Anonfilly saves Cozy - Author Unknown


                                            >Twilight looks down at the little filly and blinks, processing what has just been said.

                                            >She's still getting into the swing of hosting her own court, but she thought she was getting the hang of hearing her subjects' requests or problems, and hashing out solutions, but this...

                                            "Excuse me?" Twilight asks.

                                            >The filly responds in a squeaky voice, "I want to discuss the imprisonment of Cozy Glow."

                                            >Her wings ruffle at her side, green and still spattered with the downy feathers of foalhood.

                                            >It makes her age hard to determine, as she looks too old to still have such feathers, clashing with her confident and clear way of speaking.

                                            "Right," Twilight says, looking to the side at her friend.

                                            >She likes to have at least one of them present during court to serve as advisors, and today has Rainbow Dash beside her.

                                            >She meets her gaze and shrugs, so Twilight continues.

                                            "What do you want to discuss?" she asks haltingly.

                                            >"Do you plan on ever freeing her from the stone?"

                                            >A frown tugs at her lips.

                                            "I'm afraid not, Miss-"

                                            >"Anonymous is fine."

                                            "Is that your name or...?"

                                            >"Might as well be. You can call me Anon for short. Anyway, so if you don't plan on releasing her, why not just kill her outright?"

                                            "What?!"

                                            >"Yeah, I mean, she's not conscious in their, right?"

                                            "No, but why would I kill her?"

                                            >"Why not? What's the difference between being dead and being petrified forever? It frankly just seems irresponsible if anything. Like, since when has a banishment or imprisonment ever held forever, anyway? Seems inevitable that something somewhere down the line will end up freeing those three, and you'll probably get caught off guard when that happens, so why not play it safe?"

                                            "We do not execute prisoners in Equestria," Twilight says sternly.

                                            >"Attempted pretrification forever seems close enough, but whatever. I don't really care, just pointing out the obvious. I didn't come here for that, anyway. do what you want with the other two, but I believe Cozy Glow should be freed."

                                            >"That kid nearly destroyed Equestria!" Rainbow says with a glare. "Why would we do that?"

                                            >"Because she's harmless without the element of surprise or stronger bad guys helping her," the filly says with a shrug. "And she's a kid. If you need a more logical reason though, then she's a normal pony with a normal lifespan, so if you just put her in a regualr prison, she'll eventually die of old age and then you don't have to worry about her getting loose in, like, a thousand years and causing problems."

                                            >She sniffs and adds, "Unless you don't think Equestria is up to the task of containing one regular pony for sixty or seventy years. With how dumb the guards are, that might be true."

                                            "Young filly, I don't know what your parents have been teaching you, but it's not nice to call others dumb."

                                            >Anon rolls her eyes.

                                            >"Whatever. Are you going to free her or not?"

                                            "Cozy Glow will stay where she is," Twilight says with narrowed eyes.

                                            >Who is this filly?

                                            >A friend of Cozy's?

                                            >An ally, maybe?


                                            >"That so? Out of curiosity, did Cozy ever get a proper trial, because if not, she's entitled to one, you know."

                                            >"Why would she be?" Rainbow asks angrily, causing the filly to glare back at her.

                                            >She speaks as if to a foal as she answers, "Because it's literally Equestrian law, you idiot."

                                            >Twilight opens her mouth to reprimand the filly again, but pauses as she thinks that over.

                                            >It's... technically true.

                                            "That might be so, but you do understand that there isn't a jury in Equestria that would find her not guilty, correct? She wouldn't go free for long."

                                            >"Yeah, this kingdom is kinda messed up. Especially your law books," Anon agrees with a sage nod. "That's why it's taken me like two years to read through all that crap, and it's also why, since Cozy hasn't gotten a trial yet, that I'm taking it upon myself to demand one for her, and to defend her."

                                            "You need a law degree to defend another in court," Twilight says with a furrowed brow.

                                            >"Not for trial by combat, anyone can step forward to champion for another."

                                            "Trial by what?" Twilight asks, bewildered. "Equestria doesn't have trial by combat!"

                                            >"Actually, it does, as of subsection two of the Arowatch doctrine."

                                            >Arowatch? Isn't that some old Pegalopolis thing?" Rainbow says. "That's ancient history."

                                            >"Mhm, but since Pegalopis was absorbed by Cloudsdale, which then became part of Equestria, their laws were never technically removed. Something about keeping some pegasus nobles happy I think," Anon says, ponderously, then shrugs. "Regardless, it's legal, so I'm doing it."

                                            >"This is ridiculous," Twilight says. "Even if this is true, which I'll be looking into soon enough, do you really think you can beat any pony I choose for you to fight?"

                                            >"Yep!" the filly says, easily. "You'd be surprised at just what I'm capable of."

                                            >"Kid, you look like a strong wind could blow you out of the sky," Dash says flatly.

                                            >"Yeah? And yet you're all afraid of Cozy Glow, a little filly. Maybe looks are deceiving," Anon says, meeting Rainbow's eyes unflinchingly, a smirk pulling at her lips. "Maybe you'll find out what I really am if you end up being my opponent, eh? It'd be a shame if your Wonderbolt career got ended so soon because Twilight decided to let you fight her battles for her."

                                            >The filly licks her lips and her posture almost becomes predatory as she continues in a deeper tone, "I've always loved wing-meat, after all..."

                                            >Twilight's wings flare and she stands, eyes hard.

                                            >"I'd be the one to fight you. Do you really think you can defeat an alicorn?"

