head jerks around: he spots his own corpse and recoils. His motions are clumsy, stilted.

"What?" Pacific croaks. "What... happened to me? What am I?" The memory ends, and all that remains are the mists of my mindscape.

I can only watch in shock as the Genesis Bird fuses with the magical clock and changes it into a duplicate of the bird-horse. I've seen a lot of strange things in my short life, but this... It's an incredible display of transmutation, and honestly more than a little creepy. A perfect copy of the handsome stallion is standing there... looking at his own corpse.

"You... you're... a machine? Some sort of... clockwork golem? You're not..." I gulp, trying to hide my fright. "T-the real you died? You're an artificial creature?"

A magical artefact, so powerful that it could create anything a pony could imagine, could reproduce a living being? Was that Pacific's dying wish... to have it make a copy of himself? Am I talking to a... clone, or a magical artefact pretending to be a dead creature, or...

Pacific gives me a haunted look. "Quite a conundrum, isn't it? 'I think therefore I am' doesn't quite cover it. I remember my family, my adventures... being alive, but it seems distant, abstract. I feel emotions, but are they the same as before? Am I still Pacific Dream, or a convincing replica thereof, a doppelganger with his form and memories?" The clockwork hippogriff... or rather the image of him, in my mindscape... hangs his head. "I don't know, Cozy Glow."

"Come on! The real you is right there..." I nod to the withered corpse in the memory, drained of life. "This you is... just a magical copy. A machine. I mean sure you're very realistic and smart and... and... all those things you said..."

Something snaps inside me. This is too much, a step too far: the game is up. Anger wells up and my face flushes red.

"Alright Discord, you've had your fun! Knock it off!" I shout. "You really thought I'd fall for this? A... mysterious, h-handsome hippogriff stallion, who just shows up out of nowhere? A dashing adventurer with superpowers and a cool airship and a plan to rescue me and oh he's made of clockwork?"

I'm crying again: I try to hold it back but I can't help it. This evil asshole, not content to set me up for failure and then turn me into a lawn ornament... he's come back to toy with me, to get my hopes up with this stupid fantasy. "And I might have believed you if you'd said you needed me for some secret plan, to steal some artefact. But you know where you really blew it?" I sob. "When you said you care about me! That y-you want to be n-nice to me! Let me guess, you were going to say you love me next!" I turn my back on the impostor and trot away, waiting for the inevitable laughter.

There's a long silence. "I'm sorry. Sorry that it turned out like this, I mean." Pacific says quietly. "I'll go now. When she comes... just hang on. The spell's too strong: I have to wait until Twilight weakens it. But I swear, Cozy, I will save you even if I have to fight the Princess herself."

He's really keeping up the pretense, is he? Or maybe this isn't Discord, maybe it's just my pathetic subconscious expressing some impossible hope of escape. Or maybe... I look over my shoulder, but Pacific Dream is gone.

"W-wait!" Quickly I dissolve my mindscape and find myself back in stone, looking down at the grass... but there's nothing. No trace of the blue-and-indigo bird-horse. Save for the constant silent presence of the petrified Chrysalis and Tirek, I'm alone.

I try to ask them, 'did you see a hippogriff', projecting my thoughts through the stone. As always, there's no reply. Tirek is the kind who could sulk for three years straight, but Chrysalis wouldn't: she was prone to ranting and hated being alone. That's how I know that the spell imprisoning us blocks all communication. I guess we're supposed to meditate on our crimes, alone.

So I just stare into the sky... feeling the endless loneliness and emptiness all the more keenly, after the emotional roller-coaster of the encounter with Pacific Dream. Even his name was a bit of a giveaway: he might as well have been called 'Cozy's Fantasy'. I... I honestly didn't realise I liked hippogriffs that much. I guess I go for the whole 'griffon fierceness with pony refinement... and slippery fish tails' thing. Not that it matters now.

Author's Note

Pacific Dream comes across as a bit of a Gary Stu here, but that's to be expected as he's pretty much Cozy's fantasy coltfriend. His personality and the existential dread of being a clockwork clone gets filled out a bit later. The Genesis Bird is of course a reinterpretation of 'Inspiration Manifestation'. It seems Twilight edited the actual artefact out of that chapter of her published 'Friendship Journal' - perhaps to avoid exactly this happening.

This version of hippogriffs are inherently bird/horse/fish chimeric creatures, so they have natural shapechanging (between hippogriff and hippocampus forms only) without needing a magical pearl. They also retain fish tails in terrestrial form and beaks in aquatic form. Instead of transforming creatures, Queen Novo's giant pearl (the 'Pearl of Freedom') magically shatters restraints and dispels charms & compulsions. Twilight still tried to steal it as per canon, hoping to free all the ponies the Storm Kingdom had enslaved.

The Stair of Quao-Tshun

I don't retreat into my mindscape again: now that I'm starting to question my own sanity, it seems more like a trap than a reprieve. Instead I just stare at the gardens as the shadows slowly lengthen and the sun slips below the horizon. It's a moonless night, so the only light is from the windows of Canterlot Castle and the distant lamps of the city proper. I can't sleep, exactly, since I was petrified, but I do begin to slip into a kind of torpor, where hours pass like seconds. The sound of hooves crunching on the gravel path snaps me wide awake. Somepony is coming...

Two heavily-built earth pony stallions, each holding a hooded lantern in their mouths. Something is strapped to their back: I strain to see. Tools? Yes... sledgehammers and shovels. They're big ponies, but the third visitor matches their height: I spot lavender fur, expansive wings, a long horn glowing dimly: Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, ruler of Equestria.

The first few months after I was imprisoned she used to visit regularly. Early on she would give the three of us a little lecture on 'why Friendship will always prevail' or 'what we never understood' about her stupid philosophy. Later on she seemed to fixate on me in particular, staring at me and asking silly rhetorical questions like 'what made you so evil, Cozy?' or 'how could a mere filly have done all those things?'. Then she stopped coming altogether: I think it's been a year now since I've seen her face.

Fear knots in my stomach. She's here now... with lackeys bearing sledgehammers and shovels. So that was Discord in my mind, and he hadn't been lying. Twilight's really come to... to smash me to gravel, to bury what remains of me in a dark hole. Absolute monsters, the pair of them. Discord warned me, just so he could see me cry, see me vulnerable: pretending to be a young hippogriff with a plan to rescue me, trying to get my hopes up just so he could see them dashed. I'd be enraged, if I wasn't too busy being terrified. Twilight is about to inflict a fate worse than death, and I'm completely helpless. I try to scream, but my stone lips don't move a millimetre.

Twilight stops right in front of our statue, with her minions keeping a respectful distance. Something is floating along beside her, caught in her magic: the stone replica of me. She sets it down on the ground and then stares up into my eyes. The moment seems to stretch endlessly, but there's no lecture, no presumptuous questions this time. Instead, the princess's face contorts into a series of expressions. Fear, anger, disgust, frustration... guilt? Twilight's never been able to manage a poker face. Despite her conflicting feelings, when she does finally speak it is with conviction.

"Cozy Glow. You are charged with sedition, destruction of royal property, assault on the Celestial guard, high treason against the Crown, and unforgivable crimes against Harmony, the Natural Order and the Equestrian Way. You have shown no remorse and no pity."

'Because you never let me!' I try to scream. No pity? I had all her friends at my mercy, under the castle, and despite being some kind of supreme villainess I never killed anypony.

"Due to your... unnatural persuasive powers, I cannot risk a trial or an appeal. On the authority granted to me by Celestia Sol Invicta and Luna Custos Noctis, I hereby- I hereby sentence you to... death."

Twilight recoils slightly, as if surprised to hear those words come from her own lips. She gives a slight shake of her head, then lights her horn. I feel the princess's magic taking me in its grip, just like the time Luna threw me into the cage in Tartarus, just like all the times Prim Proper dragged me back to the orphanage. Except this time I can't even struggle.

Even this secret pronouncement is a lie, if Discord's vision was true. Death would be a mercy, compared to being smashed and buried alive. I can feel magic energy building up, seeping into my frozen body. My heart would race, if it wasn't a frozen chunk of stone. I thought she'd at least let me plead my case. Turn me back to flesh for just a minute, so I can make one last appeal for mercy. Try something, anything... but no. My fate is sealed.

With a crack my body breaks free of the rest of the statute: my little perch on top of Tirek where I've been stuck for three years. Twilight's face looms larger as she levitates me down, and I can see the worry, all the sleepless nights, in her expression.

She's really scared of me, isn't she? The Princess of Friendship isn't going to let me speak, because even with all her power, she thinks I might have a trick up my sleeve: some way to bewitch her, or turn her underlings on her, or something. That realisation gives me a tiny sliver of satisfaction, even as she levitates me onto the back of one of the earth ponies. The other pony throws a rope over me, securing my stone form to his companion's back.

"Take her over there, behind the pear trees." Twilight gestures with a hoof. "You know what you have to do, right? I don't want any pieces bigger than a marble."

"Yes princess!" "You can count on us!" The lackeys sound quick to obey; eager to please their princess. Typical ponies really. They must have bought all Twilight's swill about me being some primordial evil in the shape of a filly.

The alicorn princess nods, wrinkles her nose in disgust and then trots away into the night, heading back towards the statue. Presumably to install the copy so no one will know that I'm gone. So she's not even going to watch? See this through to the end? Coward, I think.

The two earth ponies look at each other, shrug, then start making their way to the orchard. "You gotta tell me if you start feeling funny, Trowel," the other pony says fearfully. "'Cause that's some grade-A nightmare fuel you got on your back. She could start messing with yer mind, any moment now!"

"Nah! You gotta trust the Princess!" 'Trowel' says confidently. "She said demon filly can't do nothing, so long as she's just a statue."

Unlike Chrysalis, I'm not too proud to beg for mercy. If I could, I'd scream and call out to Twilight. Promise her my eternal loyalty if she'd only spare me. I'd try and sway her servants: offer them secrets, hidden treasure, magical power. I'd promise anything, anything at all to prevent that sledgehammer from falling on my helpless stone form. These idiot earth ponies are everything I despise in ponykind: blindly trusting in their princess, following her orders even to the point of murdering a helpless child.

My mind races, searching desperately for a solution, but I come up with nothing usable, just silly fantasies. We're moving through the trees now: I'm on my side, tied to the back of the stallion, lanterns casting just enough light to see where we're going. The journey could only have taken a few minutes, but it felt so much longer.

The workers stop, and the second earth pony undoes the rope, then heaves me off his companion's back. I'm lying on the ground, staring up at them in the same frozen expression of horror I've had since the day I was petrified. It's just as appropriate now as when I felt Celestia, Luna and Discord's magic crawling over me, calcifying my flesh.

"So what, do we dig the hole first, or smash it then dig the hole?" 'Trowel' asks.

"Princess didn't say, but I don't want that thing watching us while we work. Gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, that's a fair call, Steady. We smash it first." The stallions pull the tools out of their packs, dumping the shovels on the ground and taking the sledgehammers in their mouths. 'Steady' raises his hammer high above me, about to bring it down on my brittle stone face.

No! I don't want to die! Or worse, survive this somehow and be in agony for eons! This is it. After all my schemes, all my dreams of grandeur and conquest, I'm going to be shattered. A pile of gravel and dust, in an unmarked grave. Ponies have attacked our statue before, trying to smash one of us, but the spell had protected us from such mundane assault. Now though... Twilight has weakened it enough for these brutes to put an end to me. No third chance, no coming back. I can't even close my eyes as the hammer comes down on me.

Except that the hammer never falls. My assailant freezes in mid swing, staying absolutely still. The other earth pony remains motionless as well. I hear strong wings beating the air, and see a flash of deep blue feathers on the edge of the pool of lamp light, and then...

"Chin up, old girl! The cavalry has arrived." Pacific Dream fills my vision, his wings half-spread and his beak open as he smiles down at me. "Just a moment... we need a decoy to satisfy these meat heads."

A mixture of shock, joy, terror and relief washes over me. One thought is stuck in my head: he's real? He's not... Discord, or a figment of my subconscious? He's actually come for me!? I couldn't care less if he's a clockwork construct or a disguised changeling or whatever: for once in my life, somepony has actually come for me! I try to call out, 'you're really here?!', but of course I can't. Simultaneously the logical part of my mind is working overtime: decoy? What did he mean, 'decoy'?

Pacific Dream turns side-on to me and his back opens up. A golden bird pops out, lifted up on struts and trailing thin wires back into his body. The Genesis Bird... so that was all real. He is truly a replica, animated by intricate mechanisms. The clock face on his hip - the Clock of Chronorius, just like in my mindscape. The golden bird spreads its platinum wings, scrutinising me with glowing emerald eyes, then swivels away with a jerk.

Green light flashes and a small grey form appears: a statue of me. A perfect duplicate of my petrified form, just like the one Twilight had. That expression of utter terror, with my eyes wide and my hooves pressed to my face, has never been more appropriate.

"One thought we might turn Twilight's trick back on her. Give her the old double-Cozy switcheroo!" Pacific says. He picks me up, and... the feel of his strong claws on my stone body is somehow frightening and comforting at the same time. The golden bird disappears back into his back, and quickly the hippogriff puts the duplicate exactly where I was lying on the ground. Then he flies up into the air, into the moonless night.

The sensation of lifting into the air is an incredible relief: the urge to take flight, the primal pegasus instinct to get away, to get airborne, had been overpowering. The bird-horse stallion holds me so that I can watch as the time distortion ends, and the sledgehammer comes crashing down. My cute curls shatter and an ear flies off; well not really my curls, just the stone copy's. The first blow seems to break the ice and after that the two earth ponies really go at it, smashing up the replica, while I hang here in mid-air in the dashing hippogriff's claws.

Shock, elation and disbelief battle for control of my brain. I stare down out of the darkness, watching my stone self getting smashed to pieces by the brutal assaults of Twilight's lackeys. Of course they don't look up, earth ponies never do. I feel a dark sense of satisfaction: the Princess will think she's won, but I've escaped her grasp.

I'm still terrified, but it's beginning to subside, as I let go of disbelief and finally allow some hope. Pacific Dream rises higher, holding me close to his chest as though I'm precious, as though I'm... important. I want to laugh, cry, cheer, thank him, but of course I can't. All I can do is wonder where we're going, and what our next move will be.

The lights of Canterlot are spread out below me as the hippogriff flaps through the night. I catch snatches of music, singing, ponies making merry, before we leave the city behind. With strong and perfectly regular wingbeats, the stallion circles around the Canterhorn mountain, steadily gaining altitude. At last his wings become steady and we glide down towards an opening in the high cliffs. I can barely make out the cliffs themselves: the cave is a pit of utter blackness. Until...

Magical lighting snaps on and the cavern is fully illuminated. It's nearly filled by something like an enormous egg... no, a teardrop shape, scalloped and pearlescent, the size of a house. Set into the contours of the hull are portholes, pipes and hatches, while extending from each side are a pair of curving golden spars. The light is coming from the ship itself: a constellation of spotlights and navigation beacons, reflecting off the cave walls. A hippogriff airship: a corvette, as Pacific described it.

"There she is," Pacific Dream says, with a note of pride in his voice. "The Dauntless."

I can't help but gawp at the incredible aircraft. The hippogriffs really 'decommissioned' her? To me she's the most beautiful thing in the world. And the name! Dauntless: fearless, never giving up, never losing hope. Her engines are dormant, but I imagine the ship to be fast and graceful, streaking through the clouds. I'm not just escaping, I'm escaping in style!

Pacific sets me down in the cave for a moment, as he flaps over to fiddle with a set of buttons. There's a chime, then a hatch opens in the side of the hull. The clockwork hippogriff carries me inside: just as I'd seen in his memory, a cramped space full of machinery, tools and supplies. There are still touches of elegance in the decoration and curving lines, but this is clearly also an outlaw's hide out and the living space of a young stallion.

Moving awkwardly on three legs, Pacific carries my petrified body through a short corridor and onto the flight deck. I see a wide array of gleaming brass dials and controls, below wide windows that show only darkness.

"Now then... mana batteries to power... interociters to speed." Pacific pulls levers and flicks switches: a hum builds up in the bowels of the ship, then a rising whine. "Levitation arrays on, running lights off."

Parallel beams of light fan out to each side of the ship, connecting to the golden spars like giant harps. The deck trembles, and the vessel gently lifts off, slowly emerging from the cave where it has lain hidden, then accelerating into the sky.

My excitement peaks as the ship comes alive and the vibrations travel up into my stone form. I want to cheer, sing, rush around asking what every one of those buttons does... I've never been so frustrated about being stuck in stone. I can't even nod to Pacific, or thank him.

My mood is dampened as I recall how I'd accused him of being a figment of my imagination, or worse, Discord in disguise. Stupid! Even if my suspicions were reasonable, what good did it do to accuse him? Why had I lost control like that? He probably thinks I'm a horrible, ungrateful filly.

If so, Pacific Dream doesn't show it: when he turns to me he seems happy, and relieved. "I imagine you're wondering how I plan to restore you to flesh and blood. I've identified a few possibilies, but only one that combines privacy with a strong chance of success. Not without an element of risk though, so there will be a decision to be made in the morning."

