Love seeketh not itself to please
Cozy Glow found her in her study atop that same tower where Twilight Sparkle had once lived, muzzle buried deep in an old tome that glowed with magical energy.
"Golly, that looks scary," she said, leaning over to glance at the diagrams on the weathered page. “What’s it supposed to do?”
“I think it’s a summoning spell, but I’m not sure for what,” Luster Dawn replied. “I was hoping to figure out some way to bind whatever would appear, but no luck yet.” She looked up at Cozy. “Did you meet with Flurry?”
“Yup.” Cozy pointed at the book. “Is that thing dangerous by itself, or is it just the spells inside I need to watch out for?”
Luster glanced down at the book, looking surprised. “Oh, yeah, don’t worry,” she said, finally seeming to notice the glow. “That’s just a light spell I was using earlier today before the sun came up. Forgot to turn it off.”
“Great!” With a sweep of her hoof, Cozy knocked the book out of Luster’s hooves, then grabbed her face and pulled it towards her for a passionate, possessive kiss, not giving the unicorn time to recover from her shock.
They stayed like that for several minutes, drowning in each other as Cozy held Luster tight, refusing to let go even when she tried to pull away.
Then, magic enveloped Cozy and flung her across the room, pinning her tightly against the wall with enough pressure to drive the air out of her lungs.
“If you did that out of guilt because something happened between you two, I’m going to flay you alive,” Luster said calmly, fixing up her mane with her hoof from where Cozy had mussed it up during the kiss.
Cozy struggled to reply, but the magic choking her was too tight, and it was all she could do to stay conscious as the life drained out from her small body.
Her mouth opened and shut several times in a feeble attempt to beg for air. Luckily, Luster was well-versed in reading her intentions and released her, the pegasus mare gasping to the ground as she coughed and sputtered for breath.
“Stars, you’re paranoid,” Cozy eventually gasped out, glaring at her.
Luster stared at her impassively. “It’s a good trait to have when you've got a teacher who'd entomb us both in stone for what we truly are. Besides, how else would I have noticed the princess sneaking around the palace during this visit?”
“Well, you still got it wrong in the end,” Cozy said smugly, picking herself up off the ground. "Flurry wasn't looking for some dark spell to give herself ultimate power or claim dominion over the world." She trotted over to Luster and booped her on the nose. "She was looking for something to impress her crush with."
Luster raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Yeah, that changes things." Her head tilted towards Cozy. "And were you able to wheedle out the name of the pony she's head over heels for?"
Cozy's lips turned upwards, but her response was nearly hissed through gritted teeth. "It's you, you dummy."
Luster reeled back as if struck. "What?"
"Yeah, and you'd better be thankful I didn't stab her the moment she told me," Cozy replied, reaching out to cup her chin in a vice grip. "I think that deserves a bit of a reward, don't you think?" She forced her lips against Luster's once again, this time meeting far less resistance. “Anyways, since I’m so smart and clever, I managed to improvise,” she added after the kiss.
“So you were successful after all?" Luster asked, an eager smile spreading across her muzzle.
Cozy glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes after what would have been high noon over Canterlot. “I think we’re about to find out real soon.”
As if on cue, there was a frantic banging at the door. "Luster Dawn? Luster Dawn! I need to speak with you immediately!" A familiar voice called out.
"Well, are you going to talk to your new future marefriend?" Cozy asked, at once smug and coldly furious.
Luster hesitantly opened the door. "Princess Flurry Heart, please come in."
Flurry didn't even spare a glance at Cozy, her eyes gazing rapturously upon Luster as she crossed the room in a flash of teleportation, prostrating herself before the unicorn. "Oh, Luster," she whispered, her eyes tearing up as a rictus smile stretched across her lips. "I can't hold it back anymore or else I'm going to burst. I'm in love with you, and I'm yours forever."
Luster raised an eyebrow towards Cozy, but otherwise remained composed in the face of this confession. "Oh?" she simply asked. "And what gave you the courage to confess like this?"