                                            >The filly smiles wider.

                                            >"Nothing would make me happier, Princess. So when's the fight?"


                                            >And so it was that Twilight had to explain to her friends that she has agreed to a duel with a filly the next day at high noon.

                                            >Rainbow, bless her loyal heart, tried to help her make her case.

                                            >"Seriously, this kid is weird with a capital 'W"!" Rainbow says. "Like, she was looking at me like a timberwolf looks at a rabbit for a second there."

                                            "And she was dropping some serious hints, too," Twilight defends.

                                            >"Yeah? Hints about what?" Applejack asks skeptically.

                                            >"That she's not a filly at all."

                                            >"What else could she be?" Rarity interjects. "The changelings are good now, and if she were an unreformed one, surely she'd care more for freeing Chrysalis than Cozy Glow."

                                            >"Um, if she is just a little filly, you aren't going to hurt her, are you?" Fluttershy asks.

                                            >Twilight rolls her eyes.

                                            "If that is the case, then of course not. Why would I have to? I'll just pin her with magic until she gives up. It will be eas-"

                                            >"Twilight is it true you're going to fight that cutie little green filly tomorrow?!" Pinkie declares as she bursts into the map room of the Friendship Castle.

                                            >"Pinkie? I thought you weren't out of work for another hour?"

                                            >"I wasn't, but Mrs. Cake let me go early to find out if what the filly is saying is true, and that if it is, I'm supposed to send you her way so she can yell at you for threatening foals."

                                            "What?! She challenged me!"

                                            >"So it's true?"

                                            "Wait, what's Anon saying?"

                                            >"She's at the center of town telling every pony to come to Whitetail Woods to see her kick your butt. She seems really confident."

                                            "Why that little-"

                                            >"Twilight! She's a child!"

                                            "Possibly a child, Rarity, and she's trying to free one of Equestria's greatest villains."

                                            >"That is a might bit strange," Applejack concedes. "Wonder why that is?"

                                            >"Ooh! Maybe she's Cozy's foalhood friend, or-or maybe she's Cozy's sister!" Pinkie supplies. "If Marble was turned to stone, even for doing something super bad, I'd still try and help her."

                                            >Rarity and Applejack share a concerned look, then turn to Twilight.

                                            >"Um, Twilight, darling, Cozy Glow doesn't have any siblings, right?"

                                            "No," Twilight says, then stops herself, looking flustered. "I mean, I don't know. I, and the ponies I've tasked with looking into her, have yet to actually figure out where Cozy Glow came from."

                                            >"So she could be Cozy's sister," Rarity says.

                                            >"Oh dear, that's so sad," Fluttershy says, holding her mane and stroking it.

                                            "Could be," Twilight says with a stomp. "Or she could be a monster, or a co-conspirator! Come on, girls, don't let her turn us on each other. I'll beat her in our duel tomorrow without hurting her, then we'll get to the bottom of this, alright?"

                                            >"You know best, Ah guess. Just be careful."

                                            "Of course I will be. Even if she's something more than meets the eye, I'll still win. I've been taking classes with Tempest, and Dash says I'm getting better with my wings."

                                            >"Yeah, she can almost fly as well as I could when I was twelve years old."

                                            >"Gee, thanks."


                                            >"Hey, that's a compliment."

                                            >"With how full of herself she is, I think she means it."

                                            >"I'm not full of myself, I'm just that awesome."

                                            "Regardless, there's nothing to worry about. I can handle with Anon filly just fine, and if I can't, well, I'll have you all there to help me. If three of Equestria's worst villains couldn't beat us, this one filly won't be able to."

                                            >"I hope you're right, Twilight..." Fluttershy mutters.


                                            >Twilight's confidence takes a blow when she arrives at the agreed upon location for her dual when she sees the large crowd of ponies that had gathered there.

                                            >It seems Anon had been quite busy spreading the word the day before, and Twilight saw more than a few judgmental gazes being leveled her way.

                                            >Why are they looking at her like that?

                                            >She's not the one trying to free a known criminal!

                                            >She's trying to protect these ponies!

                                            >... By beating up a little filly.

                                            >Twilight is really starting to hate this Anonymous pony, whatever her name really is.

                                            >She almost hopes that she's actually a monster in disguise, not only so others will stop judging her like some sort of foal beater, but also so she can get the satisfaction of blasting said monster in the face.

                                            >Speaking of.

                                            "I'm kind of surprised you showed up," Twilight calls as the filly touches down clumsily from a flight.

                                            >Twilight looks up to see the cloud the little pony descended from, then down at the filly rubbing at her eyes and eating the last of what looks to be a granola bar.

                                            >Did she sleep here last night?

                                            >Why wouldn't I?" Anon calls back.

                                            "I was hoping you were just doing this to impress some schoolmates or something," Twilight answers. "And that you hoped I wouldn't have actually agreed to the duel so you wouldn't have to fight me."

                                            >"You wish," she shouts back as the crowd murmurs among themselves. "I'm here to fix your mistake and set Cozy Glow free."

                                            It wasn't a mistake, and she's not going free," Twilight says determinedly. "The sooner this match is over, the sooner you'll hopefully see that."

                                            >"Sounding pretty confident," Anon calls back. "Looking forward to beating up a little filly that much? Guess I shouldn't be surprised considering what we're even fighting over."

                                            >The crowd's murmuring picks up, and Twilight feels her cheeks burn red as she scowls.