He turns back to the instruments, watching the compass and altimeter as he puts the ship on course for some unknown destination. "With a little, ah, tempus fugit, we'll be there by daybreak. No sense going faster: we need daylight for this. Sit tight, Cozy Glow... I promise I will explain everything once we arrive.

Sit tight? I don't have any other option. I can hardly relax: after years of boredom, the last few hours have been a volatile mix of hope, excitement and pure terror. My stone body feels so cold as the ship heads off through the night. Risk? What kind of decision, and what are these other possibilities? Not being able to ask is infuriating, but Pacific begins to tell me stories of his other adventures, of searching for artefacts, then of silly antics he'd gotten up to in the 'Royal Junior Cadets' as a colt. His voice and the low hum of the ship's engine combine to soothe me.

The suspicious part of me is back, whispering in my head. Telling me I can't trust him, that he must have some secret motive, that my rescuerer isn't even a 'him' at all, just a realistic golem. That I need to escape, or at least find out what his - or its - agenda is. I can't ignore them, but I won't let those thoughts control me. After this impossible rescue, I... I want to believe. That maybe good things can happen to me.

The Dauntless rises through the clouds, revealing the stars spread out above us. The airship streaks through the night for hours, while Pacific occasionally adjusts the controls and continues to keep me company. His stories really are quite entertaining, if sometimes a little surreal. I feel like I'm missing a few points of reference for hippogriff culture. A lot of what he describes could be any group of pony foals, but there are parts that feel completely alien. Or avian, I suppose.

When dawn finally breaks it reveals a undulating carpet of dense vegetation below us. Tropical forest, not quite jungle. Definitely not the Everfree: as I statue I can't really feel the air temperature, but I'm guessing we're further south.

Pacific takes the ship lower, skimming over sparkling streams and vine-covered trees. He guides our vessel down into a river valley, then banks left, turning off into a box canyon. The Dauntless comes to a stop facing an ancient stone structure, right at the end of the canyon. The lower parts are stepped, like a truncated pyramid, while a great dome rises from the centre.

Stuck on the floor of the flight deck, I can't see properly until Pacific Dream lifts me up and sets my statue on the control panel. Despite the considerable size of the temple, it's almost hidden by masses of overgrowth and dirt. It seems like nopony has been here in decades, if not centuries. I make out masses of intricate carvings, visible in the gaps between the moss. The great stone doors are closed, probably sealed.

"And here we are," Pacific says casually, like we're out for a little jaunt in his new wagon, "at the Stair of Quao-Tshun".

Yes... this is exactly the kind of thing I'd hoped for. I was worried that Pacific Dream might be taking me to some zebra selling a magical salve, or a griffon with a trained cockatrice, but this is much more my speed. Lost temple probably filled with forbidden magical power: he did say it was risky.

I try to imagine just what the inside will be like. A thousand questions rush through my mind. What this building is, who built it, how it can help me, how Pacific found it, if he's been here before? I wish I could reach out, grab him and shake him until he satisfies my curiously, but of course I'm still petrified.

"Sealed tight, naturally. No doubt Twilight Sparkle would have a spell to unlock it. Fortunately the Dauntless provides other means of entry."

Pacific Dream goes below for a moment, leaving me alone on the flight deck. I can only stare at the overgrown stone as clunks and whirring comes from somewhere deep in the ship. Then something begins to hiss... and a blindingly bright beam of crackling energy spears out from our vessel, striking the stone doors square in the centre. Magic flares out over the carvings, then shatters into motes of light. Shrapnel zips out in every direction. When the dust clears I can see that the beam cannon has blown a gaping hole through the gates of the temple.

Pacific Dream reappears with a big smirk on his bird face. "Never be afraid to resort to superior firepower, that's how we do it in the Royal Navy!" he says, seemingly forgetting for a moment that he's now on an outlaw on the run from Queen Novo's fleet. He grabs me in his claws again, dashes through the cargo bay and leaps out of the hatch, flapping through the jungle towards the breech in the temple.

I want to laugh with glee. This is crazy, we're breaking into a dangerous ruin, overpowering unknown enchantments with raw magical force... and it's the most magnificent thing I've ever seen! Why don't ponies have weapons like that? Foolish ideology, complacency, or because the Princesses don't want to be upstaged? Or because despite their honeyed words, they don't trust others with such power? I know I wouldn't, since it seems like even odds that any given unicorn archmage will go rogue.

I just wish... that I wasn't a statue, that I could explore this place next to Pacific. It's kind of nice, being held in his claws, but still frustrating. It's a tight fit through the hole: the stallion has to fold his wings and crawl, pushing me in front. Pacific clambers awkwardly over the rubble and we emerge into a dark stone hallway. The sealing spell must have been keeping the plants and wildlife out, because other than the damage we just did this place is pristine.

Diffuse light is coming from somewhere deeper into the temple. Pacific Dream carries me awkwardly through the corridors, past elaborate mosaics and still pools and statues of... unicorns? No, they have cloven hooves and weirdly shaped horns. They're kirin... this place was built by the kirin? We emerge into a huge space, the size of Canterlot throne room but circular. Most of it is filled by a golden structure: a staircase, spiralling around and around as it rises into a dais at the very centre. Sunlight spills down from an oculus in the dome above: the golden stairs shine in the light.

Pacific Dream sets me down on the flagstones. There is no life, no movement, but I can feel power here. The great hall is ringed by statues of tall, regal kirin, all staring at the central platform. I'm trying to make sense of it all, work out what this place was for, when my view is blocked by Pacific's face. His eyes flash, and...

I'm back in my mindscape. Grey mists in every direction and the blue-and-indigo hippogriff, or at least his mental projection, is right in front of me. "How are you holding up?" he asks. "One does hope... you aren't disappointed."

I blink in shock. "Are you kidding me?!" I rush forward... and suddenly my forelegs are around Pacific's neck, and I'm hugging the big dumb stallion tightly, and I didn't even mean to do that but it's such a relief and I don't care if I look like a silly filly. A part of me is protesting, telling me to play it cool, maintain some distance, but it's too late for that.

Still, I need to be confident, collected. I let go and back up a bit. "Golly, that was... it was really something! Making a duplicate of me so Twilight doesn't suspect a thing! And your airship, just, wow. Wish I'd had one of those when I took on the princess!"

I want to say more, but I can't forget that I'm still a statue, still at Pacific's mercy. I'm... not afraid, exactly, but anxious about what he'll do next. What's this big decision he mentioned? What happens if I reject?

"So... the Stair of Quao-Tshun, huh? I'm impressed. Lemme guess: built by ancient kirin? Full of magical power that can turn an unfairly imprisoned filly back into flesh and blood?" I say hopefully.

Pacific Dream smiles as I embrace him, then nods at my guess. "Indeed it is, but I fear there may be side effects. Cozy, how familiar are you with the kirin? Do you know of the qi-lin? Of Rain Shine, and her ilk?

I think back to the school, to long hours in the ridiculous cutesy classrooms listening to the Element Bearers ramble on... Applejack told us about the kirin. She'd gone to one of their villages, fixed some sort of curse by making a potion: though she claimed it was with 'friendship' of course, because under Twilight's dogma that's the answer to everything. Twilight was fretting about whether she should invite some to her school as students... oh right, because they have a habit of catching fire when they get angry.

"I know kirin are like unicorns with floofy manes and split hooves and funny shaped horns. Rain Shine... she's like the queen of the kirin, right? She put them all under a curse because she was sick of them arguing and catching fire and burning everything down." Not that regular unicorns are much better, with their bickering about minutiae that frequently ends in a magic duel.

"Indeed. Rain Shine is in fact a qi-lin: the kirin equivalent of an alicorn. Just like an alicorn they live for millennia, grow a head above their peers, possess substantial magical power and can fly, though by sky-running rather than wings. And I believe this place..." Pacific gestures at the temple, visible as an image in the mists "...is where they come from. The kirin say that Quao-Tshun was the very first qi-lin. If I'm not mistaken, he achieved that via the Stair: it's a rune array with the power to transform a regular kirin into a qi-lin."

He frowns. "Rather more straightforward than alicorn ascension, isn't it? Or perhaps not: none of us non-ponies can say how that works." Even in my mindscape, Pacific comes off as just a little stilted, his movements too precise, betraying his clockwork nature. I don't want to think about that now: I'll just act like he's real.

"I've been an alicorn." I say quietly. It was... glorious. There's nothing I wouldn't give to experience that again. "The official story is that you have to be a 'champion of harmony', an 'exemplar of ponykind', but that's just nonsense. Propaganda." My voice has turned bitter: this is another ugly truth I've discovered.

"You want the real story? All you need is an infusion of refined mana: a whole boatload of it. I bet Celestia had the spell ready for centuries, just waiting for a- a 'faithful student' so blindly loyal, so easy to manipulate that she could be moulded into a perfect replacement."

And thus Twilight Sparkle became ruler of Equestria, and Celestia and Luna could finally go sip fancy cocktails on a beach somewhere. I stare at the golden spiral, glittering under the sunlight in its great, silent chamber. It feels like it's waiting for something, and has been for a very long time.

"So why don't all the kirin go for the upgrade? Is Rain Shine keeping this place secret, so none of the other kirin get powerful enough to challenge her rule?"

"I can't say for sure. The little I know about this place comes from a ruin I discovered, near the exit of this valley. There were a few intact murals, carvings and set of tablets I, err, recovered." Pacific Dream explains. "I believe it takes at least a century for the shrine to recharge after each use, possibly several."

"Also there's evidence of some pretty epic clashes between ancient qi-lin, on the scale of the battle between your sun princess and your moon princess. That may be why kirin civilisation fell into decline: you've gone from medical leeches to railroads under Celestia, while they abandoned their cities and scattered into small villages."

"Guess they were fluffy unicorns after all. The kirin had the world at their hooves, and they lost it all because they couldn't stop bickering." You weren't supposed to say things like that in Equestria - but it's true. Unicorns can't agree on anything, while earth ponies are the opposite: they just go with the herd, don't think for themselves. That's why it should be a pegasus who takes the lead. We know how to work together without losing our initiative.

"So... just how much of a side effect are we talking about here? If you zap me with that thing, am I gonna turn into a kirin? Or a.. a qi-lin? Or am I gonna do that thing where I catch on fire when I get angry? Or..." I could barely dare to say it: "...will I be an alicorn again?"

Pacific Dream dips his head. "I'm sorry Cozy; I don't know. The ceremony is supposed to 'heal all injuries, lift all curses, make the one who ascends the stair a... uh... vision of perfection?' Something like that: the kirin I took the tablets to had a hard time with the translation. I'm pretty sure it will de-petrify you, but beyond that... your guess is as good as mine."

The stallion puts a claw on my shoulder. "This was my second to last lead, before I found the clock. I can't say I wasn't tempted to try it myself: I was getting desperate, fearful of returning home with nothing. Being forced to admit I was nothing but a foolisher dreamer."

Pacific pauses, gazing thoughtfully at the golden stair for a moment. "What stopped me... well, firstly I didn't have a way to get into the temple. Perhaps I could have found one, but more importantly I didn't know how the kirin magic would react to a hippogriff. It might have rejected me, burned me alive. As a pony you have a better chance, but... it might reject you. Perhaps violently."

"Cozy... you don't have to do this. We can look for other ways. I heard about a zebra who lives in the Everfree forest: she's supposed to have an ointment that can reverse the gaze of a cockatrice..." Pacific seems... uncertain. Because of what happened to him with the Genesis Bird? Plundering magical artefacts is a risky business, there's no denying that.

"Zecora? No way I'm going to her! She'd rat me out to the princess, for sure." I look at the golden steps... no, this feels right. It feels like destiny. Sure it's a big risk, but I've never shied away from those. I didn't hesitate when I made contact with Tirek. When I pushed Starlight into her magic prison. When I flew through that tiny hole into the forbidden cave and found the Bewitching Bell.

"I'm not spending another minute as a-a statue." I leave out the word 'helpless'. "You say this thing might turn me into something strange, something powerful? Well... good. This is my last shot. I'm not gonna back out now."

Pacific Dream nods, then smiles. "As I said: you're a brave mare, Cozy Glow. Here goes nothing."

My mindscape vanishes, and I'm back in the temple. The hippogriff flaps into the air, taking me in his claws for a final time. He skims over the spiral stairs, holding my stone hooves just above the surface. A wave of glowing energy seems to follow us as we circle: as we approach the centre a sort of pressure builds up, and Pacific has to flap harder and harder to push through it.

We turn tighter and tighter and at last we reach the altar: the stallion places me carefully at the exact centre and then flies away. I hear a resonant sound building, like a struck gong that gets louder instead of dying away. The golden stairs around me glow brighter and brighter, and I feel... a warmth, as energy begins to flow into me. A trickle at first, then a rush, then a torrent. Like the Bewitching Bell, but hot and thrilling, rather than cold and sinister. Sensation floods back into my long-dormant limbs, and my heart begins to beat.

It's not a painless process: there's some burning, stinging and the sensation of being stretched as my body changes shape. The discomfort is lost in the pure glory of the hot, rushing power filling my very soul. Every kind of feeling returns in full force, and then some. I'm back in the real world, and my senses are sharper than ever. I feel... so alive, so warm. So... fluffy?

A moment of panic as I spread my wings... I still have wings? I do! They feel strong, bigger even than when I was an alicorn before, nearly as big as Pacific's huge pinions. A strange feeling on my forehead... I can sense the magic of this place so much more clearly now. A horn? I have a horn again!

My heart is pounding; I laugh with delight, as I spot Pacific Dream at the edge of the hall. One strong flap and I'm gliding over to him. The last flakes of stone fall away from my fur, crumbling to dust as they touch the floor. The rush of air, the scent of musty stone, of the jungle outside... I drink it all in. The handsome blue hippogriff seems happy to see me.

"Golly, I feel... I feel amazing! How do I look?" I ask, giddy with magic and power and the sheer joy of movement.

Pacific stares at me for a moment, before answering with a kind of croak: "In a word, stunning. Here, see for yourself."

His back opens up and the Genesis Bird pops out: right, in all the excitement I'd forgotten that he's basically two magical artefacts pretending to be a hippogriff. The golden statuette pivots around to face the wall, then its eyes glow green. A grand mirror materialises out of thin air: taller than a pony and bordered by an ornate frame, it's fit for a princess.

I stare into the glass, and looking back at me is a tall, teenage... alicorn? Not quite: my horn is thick, striped and branched into three, and my baby blue mane has been replaced by a huge mass of coppery curls that wraps around my neck. My feet feel funny: I look down to see my hooves split in two and my shins trailing orange fetlocks. I spin around and look over my shoulder: a coat of gleaming purple scales covers my back, and my tail is long and tufted. It's a big change, for sure, more than last time: but I'm still recognisable as myself. I breathe a sigh of relief as I see my crimson rook cutie mark still there on my flanks.

I can't help it: I squeal with delight as I take in the reflection. I still look like me, but not a cute little filly any more: a beautiful, powerful princess! A little filly's dream: it's like every nagging insecurity I ever had about my looks was magically wiped away. It's almost too much. "Oh... Oh, I look... wow."

I prance, I strut, I turn around to admire the shiny scales and wiggle my split hooves. I swish my tail and toss my mane, letting the coppery curls spill over my back. Then I turn to Pacific Dream. "Well? How do you like it? I guess I'm all caught up... I'm supposed to be sixteen now, if I hadn't been stuck as a statue!"

My voice has an easy confidence that I haven't had since... since I beat Twilight in the throne room. My wings flutter excitedly: I feel so light! So free! That annoying little part of me is saying that I should be more freaked out about these changes, but this isn't my first magical ascension rodeo. If I learnt anything from my former stint as an alicorn, it's that you've just got to go with it. Don't doubt yourself, and don't hold back.

"My dear, you are positively ravishing. Such a glow! Even queens and princesses cannot compare." Pacific's wings have spread of their own accord, and he's staring at me as if bewitched. "Shall I return you to Equestria? Or perhaps... we could travel together for a spell," he says hopefully.

The look on the handsome stallion's face makes butterflies dance in my stomach. He's entranced, utterly captivated by me... and I could get used to that. I'm feeling things that I've never felt before. I want him, and I love that he wants me. "Oh, we're definitely going to travel," I say, turning my best smile on Pacific Dream.

"There's a whole world out there! All these places I've never seen! Feels like I've been cooped up forever..." I take a couple of steps, enjoying the way my new longer legs carry me effortlessly. Then I swish my tail, making the flag at the end brush against the hippogriff's flanks. "...and maybe I want to get to know my saviour a little better. You said you wanted to do something nice for me, huh? Maybe I want to do something nice for you."

The words just spill out of me. It's not like I'm some cunning seductress or... I guess maybe I am? I've always found it easy to get ponies to do what I want. I'm a teenager now: I'm done with the 'cute little filly' thing, and it's time for a fresh approach. I'm thrilled at the possibilities.