"A spell," Flurry said, still staring at Luster. "I found it in the restricted section of the Archives." She conjured up a notebook and floated it towards Luster. "I’ve adored you since the first time I laid eyes upon you, and I will follow your every command, my lady.” Cozy snickered as Luster professed this information.
“Be quiet for a bit then while I confer with my, ah, associate,” she said quickly, casting a privacy spell around herself and Cozy, her eyes scanning the copy of the ritual from Sombra’s journal.
“Not the spell we agreed on, but I figured this one would work too,” Cozy explained.
Luster’s brow furrowed. “This is one of Sombra’s, and invokes a lot of mind magic, but its true purpose is very deeply hidden.”
“It’s half of the spell he used to take control of another pony by instilling total devotion in them.” Cozy smirked. “It’s missing the half that inverts the effect.”
“I see.” Luster grinned. “So, Princess Flurry tried to bind my heart to her will, and bound herself to my servitude instead. Clever.” She leaned over to kiss Cozy, but pulled back. “Probably best to not test the limits of that devotion yet. At least, not until I can reinforce it properly.”
Flurry stared at the two of them, confused but obedient. The love that shone in her eyes was almost blinding, and made Cozy sick to the stomach to think about. How pathetic.
Luster broke the privacy spell to address the captivated princess once more. “I accept you as mine, Flurry Heart,” she said, and Flurry’s expression lit up into one of pure ecstasy at the declaration. “For now, I want you to keep our relationship a secret, as well as the fact that Cozy is my associate. Act the way you normally would, and don't raise any suspicions.”
“Anything for you,” Flurry replied with a vigorous nod. “I am yours, now and forever. Until the stars themselves burn out.”
“Well, for now, you should get back to wherever you were before and clean up any evidence of the ritual,” Luster commanded. “I assume you came here as soon as it completed?”
Luster nodded.
“Clean it up, then, and then come back in an hour,” Luster said, a clear dismissal.
Flurry bowed in deference, then teleported away.
“Well, that was rude of her,” Cozy commented with a huff. “Didn’t even bother to say hi to the mare who helped her out.”
“I wonder why,” Luster replied dryly, turning her attention back to her lover. "You did good today, Cozy." She reached over for a quick nuzzle. "I'm really happy that you're continuing to be useful."
"I'm happy you're happy," Cozy said, frowning. "Just remember who actually loves you and has failsafes in place all across Equestria in case she disappears."
"Aww, are you jealous?" Luster asked, grinning. "Don't worry, I'm not going to throw you out now that I've got a powerful alicorn at my beck and call. I’ve got plans for you."
"Good." Cozy allowed Luster to kiss her as she spun her own threads of machinations. "I have plans for you too. We're gonna do great things, the two of us, especially now that we've got a princess under our hooves.”
Luster nodded. "A new age for Equestria, and for us."
And so, on this fateful day, the two lovers kissed again, affirming their true love for one another.
Love seeketh only self to please
Cozy Glow found her in the Archives of Canterlot Castle, muzzle buried in the pages of a book bound in real leather.
"A little light reading, princess?" she asked, smiling as Flurry Heart slammed the book shut, guilt clear on her expression.
"You're not supposed to be here," Flurry Heart accused, trying to go on the offensive. "This area is restricted."
"So it is," Cozy agreed. "And of course, as a princess, you have access to this wonderful trove of forbidden knowledge. Still, I wonder what your family would think about you sneaking into this place to read Grogar's works on Applied Necromancy."
"Strictly academic curiosity," Flurry said primly, turning her nose up at Cozy. "My family encourages me to seek out knowledge however I can, and it's important for a princess to understand the ways of her potential enemies."
"You have a point there," Cozy conceded, trotting up and taking a seat next to her on the dusty floor. "So, have you found anything interesting?"
"Plenty," Flurry replied shortly, glaring at Cozy.