                                            "Let's just outline the rules of our match and get on with it."

                                            >"Sure thing," Anon says agreeably. "Rule one, no magic."

                                            "What?! Why not?"

                                            >"Because it would be unfair otherwise. I don't have a horn. Besides, it's an old pegasus law, right? Why not honor tradition?"

                                            >Twilight scowls.

                                            "I read up on the law last night, and there are no rules against using magic."

                                            >"Sure, but the law wasn't written with alicorns fighting regular pegasi in mind. Besides, do you really need the advantage that much?" Anon calls back in challenge. "You're what? Three times my age and four times my size. You need to have magic too? Are you a coward, or just that petty?"

                                            >The crowd's tone becomes disapproving.


                                            >Twilight grinds her teeth, eyes flicking to the ponies to see that the only ones not giving her dirty looks are her friends.

                                            Stepping forward so they can't hear, she asks in a lower tone, "That logic only works if you're a real filly, right? What if you turn into some sort of monster or you're an alicorn in disguise? Am I still expected to not use my magic then?"

                                            >The filly merely rolls her eyes.

                                            >"Paranoid much? Tell you what, though, if you agree to not use any magic, I can guarantee that how I am now is how I'll be the entire match. No transformations or secret horn. That sound fair to you?"

                                            >Twilight breathes through her nose, but nods jerkily.

                                            "Fine," she calls out a little louder. "I won't use any magic on threat of forfeit. The end of the match will be determined when one of us surrenders or is unable to continue fighting."

                                            >"Sounds good to me," Anon agrees, holding up a hoof. "Let the best pony win."

                                            >Twilight stares at the hoof for a second, then reaches out to meet it, her own hoof eclipsing the smaller one of the filly.

                                            "Let's just get this over with."

                                            >Then the filly leaps into the air and hovers, reeling her hoof back with a smirk.

                                            >"One-hundred percent agree," she says, and the next thing Twilight knows, a hoof is colliding with her cheek.

                                            >She stumbles back, more out of shock than actual pain as the crowd gasps.

                                            >Blinking her eyes, she sees the filly already ascending higher into the sky, and she growls, wings flaring out to give chase.

                                            >Anon is just reaching the treeline as Twilight rockets up to meet her, intending to grab the brat in a movement constricting bear hug and demanding she surrender, but then Anon's wings clamp to her side and she enters free fall.

                                            >Twilight is dumbfounded for all of one-point-five seconds before an elbow drops into her left eye.

                                            >Unlike the pitiful punch from earlier, this hurts like Tartarus and she screams.

                                            >Anon rolls off of her face as herwings spring back open.

                                            >Holding her no-doubt rapidly swelling eye, Twilight watches with her watering one as the filly clumsily rights herself in the air and turns to look at her with a smile.

                                            >She sticks her tongue out and blows a raspberry, and Twilight screams.

                                            >Flying forward, she reels her hoof back and sends it right into the shocked face of the filly, who's sent hurdling backwards with a yelp.

                                            >Twilight is breathing heavily as she watches Anon drop several feet down before eventually returning to a hover.

                                            >There are surprised gasps from below and Twilight's eyes widen upon getting a good look at the filly, who's head is hanging down, allowing twin streams of blood to pour from her nostrils unto the ground.

                                            >"Dang, you really didn't hold back, did you?" Anon says in a nasally voice, wiping fruitlessly at her face and smearing her foreleg with blood. "I guess I can't act surprised, considering I'm the one who picked this fight."

                                            >She looks up to glare at the princess as she adds, "I'm still pissed off though."


                                            >Then she unleashes a battle cry and flies forward at, what Twilight has to admit, isn't a very impressive speed.

                                            >The sight of blood has diminished much of Twilight's ire and is making her more than a little squeamish, so she doesn't outright smack the filly away, putting up her hooves to instead create some distance between the two.

                                            >Instead, Anon matches onto one of her forelegs and bites down.

                                            >Twilight yelps in pain and instinctively smacks at her attacker with her other leg, hitting her on top of the head and causing her to bite down harder.

                                            >Twilight begins to flail, and Anon, who weighs barely anything, is whipped about in the air, eventually coming loose to soar a few feet higher up.

                                            >Then she comes down in a graceless heap onto Twilight's back, and doesn't hesitate to sink her teeth into a bundle of wing muscles between Twilight's shoulders.

                                            >Anger now returned, Twilight releases another scream, both of anger ,and pain, and rolls midair.

                                            >Losing her grip, Anon falls off, and is struck by one of Twilight's blindly thrown kicks.

                                            >There's a pained grunt, and as Twilight rights herself, she spots the filly hovering with jerking descends towards a nearby cloud, which she collapses upon in a heap, panting.

                                            >Twilight has to resist the urge to fly after her and deliver another kick, instead catching her breath as Anon gets up and turns to glare at her, one of her wings hanging limply at her side.

                                            >The sight gives Twilight pause, looking at a small filly with an injured wing and nose that's still dripping blood.

                                            "Just give up!" she tries. "Look at you! You're clearly not going to win! Cozy Glow isn't worth all of this trouble."

                                            >Lips forming a thin line, Anon glare a few seconds, then lets out a huff.

                                            >"You really think that, huh?" she say,s looking off to the side. "You sentence a child to eternal imprisonment and then pat yourself on the back like you're a big hero. Can't blame you, I guess, what with all those folks down there cheering you on when you did it."

                                            >She says this as she steps closer to the edge to look down at the crowd.