Pacific Dream freezes for a moment, unable to take his eyes off me. Finally he manages a stiff: "It would be my pleasure."

He looks around and frowns: the golden aura is gone, and so is the feeling of power in the air. A swish of my horn tells me that the complex spellwork around and below us is quiescent, sleeping. The Stairs of Quao-Tshun are just some flashy-looking steps now, and will be for another thousand moons or more, until they've had a chance to rebuild their energies.

"Shall we return to Dauntless then?" The hippogriff gestures at the oculus above: now that the protective spell is disabled, it provides a convenient means of egress.

I nod excitedly and take wing, flying up towards the hole in the top of the domed chamber. I feel a little pang of sadness: the kirin temple is... significant. Beautiful despite being overgrown and abandoned, or maybe because of it. I'd always felt a thrill exploring abandoned places, particularly places of power... and the power here is gone now. No: it's inside me.

I burst out into the bright sunlight and laugh with glee, drinking in the feelings of flight: my muscles pumping, the air ruffling my feathers, the view of the jungle from above. Feeling like this was always absent from my mindscape, and it reassures me that all of this isn't a hallucination. A huge smile is plastered on my muzzle as I begin to glide over the trees. I look back to see Pacific Dream powering out of the temple with strokes of his huge wings.

It's another kind of thrill entirely to see him catching up with me. Hippogriffs are just close enough to a pony, but exotic with those bird faces, clawed front feet... I'm feeling those butterflies again. I guess I'm a xenophile, huh?

The Dauntless is parked there in the trees, mostly hidden under the canopy: an enormous streamlined pearl flanked by its harp-like levitation devices. It's gorgeous, but I don't want to go inside just yet. Using my wings is a thrill, but I'm itching to try out by new horn. I glide down to land in a clearing, just in front of where the hippogriff blasted the gates open.

Pacific Dream swoops down to land nearby, watching me curiously. In fact he can't seem to take his eyes off me. The clockwork hippogriff's movements are smooth, regular, sometimes almost jerky, although I remember that even regular griffons and hippogriffs like to twitch their heads around - they are half bird after all. I remember Gallus and Silverstream flirting in the dorms, cooing and squawking like oversized lovebirds.

"Nothing like a good flap about to get the blood pumping, eh? Or gears turning, in my case, but never mind that now." Pacific grimaces: probably regretting reminding me of his condition. "How are you feeling, Cozy? Any side effects of the petrification spell? Or the transformation? You did just aquire a trident-shaped horn and a rather fetching coat of scales on your back."

I make a point of turning around to let him admire my scales (and my rump, while I'm at it), enjoying the way he follows me with his eyes. I stretch my oversized wings to their full extent and swish my tail again.

"I'm sort of a chimera now, huh? The first pegasus-qi-lin? It feels incredible! Like I could do anything." The feel of all the curls of my mane caressing my neck, the comforting weight of my scales protecting my spine: it's perfect. Before the world seemed so huge, full of danger, but being so much taller makes me feel like I'm ready to take it on. I imagine if I'd been like this back in Grogar's cave: no bribing monsters with cupcakes, they would've had to take me seriously. In fact Sombra probably would've tried to make me his bride. I can't help but laugh at the image.

Still feeling light-hearted, I prance away for a few steps and concentrate on a mossy boulder. With just a little concentration, I wrench it out of the ground and float it into the air. The magic is surging through my horn and it's even more of a rush than flying! I giggle with delight and toss the huge rock away: it crashes into a tree, splintering the trunk and making it topple over with a crash. My feeling of being a new, powerful creature intensifies: just like the first time I turned into an alicorn, it's an incredible rush of conviction that I no longer have to be afraid of the world: instead, it should be afraid of me.

I need to judge the strength of my magic. I try firing a laser: regular unicorns (and presumably kirin) can only manage bolts of magic, only alicorns and the strongest unicorns can fire beams. The beam shoots out into the undergrowth, cutting down a bunch of ferns, and I laugh again. Power is there, aim is a little out of practice! I fire again, blasting the boulder I tossed earlier: it explodes into pebbles. Hard to say how this stacks up to my former alicorn abilities, but I'm in the same hoofball park at least!

I spin around to grin at Pacific Dream. High on power and without thinking it through, I shout: "Think fast, Pacific!" and shoot a beam at him. Not a strong once, just enough to knock him back a bit: we can spar for a while, right?

Pacific Dream flickers and seems to teleport: one moment he's in my sights, the next he's on the other side of the clearing. My beam slices harmlessly into the undergrowth: I line up on the blue hippogriff for another shot, and he again he blurs and shifts out of the way. No, not teleportation: he must be warping time, moving faster than my eye can follow.

I begin to charge my horn, but Pacific shifts position again. In the blink of an eye a golden shape has appeared over his back: the Genesis Bird, a golden statuette held up by struts and trailing wires. The eyes flash with emerald light, and before I can get my shield bubble up something happens to my horn. It's been coated by some substance that interfers with my magic: I panic and instinctively raise a hoof to try and scrape it off-

Without warning something fast barrels into me and knocks me clean off my feet. My wings extend reflexively, but then a heavy body is on top of me. My scaled back slams into the mulch and I find myself staring up into an eagle face: Pacific Dream, pinning me down. I'm stunned, frozen by his glare as his sharp beak dips towards my neck. All my fears come rushing back: despite my power, I was blindsided like it was nothing, and now this giant bird of prey is inches from my jugular.

The stallion's hooked beak opens as he whispers into my ear: "Is this your sudden, yet inevitable betrayal?"

Author's Note

Well, I promised wish-fulfillment for Cozy and I hope we can agree this qualifies.

I like to imagine that while the ponies tend to manifest their innate harmony magic as catchy showtunes, the hippogriffs audibly manifest their (different flavour of) harmony as thrilling backing drums. So the first time she laid eyes on the Dauntless, Cozy probably heard something like this.

Writing in first person is, of course, a time-honoured tactic for elicting symapthy for villain characters. My favourite example is Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible.

P.S. Hopefully this is obvious, but to be clear: just because Cozy believes something doesn't make it true. For example her conviction that 'alicorns are just ponies who got a massive power boost' - that's how it worked for her, and deep down she's a bit insecure about the idea that she 'was never a real alicorn', so she assumes that's how it worked for Twilight and Cadence.

Dauntless

I feel the air rush out of me as I slam into the ground. A huge blue-feathered predator has me pinned down, his giant wings mantled over me - I should be shoving him off me, or kicking his belly with my hind legs, or lunging with my horn, but I'm just... frozen. My alicorn duels with Twilight and her friends had been drawn-out, full of posturing and telegraphed attacks. Suddenly I realise how stylised, showy, flippant ponies are when we fight. Because usually we don't really want to hurt each other, we want to establish dominance, or just show that we're right.

Predators aren't like that: they go for the kill, fast and brutal. Oh sure hippogriffs have their pretty buildings and fancy accents and most of the time they could fool you into thinking they were pegasi with beaks and silly tails. Underneath though... they're as wild as griffons. I have no doubt Pacific could kill me if he wanted to. Why do I find that so exciting?

Another part of me is screaming, not out of fear, but because immediately turning on my best ally is exactly the kind of stupid, cartoon villain behaviour that Twilight Sparkle would expect from me. Pacific Dream just gave me everything I ever wanted, and he's... he likes me, why on Equus would I want to want to betray him?

"I... I..." I stutter. His claws are on my forelegs, and it's hard to think. "I'd never do that! I was just playing around, I swear! You- you have to believe me!" I say desperately, forcing my lips to curl into an awkward smile. "Please Pacific, I..."

Pacific Dream reaches down with his beak. I shiver as the tip pushes through the curls of my mane. I feel the smooth maxilla on my skin... he's, uh, he's stroking my neck with his beak? Is that supposed to be reassuring, or- Something slippery brushes against my hind legs - his tail fin? -and I kind of squirm involuntarily.

Then suddenly he pulls back. His beak is open... returning my smile? I shudder and exhale deeply: I didn't even realise I'd been holding my breath.

"Understandable... think nothing of it." Pacific says firmly, in that smooth, slightly clipped accent. With a couple of strong flaps the hippogriff rises into the air, landing a short distance away. The golden bird has disappeared into his back, and he looks like a regular bird-horse-fish again. I'm still staring with wild eyes as he cocks his head then adds: "It's ok, Cozy. I believe you."

I'm left a little stunned, lying on my back on the forest floor after Pacific Dream releases me. Those simple words - 'I believe you' - are such a relief. After three years of random ponies - not to mention a freaking alicorn princess - lecturing statue-me on how awful and evil I am, I'd lost hope that any creature would treat me otherwise. Again I just... can't understand why Pacific is doing all this for me. I'm glad he isn't mad, at least. I get to my hooves again, my heart still hammering in my chest.

"One has to imagine gaining the magic of the Qi-Lin is rather intoxicating," Pacific says, as he watches me get up. "Though I must insist that you refrain from firing off any death rays while you are on board the Dauntless."

"S-sorry! Yeah I um, I wasn't really thinking straight." My legs seem to move of their own accord as I trot closer and brush my wing against his flank. I need... I'm not even sure what I need. Reassurance, I suppose. "I'll be careful! I mean, I won't damage your ship. Promise!"

"It's just... golly, it feels great to be so powerful. But not as powerful as you! You just utterly blitzed me there, huh? I bet you could take down Twilight Sparkle herself, easy as pie." If only Pacific had been on our team, that day on the Canterhorn Plains: we wouldn't have ended up as lawn ornaments, for sure.

Pacific tilts his head in acknowledgement. "Time manipulation is something of a trump card. Though I fear it might not be the silver arrow you desire: not against the Element of Magic, that is. Twilight is known to have dabbled in temporal magic and may possess counter-spells. Her arsenal is enormous, while I am something of a two-trick pony." He snorts. "No offense."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short!" I object. "You can mess with time and make objects out of thin air. Those powers have a ton of potential!" Plenty of creatures have done amazing things with a lot less - myself included. "And you're made of clockwork, so you're like immune to sleep spells and... probably all kinds of stuff. You've just gotta get creative."

"Creativity - yes, that is the key." Pacific cocks his head, considering my words - I love that he's actually listening to me. If Chrysalis and Tirek had taken me seriously, maybe we wouldn't have lost.

"Were I to face the Element of Magic, I suspect surprise, confusion and misdirection would be essential. Make the enemy panic, undermine their situational awareness. That's how Admiral Seaspray destroyed the Storm King's fleet at Canterlot." The stallion's gaze goes to my horn. "Ah... that looks uncomfortable. My apologies."

Pacific Dream reaches out with a claw: I flinch, but then give a little nervous smile and dip my head, holding my horn out for him. The hippogriff's talons dig in and he squeezes: whatever material he'd coated it with earlier cracks and crumbles away, releasing my magic once more. "Right as rain. Or perhaps I should say 'right as flame'. Because you're half-kirin now..." Pacific seems pleased with his cheesy wordplay.

"Ha, yeah..." I sigh with relief and smile, even at the bad joke. Then I let a little burst of magic play over my horn: I feel kind of... protective of it. The feeling of losing my horn, having my hard-won alicorn status ripped away by Twilight and her friends: the worst feeling of my life, even worse than being frozen as stone. The sensation of having some creature's claw close around my horn - if it had been anyone else but Pacific, I'd hate it, but...

I'm still flustered by being taken down so easily. Overconfidence had nearly lost me the battle in the throne room - if Chrysalis and Tirek hadn't shown up Twilight would've had me - and made us stand our ground against her army when we should've teleported away and come up with a new plan of attack. Pacific just taught me that lesson all over again.

"Surprise, confusion, misdirection... I like the way you think." That's how I'd done it when I was just a little pegasus filly, before I gained supreme power. My legs are moving of their own accord again as I sidle up and press my flank against the stallion. It's not just that Pacific is being nice to me - plenty of clueless ponies did that, because I'm irresistible when I want to be - he actually gets it. Maybe even gets me.

"Y-yeah, you're right. Twilight's like, a total nerd. If you give her time to research, to gather allies, she'll drown you in some crazy magic. So you've gotta screw up her perfect princess world. Take away her flunkies and her sense of order, then she'll totally fall apart."

As I'd hoped, Pacific extends his wing and wraps it around me: his feathers blanket my form and I'm pulled against his body. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Cozy. You've been through a lot. You know, you don't have to fight Twilight Sparkle. There are so many other things we could do... erm, that is to say, things that you could do. Possibly with me. If we do indeed travel together." The stallion clears his throat awkwardly. "Though if you do feel compelled to confront the Princess of Equestria once again... you have my support."

I just... melt, closing my eyes and smiling as Pacific's huge pinion surrounds me. Sure I'm tough and powerful now, but the feeling of being wrapped in somepony's warm, protective feathers is... like something I've been missing my entire life. I could stay under here forever - well not forever, but for the next hour at least.

"Thank you..." I open my eyes and look into that intense face, glassy eyes framed by his steel-grey beak. Things are moving so fast. I'm supposed to keep a distance, aren't I? Physical and emotional, so I can't get hurt. But this just... seems like the right thing to do. I'm not ready to trust it, but I've got to give it a chance. To give him a chance.

"You're... amazing, you know that? You know about history and magic and fighting and airships and... you just rescued me from being murdered by Twilight's goons and turned me into like the most awesome alicorn princess ever!" Celestia, I sound like a little filly, and not on purpose this time - but I can't help it. I can feel my face blushing bright red: at least the bits that aren't covered in scales now. But even if I'm a little embarrassed, I still feel good. Safe.

"Twilight Sparkle... see, here's the thing. I was cooped up with that crazy changeling queen for a year, and she was constantly ranting about Starlight Glimmer. Uh - this overpowered unicorn who nearly destroyed the world, one of Twilight's lackeys, it's not important." I shake my head. "My point is... uh... Tirek said that Starlight was 'living rent-free in Chrysalis's head'."

"Which is a weird metaphor, but he was right! That bug pony was totally obsessed, and it made her stupid. Reckless. Sounds like something similar happened to Twilight after we got put in stone: she got crazy-obsessed with me! No way I'm gonna be like her. We're gonna have a good time, see the world, come up with an awesome plan and then - when we're completely prepared and she least expects it - we'll take down Twilight Sparkle. Make her beg for mercy... and her pathetic friends too!"

Pacific Dream does that bird-like head tilt again... then grins and hugs me a little tighter. "A fine adventure! A grand voyage terminating in the toppling of a tyrant. Just promise me that you won't try to destroy the world this time."

The combination of physical affection and somepony actually agreeing with my plans is... bizarre. Oh sure Tirek and Chrysalis agreed to work with me, but only because they knew I could help them defeat Twilight! For a moment on the mountain it seemed like we might be real friends, but the idea of that had freaked out queenie bug so much she made us promise to be 'frenemies' instead. The Cutie Mark Crusaders hugged me a couple of times, but only because they had no idea what I was plotting.

"Ok, I promise to stop at world domination." I say dreamily, then I give a cute little chuckle. "Look, I just wanna give Equestria the real leadership it deserves. And pay that bitch back for trying to smash me into gravel! Can't blame a filly for that, right?" I lean into Pacific's flank: there's something cold and hard pressing against me. It takes a moment for me to realise that it's the glass dome of clock face on his hip.

Can we actually be equals? Somepony who I'm not trying to dominate or manipulate, and who isn't trying to dominate or manipulate me? Can I afford to let my guard down like that? I really wish I could, just for a while. We're a strange pair, that's for sure: a pony and a hippogriff transformed into unique creatures by misuse of magical artefacts. Almost like we were made for each other.

"Best we get airborne then," Pacific says, withdrawing his wing and taking a few steps towards the waiting Dauntless. "I daresay that transformation produced a substantial magical signature. If we tarry, we may find ourselves tangling with would-be investigators, to say nothing of manavores searching for a meal."

I frown as Pacific steps away, momentarily annoyed that the feeling of warmth and security is leaving me. He's right though: we did just blow a hole in a kirin temple and steal their carefully hoarded magic. Which was a thrill and I don't regret it one bit, but standing here is like staying at the scene of a crime.

"Oh, um yeah we'd better get going!" I call out as I hurry after the stallion. "You know Twilight has this enchanted map that locates magical anomalies and 'disharmonious behaviour'? It even recommends which of her agents she should send to deal with the problem." I'm half expecting some gullible young ponies to show up and be all 'oh no, it's Cozy Glow, and she's a hot dragon-alicorn now! The princess never told us how to handle this!' and I'd be like 'oh, the princess can't help you now, but we don't have to fight. Let's be friends...'. I shake my head, dismissing the scenario.

"I assume you mean the 'cutie map' Twilight referred to in her diary? Curious name for a strategic surveillance tool," Pacific Dream replies. "The Admiralty would kill for an edge like that."

"Yeah, the cutie map..." What a stupid name! An artefact of great power that the Princess of Friendship found and decided to use for her own ends, and she names it like it's a kindergarten toy. No wonder everypony around her acts like a clueless foal most of the time.