"I see." Cozy's smile widened. "You should be careful with what you read in that one, by the way," she said, pointing at the discarded book. "Compare the summoning spell on page sixty-seven in it with page seventy-six in his second volume."
Still suspicious, Flurry nevertheless pulled the other volume from the shelves, flipping through both until she found the relevant pages. After a few minutes of reading, her eyes widened. "He interleaved the ritual between the two volumes, making each side look like the full ritual to anyone who tried to replicate his work without both halves."
"You're a smart one," Cozy said approvingly. "The last pony who tried to cast it didn't figure it out even after a decade of studying." She let out a shudder. "I found him hiding out in Froggy Bottom Bog— what was left of him, anyways."
Flurry shut the book with a loud thud. "Who are you?" she finally demanded, her whole body tensed and ready to fight.
Cozy pressed a hoof against her heart, offended. "Why, I never! Don't they teach ponies anything in schools these days?" She reached out her hoof in greeting. "Cozy Glow, at your service."
Flurry's eyes widened further at that name. "I've heard of you." Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
"You've met me, too, but you were probably a little too young to remember it," Cozy said to the mare who was approximately the same age as her.
"You're supposed to be reformed." Flurry shifted away from Cozy, looking increasingly uncertain.
"I only serve the princesses now," Cozy replied to the unspoken question. "All of them. Which is why I'm here to tell you that your plan will fail, little snowstorm."
Flurry tried to look impassive, but she couldn't hide the moment of shock that painted her face at Cozy's words. "Is this some kind of mind game you're trying to play to get me to confess to you?"
"Just some advice for whatever you may or may not be doing." Cozy reached out for one of the tomes, only to have Flurry slap her hoof away with unexpected strength. "Ouch! You alicorns really do need to be careful, you know. Not all of us are as durable as you or your guards."
"Sorry," Flurry muttered, cheeks reddening in embarrassment.
Cozy waved her off. "Don't worry about it. Anyways, about your plan for world domination..."
Flurry glared at her. "I don't have a plan for world domination."
"Uh-huh." Cozy rolled her eyes. "Okay, so about your plan to conquer Equestria, or— wait, actually, you're from the Crystal Empire, so maybe you just want to usurp your mom's throne?" She tapped a hoof against her chin in thought. "But the Empire's kinda tiny and you could do so much better, you know?"
"I don't want to conquer anything!" Flurry shouted with such vehemence that Cozy actually began to doubt her own assessment.
"You've been sneaking around Canterlot the whole time since your entourage arrived in the city, visiting several very questionable magic shops that supposedly deal with dark magic in secret," Cozy pointed out, almost trying to justify her conclusions to herself as much as to Flurry. "And now I find you reading Grogar in the Archives and looking guilty as a kirin in a burning barn."
"You've been following me?" Flurry asked, eyes narrowing.
"Just trying to be a good citizen and minimize collateral damage," Cozy replied. "So, if it's not dominion you're after, then what?"
For a few seconds, she saw Flurry wrestle with her own thoughts before the alicorn let out a loud sigh. "Well, this is embarrassing," she muttered, blushing even harder.
"Hey, I respect whatever it is you're trying to do," Cozy lied. She would never have been so indecisive. "And as someone who's been around the block, I can probably give you some advice. So, what do you want so much that you're willing to risk disappointing your parents like this?"
Flurry murmured something under her breath, too softly for Cozy to hear.
"Sorry, what?" Cozy asked, leaning in to hear better.
"I said I'm in love with somepony." This time, she could barely make out Flurry's words.
"Oh." At once, Cozy rearranged all the clues in her mind to fit this new narrative. "So who's the lucky mare? Or stallion?" When Flurry didn't speak further, Cozy nudged her with her shoulder. "C'mon, I promise to keep your secret. I'm really good at that, y'know?"
Another minute of internal debate, and then Flurry finally answered. "It's Luster Dawn."