                                            >"All those ponies, and not one of them questions whether or not that was the right thing to do. Maybe it is pointless then, for me to try and be the voice of reason in this insane kingdom."

                                            >Twilight is confused now as the filly rambles.

                                            >"You're all perfectly happy to take a kids life, just because the alternative, of actually trying to help her, is too much work for you. I must be a real nuisance then, right? Little old Anon, rocking the boat. How long before you turn me to stone I wonder?"

                                            "I wouldn't-" Twilight tries to say, but freezes as she sees Anon step even closer to the edge, part of the cloud breaking off under her hoof.

                                            >The filly looks at her limp wing, then up to her and shakes her head.

                                            >"I'm done. Let's save everyone the trouble, you won't have to deal with me, and I won't have to live in a dystopia."

                                            "Anon, whatever you're thinking, you don't need to do it," Twilight says slowly.


                                            >"No I... I think I do," she filly replies tiredly, shoulders slumped before she manages to flash a small smile up at the princess. "At least I can go out knowing I gave a tyrant a real shiner. I hope someone down there has a camera to immortalize that black eye, and has the thought to snap the picture instead of gawking at a dead pony."

                                            >Then she takes another step forward, and begins to plummet, good wing held tight to her side while the injured one flaps about like a windsock.

                                            >Twilight is on the move before the ponies below even know what's going on, but she still isn't fast enough.

                                            >There's a scream of horror as someone seems to realize, and Twilight is pushing her wings as hard as she can, but she can tell she won't reach the filly in time.

                                            >Her wings can't carry her fast enough, but her horn can reach.

                                            >A lavender glow ignites and wraps around Anon, slowing her descend slowly, but just enough to stop her a few feet away from the unforgiving ground.

                                            >Twilight doesn't come to as gentle a halt as she the other, landing hard and sending soil into the air and jolts of pain up her legs.

                                            Panting, she starts to yell, "What is wrong with you?! Are you insane?!"

                                            >Anon, who's floating gently in Twilight's magic, smiles, her limp wing suddenly folding up easily against her side.

                                            >"Insane? No. The winner of the duel? Oh yeah."

                                            >Twilight blinks stupidly.

                                            "What?"

                                            >Anon reaches forward and boops the mare on the nose.

                                            >"The rules of our little match, remember? If you use magic, you forfeit, and in case you haven't noticed..."

                                            >She gestures around herself and the glow enveloping her.

                                            >Twilight stares in disbelief.

                                            "You... You tricked me! That was all just an act!"

                                            >Anon slow claps.

                                            >"Congratulations, Twi, you're not a complete idiot... Or maybe you are. You were just outsmarted by a filly, after all. Maybe Equestria should be worried about that."

                                            She shrugs.

                                            >"Welp, not my problem. I'm more concerned with hashing out Cozy Glow's parole. We're going to need a place to stay once she's no longer stone, after all."

                                            >Twilight's eye twitches and she's very sorely tempted to toss this filly as far away as she can with her magic.

                                            >If only this crowd wasn't watching them, all of whom are clapping and cheering Anon on.

                                            >Come on!

                                            >She's the bad guy, remember?!

                                            >Twilight feels a headache coming on.

                                            >She guesses it's true.

                                            >Everypony loves an underdog, even when they're little scheming brats.

                                            >She feels her headache getting worse.

                                            >And now's there's going to be two of them on the loose.

                                            >Equestria is doomed.

                                            >"Oh hey, is that Nurse Redheart? Hey Nurse! You mind helping me over here? I'm still leaking like a facet!"

                                            >Twilight relinquishes the filly to the medical pony, who gives her a glare as she ushers her latest patient off for treatment.

                                            >Her friends come up to talk to her, but she holds up a hoof.

                                            "I'm going home," she grumbles. "We'll talk later."

                                            >For now, she needs to go scream her frustrations out into a pillow.


                                            >Twilight had a headache the next day.

                                            >Putting off her royal duties the day before, not just for the dual, but also directing her investigators to expand their search to include an additional filly's origin, then trying and failing to calm down, meant she had to do a lot of catching now.

                                            >And her left eye still having trouble focusing is only compounding the issue.

                                            >Doing paperwork all morning, then court for several hours left her wanting nothing more than to go take a nap, but here friends show up wanting to discuss the previous day's events.

                                            >"Dang, she really messed your eye up," Rainbow says eloquently. "That filly can scrap."

                                            >"If I'd known it was so bad, I'd have brought a makeup kit," Rarity adds, wincing as she looks at the puffy black eye of her friend.

                                            "If you're just going to make comments about my face, I could be using this time for better things," Twilight grumbles.

                                            >"Sorry, Twi, we all get you're probably a might bit upset right now-"

                                            "A might? I'm furious!" Twilight snaps at Applejack. "Not only did I get humiliated and tricked by a foal, but she managed to make me look like I was the bad mare in front of the whole town!"

                                            >"And now we've got to let Cozy Glow free, too!" Pinkie chimes in. "Boy, I don't think I've ever been so conflicted on what kind of party to throw before. Congratulations on being freed, or sorry we had to free a baddy?"

                                            >"It's not so bad," Fluttershy mumbles, getting all eyes turned to her, causing her to blush and shrink into herself. "Um, Anon was in the park all morning, answering questions, and I sort of listened."

                                            "She was?" Twilight asks, surprised as she looks around the room, getting shrugs.

                                            >"I was doin' chores," Applejack says.