Pacific's airship is even more beautiful in the daylight. A fluted teardrop of glistening pearl, the size of a house and flanked by golden spars. As for the hippogriff himself: I want to trust him, really I do, but I still don't understand why he's done all this for me. He seems so realistic, so alive, but he's not, is he? If I can understand him, then maybe... maybe all sorts of things could be possible.

The hippogriff manipulates a control panel set into the flank of the ship: a hatch pops open and a ramp swings down. I spring up and follow him into the interior.

"We begin in the cargo hold: workshop against the starboard wall there. Engine room is aft, through that hatch. Dauntless carries all her armament forward: two beam cannon and two torpedo tubes, in the crawlspace under the flight deck."

The stallion trots up the stairs, half a story into a short corridor. I duck under a support beam and follow, looking around with wide eyes. It seemed spacious enough before, when I was a statue, but now I'm so much bigger, with such generous wings that the little hallway feels almost cramped.

"Bridge deck: bridge itself forward of course, radio room to port, head on the starboard there. That is to say... the toilet, in groundside terms." The 'corvette' may be old and small as hippogriff airships go, but everything inside is elegantly made and decorated with art noveau flourishes.

The more I see of hippogriff construction, the more I like it. Twilight's royal airship is all plush furnishings, velvet carpeting, cutesy decorations... and it's as slow as a pig and completely unarmed, save for the unicorns who can do combat spells. This is all practical, efficient and usable by any trained creature, but still civilised and elegant: a far cry from the Storm Kingdom's brutal galleons.

I want to bounce around and run my hooves over everything: get Pacific to explain how all the magic and machinery works. The ship practically screams 'adventure'. A mobile base to explore, or begin subverting Twilight's kingdom: I can't imagine a better place to stay. "She's incredible. And hippogriffs have a whole fleet of these?"

"The Royal Navy has about two dozen corvettes - primarily as scouts and armed couriers. Fourteen destroyers - which focus on torpedo attacks - and nine cruisers, which carry marines, provisions for extended cruises and a heavy broadside. Finally there are the pride of the fleet: Implacable, Indomnitable and Invincible. Our battleships - oh plus Illustrious if you want to count the Queen's ship. They say she had the entire rear armament removed to make space for a day spa and personal kitchens." Despite being an outlaw, Pacific Dream still seems proud of the hippogriff fleet.

"Great names! Ponies call our ships wimpy things like 'Lavender Spirit' and 'Reconciliation'. A spa, huh? I guess your royals are just as bad as ours! Acting like a vain fashion diva when the Storm King was about to conquer the world!" But she still had enough of a head on her shoulders to keep a strong military - unlike our princesses. "Everything looks shiny and new! Why was she stuck in a storage yard?"

"The peace dividend," Pacific explains. "After the defeat of the Storm King, a third of the fleet was laid up, or scrapped outright. Queen Novo wanted the crowns and the griffpower, for the restoration of Mount Aris. Victory was turned into a museum while old Valiant was sunk for target practice. As for the shine, I confess I applied a little spit and polish in advance of your arrival."

Stallions and their toys... The bird-pony leads me up another short flight of stairs: I have to stifle a laugh as his fish tail swishes in front of my face. We emerge into a room brightly lit by a domed skylight. The space is dominated by a table covered in a map of Equus: the walls are lined with books, scrolls and assorted instruments: telescope, sextant, more I don't recognise. "The chart room. Captain and officer's quarters to starboard, crew bunk room to port, galley and mess aft."

My eyes move hungrily over the scrolls and books. I've always thought information is power, and this was a good start. And the map! All those countries, towns and cities: all the potential for chaos and manipulation. It's no cutie map, but I don't care: in fact I'm cackling with glee, anticipating all the plotting and scheming we're going to do here. "So, uh, I guess you've got the captain's quarters then?"

"I do indeed." Pacific smiles, presumably taking my cackle as a sign of approval for his ship. "I find myself no longer requiring food, but I do still sleep: or at least, shut down and restore my energies. I've prepared this room for you."

He opens the door to the 'officer's quarters': presumably it held bunks before, but now it's a single bedroom. Walls panelled with glossy wood, a circular window showing the jungle outside, a writing desk and a large soft bed. The blankets and pillows- that's my cutie mark! Huh, I guess Pacific must have created them between our first meeting and the rescue?

"Rather Cozy, wouldn't you agree?" Pacific says with another of those goofy bird smiles.

"Golly... you thought of everything." His pun barely registers: actually I have to turn away, because my eyes are starting to tear up. Cutie marks are a big deal for ponies: they represent us, a sort of visual summary of our identity. It's always a little thrill to see another pony use yours, and receiving a gift with your cutie mark on it is the universal sign of appreciation from a parent, or a friend, or a special somepony.

Except no one ever did, for me: not at the orphanage, not at the school, certainly not in Grogar's cave. The only time I ever saw my cutie mark, except in a school register, was when I drew it myself. Until at last a hippogriff, a creature that doesn't even have a cutie mark, does all this for me.

My knees are weak as I trot over to the comfortable bed, with its warm colourful blankets... and a tiny part of me is actually angry, because am I really this easy to manipulate? I keep waiting for the other horseshoe to drop - Pacific must be doing all this to butter me up into doing something for him, right? Right? ...but so far, nothing.

"It's... wonderful." I say quietly. "Thank you." I don't even recognise my own voice: I sound so sincere.

Pacific dips his head, seemingly embarrassed. "Oh, it's nothing really. I was just practicing with the Genesis Bird, and I thought... anyway, I'll get us airborne and then we can see about brunch. I imagine you might appreciate some privacy: I'll be on the flight deck if you need me."

The stallion turns and leaves, the hatch closing behind him with a clunk. Maybe it's paranoia but I actually dash over and check he hasn't locked me in; no, it's unlocked. I'm left to my own devices for the first time since the rescue. A minute later the engines begin to hum and whir as the airship comes to life. The view of tropical vegetation gives way to mountains and clouds as the Dauntless rises into the sky. Bright sunlight streams through the window, warming the fur on my muzzle.

All the tension I've been carrying begins to ebb away, and I immediately lose all semblance of self-control. I launch myself onto the bed, bouncing on the soft mattress like a hyperactive foal. I grab one of the pillows and rub it against my face, giggling. I prance over to the window and stare out at the forest and mountains beyond. All of this is so... amazing... and I still can't quite make sense of it. Despite myself, I feel tears starting to trickle down my cheeks again.

I spend the next twenty minutes investigating my new body in detail. I use my magic to open the desk, testing my fine telekinesis. Notebooks, pens, hankerchief... a razor and a hoof mirror in the bottom drawer. I levitate it over and inspect my face: it wobbles a bit, as I never had the chance to practice much when I had a horn before.

There's a line of purple scales across my forehead and down my snout. They accentuate my huge horn, which is deep purple and three-tined, sort of like my cutie mark. It has chevrons that glow when I use my magic. My whole face is framed by my enormous mass of copper curls - I'm relieved to see I still have my cute freckles. I look... beautiful. Striking, exotic, alluring, powerful. Wow. I wasn't sure about the kirin thing but it really works.

I'm not entirely a kirin, or qi-lin: that's what Pacific said their alicorn-equivalents were called, right? I'm really glad I didn't lose my wings: they look like they did when I was an alicorn the first time, fading to a darker pink at the tips, except twice as big. Pegasi stallions will go absolutely nuts when they get a look at me. I run my hoof over my smooth back scales, then check underneath: huh, yeah, I'm definitely older now. The whole area is sort of plumped up a bit. I note my back hooves are still normal, only the front ones have split in two. Kirin have cloven hooves all around don't they? I do have the flag-like tail though.

I admire my new body for a little longer. The fetlocks are cute and my tail is amazing: it's so expressive, swishing around gracefully even when I'm not consciously moving it. I'm still getting used to being so tall: taller than an adult pegasus and I'm still a teenager. I've spent my whole life staring up at ponies: now they can stare up at me.

I toss the mirror back into the desk and try to get myself together. I can't be like this: all weepy and emotional and vulnerable. Even if Pacific Dream is really, genuinely on my side, I don't want him seeing me like that. I stare out the window, wondering about the whole 'nirik' thing. Kirin turn into fire beasts when they get angry, right? I... have a bit of a temper, so that's probably gonna happen. What will it feel like? How easy is it to change back?

I sink down onto the bed, my excitement slowly subsiding. Not just excitement: so much has happened in the last few hours that I'm kind of drained. The room isn't cold, but I snuggle under the blanket anyway, like I'm back in the School of Friendship. It feels so good to just be... soft, warm, safe. Not frozen in stone, not being gawked at by horrible strangers, not about to be smashed. I'm free to leave, but I'm happy right here. Later there will be scheming and magic and manipulation and all kinds of fun, but for now I just stretch out and relax.

I lie there for a long while - an hour maybe? - but eventually I start feeling restless... and hungry. I have too much energy to sit in bed all day! I bounce to my feet and use my magic to open the hatch, emerging into the chart room. I check out the map of north-western Equus spread on the table: there's a tiny brass model of the Dauntless that I didn't see earlier. If its position is accurate then we're over the Hoofantan Peninsula, heading west towards the Tenochtitlan Basin.

I make a pit stop in the 'head' to freshen up, then head onto the 'flight deck'. Pacific Dream is there, with one claw on the controls and one eye on the bank of dials. The windows show a beautiful view of puffy cumulus formations, with the jungle below peeking through the gaps in the clouds. I put on my best smile.

"Hi there, Pacific!" I say cheerfully. "How's it going? Actually... where are we going?"

"Ah Cozy Glow, a welcome ray of sunshine. I trust your quarters are satisfactory?" Pacific says smoothly. "We're cruising at seven thousand feet ASL, holding just over ninety knots. No destination set, as yet: I was waiting for your return before discussing it."

I almost purr at Pacific's compliment. "Golly, my cabin's just great, thanks!" I should probably stop taking these things to heart, but being flattered like that is a new thing for me and... I just eat it up. Sure Pacific's lines are kind of corny, but his voice is so mature, like he has... gravitas? It's like... if Button Mash said I was 'a welcome ray of sunshine' I'd know he was teasing me, or just being an idiot, but when Pacific says it, it's true. Heh, Button Mash... I wonder what happened to him.

"You said that you lived in Las Pegasus for a while?" Pacific interrupts my musing. "Casinos, wild parties... fitting place for a celebration of your successful ascension. Perhaps you could give me the tour?"

"Las Pegasus sounds just swell. I'd love to show you the sights." Being among crowds of ponies does appeal: I've been on my own for so long, and my special talent needs other creatures to work on. The pegasus resort town was where I'd first came into my own: a tourist trap full of gullible adults who never suspected a sweet little filly was about to steal their wallets. "But we can't just go showing ourselves in public without a plan!"

I strut over to the controls, inspecting them carefully: throttles, field bias, altimeter, compass, attitude... I probably could figure this out, but maybe not before I crashed the ship. I can get some flying lessons from Pacific later: not like he could resist me if I rubbed up against him and gave him an opportunity to show off his ship some more.

"Pacific, I've been thinking about this, and I realised our real problem is not Twilight, it's Discord." In fact my subconscious had been churning away the whole time I was in my cabin, assessing threats and opportunities.

"The self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos? Indeed: his power is legendary." Pacific admits. "I daresay the entire Royal Navy would be helpless against his wrath. Though... is the draconequs really on such a tight leash, and Twilight Sparkle so paranoid, that she would send him to detain a mysterious winged kirin? He didn't even bother to save Canterlot from the Storm King, or intervene when you began to drain Equestria's magic."

I huff and roll my eyes. "You should've seen him at the final battle. He was desperate to get back in Twilight's good books. After he screwed up and let us get the power of the Bell. I bet he's still acting like her lapdog."

I can't help but sneer: Twilight is at the top of my hit list, but Discord is a close second. He was the one that turned me into stone, and he forced me to be his minion for a whole year, just so he could pull the rug out from under me in his make-believe attack on Twilight.

"Sure, Discord's fickle, but if anything that makes him more dangerous. Discord can teleport anywhere on the planet in a flash. He just has to think 'oh I'm bored - I know, I'll go taunt Cozy Glow' and bam, he'll appear right here on your ship. Then he'll turn us into a piñatas. Pacific... even your time magic won't be enough. We've gotta take him down, or if we can't do that yet, find a way to hide from him."

"Is that likely? Deciding to pay you a visit, I mean." Pacific asks.

"Ugh, not really. He only came once, like he popped in and spouted some nonsense and disappeared again." I'd been surprised and disappointed that he was still free: up until that point I'd hoped Celestia or Twilight had done the smart thing: petrify him and shove the statue into an active volcano. I try to remember what he'd said... something about fate? Uh... let me think... a lot of self-serving nonsense, except: 'Those who try to cheat fate best be assured in their power, for they will surely draw its wrath'. Better than 'friendship and catchy songs solve everything', I guess, but what was that even supposed to mean?

"If Twilight's paranoid enough to try and secretly murder me, she's plenty paranoid enough to send that crazy overpowered noodle after us. Don't let his silly antics fool you: he can get deadly serious when he wants to."

Sure, I could hide my cutie mark and act all friendly, but there's no guarantee Twilight would buy it. She knows about the theft of the Genesis Bird and her agents are probably on the way to investigate the kirin temple. When they discover that it's been busted open, she'll be on high alert. The princess is delusional, but she's smart enough to put two and two together.

"I suppose a confrontation is inevitable if we stand in opposition to the Princess." Pacific concedes. "What are our options? To my knowledge the Lord of Chaos has only been defeated by the Elements of Harmony, the Bewitching Bell, and... the centaur Tirek. Your former comrade?"

"Oh yeah, Tirek." My feelings about my old mentor are... complicated. He'd taken me seriously when nopony else did, showed me things about magic I'd never dreamed of. He had been a useful ally when we'd tried to take over Equestria. But he's also an egotistical monster who doesn't care about anything except being the strongest creature on Equus.

"He convinced Discord to team up with him, and then he betrayed him and took his magic! Brilliant move, right?! Buuuut... it only worked because he'd already drained the magic from most of Equestria! That's the thing about betrayals, you have to time them juuuuust right. Um, not- not that I'd ever betray you, Pacific!" I gulp and bat my eyelashes at the stallion, trying to dispel any suspicion.

Pacific just chuckles. "My dear, I do hope such treachery never becomes necessary."

Gosh, why does he have to be so... so... I blush and look away. Ponies talk about 'kindness and tolerance' but really they mean 'join the herd and sing the songs, or else'. As far as I can tell, Pacific is actually tolerant of my scheming and it's throwing me for a loop. I don't know what else to do, so I giggle back.

"In any case, my rescue took advantage of both Twilight's intentional weakening of the imprisonment spell, and the Stair of Quao-Tshun to depetrify you. Advantages we would not have when attempting to free either of your former allies. As for the Bewitching Bell... obtaining what may be the most powerful artefact in history certainly does appeal, but I saw no trace of it when I raided the Canterlot Castle vault."

"Figures. Even Twilight's not naive enough to toss it in with the rest: not after Discord stole the Elements right out from under Celestia's nose." I remember the feel of the Bewitching Bell in my hooves. It was alive, in its own way: it had a kind of allure, tempting you to use it, almost gleeful when it got a chance to steal magic from the 'great and the good', and eager to empower those who would challenge them.

"The Elements are gone: at least, the tacky jewellery is. Sombra smashed them, before he got friendship lasered. Didn't stop them from doing the rainbow thing again to beat us, but it's all about the 'feelings' now." I make air quotes with my hooves.

I'd seen the whole thing play out in Grogar's creepy scrying orb. It didn't occur to me before, but now that I think about it Discord must've planned for Sombra to destroy the Tree of Harmony, or at the very least stood by and let it happen. It's ridiculous and kind of suspiscous that the princesses didn't put him in stone for that, which makes me wonder if Celestia was in on the whole thing from the beginning.

"Do you think Twilight Sparkle destroyed the bell?" Pacific asks.

I shake my head. "The bell cannot be destroyed," I say distantly, echoing something Grogar once said... well, Discord pretending to be Grogar, but having held the Bell myself I believe him. There was something eternal about it, like it was contemptuous of time and anything else that might threaten it. Like I was touching something that existed for thousands of years before I did and would for eons after I'm gone... and wanted me to know it.

"She's hidden it somewhere... but where. If I was a neurotic pony princess, where would I hide an artefact of doom..." I can think of several possibilities, but the longer we spend searching, the longer we're at risk of a visit from Discord. "There's gotta be another way to keep the chaos noodle off our back."

A lightbulb goes on in my head. "Hey... Chrysalis had something like that! Her throne absorbed magic. Like all magic, even Discord's and Grogar's. It was made of like this special black rock, and somehow they tuned it so that changeling magic still worked." Maybe the same way I'd adjusted the magic draining ritual to leave wing magic alone?

"At least until Starlight Glimmer blew it up. Chrysalis must've kept some of the pieces, 'cause she used them when we trapped all of Twilight's friends."