Cozy froze, her own shock now clearly showing before she forcibly tamped it down. "Huh," she said noncommittally. "I guess you princesses like to aim high, and Twilight's student is probably about as high as you can get without it being incest."
Flurry stuck out her tongue at that. "Eww." She shook her head, as if to try to rid herself of some unwanted mental images. "And it's not like I like her because of her position."
Cozy raised an eyebrow. "So you'd still like her if she was some random student at CSGU?"
"Well, we might not have met if that was the case," Flurry allowed. "But if we had, then yes. I'm sure I would still have found her beautiful and smart and beautiful and witty and beautiful."
"How eloquent," Cozy commented dryly through gritted teeth.
"I'm a princess, not a poet," Flurry shot back. "I can't compose a song to win Luster's heart, but I know she loves magic, and if I can find something sufficiently captivating, then she’ll certainly love me back.”
“You seem very sure about that.” Cozy sidled in closer. "Twilight's student doesn't seem like the type to be easily impressed."
"I'm aware." Flurry turned away. "I... I'm not used to being the one trying to woo somepony."
Cozy smirked. "That's some rotten luck for you, huh? Almost anypony else would kill to have a princess fawning over them." She reached out to cup Flurry's chin, her voice dropping low and sultry. "I know I would."
Flurry pulled away, a sour look on her expression. "I'm not interested in you," she said pointedly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to continue my search for something that will secure the heart of the one who has captured mine."
"You know, there's another option..." Cozy grabbed another book from the shelves, emblazoned with a cutie mark that she knew Flurry would recognize. "I assume the daughter of Princess Cadance herself would know a thing or two about the types of magic that work on the heart itself."
Flurry sucked in a breath as she beheld the journal. "We don't talk about those spells," she said quietly.
"Your mom uses 'those spells' all the time, though," Cozy pointed out.
"She uses spells that remind ponies of the love they already have for each other," Flurry countered. "Luster barely knows who I am."
"It's mind magic no matter how hard you try to pretend it isn't." Cozy pushed the journal towards her. "Sombra's spells were based off of Princess Amore's. Which means you should be particularly well-suited to casting them. Or maybe being a good mage doesn’t actually run in the family.”
“It’s not a question of ability, but morality,” Flurry said, her eyes lingering on the journal. "I'm going to win Luster's heart without descending into evil."
"She says, while sneaking around and searching through books on dark magic." Cozy leaned in to whisper conspiratorially into Flurry's ear. "Let's face it, you're interested in this stuff, and you're not as good as the other princesses, are you?"
The young alicorn's look of shame was enough for Cozy to push on. "So what happens if you fail, huh?" she asked, dripping more poison into her mind. "What if your best isn't enough? Luster Dawn's the student of the Element of Magic— you think she hasn't seen a dark ritual before?"
"I—" Flurry faltered. "There has to be something here," she said desperately.
"And if there isn't?" Cozy asked again. "Or if you're wrong about the kind of magic she's into? Are you willing to take that risk for a mare you love? I thought princesses weren't supposed to be selfish, but I guess I was wrong."
That line confused Flurry. "What?"
"If you think you're what's best for her, then you should do everything you can to make sure you end up together, right?" Cozy affected a casual air as she spun out her fantasy. "Otherwise, she might end up with somepony else, sharing her heart's desires and pressing soft kisses against some other mare's neck as—"
"Silence!" The words weren't particularly loud, but Flurry let out an emotional burst of magical energy that flung Cozy back as she silenced the pegasus.
Cozy quickly righted herself in midair before flitting back towards Flurry. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to hit a nerve," she lied. "I'll leave you alone now, princess." She turned to make her way towards the exit, before throwing out her final hook.
"You might find the spell on page thirty-five of that journal interesting, though. It lets you bind somepony's heart to yours, to instill total devotion. Which is how the two of you will end up anyways, right? So it's no big deal, when you really think about it— just a little more powerful than the love spells your mom normally casts.
She waved as she stepped around a corner and out of sight. "Anyways, bye, and good luck with Luster!"