                                            >"Breakfast rush at Sugarcube Corner," Pinkie says with a grin.

                                            >"Why would I get up before noon on my day off?" says Dash.

                                            >"And a mare needs her beauty sleep," Rarity agrees.

                                            Twilight rolls her eyes at her friends' poor prioritizing skills before she looks back at Fluttershy and asks, "What kind of stuff was she saying?"

                                            >"Well, a lot of ponies were sort of upset about Cozy Glow being freed too, but Anon wasn't mad. She talked about how, even though Cozy Glow is disturbed, that doesn't make her a monster, and, um, that foals need to be taught to be good, not punished and never given a chance."

                                            >She starts tapping her front hooves together.

                                            >"She started talking about something called brain plasticity and how it's actually easier for foals to change than adults, and that if ponies like Princess Luna and Starlight Glimmer can reform, then Cozy Glow definitely can. Nurse Redheart even showed up and agreed about the science stuff, which got a lot of ponies to start listening to what Anon had to say."

                                            >"Well that's a load of hooey," Applejack comments confidently, then starts to look uncertain. "... Right?"

                                            >Twilight rolls what she's just heard around in her head for a few moments, then sighs.

                                            "It's true that foals can learn and pickup skills far faster than adults."


                                            >"Oh..." is all Applejack can say in response to that, causing Twilight to hastily continue.

                                            "But I don't know if that applies for behavioral alterations. It's not like I've studied foal psychology in depth."

                                            >"I'm sure we don't have anything to worry about," Pinkie says. "Back before we locked Cozy up in Tartarus and threw away the key, I'm sure Twilight and the other princesses consulted an expert of foal psychology, right?"

                                            >Twilight's ears pin to her head.

                                            "Um, actually, Princess Luna is the one who pressed forward with that decision on the spot. We just sort of... went along with it."

                                            >Pinkie blinks a few times, but quickly smiles again.

                                            >"Of course! Luna must be an expert, then! Who'd of thought psychology stuff was so well known a thousand years ago!"

                                            "Actually the field of psychology is relatively new, only really getting attention in the last hundred years. I, ah, remember having a talk with Luna about how, had they had psychiatrists a thousand years ago that she could have talked to, that she probably wouldn't have become Nightmare Moon."

                                            >"Oh... But she's really into it now and has been reading up lots because of that!"

                                            "... She's been mostly catching up with all the things she missed... And getting together an Equestrian Postal Service fanclub."

                                            >"She even sent me an invite to that... Oh! But Celestia's an expert, right?!"

                                            >Twilight feels like if her head drops any further, her chin will be touching the floor.

                                            "She's actually come under fire since stepping down from the throne about the practices of her School for Gifted Unicorns. The entrance exam was designed to stress applicants, usually under the age of eight, to see how they handle it."

                                            >"If I recall, wasn't there some articles suggesting your, ah, particular neurosis are a direct result to Celestia's teaching methods?" Rarity adds uncomfortably. "And the name of her previous student was being thrown around as well with her still being officially missing..."

                                            At Twilight's flinch, she quickly adds, "Not that I or any reasonable pony would believe such rags! Who even reads the New Yoke Times?"

                                            "I'll admit, there's been some policy reforms to her school in the last few years," Twilight confesses. "And there has been a noticeable reduction and mental breakdowns and burnouts as a result among the students."

                                            >Pinkie re-enters the conversation with, "Alright, so the other Princesses aren't the best ponies to ask about foal brain stuff, but at least YOU'VE talked to experts since turning her to stone and they agreed that it was the right call!"

                                            >Twilight remains silent, and Pinkie's smile strains.

                                            >"Right, Twilight?"

                                            >When Twilight still doesn't answer, Pinkie's ears droop and she turns to Fluttershy.

                                            >"I don't suppose Discord is super knowledgeable about foals, is he?"

                                            >Fluttershy looks away, and Pinkie slumps.

                                            >"Are... Are we the baddies this time?"

                                            >Rainbow opens her mouth to shout, but a knock at the door stops her.

                                            >Twilight gets up to open the door and reveal a guard.


                                            "What is it? If it's a petitioner, tell them they'll have to come back tomorrow when court reopens."

                                            >"No, Princess, it's Anonymous, she's come wishing to speak with you," he answers. "I know you asked not to be disturbed, but-"

                                            "No, you were right to tell me. Send her to the throne room and I'll be there momentarily."

                                            >Of course, your highness."

                                            >As the stallion makes his leave, Twilight looks to her friends in determination.

                                            "I think it's time I get some answers. You girls in?"

                                            >Of course they are, and soon the six mares are sitting in the large seats withing the throne room Twilight had set out for them, all thrones in their own right as Twilight saw her friends as equals.

                                            >They have barely settled in when the guard reappears, little Anon trailing behind him.

                                            >The filly nods at the guard, who returns the gesture before taking his leave, and the filly is left to be looked down upon by six pairs of eyes.

                                            >"Sup?" she asks with a lazy wave, posture relaxed. "Didn't think I'd be seeing the whole crew."

                                            "Whatever you need to say can be said in front of them," Twilight says evenly. "And besides, I know we've all become very curious about you, Anonymous, if that is your real name."

                                            "Oh, it's not, but I haven't settled on a name I like yet," Anon says with a shrug. "I've been thinking Green Hornet, what do you think?"

                                            Twilight absently runs a hoof under her black eye and grumbles, "Fits pretty well, I'd say. You're a violent little thing."