"Ah, that was most likely Negavite," Pacific Dream says. "The Storm Beasts use an alloy of it in their weaponry, chains and cages. That's what pushed the Navy to develop the beam cannon, and why the Pearl was required to liberate Canterlot. The raw crystal is rumoured to be much more potent, but hopelessly brittle. I fear that the only known deposit is deep within the Storm Kingdom - and the secret of working it is closely guarded by their smiths."

Negavite, huh...? I file the information away for future use. "Gosh. We don't have time to learn how to make a... a hiding device from scratch! Somepony's got to have made one already, that we can just steal." Unicorns have made so many magic artefacts over the years that you can't trot through Canterlot without tripping over one... but most of them were for materialising the perfect Cute-ceñeara cake or some junk like that. The princesses locked up all the truly useful ones.

"Hmm. The Admiralty did experiment with a destroyer that was covered in millions of illusion-casting pearls," Pacific mused. "Capable of vanishing from sight: the Spectre, intended for special operations I believe. The only one of her kind, as I understand the expense was frightful."

"Golly, I bet they were planning to assassinate the Storm King. Smart move, 'cause his kingdom totally collapsed without him." For a teenager, Pacific is full of useful info. I guess he's kind of a nerd, but... I spent all those sleepless nights sneaking into the library and reading forbidden books, so maybe I am too.

"A regular old invisibility spell isn't gonna cut it though. This is Discord we're talking about. Some creature out there must've been in our position... like some lich trying to hide her tower from Celestia, so she can raise her skeleton army in peace."

Pacific Dream nods. "Your thesis is plausible. However, an artefact of concealment that powerful would necessarily be hard to locate. The only object that comes to mind is the Talisman of Mirage, and that is said to create illusions, not conceal creatures completely. I suppose we could visit the Canterlot Archives, search for references to your 'hiding device'?"

The idea of exploring the archives with Pacific does appeal. He could use his time acceleration to get us past the guards, and... "No: that's it! Talisman of Mirage: that was the changeling cultural exchange artefact! The magic-absorbing throne, also made by changelings. You know they used to capture ponies and keep them in icky pods, while some bug pretended to be them, sucking up all the love?" I stick my tongue out: reformed or not, changelings are kind of disgusting.

"Sure the hive was protected by the throne, but that's waaaay out in the badlands. They must've had bases in Equestria itself! Like, they didn't fly all the way to Canterlot to attack the royal wedding without a staging area, right? So they must've had some way to keep that base hidden from the princesses!"

The hippogriff looks skeptical. "One would think Changelings are the species least in need of a 'hiding device'. Their natural shapechanging ability already provides for near-perfect disguise and concealment."

I shake my head, grinning madly. Pacific Dream might be an expert on all kinds of things, but he doesn't understand creatures the way I do. "That's the thing: when all you have is a hammer, not only does everything look like a nail - you put an even bigger and better hammer at the top of your Hearth Warming list!" Heh, he looks confused. "I guess what I'm saying is that creatures think about building up their strengths more than covering their weaknesses. Like, your average earth pony wants to be stronger, a pegasus wants to fly faster and a unicorn wants more powerful magic."

"I see." Pacific stares into space, lost in thought for a moment. "Chrysalis was your ally, was she not? If such an artefact exists, she would surely know of it. If you were both in my field of view, I could establish a three-way mental link. Even petrified, she might still aid us."

"Eh... we didn't exactly part on good terms." I wonder what Chrysalis was thinking as she watched Twilight pronounce a death sentence on my head. We could try saying that we needed this artefact for a plan to free her but I don't think she'd buy it. Like Twilight, Chrysalis is crazy but not stupid. I could work the 'better in our hooves than in Thorax's' angle, but most likely the bug queen would insist on being released before she'd aid us in any way.

I take a step closer to the stallion, tossing my mane and then whispering: "Say Pacific, when you do that mind link thing, do you have to appear as yourself? Or could you be somepony else?"

"Are you saying I'm not the griff of your dreams?" Pacific says in mock disappointment. "In principle... yes, one's residual self-image could be overridden."

I giggle, both at the cheesy line and the mischief I'm planning. "Then it's time we paid a visit to an 'old friend'."

Author's Note

It's one of those interludes where you just wander around the ship, talking to the characters hanging out in each room. Except that it's the start of the game so there's only one other character on board. Fear not, the next chapter has more action. Cozy is instantly enarmoured of hippogriffs in general and Pacific in particular here - of course they have their flaws and weaknesses too. She's just high on acceptance, magical power and a massive rush of puberty hormones.

Cozy Glow is somewhere between antivillain and antihero in this story, but that doesn't mean that I reject stories where she's a total monster. For example A Night In Tartarus is a great reminder of how chilling trying to help an actual child psychopath would be.

That said, versions of Cozy where she's a mass murderer inherently require a huge departure from the 'noblebright' tone of the canon, moreso than having the regular villains be absolute monsters. Even when she is irredeemable, it's hard to ignore that Twilight & co were seriously negligent in dealing with the situation. The Trial of Cozy Glow is funny because, in large part, it's true. :scootangel:

P.S. I'm trying to keep it down to one ellipsis per paragraph, but as a chronic ellipsis abuser it's a real struggle.

Old Friends

Recognition comes first, then sound, then sight: a familiar presence in my mind, the buzz of powerful wings, a green and orange form descending out of the sky into the town square. It's a lazy summer afternoon in Ponyville, and most of the ponies are taking advantage of it: playing sports, going for walks or just sunning in their gardens.

The few ponies who are running errands stop to gaze at the huge and regal changeling arriving in their midst. Only for a moment though, as the appearance of a calm rural backwater is an illusion. On the scale of strange things happening in Ponyville, a visit from the king of Equestria's changelings barely rates.

"Ocellus? Ah, there you are," Thorax says, as he spots me outside the cafe. "Good to see you again."

"King Thorax!" I call out, slipping off the chair and trotting over to greet him. Butterflies flutter in my stomach and my wings give a little involuntary buzz under my elytra. I'm supposed to be a 'hero' now, but looking up at Thorax, it's like I'm a little grub again. He's the wise leader of all changelings - all but a few misguided rebels who still think Chrysalis had the right idea - and he's taking time out of his official duties just to chat with me!

"The pleasure is all mine! Oh oh I can show you the latest lesson plans - I'm a teaching assistant now! Or, um... you probably think that's boring, but... did you know Ponyville has a real cinema now? We could watch a movie together! Or... um, whatever you want to do, your majesty." I look away, blushing. Thorax probably has much more important things to do than watch movies.

Thorax smiles down at me, like I could never disappoint him, then gives me a little chuckle as he walks over to the table I’d been sitting at. I do pick up something weird in his aura though: a kind of tension, but it's muted, like he's actively blocking. That's not unusual for changelings - old habits die hard - but Thorax usually wears his emotions on his carapace. "That does sound fun, Ocellus. Perhaps later. Oh, is this lemonade?"

"Yes!” I answer eagerly. ”There's an earth pony called Bright Eyes, she makes the absolute best lemonade in Equestria! Um... shall I order you a glass? If you'd like, I mean. Or..." I'm rambling, like I always do when I get nervous. I clamp my mouth shut and study Thorax: his body language as well as his aura. "Is... everything alright, your majesty?"

Thorax frowns, then turns away. "Perceptive as ever, Ocellus. In truth, I am here on a matter of great urgency and extreme delicacy. One that I believe you, and perhaps only you, can assist with. Come, walk with me." His speech is more formal than I remember. Thorax has come such a long way from the 'little drone who stood up to Chrysalis' to acting and sounding like a proper monarch.

"Uh... sure. I mean, of course! You can trust me." I trot quickly to keep up, as his much longer legs carry him away from the cafe and into a side street. "Is... this to do with... the hive, by any chance?" The only thing that can get Thorax this upset is a threat to his subjects, or his friends. I should keep quiet, let him explain, but instead I whisper: "Somecreature is attacking changelings? Or... the renegades, are they going to try something?"

That draws an odd, strangely intense look from my mentor. "How much do you know about the renegades, Ocellus?" Thorax says quietly.

"Uh... " I pause and think. "Not a lot. Some silly drones who still believe in the old ways, stealing love and refusing to share it. They... they want to bring back... Queen Chrysalis." The image of her snarling face flashes into my mind and I shiver involuntarily. "They hate that you found a better way and, and... I don't know anything else, really!" Now I'm trembling: why is Thorax asking me, of all drones? He doesn't think I'm helping them, does he? I'm the absolute last changeling who'd want Chrysalis back!

Thorax nods. "Calm yourself, little one. You are our greatest hero, an inspiration to all changelings. I am certain you would never work with the renegades."

Of course he knows: it's not like I’m hiding how nervous I am. Not like I could hide it, from him. I bask in the king's praise, my carapace flushing even as I stand a little straighter. Thorax turns off the street into an alleyway between the bakery and the general store. At peak times it's a popular shortcut, but right now it's deserted. The bigger changeling comes to a halt just inside the alley and lowers his head down to mine.

"We have good intelligence that they've built a base of operations, somewhere inside of Equestria. They're working on a plan to free Chrysalis, one that involves gathering magical artefacts. We need to find this base and stop the rebels before they can complete their plan."

"What?!" I gasp, my wings flaring out from under their covers. I clamp them down firmly against my back. All the old anxieties are creeping up on me.

"Oh no! What if they come after me? Or my friends?" I shiver again: in Chrysalis's final gambit, her changelings managed to replace the Element Bearers and the alicorn princesses. Ponies are so trusting: when we go all out, they're almost helpless.

"How can I possibly help? Oh... maybe the Cutie Map? Twilight has this magical map, or well I guess it's Starlight's now, that can locate any-"

"We can't involve the ponies," Thorax interrupts me, his voice firm. "Ocellus - maybe you don't see it, but it's been an uphill struggle, fighting our reputation as evil love-stealing insects. If this gets out, it could set us back decades." The big changeling sighs, his ears drooping for a moment before he refocuses on me. "We've already tried divination spells. Their base is shielded... and I think you know how they're doing it."

"Me-me? I, um..." Thorax needs my help, but I'm not a mage. Frantically I review what I've read about that kind of magic. "Some sort of anti-divination spell... either a baffle, or a multi-domain illusion - disperse the seeking spell or trick it. There must be a book that, um... I'll take you to the school library. If we can't find what we need there, I guess... I guess we'll just have to sneak into the one in Canterlot." I already feel a little sick at the thought: I hate the idea of sneaking around behind my friends and allies. I'm sure Princess Twilight would grant us permission, but if Thorax really wants to keep this a secret-

"No, Ocellus." Thorax interrupts my train of thought again. "You're thinking like a pony. I need you to think like a changeling." Seeing me trembling again, he says in a gentler tone: "I know this is hard, but I need you to think back to the invasion of Canterlot. We had a staging camp, didn't we? Inside Equestria, only an hour's flight from the city. Do you remember?"

I nod and close my eyes for a moment, forcing myself to recall. The memories are horrible: it was only my third time outside of the hive, and the first time I'd seen ponies. Thousands of changelings crammed into a few tunnels, a horde of anonymous black bodies decayed with starvation. A sea of hungry faces, staring eyes and fangs bared.

Lieutenants barking orders, rushed drills as workers and juveniles were formed into reserve troops. Always in the background, the constant mental pressure of the queen. Chrysalis, whipping her hive into a frenzy, driving us into war with the ponies, and crushing any hint of dissent.

I want to shut it out, but I have to push through this. For the hive, and for Thorax. I take a deep breath. "We... yes, we had a camp. Tunnelled into a small hill... in a forest. M-Maybe in the White Tail Woods? Do you think that's where they're hiding?"

Thorax shakes his head. "No: we already checked. I ordered the tunnels collapsed. Plenty of changelings remember the location. What they can't tell me is how Chrysalis stopped Celestia from finding the base. The ponies were on alert: they had a shield around Canterlot, pegasi flying patrols over the surrounding land."

Thorax is staring straight at me, and this time I can't look away from those huge purple eyes. I’ve never seen him so intense like this. His aura leaves no doubt: this is why he came to Ponyville. "You're smart and observant, Ocellus. I'm betting that while the other drones were following orders, you noticed something. Something that was shielding us from pony magic. What was it?"

The king’s gaze pins me to the spot, and my mind races. I'm terrified of the memories... but I can't let him down. I have to remember. So I close my eyes and concentrate. In my mind I'm back in the military camp, a scared nymph waiting with thousands of other drones for the order to attack. We're packed shoulder to shoulder underground, so close it's a struggle to move. The queen is so close...

So much for Ocellus the great hero: a few words about the old days and I'm on the edge of a panic attack. I take a deep breath and force myself to calm down. I'd gotten over being forced to assume Chrysalis's form - with the help of Smoulder, sure, but Thorax is here now. I can do this. I can. I have to.

"The Obscura Radia!" I blurt out. "There was a spot... that I didn't want to look at. Every time I tried, my eyes would slide off it. But that just made me more curious! It was better than listening to the queen, so... I made myself look at it. Like a... a changeling's eye sticking out of the top of an egg, but made of cut emeralds and polished serpentine." I shiver again: the thing was pretty creepy, and when I first managed to look at it I'd screamed, thinking it was a real eye, plucked from some disobedient drone.

Thorax smiles with relief. "Thank you, Ocellus." He puts one hoof gently on your shoulder. "I'm sorry to put you though this. You're sure that's what was shielding the camp? The 'Obscuria Radia' - how did you find out the name? Do you know how it works?"

I manage a meek smile. It's not easy dredging up these horrible memories, but it feels good to be able to help. "Oh I didn't find out until much later, when Chrysalis was gone and I could finally get into the hive library. There was this one scroll about changeling magic that... uh, I guess it's not important." Thorax needs to know the practical details, not ancient history.

"There are three of them, and you can use them alone or combined, to cover a wider area. They don't just baffle divination spells: they project a psychic field that stops creatures from perceiving anything they're not expecting. A really strong one. So a pony, even a princess, would still see the base, but they'd think it was an ordinary hill even if there were a hundred changelings flying in and out."

"That must be what the renegades are using!" Thorax says excitedly. "But how did they get their hooves on them? Ocellus - Chrysalis must have sent drones to retrieve these 'obscurias' after the attack failed. They're far too valuable to abandon. But where would she have kept them?"

I shrug helplessly: I'm doing my best, but I was only a nymph back then. "Probably in her private vault? You know, the one under the royal tower, on the western outcrop." I remember watching a constant rotation of guards flying in and out of there, along with the odd infiltrator bearing an offering to the queen: a treasure they'd stolen during their mission.

"Pharynx would know. Or... any of Chrysalis's lieutenants, really." I frown: now that I think about it, Pharynx should know about all of this. After the losses at Canterlot, he became the leader of the hive defence force. Even before that, he was a high-ranking warrior caste.

"Ah yes, Pharynx. Well, I... I wasn't sure I could trust him." Thorax says uncertainly. He turns away from me, taking a few steps further down the alley.

I trot after him, puzzled by his sudden hesitance. "Trust him? But he's your brother... why wouldn't you trust him?" I ask. Now I'm really worried. As far as I know, Thorax trusts Pharynx more than anyone else in the world, except possibly Spike. After a bit of a rocky start - he held on to his old form for longer than any other Changeling in our hive - Pharynx proved his worth and his loyalty, and resumed leadership of a (much smaller) hive defence force.

"Thorax, you don't seriously think... I can't believe Pharynx is working with the rebels!" I'm probably not supposed to speak like that to my monarch, but I can't bear to see him fall out with his brother.

Thorax reaches the end of the alleyway and looks back at me. With a strange smile that doesn’t seem to fit his face, he says: "Thank you Ocellus. You've been most helpful." Then he walks out of the alley and turns the corner onto the street, disappearing from view.

I stop cold in my tracks. Something is seriously wrong here. Thorax doesn't sound like himself, and he isn't acting like himself. A sickening feeling fills me as I realise what just happened: that wasn’t my mentor, it was another changeling impersonating him. That's why his aura was off - it must be one of the renegades.

"H-Hey!" I gallop after the imposter, bursting out onto the street. A trio of ponies stop and stare at me as I scan my surroundings. There's no trace of the big green changeling, like he vanished into thin air... so the rebel must have changed shape. Desperately I stare at the various ponies and objects around me, wondering what the rebel changed into. The other changeling could be a bird, or a rock, or...

My eyes settle on a pony, sitting at a table just down the street. A filly, with a glass of lemonade and a straw - exactly like the one I'd left behind at the cafe. A pegasus with a pink coat and a mane of baby blue curls. A chill runs down my spine as she shifts position and I catch a glimpse of her blood red cutie mark. A chess piece: 'Cozy Glow', the name pops into my head. She's staring right at me.

I freeze: my anxiety should be rising, but somehow the sight of that evil little pony brings me to a sharp focus. She can't be... that can't actually be Cozy Glow, can it? After we defeated her, the little terror was sealed in stone by the three most powerful magic users on Equus. It must be another rebel changeling - but why would they take such an obvious form? All of Equestria knows about the Worst Pony Ever: she'd been in all the newspapers and several of Twilight's speeches.

Summoning my courage, I take a few steps forward. "Hey! You won't get away with this! The real Thorax will stop you!" I shout. "Chrysalis will never be queen again!"