                                            >"What about your real name?" Applejack cuts in with narrowed eyes. "The one yer parents gave ya?"

                                            >Anon shrugs.

                                            >"Don't know it. Never met 'em and they didn't leave a note with the orphanage. The matron calls me Green Bean, but that doesn't fit."

                                            >Fluttershy looks at the filly in sadness and asks, "You're an orphan?"

                                            >"No, I just volunteer there on the weekends," Anon says snarkily. "Of course I am."

                                            "Which one," Twilight asks. "I hope you don't take offense, but I want to confirm your story."

                                            >"I'm hurt that you think I'd lie to you."

                                            >"You said just a couple days ago that you wanted to eat my wings," Rainbow Dash points out angrily. "We aren't even sure you're actually a pony yet."

                                            >Anon rolls her eyes.

                                            >"Of course I'm a pony, I was just saying stuff like that to make sure Twilight would be the one who would fight me. She might not have the best moral compass, but I know she's a good friend and would rather put herself in danger than one of you. If she believed I was some sort of monster in disguise then she wouldn't want to risk one of you fighting me."

                                            >Twilight blinks in surprise, then scowls.

                                            "Honesty is one of the Elements of Harmony for a reason, you know."

                                            >"Well, you weren't giving me a lot of options," Anon shoots back. "You made it pretty clear you weren't going to free Cozy Glow any other way, and my best chance of winning a duel with an adult was tricking you like I did. I'd say it was justified."

                                            "Why do you even care so much about her?" Twilight snaps. "Who is she to you?"

                                            >"An acquaintance."


                                            >The glib reply only deepens Twilight's frown, already anticipating the run-around the filly is going to put her through.

                                            "From where?" she says tightly.

                                            >"We both lived in the Bright Side Orphanage in Hayseed Junction."

                                            >That causes Twilight to lean back in surprise.

                                            "Um, what?" she begins then shakes her head and narrows her eyes. "That can't be the truth. I've had letters sent out to all orphanages in Equestria asking if a pony matching Cozy Glow's description was familiar, and they all said she wasn't."

                                            >"Don't know what to tell you, except that maybe I'm not the only one who apparently needs a refresher about the importance of honesty."

                                            "But why would any pony lie about that?!" Twilight nearly yells.

                                            >Anon merely rubs her chin in thought.

                                            >"Well... I do remember the matron acting pretty nervous for a couple weeks after Cozy Glow ended up in the newspapers. I never bothered talking to her about it, but if I were to make an educated guess, I'd say she was afraid that she and the orphanage as a whole would be held responsible for Cozy's actions."

                                            >"Why would she be afraid of something like that?" Rarity asks. "As long as there was no actual wrong doing on their part, I doubt this matron would have been arrested or any such thing."

                                            >Anon looks at her and answers, "Sure, but ponies do tend to let their worries get the better of them and blow things out of proportion. Besides, she might have been afraid that ponies would think it was how the orphanage raises the foals in its care that led to Cozy turning out the way she did. If that ended up being the case, and considering that they rely on funding from the crown to operate, the orphanage might have ended up closed down. Now that I'm thinking about it, potential parents looking to adopt might be worried about getting a foal from a place Cozy was raised at, too, making it harder for the other foals there to be adopted."

                                            >Anon shrugs.

                                            >"I'm just speculating, but it makes a certain amount of sense, doesn't it?"

                                            >Rarity nods slowly, looking concerned.

                                            >"Yes... yes it does."

                                            >Applejack rubs the back of her head and looks away.

                                            >"Ah'll admit ta thinkin' somerthin' similar in the past. Ah remember askin' myself how a filly the same age as ma sister could turn out like that, and eventually settled on it bein' the fault of whoever raised her. Figured if'n Ah ever found whoever that was, I'd give 'em a kick for it, too."

                                            Anon huffs a short laugh.

                                            >"Matron Kettle might be kinda strict at times with the chores, but I wouldn't say she's a bad caregiver."

                                            >As Twilight listens, she tells herself that she'll be sending out a letter to confirm the filly's story as soon as their talk is over, and yet she finds herself believing Anon all the same.

                                            >Even the logic provided makes sense to Twilight the more she thinks about it, and she's embarrassed she never thought of that possibility to explain just why she was having so much trouble tracking down Cozy Glow's origins.


                                            "So you two grew up together, became friends, and now you're trying to help her," Twilight speculates, but Anon shakes her head.

                                            >"Nah, I already said we were acquaintances, not friends. Sure we grew up together, and Cozy tried a few times to butter me up, but Cozy Glow isn't really one for making friends. She'd rather have minions."

                                            >Anon sighs a bit dejectedly, a wry smile on her lips.

                                            >"It always bugged the crap out of her that I saw through her cutsie shtick. All the other foals in the orphanage thought she was their best friend, but in reality they were just a source of extra dessert and hooves to pawn her chores off on. The fact that I never joined that fan club caused me all sorts of headaches if I'm being honest."

                                            >"Did she bully you?" Twilight asks with a furrowed brow, now more confused on just why Anon seemed so intent on helping the other filly.

                                            >Anon shakes her head.

                                            >"She didn't have to really do anything when her little cult was more than happy to ostracize the odd one out. From their perspective, Cozy was the nicest pony there was and was friends with everyone, and so her not being friends with me must have meant I was bad, right?"

                                            >She smiles sardonically as she says, "The apology card they all signed after Cozy got turned to stone was a nice gesture, and the bits from their pooled allowances are what got me a ticket here, so I told them all was forgiven."