Cozy Glow, or whoever is impersonating her, flashes me a sweet smile. The evil filly calmly takes a sip of her lemonade before saying: "Golly. Like I'd ever want to let that crazy overgrown bug out of her statue. You've got me all wrong, Ocellus. I just want to be a good pony now. Why don't you sit down, let me buy you a lemonade and we can be best friends!"

I take a few steps closer, spreading my wings in case I have to make a quick escape. If there's two rebel changelings, there could be more: I'm on edge, ready for them to spring the trap at any moment. I have to give the rebel some credit though: their imitation is spot on. The sickly sweet smile, the freckles, the insincere voice. That's probably about what the real Cozy Glow would say as well, trying to make me let my guard down.

"Cut the act!" I say, trying to sound as stern as possible. "You're not fooling me. What's your name, rebel? Why are you pretending to be Cozy Glow?" I look around at the surrounding ponies: why is nopony reacting? One of the Legion of Doom sitting in Ponyville in broad daylight: there should be panic, but everypony is just ignoring us.

The impostor holds up their hooves with an 'oh gee' expression. "Me? A rebel? I don't know... I mean, I diiiiid drain all the magic from Equestria, oh and I guess I imprisoned the alicorn princesses, and nearly became the Empress of Friendship... but does that really make me a rebel?" The fake Cozy Glow sighs melodramatically. "I suppose I have to do a whole dramatic reveal now."

The pegasus filly beckons me closer, and despite my better judgement I find my hooves complying. She leans in conspiratorially and whispers in my ear: "My real name is... Cozy Glow!" Then she leans back and plasters a big, innocent smile on her face.

I stare at the fake filly in disbelief: she's toying with me, but why? Stalling? Waiting while more rebels get into position? My fight-or-flight response is nearly overwhelming: my shifting magic is primed, ready to turn me into something fast or something deadly. Breathing deeply… actually I’m starting to hyperventilate, but I manage to restrain myself. I need to keep the renegade talking, try and find out what they're planning.

"Come on! This makes no sense!" I splutter. "The real Cozy Glow is frozen in stone in Canterlot Gardens. If you rebels had the ability to free her, you'd have already freed Chrysalis... and you wouldn't need to trick me into giving you information! What kind of... of sick game are you playing?"

The impostor just smiles back. "Oh, good idea Ocellus! We can play a game. That's what best friends do, right?"

Movement to my left... a blue earth pony with musical notes for his cutie mark. He's frowning as he says: "Why are you bothering this pegasus filly, changeling? Can't you see how cute and lovable she is?"

That draws a stare from an older unicorn, sitting two tables over. "I knew letting those bugs run riot would cause trouble," the mare says haughtily. This is utterly surreal: I’m talking to Cozy Glow, one of the greatest enemies of Equestria, and the citizens think I’m the problem?

"No! No, I..." My panic boils over as I realise they must be rebel changelings too. I turn tail and gallop away, heading for the Castle of Friendship. Frantically I glance back over my shoulder, checking for pursuit, ready to turn into a falcon for more speed. No... the three of them are just sitting there, the one pretending to be Cozy grinning even wider as she watches me run.

I dash down the street, around a corner and into the Ponyville marketplace. I can see Starlight’s castle rising like a giant, crystalline tree, only a furlong away. I begin to trot quickly through the marketplace... until Cozy Glow steps out from behind a stall. I skid to a halt in shock.

"Why are you running, Ocellus? Don't you want to reform me?” the filly says sweetly. ”All you have to do is teach me true friendship, and I'll be all better. Think how proud Twilight will be of you! I mean, as much as she can be for a bug pony."

Fear and confusion war inside my head as I back away from the fake Cozy. Either the original is one of the very few changelings who can teleport, or... the whole rebel group is here. I could make a break for the castle, but they might already be inside.

"What- what do you want?" I stammer. "How many of you are there?"

That sickly sweet voice comes from behind me: I spin around to see a third Cozy Glow. "I just want you to teach me about friendship, silly!" the new clone says. "You got me kicked out of school before I could finish my studies."

Suddenly I realise that every other pony in the marketplace is watching us… and every single one of them is a small pink pegasus filly. "That was so mean!" a fourth Cozy says. "So now it's your job to reform us."

I stand paralysed with terror as the Cozys close in from every side. With their cute faces and fake friendship, they look utterly innocent... except for their red irises, the colour of pony blood. How... why... there must be thirty or more rebel changelings here, all set on tormenting me.

I have to get out of here. My wings buzz into life of their own accord, pushing me up into the sky. A sea of pink freckled faces just stares up at me, grinning as I try to escape this nightmare.

I look away, up at the heavens... but the blue sky is gone. Impossibly, there is another Ponyville above me: an upside-down copy of the town I’d just flown away from. Before I can comprehend what's happening, I pass the half-way point and tumble wildly as the gravity reverses. The mirror Ponyville is now below me and it’s the original hovering in the sky above.

I plummet toward the ground, my wings flapping wildly. I'm barely able to catch the air in time to prevent a painful crash. As I stumble to my hooves, I look around in shock. Every building, every stall is exactly the same as before... except that the marketplace is deserted. I look up, hoping that this was just some kind of temporary nausea: no, the other Ponyville is still up there, defying gravity. My head is spinning: what could be doing this? Discord? Is this some kind of cruel joke-

In an instant the mirror-marketplace goes from deserted to crowded with pink pegasus fillies: a small horde of Cozy Glows flaps and trots out from every nook and cranny. All of them are staring at me.

"Cozy, are you all right?" one says.
"That was a pretty rough landing you had there, huh?" another says.
"Hey sister, let me fix your mane," a third offers.

With rising horror: I look down at my pink hooves, then at my feathered wings. I don't remember changing shape, but somehow... I’m one of them now. Frantically I try to revert, to cast off this horrible form, but nothing happens. I’ve lost my ability to transform? My mind dissolves into panic as I try to blurt out a question, asking them how they did this, what's happening to me. All that comes out is a single "Golly!"

With a supreme effort, I manage to throw back my head and release a strangled wail. I am Cozy Glow, and I must scream.

Author's Note

And now we know what would happen if Cozy Glow got hold of one of those dream machines from Inception - to be clear, Pacific Dream was impersonating Thorax, Cozy was supposed to be projecting the environment but she couldn't resist having a bit of fun after they'd gotten what they needed. A shorter chapter, but to minimise confusion I'm sticking with one viewpoint character per chapter. Keen students of anatomy may wonder how chitinous carapace can 'flush': the answer is of course 'changeling'.

The renegade changelings are semi-canon: they were mentioned in 'Triple Threat' but by 'To Change a Changeling' Thorax says he's won them all over. Unreformed changelings do appear later in a couple of the comics, so I'm assuming some left the hive altogether - or were out on missions when the hive reformed and never came back.

Those who read my other stories (all three of you) may have spotted a pattern: all of them have a hippogriff stallion who makes friends with a pony mare. Is this because I only have one narrative to regurgitate repeatedly? My other writing has completely different characters, I swear!

In truth Beaks Not Wanted Here was messing about while Ferret and I were planning Expedition to the Cloudbreak Islands, so it has sort of warped versions of Reef Skimmer and a character from one of Ferret's stories. I was trying to convince Ferret that hippogriffs are awesome, he disagreed (the blaggard preferred kirin), and the conversation was captured as a little madcap comedy.

I confess I was saddened when Expedition went on indefinite hiatus with only about a quarter of the planned story executed, so I may have allowed a bit of Reef Skimmer to continue on in spirit as Pacific Dream. That's the problem with most fanfic (absolute view junkies excepted): authors writing what they want, instead of what the audience wants. 😀

The Fire Within

That was so much fun! I'm glad I got to do a fitting swan song for my trusty 'sweet and lovable filly' act. It's a good thing my body caught up with my real age, because in the real world that gambit is about as dead as it can be. My victory over the alicorn princesses, followed swiftly by our failure at the final battle, was world news. According to Pacific even school foals are being taught about the 'worst pony ever', so even if I still looked ten years old I wouldn't be able to pull off that con again.

Yes I'm bitter. Changelings have been kidnapping ponies for centuries - at least! - sticking us in pods and impersonating us so they can steal our love. They do all that and forgiveness was as simple as shapeshifting into some brighter colours and blaming Chrysalis for everything. Ponies are just total suckers for the 'we're actually good now' act: well ok, a big dose of propaganda from Celestia helped. Luna was probably salivating over the idea of changeling spies working for her instead of Chrysalis.

I didn't impersonate anypony! I just gave them the filly they wanted, the helpful little toady who ran errands and packed lunches for Twilight and her lackeys. Apparently that's some heinous unforgivable crime (to go with all my other crimes). What I'm trying to say is, if I'm supposed to be a duplicitous fraud, Ocellus is just as bad. She pretends to be some kind of shy adorkable pacifist book bug, but that's just an act. I've seen her turn into a slavering bug-monster the size of a steam engine, and she's surprisingly strong willed. It was a real effort to break her sense of normality and start screwing with physics in the dream.

Luckily Pacific realised what I was doing and took over holding that gravity effect in place, which let me focus on forcing Ocellus to take my old form. Blocking all her attempts to change back was a strain, but it was totally worth it to see her utterly lose it. Of course she woke up, so now we're back in a bedroom in Starlight's crystal castle. Despite the fact she'd graduated and should've moved on to bigger things, Ocellus is hanging around as a 'teaching assistant' at the School of Friendship. Somehow she must've convinced Smolder to stay as well, because we found the stinky orange dragoness snoring in the other bed.

So now the little blue bug mare is screaming her head off - for about a second before Pacific Dream uses his time manipulation to freeze the changeling in place. Smolder just snorts a little flash of flame - I wonder how many blankets she's set fire to by now - and turns over, but my hippogriff companion freezes her too for good measure. I can't help laughing with glee, smug at how I'd pulled off a dream invasion worthy of Princess Luna on my first try. As usual the alicorns pretend that it's some impossibly difficult magic that you need centuries to master, but that's just to dissuade anypony else from trying. Though... I have to admit, I couldn't have done it without Pacific. Not yet at least.

"She's terrified," Pacific Dream says, frowning as he inspects the motionless form of Ocellus. "I trust that treatment was warranted?"

My mouth curls into a cruel grin. "Trust me, she had it coming," I say. "She's basically the changeling version of Twilight Sparkle. Miss goodie-four-shoes who knows everything and can do no wrong. She didn't have to struggle and scheme and pretend to become popular: she just got five perfect friends hoofed over to her on her first day."

Pacific doesn't seem convinced. I probably shouldn't care, but... I want him to approve. "Look, if we'd broken it off right after your Thorax impersonation, she'd have remembered. Ocellus might've gone to the real Thorax, or Starlight, and said something about rebels trying to steal the Obscuras. This way all she'll remember is that she had a nightmare about Cozy Glow. No doubt guilt for never giving me a chance to reform." I smile sweetly, tilting my head just enough to make my copper curls bounce.

The bird-stallion is unreadable for a moment. Then he steps closer and gives me a quick squeeze with his wing. "Good point. That did go quite smoothly. Your projection of Ponyville was immaculate in its detail, and creating an inverted duplicate when she tried to fly away was inspired."

Pacific knows all the right things to say to me. I snuggle under his feathers for a moment, then pull away. "Come on: let's plunder Starlight's personal library on the way out." I slip out of the room into the corridor; it still feels weird to be walking everywhere, but my wings are so huge now that flying indoors is tricky at best. It's ok though: the carpets are plush and muffle our hoofsteps, and with my new much longer legs I'm not struggling to keep up with anyone.

"What did you have in mind?" Pacific asks. "Details of more ancient artefacts we might acquire? Powerful forbidden spells that will lay Twilight low? Grimoires of forgotten beasts that might aid us?" His tone is playful, but encouraging - like we're foals sneaking out of school to go on our first big adventure.

"All of the above!" I giggle, caught up in his mood. "As many as we can carry! Better in our hooves than Starlight's, right?" I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should reveal the truth. It's technically showing weakness, but it would be worse if Pacific finds out later - say, in the middle of a fight. "Buuuut.... if I'm honest, top priority is basic horn-work. You know, Spellcasting 101 stuff. Don't get me wrong, I know a ton about runes, rituals, the underpinnings of magic, but, uh, not so much about actually casting spells."

One of Pacific's feathery eyebrows shoots up. "Did you not duel the Element of Magic to a standstill in the Canterlot throne room? You fired a coherent mana beam at me yesterday, and I understand that alone is a deceptively advanced working."

I wince at the reminder of my impulsive sparring session. "Oh sure but see, that was Grogar's magic. You know, from the Bewitching Bell. It came with a with a ton of knowledge built in: like, I just had to imagine what I wanted to do, and it was like I'd already spent years learning the right spells." Incredibly convenient, as if Grogar had actually planned for somepony to find his bell and take up his mantle, or at least get revenge on whoever defeated him. And unfortunately gone forever, after a triple-harmony-laser ripped it out of us and dispersed every particle of that magic across Equus.

"Qi-lin magic isn't like that. It's just raw power." That isn't exactly true. Since I transformed I'm getting strange flashes of... something. Images of tiered stone cities full of kirin. Sudden compulsions to find the other fire-unicorns and make sure they are performing the rituals correctly (what rituals? I have no idea). Strong opinions on strange philosophical concepts that dissolve into nothing when I try to make sense of them. I don't know how to explain it to Pacific, so I don't mention it.

"Sure, I remember a few things from when I was an alicorn, but... look I'm a quick learner, ok? If freaking Cadence can learn to cast Celestia-tier spells, I sure can. Just give me a few moons." I can't say I'm happy about the window of vulnerability, but this new magic feels better at least. Like a real part of me, warm and alive, not something cold and alien that's been grafted on. I can just imagine all the snooty unicorns saying that I only accomplished what I did last time because I was piggybacking on Grogar's vast knowledge. They won't be able to say that after I'm done with Twilight.

I'd been in this castle a few times when I was still Twilight's assistant, back when she was still living in Ponyville. I know the layout, so we're already at the library. There's a glimmer of light visible through the translucent crystal of the door, and I tense up. I wouldn't be surprised if Starlight Glimmer is up late, working on a spell. Do I really want a confrontation? I bite my lip, thinking it over... then I feel Pacific's claw on my shoulder.

"Somegriff might be in there? I'll accelerate us," the stallion says confidently. "I imagine this will feel a little weird, but trust me, it's perfectly safe." His beak opens in what's probably meant to be a reassuring smile.

"'A-Accelerate'?" I stammer. "Golly, um... you mean speed us up? Like when you took me down at the temple?" My memory's a little fuzzy on this - at Twilight's school I speed-read every book about magic artefacts I could get my hooves on, and I can't remember all of it - but as far as I remember the Clock of Chronorius had two major functions, which could be used in either direction. On the battlefield the minotaur king used it to freeze his enemies while accelerating his own warriors to unstoppable speeds. If you believe the griffons, he also used it to keep his favoured nobles in their prime while prematurely aging any rebellious slaves into pathetic bags of bones. Maybe I can convince Pacific to give the element bearers an early retirement.

The hippogriff closes his eyes - I'm expecting a dramatic flash of magic, but there's just a loud whirr from inside him. Once again I'm reminded that he's really a clockwork automaton, underneath what seems like real feathers and fur; he's so lifelike that it's easy to forget. Suddenly I feel like I'm underwater, or... more like that the air around me turned into a thick soup, and the carpet underhoof is made of treacle. My vision's affected too: it blurs when I move my head, and there are coloured fringes around the windows. "Woah. You weren't kidding."

"You're now moving at almost two hundred times normal speed," Pacific says. His voice is really weird: warped and crackly like I'm listening to a worn-out gramophone.

I force myself to stay calm. This isn't so bad really, and my mind is churning with new possibilities. Two hundred times faster! Nopony will see us coming - or even realise we were there, if we're careful. I wonder how much noise we're making - if I move too fast will I make a sonic boom? This has so many applications: if Pacific can keep this up I can pack a year of studying magic into a weekend! My excitement is dampened as I try to use my magic: my horn lights, but I can't get a grip on the door. I reach out with my hoof: the latch is incredibly stiff, and the door itself seems to be stuck.

Pacific chuckles - at least I think it's a laugh, the distorted sound makes it hard to be sure. He reaches out with his claw and casually pushes the door open. I guess he's applying the time dilation effect to objects he wants to move. I wonder if there's a unicorn spell for this? Probably not, because if there was Celestia and Luna would know it and would've used it when I fought them in the throne rom. There are spells that make pegasi fly faster - common enough that all serious sporting events have magic detectors - and I know Starlight and Twilight both messed with time travel, but-

My train of thought is interrupted as I catch sight of her: a light purple unicorn mare, lounging in a padded chair with a thick tome on her lap, next to a desk with a lamp and a pile of books and notes. For a little while, Starlight Glimmer had been my role model. When I found out how she'd taken over a whole village, stolen their cutie marks for her own use, imprisoned Twilight and her friends and began a campaign to conquer Equestria... wow. Then when her revenge plan failed, she'd manipulated Twilight into not only giving her a full pardon, but making her a trusted confidant! She'd learn every secret Twilight had, and use it to destroy the princesses from the inside!