                                            >"Wait, if Cozy Glow caused you all these problems, why are you here trying to free her now?" Dash asks, voicing the same question they all have. "Shouldn't you be happy she got what was coming to her?"

                                            >Anon frowns at her and answers, "Would you be happy if you found out Gilda got turned to stone?"

                                            >Rainbow Dash's wings flare as she leans back, eyes wide, then narrows them.

                                            >"Of course not! She's my friend."

                                            >"Sure she is now, but I remember reading in that friendship journal you all published about when she came to visit you and ended up leaving on bad terms. What about then? Had something terrible happened to her back before you made up, even if she brought it on herself, would you have been happy to hear about it?"

                                            >"No!" she answers automatically, then looks uncertain. "I mean, I was really mad at her back then, but, like, I knew her since we were little and It's not like she was all bad even before we made up, and just..."

                                            >She trails off, and Anon picks up, "If anything, even if she was bad then, she's better now, and it's because she got that chance to change. I want Cozy to have that chance, because just like with you and Gilda, I've known her long enough to know she's not all bad."

                                            >Anon looks up at the ceiling as if remembering back.

                                            >"Even if she was only using them, it doesn't change the fact that she made the other foals at Bright Side happier. She was a shoulder to cry on, someone who would listen to their problems and give advice. Honestly, I even think she saved a life back then for one of the other fillies by being their when they needed a friend."


                                            >She looks back at them with a lopsided grin and adds, "I think she deserves another chance for that alone, wouldn't you say?"

                                            >The girls all share a look, long years of friendship allowing them to come to an agreement without words, and with a subtle nod, Twilight stands and descends the stairs.

                                            >Anon raises a brow, but gets to her hooves just in time for Twilight to lay a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

                                            "Anon, since I've met you, I've been nothing but surprised, and I've been made to question myself and my beliefs more than once. Truthfully, I'm not fully comfortable with freeing Cozy Glow, but considering how many times you've proven my assumptions wrong so far, maybe I should put some faith in you."

                                            >Anon looks surprised a moment, then smiles.

                                            >"Yeah, that'd probably be for the best. I wouldn't want to give you another black eye, after all."

                                            >Twilight's soft smile drops as her friends snicker behind her.

                                            "Let's just work out what we're going to do with Cozy Glow already."

                                            >"Good idea, and the first order of business is the budget I'll be working with."

                                            >Twilight tilts her head in confusion.

                                            "Budget? Why would you need a budget, and how much would you even need?"

                                            >"Oh, not too much. The land we'll be using is probably dirt cheap, I imagine, if not free, and we only need a house big enough for two ponies built. All in all a drop in the bucket for the crown."

                                            >Twilight already feels a headache coming on as she imagines the disgruntled nobles lined up to complain about misuse of the tax payers money while asking for bits themselves to pursue their own vanity projects.

                                            >She sighs and gestures for Anon to follow her to her office.

                                            >They're going to need lots of stationary.


                                            >Cozy Glow watches in horror as that traitor, Discord, whispers into the princesses' ears moments before they decide to fire a stream of magic at her and her comrades.

                                            >The sensation of her body becoming stone is like ice crawling up her limbs, then her torso, and she looks up in terror one last time to see the cruelly smiling faces of Equestria's supposed heroes.

                                            >As the petrification makes its way up her neck, all she can think is, "Please, don't do this!"

                                            Her granite vocal cords don't allow for a single sound as darkness overtakes her, and her mind slowly goes blank.

                                            >Then, with the sound of cracking rock and blinding light piercing her eyes, she's collapsing onto the ground in a heap of trembling, but soft and warm flesh.

                                            >She takes several deep, heaving breathes as she tries and fails to scramble to her hooves, her wings flapping uselessly at her side.

                                            >"Wow! Wow! Calm down, Dimples! You're gonna hurt yourself!"

                                            "W-what?" she manages through numbed lips, blinking her rolling eyes as the sensation overtaking her body scrambles her thoughts.

                                            >It's like the feeling of a limb falling asleep, but everywhere.

                                            >The touch of two hooves on her shoulders feels like static, but they help her into a seated position and slowly she begins to regain control of herself.


                                            >As her eyes finally settle in their sockets, they fall upon a green and black blob.

                                            >For just an instant, she thinks she's looking at the belly of Chrysalis, but soon she realizes it's a filly a couple years younger then her.

                                            >Despite everything, she scowls upon realizing which filly in particular, and she shirks away from the hooves holding her.

                                            "Green Bean," she slurs. "What are you...?"

                                            >Her words are cut short as her front legs cross and catch, toppling her over onto her chest.

                                            >The impact slams her mouth shut, rattling her skull, and when she opens her eyes, it's to see Anon sitting there, hooves up in a shrug as she simply stares down at her impassively.

                                            >"Would have caught ya, but you didn't seem to like me touching you, so..."

                                            "Smart alack," she grumbles, pushing herself up and rubbing at her jaw.

                                            >Her body is already beginning to feel back to normal and the fog is leaving her mind, allowing her to think more clearly on her situation.

                                            >They're in a bare room with a window set in one wall allowing sunlight to filter in.

                                            >For some reason, when she looks down, she expects the hardwood floor to be littered with stone chunks, but berates herself for the stupid thought.

                                            If the floor was covered in rocks, she'd be missing her skin.

                                            >There is, however, a gem covered in glyphs, roughly the size of her hoof next to Green, and her interest is instantly peaked.