I'd even dropped a few subtle hints that I was willing to ally with her to overthrow the princesses - until I managed to eavesdrop on her private conversations with the travelling showpony. Grudgingly, I realised that Starlight had actually fallen for the whole 'friendship and harmony' thing. She still got the honour of being the first pony to hear about my true plans - when I trapped her in the centre of my magic-draining vortex.

I trot up to the unicorn, taking a closer look. Starlight looks older than I remember, with deep creases around her eyes. I guess she's in charge of the school now, huh? She hasn't looked up from her book yet, but if we stay here she'll notice us buzzing around after a few minutes. "Can you freeze her?" I ask Pacific.

He nods, spreading his wings and staring at Starlight for a moment. There's another whirring sound: the coloured fringes disappear from my vision but Starlight is still motionless, stuck staring at her book. "How long will she stay like that?" I ask.

"Indefinitely, as long as I'm here, but the stasis on Ocellus and Smolder will wear off in an hour or so," Pacific confirms - his voice sounds normal and the air has stopped resisting me, so I guess we're back in real time.

"Perfect." I smirk, trotting up behind Starlight Glimmer. Tactically speaking I should probably take this opportunity to do something unpleasant to her - like snap her horn so she can't use her ridiculously overpowered magic - but I can't bring myself to. Starlight was more Chrysalis's enemy than mine, and of all the 'friendship' crew, she's the one most likely to see the light and join my cause. I'll have to break down her relationship with the princess first, but it will be incredibly satisfying to undo Twilight's brainwashing and rekindle Starlight's revolutionary fervour. Just so long as she doesn't try and rebel against me.

Anyway, I trot past her and brush against Pacific Dream. I almost say 'best minion ever!', but he probably doesn't want to be called a minion, so instead I grin and say: "Where were you all my life? You're more helpful than Tirek and Chrysalis combined!"

The stallion dips his head in an adorably birdy show of embarrassment. "Your wish is my command. Though I fear you damn me with faint praise, for I can't imagine they were dependable allies."

"You can say that again!" I chuckle: my partner in crime is so easy to tease. "Come on, let's get those books. You take those shelves, I'll take this side."

We spend fifteen minutes or so looting Starlight's library. I'm soon levitating a whole mass of books behind me as we slip out of the castle and flap up into the night sky. Hornwork primers, casting techniques and a whole bunch of more advanced stuff. Pacific has some reading material too: history and geography, as far as I could tell.

I'm on edge as we pass over the outskirts of Ponyville: if anypony spots us I guess Pacific can just 'accelerate' us again, but flying in that condition's got to be a nightmare. I don't see any pegasi, but who knows if there are thestrals lurking out there somewhere. This is exactly why I needed those books: I know there are tons of different scanning spells, but before I had a horn there was no point learning them.

"Cozy, can I ask you something?" Pacific's voice comes out of the darkness: he's flying a few wingspans to my right. "About your cutie mark."

"My cutie mark?" A few ponies had asked, back at the School of Friendship, because that inevitably came up when you spent months making small-talk between lessons. I'd told them it was for placing first in the Fillydelphia chess championship, junior league. "What about it?"

"I understand that they exist on a spectrum between wholly literal and highly symbolic," Pacific says. He must've read that in a book, because non-ponies don't have them. Except for zebras. Sort of. "You mentioned that you received yours for playing an actual game of chess, suggesting that it is a literal mark," the hippogriff continues. "But your talents, and your passions, extend far beyond chess. If your special talent is strategy, why a rook? Why not a chessboard, or something more abstract?"

I'm quiet for a moment as I think that over. If the students at Twilight's school are any indication, other species seem to think ponies are all obsessed with our cutie marks and eager to explain their deep meanings to strangers. Which kinda makes sense if they're taking pony literature 101, because hack writers love to use them for quick characterisation, like 'the tall blue unicorn with the torch cutie mark burst into the room, and I knew the game was up'. And sure, some ponies do get completely obsessed with them - see 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'. Not me though: I like my cutie mark, but I never thought much about its symbolism.

Pacific Dream is probably asking because he thinks I'll enjoy talking about it, and... I admit, it's better than flying in silence. "Cutie marks are more flexible than most ponies realise," I say, "especially if you get yours early. Like, uh... Blueblood?" Maybe not the best example, but I remember reading an interview where the stuck-up stallion rambled on about his mark for a whole page. "A unicorn who got his mark for exploring, like really exploring: sailing a boat into unchartered waters. But he's a noble, so he repurposed his mark for 'navigating the intricate currents of popular opinion' or some crap like that."

"Sure I got my mark for winning a chess game, but also for breaking the rules and sneaking out for a whole summer, and for charming Plum into spending his afternoons with me." Ok, maybe I was a bit passionate about this after all. "See, chess is a microcosm of life. You're either a winner or a loser, and you win by carefully considering your moves, making the right sacrifices, and manipulating your opponent into making the wrong ones. Keep them playing your game, keep them guessing at your true strategy, because if you let them figure it out, if you let them control the take control, you're toast."

"Why a rook? Because it's the best piece! Pawns and knights are for the opening. The queen is flashy, obvious: there to draw your opponent's attention, and sacrifice herself in an exchange or attack that leaves your enemy out of position. The rooks are the rulers of the endgame: sliding in to deliver the checkmate!"

"I see. Thank you Cozy - that makes sense," Pacific calls out. Once again, I feel like this - chatting with another pegasus as you fly along - is a basic pony experience that everpony else gets in spades but that I've been missing out on. Sure, there were other pegasi at Twilight's School, but none of them went flying with me (my wings may have been tiny, but I was still a good flyer). I mean, obviously Pacific's not a pegasus, but close enough right?

"One reporter wrote that it symbolised how you thought of everypony you met as disposable pawns. That strikes me as unfair, yet not without a grain of truth," Pacific muses. "As you say, sacrifice is sometimes the only way to win - any officer knows that. Though the sacrifice of sapient life should be a last resort."

"Unless they're about to betray you, or just a horrible monster who can't be controlled. Then sacrificing them is a win-win," I retort impulsively. That... probably didn't help my case. "But yeah most of the press are sycophants and they love to twist things in favour of the princess. Of course you don't give away pieces unless you have to - not even in actual chess, which is just practice for real life!"

I huff with frustration: I'm not sure I'm getting my point across, so I try another line of attack. "You realise the princesses are totally hypocritical about this, right? Discord got the idea of trying to 'train' Twilight because he was trying to one-up Celestia. Be a better mentor than her. But chaos colt is a clumsy idiot compared to the sun princess. I recognise another chessmaster when I see one, and it's obvious she's been manipulating everpony for centuries! Not just ponies: all of our neighbours as well!"

"Don't you respect her for that?" Pacific asks. His tone is still supportive, like... he's not fighting me on this, but he's sort of pressuring me to be more consistent. "As I understand it your princess used skilful diplomacy to build up Equestria, keep her subjects safe, with many fewer wars and casualties than a purely military approach. Queen Novo is not averse to diplomacy, but she's... unfocused, and Celestia's accomplishments make her efforts look amateurish."

"Sure, but... it's so... so brittle! Like, did she really believe she's invincible? Before I was born, if we lost Celestia everypony would be running around like headless chickens and Equestria would fall apart! I guess now Twilight is backed up by the Bearers and the other alicorns, but one disaster could still wipe them all out! That's how Tirek and Chrysalis and me nearly won. If we'd only gone after Twilight immediately like I wanted to, instead of worrying about windigos or spending hours turning the catacombs into that silly jail..."

"Are you saying the Empire of Friendship will be built to survive without Cozy Glow?" Pacific interrupts.

"Yes!" I shout. "See: Celestia is a strong player, only an idiot could deny that, but she's playing with a massive advantage. Everypony is taught from birth to look up to her, and if her strategies go wrong she always has her special powers to fall back on. More magic than any unicorn, and control over the sun that can scorch whole nations."

"I never had any of that! All I had to work with was a pretty face and a clever brain, and I made it work anyway! Unlike Celestia, I don't have to be the strongest piece on the board, because I don't need a safety net. Put me in a cave with ancient warlocks and dark queens, even as a little filly, and I'll have them eating off of my hoof!" Wow, I guess that turned into a rant, huh?

"Quite so. Well said!" Pacific says, and he actually sounds.... proud of me? "As for your cutie mark, it can't mean that you see every creature as your minion. After all, rooks do their best work in pairs, wouldn't you say?"

I blink in astonishment. He likes my rant, and he's using a cheesy yet adorable chess metaphor to... what? We're already working together! If Pacific Dream doesn't want to be my minion, then why is he doing everything I ask for- oh no. Oh no. Suddenly I realise what's going on.

This whole thing was staged. Twilight condemning me to death, my rescue and depetrification: all a set up. Breaking into that kirin temple was way too easy. Pacific Dream is a construct, a sophisticated golem built by Twilight Sparkle. She's completely determined to reform me by any means necessary, because if I go to my grave as a 'villain' that means she's failed as a teacher. She knew none of her pathetic students could do it, so she custom-built a special somepony for me! Pacific must be designed to agree with everything I say, like... like how Fluttershy supposedly 'reformed' Discord. Well, it's not going to work!

"Oh sure!" I say sarcastically. "And when we finally catch up with Crazy Glue - oh did I mention that I'm an identical twin but we got sent to different orphanages so I'm hunting for my long-lost sister - I'm sure we'll get on famously! All of Equus will be at our mercy!"

Ok, no, that's ridiculous. Making a fake stallion out of magical artefacts sounds like something Twilight might try, but she's a horrible actor and I would've seen through her 'Cozy, I sentence you to death' speech. Even if she could pull that off, the Element of OCD would never risk giving me this much magic, or such a capable minion, or let me do what I just did to Ocellus. I guess Discord could fake all of this, maaaybe, but there's no way his attention span is long enough to 'reform' me like this. Besides, falling into the 'everything is a secret plot by Discord' paranoia is about as useful as worrying about whether this is all a super-realistic hallucination and I'm really still a statue.

Pacific Dream doesn't respond. We're close to the northern end of Ghastly Gorge now, gliding down towards the spot where Pacific parked his airship. Why do I keep saying stupid stuff to him? Pacific has been nothing but kind to me, and I don't mean the weak doormat sort of kindness Fluttershy embodies. I mean the sort that stitches up your wounds after the fight and then disposes of all the bodies for you without you even having to ask.

"Uh, just kidding," I say awkwardly. Maybe we can talk about him for a bit instead of me. "Um- You're pretty flexible yourself, you know? I mean, you don't have a cutie mark, but you can do some telepathy and neither of the artefacts you're made from were designed to do that." I bite my lip - maybe not the best way to put it, as the stallion seems uncomfortable with his artificial nature. I mean, assuming his emotions are real on some level and not just a clever imitation, which I've kind of been doing for the sake of my own sanity.

"The purpose of the Genesis Bird is to manifest whatever its owner desires," Pacific explains. "That inherently requires a telepathic connection. The ancient artificers took advantage of that to add a defense mechanism: if the user is not a hippogriff, the Bird was made to corrupt their mind, drive them mad in a frenzy of greed, or hedonism, or whatever other weakness it could find. It was intended to function against sphinxes, but it seems Sasamratu was wise enough to avoid our trap. The griffons recovered it before we could, and I understand later owners were not so fortunate."

"It is that telepathic connection I exploited to make contact with you, and the more malign aspect of it that we repurposed to invade the changeling hen's dreams."

So that's what made Rarity cover Ponyville in gaudy junk. Things are starting to make sense again. "See, that's what I mean! You're totally working to find new applications of your raw ability. Just like a pony who won't settle for a limited, literal intepretation of her cutie mark!" I pause a moment, wondering if I should say the next part out loud. "So the Bird wants to manifest whatever its owner desires? And the Genesis Bird is basically half of you now? Does that mean, um, that you want to give me whatever I desire? Am I your 'owner' now?"

We're nearly at ground level: Pacific flares his wings and dips under the rocky overhang, landing on the cliff next to the pearly hull of the Dauntless. He'd parked it under here to hide it from any thestrals, or insomniac pegasi, who might out for a flight. I land gracefully next to him; 'graceful' had never really been my thing before, but this new form makes it so easy.

The stallion frowns, before saying in a grave and serious tone: "Madam, you aren't even a hippogriff, so by all rights I should be trying to drive you insane." There's a solemn pause, then he winks and smiles at me. "On the other claw, you are without question the most adorable megalomaniac I've ever encountered, so I've decided to award you an honourary beak."

Pacific holds up one claw: in the darkness I just catch a glint of gold as the metal bird pops out of his back. In a flash of green light something appears in his talons. It's a prop beak made of silver, complete with swirling engravings and a braided cord to tie it to a pony's head - like an accessory for a hoity-toity Canterlot masquerade ball.

I've got to admit, he's pretty good at the deadpan thing. For a moment I'm really worried that he's angry with me, so when the metal beak appears I absolutely lose it, bursting out into peals of laughter. Tears are welling in my eyes as I dump the pile of books onto the ground and snatch the accessory from his grasp. He was probably just joking around, but I levitate it onto my muzzle and tie the string.

"Hi, I'm... uh... Coral Gleam!" I prance around a bit, spreading my wings and staring in feigned wonder at the surrounding cliffs, and say in my best impression of Silverstream's airhead voice: "Oh wow, is this a canyon? It's so dry and dusty! We never had anything like this in Seaquestria!"

Pacific Dream's beak drops open in a grin: he steps over and presses against me, his beak rubbing against my cheek. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Gleam... or may I call you Coral? If you've quite finished admiring the scenery, perhaps we should embark."

'Adorable megalomaniac': I love it. I light my horn again, levitating the pile of stolen books. Laughing together, the pair of us head through the hatch into the airship.

My instinct was to wait until the next night before raiding the changeling hive, but Pacific pointed out that the Changelings must have great night vision (since they live underground), so we'd be helping them more than us. So we decided to go in around noon, relying on his time warping to get in and out before anypony - anyling? anybug? If Ocellus ever explained changeling pronouns, I've forgotten - spots us.

That meant we had to leave the Dauntless well out of range of their patrols, out in the Badlands. Pacific Dream took us directly south from Ponyville, but on the way down our radio picked up something about a hippogriff cruiser making a patrol along the border north of Klugetown, which meant we had to circle around over San Palamino and approach the hive from the west. By the time we finally found a cave to park the ship in there was only an hour of daylight left.

Flying while 'accelerated' is just of much as a pain as I thought it would be, but Pacific eased me into it by starting with a weaker effect and speeding me up in steps. I struggle to find anything to compare it with: maybe if I was skiing, and I accidentally went onto a frozen lake? Like the air is both thicker than it should be and thinner at the same time. I can handle it as long as we're travelling in a straight line, but trying to do anything acrobatic would definitely end in a crash.

The changeling hive is easy to spot: actually it's impossible to miss, because it's a collection of huge blue and purple rock spires at the exact centre of a circular patch of greenery over a trot in diameter. It stands out among the desolate wastes of the surrounding badlands like a sore hoof. As we flap closer I catch sight of little coloured dots hovering over the spires: changelings. Pacific drops lower: skimming as close to the jagged ground as we dare as we approach the hive.

'Under the royal tower, on the western outcrop' Ocellus said; I'm pretty sure she means that dark green spire that's separated from the others. The time warping effect makes talking difficult at best: we're too far apart and moving too fast for me to ask Pacific Dream. He seems to agree though, because he's already heading for the green spire.

The cliffs forming the exterior of the changeling hive are dotted with tunnel entrances, and the queen's spire is no exception. We head into the largest opening and land: despite taking it as gently as I can I nearly trip over in the process. This super speed thing is cool, but it's really doing a number on my 'graceful kirin-alicorn princess' image. Or am I an alirin? Quilicorn? I shake my head: more important things to think about right now.

"Come on," I say firmly "Follow me!". The faster we move, the less chance of being spotted. I canter down the tunnel, quickly coming to an open area with several ledges and exits. A mustard-coloured changeling is fussing with a pile of jars, while a lilac one and a rose one are squash fruiting... making jam? Huh, not what I expected from a hive of pony-shaped insects. I ignore them and run into one of the lower tunnels.

The hive is absolutely full of twists and turns and we double back several times: Pacific's sense of direction seems better than mine as he keeps stopping me and saying that the tunnel I chose must lead back to a chamber we've already visited. We pass a few more changelings wandering around the hive, almost frozen from our perspective: one is hovering and her normally buzzing insect wings are barely moving, like each flap would take nearly a minute.

I'm beginning to get light headed: I hope it's from the time distortion and not some weirdo changeling magic. Finally we come to a tunnel with two serious-looking changelings outside. Their chitin is darker, they have three horns (though much smaller than Thorax's) and the carapace around their heads is thicker, making it look like they're wearing helmets. Definitely guards - although they're sitting next to a boulder and playing a card game, which I'm sure Chrysalis never would have allowed.

"This has gotta be it!" I say, making a beeline for the tunnel. It's pitch black: we're far too deep for daylight and even the glowing moss seems sparse in this part of the hive. Fortunately I came prepared: I create a light at the tip of my horn, making use of the first spell I'd learned from Starlight's books. Pacific gives me an approving nod as we make our way through the winding tunnel.

We emerge into a large cave, this one lit by magical lamps and stuff full of items. Racks and racks of spears, swords, bows, suits of armour - pony weapons and stuff that looks like griffon and minotaur gear as well. Not just weapons: there's tools, clothing, chests, stacks of paper that look like official documents of some kind... but no treasure, and nothing that looks magical. Though the circular carvings on the far wall look promising: there's a ring of complex carvings around an area of lighter stone in the middle-

Without warning the world around me lurches and I stumble as we drop back into real time. "Pacific?" I cry out as the light on the end of my horn goes out.

"That was not my intention!" the stallion says. He frowns as if he's concentrating, and there's a glimmer of light from the clock faces on his flanks, but nothing happens. "Something is blocking my temporal ability!"

My mind is racing. I try to levitate one of the suits of armour but my magic just dissipates into nothing. "Me too! There must be negavite nearby!" I was afraid of this: Chrysalis had managed to salvage pieces of her old throne from the badlands, and there's no reason why her former subjects couldn't have done the same thing. That or the defences had always been here, either as a backup or predating the construction of her throne.

"Cozy! The floor!" The rock under Pacific Dream liquifies: he tries to flap into the air but his hooves are already caught, and as soon as his bird claws touch the ground they're sucked in as well. I immediately take flight, narrowly avoiding a similar fate. "I'm stuck!" the stallion shouts, tossing his head and jerking his wings up and down.

"Keep still!" I flap over and try to pull him out, but it's no good: his feet are embedded a couple of hoof-widths into the rock. My eyes go to the circular indentation in the wall: it's not a conventional door, but I do remember Ocellus rambling about how her hive used to shift and change. If that's the door to the vault, then my best move is to get in there and raid it first, then free Pacific on the way out.

I bring my front hooves up and fly forwards as fast as I can, aiming at the centre of the circle. An earth pony backed against the wall will instinctively spin and buck with their rear hooves, while a unicorn out of magic will lower their head and charge. Pegasi make use of our speed and innate ability to resist high-speed impacts: I can only hope the negavite isn't interfering with that too, or I'm about to break my front legs.

My hooves slam into the stone with a thunderous clop, echoing again and again around the cave. My legs ache with the impact, but I can take it. I'm rewarded with a spiderweb of cracks radiating out from the impact site... which quickly seal up again. Right, living stone: maybe if we could get one of the beam cannons from the Dauntless we could blast through, but hooves aren't going to cut it.

I backwing away from the wall, hovering for a moment. My last hope is the carvings, but they might as well be a plate of spaghetti for all the sense I can make of them. The wiggly lines do seem to come together into a series of denser patches, making something that could be changeling pictograms in a circle around the door. I choose one at random and touch it with my hoof, and to my delight it begins to glow. "Yes!"

"Cozy Glow, I cannot move," Pacific says loudly. He doesn't seem too upset: in fact there's no emotion in his voice at all.

"I know!" I snap back. Does he think I've forgotten? "I've gotta get into the vault first, then I'll get you out." I tap several more carvings at random: each starts to glow green until I get to the ninth pictogram. That one turns red, and a deafening pulsing buzzing sound breaks out all around me.

"Incorrect sequence," Pacific says flatly, then after a pause: "Vulnerable to timing attack."

"I'm sure it is, but your time powers aren't working!" I shout back. I try another sequence, with the same result: the carvings flash red. There are seven symbols on each side, so, uh, fourteen factorial over five factorial... hundreds of millions of possible combinations. Frantically I try several more, as the bassy pounding buzz is hurting my ears and is starting to give me a headache. The guards must be on their way by now...

"Flicker pattern suggests right centre left 2nd-top left 3rd bottom right top right 3rd top left centre left 2nd bottom right bottom right 3rd bottom" Pacific Dream reels off, like he's reading stock prices from a ticker tape.

"Flicker pattern? What? Oh... wait, say that again." He must have noticed something about the carvings I missed. Pacific repeats the sequence and I tap the carvings as he suggests. I'm rewarded by the whole mess glowing green and the horrible buzzing finally shutting off. With a grinding sound the wall begins to iris open, forming a circular opening to the next chamber. "Yes!"

"Cozy Glow, I cannot move," Pacific says again.

"Jeez, I know! I'll be back, ok?!" Is this like the Maud Pie version of a panic attack or what? Leaving the stallion behind for now, I fly into the vault, taking care not to touch the floor. Jackpot! The inner chamber is positively glittering with treasure: piles of coins, gemstones, statues, jewellery, bottled potions and the tell-tale glows of magical items. Frantically I swoop around, searching for the artefacts that Ocellus described. I spot an ovoid shape, but... no, it's just a Fabergriff egg.

Where are they? Maybe Ocellus was- of course! She couldn't see them at first, and neither can I. I let my eyes defocus a little and sweep my gaze over the treasures, trying to find any spots that are seem to resist close inspection. Hmm... maybe... there! Now I see it: a polished lump of blotchy green rock the size of a pineapple, with emeralds where the leaves would be. My horn's on the fritz so I grab the Obscura Radia in my hooves. The next one is easier, and in less than a minute I'm carrying all three in my forelegs.

"Hostile changelings! I cannot move!" Pacific's voice echoes from the outer chamber.

"Hey, birdy, we're only hostile because you broke in here!" a squeaky, buzzing voice says.

"Yeah! Now hold still and let me get these manacles on you! Then we can let you out of the floor," a second changeling adds.

"Hostile changeling! Keep back! Keep back!" Pacific shouts, somehow conveying fear despite the harsh monotone.

They're attacking Pacific Dream? They want to put him in chains, take him away? Anger boils up inside me and the plundered treasures slip from my hooves, falling to the floor with a thud. He came for me when nopony else did, he got me the magic I needed, because he was made for me and he's mine! I can feel my rising rage like's a tangible thing, burning hot and overflowing out of me in an eruption of emotion. The world shifts and warps into an array of things waiting to be smashed and burned, as I soar into the air and emerge into the outer chamber.

Two pathetic insects are crawling around my prized stallion: a chocolate one and an olive one. The latter is trying to clamp a manacle onto his forelegs: my beloved bird-horse is convulsing wildly but his feet are still embedded in the treacherous stone. "Get away from him you bug!" I scream, as I dive straight for the offending changeling. I slam into the creature and blue flames pour out over my forehooves onto its carapace. It goes skidding back against the wall, singed and smoking.

"Hey! What- Tarsus! Are you-" I plant my hooves in the ground, spin and buck the other changeling with all my strength. There's a satisfying crack as my hooves shatter its shell. The overgrown cockroach is thrown back into the entrance tunnel, whimpering and mewling. Pathetic cowards, waiting until my concubine has been caught in their trap before they move in for the kill.

I hear a roar from my right, and turn back to the green changeling to see that it's been replaced by a swamp-coloured dragon. I roar back, bare my teeth and charge. The dragon unleashes its flame, but I don't even feel it. With a single beat of my wings I leap over its head, land on its back and sink my sharp fangs into the base of its wing. Flame flows out from me again, piercing through its scales and drawing a scream of pain from my prey.

"How dare you invade my temple!" I scream as I kick the dragon in the head with a rear hoof. It slumps to the floor, flashing green as it reverts to its true insect form. "And stay down this time!"

Something is drawing at my flames, trying to draw them away, extinguish me. More evil trickery from the bug creatures. My eyes follow the streams of flame: they're being drawn into specific spots on the walls and ceiling, marked by some sort of runes. With another scream of rage I fly at the nearest rune and smash my hoof into it, again and again until the stone plate shatters and the glittering black gem beneath is pounded into dust. That will teach them to try and steal my flames! I fly at the next one, and then the next until all of the insect's siphons are smashed beyond repair.

My flames burn higher, magnificent in their radiance. My bird-horse concubine is staring at me in adoration. He is saying something, not in our language but that of the ponies... we need to leave this place? More insects are coming? Let them come, I will burn them all and feast on the ashes. Yet he insists, we must leave now if we are to destroy Twilight Sparkle... merely hearing the name of my hated rival is enough to make me howl with rage.

So be it. My glorious magic is unleashed once more, and I draw the sacred treasures to me. I could free my concubine by destroying the floor, but that might damage him. I need a phase window... I have created them before, have I not? Yet in the heat of my righteous rage, I cannot recall how. My horn sparks, the air flickers, but no portal opens. I scream with frustration.

More bug creatures are coming: their leader is larger than the others, with red horns and purple eyes that stare at me with shock and hatred. I could burn them all, I want to burn them all, but the thought of harm to my trapped bird-horse gives me pause. I hover protectively over him as I force more magic into my horn. The pressure is intense, the pain breaking through my rage to ravage my brain, but my will is strong and I rip open a tear in the fabric of space. Then I yank it down, enveloping us even as the insects charge forward. The world goes dark.

Visions of a mass of kirin stomping their hooves. The congregation pays rapt attention to my every word. Torchlit ceremonies, chosen sacrifices. The gods will be pleased.

"Cozy? Can you hear me? Please, you need to wake up."

Pacific? I float back into consciousness, slowly at first and then all at once, like I've been underwater too long and I'm gasping for air. I'm aching all over, my skull is ringing and there's a throbbing pain in my horn. My eyes flicker open and the first thing I see is a familiar eagle-like face.

"I'm here, I'm ok. Mostly, uh... are we ok?" I'm lying on something soft: a bed. Wood panelled walls, electric lamps behind frosted glass... I'm in my cabin on the Dauntless. In the background I can hear the engines humming: relief washes over me as I realise I'm safe. We're safe.

"Golly, I uh... I guess... did I turn into a nirik? And then black out?"

Pacific Dream nods. "You became a creature of flame and darkness. You struck down both of the changeling guards, destroyed the Negavite siphons, and teleported us out of the hive. Along with a substantial chunk of the floor: when I broke lose I found you nearby, reverted to your current form. Your horn was still steaming - I could not wake you, so I carried you back here."

"Huh. So I guess this time we're even. I saved you and then you saved me." I roll over and slowly sit up, groaning at the pain in my head. "How long have I been out? Did we get the treasure? Um... I didn't... kill the changelings did I?" It's not like a care about a couple of random bug ponies, but, uh, I guess they were just doing their jobs.

"One hour, thirty eight minutes. Yes, you retrieved all three Obscuria Radias: they're in the cargo hold." Pacific confirms. Good: I'd hate to have gone through all that for nothing. "And yes, I believe both changelings survived, but I cannot be certain. I confess I was in something of an altered state of consciousness myself."

"That's a relief. Gosh, Pacific, that was... that was definitely something. Now I know how Luna felt after she stopped being Nightmare Moon." It was definitely a power boost, and a total rush to boot, but on the other hoof I was totally out of control. If Pacific hadn't been there I would've gone on a rampage through the whole hive - and probably would've fallen straight into more changeling traps, because I wasn't thinking straight.

"The dark side of the kirin. Your comparison is not unwarranted: for a qi-lin, the effect must be yet more intense." A pause, then he says softly: "Do you want to talk about it?"

The whole thing seems like a dream, albeit a particularly vivid and disturbing one. "Maybe later. I need, uh... I need some time." I wonder if I will get better at controlling my nirik form; I'm not sure how I can practice, because going through that again seems like a huge risk. I shiver and decide change the subject. "You were having issues too, huh? Was the negavite messing with your mechanisms?"

Pacific frowns and looks away, pacing back and forth in the little cabin before fixing me a strange, intense stare. "In a manner of speaking. My components were separated, thought and feeling severed from one another."

"What do you mean? Like your brain was split in half? Two separate consciousnesses?" I know that pony brains have two hemispheres and there have been cases where the connection in the middle breaks down: that was one of the lessons where they got a real expert in from the Ponyville hospital. I can see why that would make Pacific Dream panic.

"Let me show you," the stallion says, stepping closer. I'm still sitting on the bed, so when his lower back opens up and the golden bird pops out it's right at my eye level. It's shaped like a hawk with the plumage of a peacock, with emerald eyes that gleam with inner light. The polished avian sculpture is held up by jointed struts, and I can see an intricate mass of gears and wires lining the cavity it came out of. "Do you see those specks of light, moving along the wires connecting my body to the Genesis Bird?"

"Yeah... like little sparks." A dozen or so copper wires - at least they look like copper - trail from the underside of the metal bird down into Pacific's body. Tiny motes of magical energy are racing along them, moving in both directions. "What are they for?"

"Exchanges of logic for sentiment, sensation for meaning, data for insight." Pacific explains cryptically. His tone is hard to place. I light my horn, reaching out... the hippogriff shivers as my magic touches the metal bird. The specks do mean something: ideas, emotions. It's like a conversation, but not with words.

'Foreign magic detected. What is Cozy Glow doing?'
'She is curious. She wants to understand.'
'A fragile mechanism is exposed. There is risk of damage.'
'A strange feeling. The magic of another, touching my mind. Fear and excitement.'
'Why show this to Cozy Glow?'
'A hidden side of her was revealed. This brings balance. A step towards trust.'
'Trust is a security vulnerability. It can be exploited.'
'Nothing tendered, nothing gained. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.'
'Great risk justified by great reward?'
'Or perhaps love makes fools of us all.'

I'm stunned. Did I really just- Pacific suddenly pulls away. The golden bird starts to retract back inside of him, but before it can do so I push a little spark of my own into the wiring.

'Kiss the mare.'

Pacific Dream freezes for a moment, then in one smooth motion reaches over and slides his beak around my muzzle. My lips part, and... the scent of him is strange, definitely not a pony scent, and his tongue is too smooth, but he's warm and this is my first kiss and-

The artificial stallion steps back, staring at me. "Cozy... I'm not sure that-"

"It's ok!" I say quickly, flashing my best smile. I can barely feel the lingering pains, as a rush of excitement takes hold. "Really, it's ok. So, um... you wanna do that again?"

Author's Note

As expected, 'maybe we can be equals' lasted for about two days until Cozy's severe yandere tendencies surfaced. To be fair, a) she hasn't had any examples of healthy romantic relationships in her life and b) alicorn-grade nirik is a hell of a drug. On a meta level, I know canon-OC relationships are frowned upon by many, but something like 50% of Cozy stories and 95% of Cozy shipping is Cozy/Flurry Heart, and I felt that particular groove is a little too well worn.

I'm trying to strike a balance between Cozy acting exactly like her canon depiction, and being a barely recognisable extrapolation. Authors who want to use Cozy as a villain usually have her pop up unchanged, because they want that specific character archetype as an antagonist and she isn't the one getting an arc. Some authors who make Cozy the main character take her through redemption arcs spanning decades into adulthood, which is interesting but a bit disconnected from the on-screen character we originally saw.

Thus in this story Cozy is a teenager; she's starting with quite a lot of magical power but less than her previous peak (her raw potential is similar but she doesn't have the spellcasting knowledge or the Bewitching Bell), she's experienced some character growth from three years of solitary confinement but is still (hopefully) recognisable as the manipulative filly who tried to take over Equestria. Some authors use 'she had a close friend and they left/died' as part of the justification for Cozy 'breaking bad', but I think she acts much more like someone with natural social talent, but due to circumstances (leading to trauma, leading to mindset) never managed to form a close relationship.

I'm not sure if Pacific Dream qualifies as a 'relationship stu' here - Cozy Glow isn't a main character in MLP:FIM and she doesn't have any canon pairing to disrupt - but regardless of whether you love or hate the TvTropes Mary Sue Classsification System (tm), Pacific is undeniably an implausibly convenient husbando. Maybe Cozy was more right than she realised and he is actually Twilight Sparkle's experimental reformation robot? After all, 'Twilight builds a magitech robot' is a fairly popular premise on FiMfiction...

If you've had enough of Cozy+Pacific, don't worry, the next few chapters focus on other characters.

P.S. One of the major disagreements in the fandom is whether changelings actually transform into other creatures, or just use illusions. I've seen both extremes done well, e.g. Prey is my favourite Ocellus story and in that fanon changelings can turn into anything they've seen, get all the natural & magical abilities of whatever they're imitating, and a few can even do custom chimera forms to combine those abilities. At the other end of the scale, many authors feel this is all hopelessly O.P. and make changeling disguises purely a mental suggestion power, with no physical change or extra abilities. This interpretation was more viable early in the show's run: once the changelings reform and Ocellus shows up there are a lot of scenes that are hard to explain with 'it's just an illusionary disguise'.

There are various compromise positions: here I'm saying that changelings do change shape and do get the purely physical abilities of whatever they're imitating, but not the magical ones. Infiltrators are skilled at using illusions to fake pegasus weather working, dragon breath, non-trivial unicorn magic etc. That's the bare minimum needed to explain why Chrysalis transformed into a cragadile and then a roc in 'Frenemies', when she was climbing the mountain on her own and an illusion would not have been useful.