                                            >She tries to divert her eyes in a way that's natural, brushing imaginary dust from her coat, but she frowns when Green picks up the gem and holds it up with a smirk.

                                            >"Curious what this is?" she asks, getting Cozy to scoff.

                                            "Golly, I'm sure it's nothing special if you have it. Not like boring ol' Bean would ever have anything fun or interesting."

                                            >Green chuckles.

                                            >"Right you are, this thing is practically worthless now. Doesn't even have its luster anymore without the magic inside."

                                            >She tries to spin it on the tip of her hoof, but it topples off and bounces across the floor.

                                            >The klutz ignores it after a glance and goes on.

                                            >"A couple of minutes ago, however, and you'd have done anything to get your hooves on that hunk of rock. It was full of Celestia's, Luna's, and Discord's magic."

                                            "What?! Why?! And why would a loser like you have something like that?!" Cozy blurts already looking down at the crystal and mourning the lost possibilities.

                                            >"It was basically the key to freeing you," Green explains as if discussing the weather. "The writing there is an unpretrifying spell-"

                                            "Soft spell," Cozy corrects.

                                            >"Yeah, that, but since two alicorns and a spirit of chaos cast the initial petrification, only that kind of magic combo could undo it, but I figured you wouldn't appreciate the first thing you see when you got out of there to be the faces of the ones who turned you to stone in the first place, so we settled on this instead."

                                            >Cozy shakes her head, trying to process this.

                                            "Wait, who's we, and why are you even part of this? Did you join some sort of villain group while I was away?"


                                            >"Nothing that exciting," Green says, standing to move towards the door while waving Cozy to follow her. "After you got yourself turned into a lawn ornament, ponies were pretty content to leave you that way, which I thought was pretty messed up."

                                            >Anon passes through the door, and after some thought, Cozy decides to follow.

                                            >As she's led down a short hallway, Anon continues, "So I decided to do something about it."

                                            "Like what? You went and broke me off from the other two and dragged me to some secret hideout?" Cozy asks skeptically. "Pretty sure you're too lazy to go through the trouble."

                                            >"Would someone lazy challenge Twilight Sparkle to trial by combat to save your sorry butt?" Green snarks over her shoulder. "And as your current not-stone state should clue you in on, I won."

                                            >Cozy stops just as they enter what appears to be a small living room, gaping.

                                            "You're lying," she manages, causing Green to smile a little wider and move to the center of the room, gesturing out around her.

                                            >"Nope. I gave the book princess a black eye, and even had her pay for this house. Welcome to our new home for the foreseeable future."

                                            >She points off to the side, adding, "Kitchen's over there, fridge and larders stocked."

                                            >Cozy looks to see a kitchenette.

                                            >Green points behind Cozy.

                                            >"Our bedrooms are down that way; we're rooming together for now, just so you know, until we get your room set the way you like it. That's the empty one you woke up in. Bathroom is down there, too."

                                            >She directs a hoof opposite to the kitchen to a door.

                                            >"And that's outside. We've got a pretty big yard for you, but don't go too far."

                                            >Cozy's brow furrows.

                                            >She has so many questions, and no idea where to start.

                                            >That part of her that hates being bossed around makes the decision for her as she asks, "Yeah? And why can't I go too far? What's stopping me from just leaving you here and going to figure out a way to take my proper place as Empress of Equestria?"

                                            >"Should I go down the whole list?" Green asks with a quirked brow, pointing at Cozy. "Or just the main thing. Surprised you haven't noticed your new necklace yet."

                                            >Cozy's hoof comes up to her neck and her eyes widen upon feeling a chain there.

                                            >Her other hoof comes up and starts feeling around the whole thing.

                                            >Small links of cool metal encircle her neck just tight enough to be pressed flush against her flesh on all sides.

                                            >There are no clasps that she can feel which leads her to be believe it must been welded closed on her while she was still stone.

                                            "What is this?" she demands.

                                            >"Arcanum necklace with a tracking spell forged into it, along with another that will make the chain grow heavier the further you get from the parameter encircling the house," Green explains. "It was the only way Twilight would be willing to unpretrify you."

                                            >Cozy feels her rage boiling up inside.

                                            "What is this, then? A prison?"

                                            >"Pretty much, yeah."

                                            "And you put me here?" Cozy growls, stalking forward to stand in front of the smaller filly.


                                            >Green simply looks up at her.

                                            >"Hmm, I'm sensing some hostility here," she says, causing Cozy's eye to twitch.

                                            "Ya think?!" she screams, a vein bulging in her forehead. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't buck you in the head right now!"

                                            >"You might get turned back into stone," she answers as she heads towards the exit. "There's also the fact that, well, just come look..."

                                            >Cozy is grinding her teeth as she follows the filly with stomping steps outside.

                                            >She looks around, trying to spot just what Green wanted her to see, but as far as she can tell, it's just grass for a ways, then a dense treeline surrounding the small abode.

                                            "What? Trees? So we're in the forest?"

                                            >"The ones surrounding the base of the Appleachian Mountains, yeah, but that's not what I want you to see," Green responds, looking upwards and waving. "Yo! Anyone awake up there?"

                                            >Cozy steps out further and looks up.

                                            >Directly above them floats what appears to be a cloud home, and over the edge peeks the head of a stallion wearing a familiar, and still very gaudy helmet.

                                            >"Is everything alright, Ms. Anonymous? The inmate hasn't harmed you, has she?"

                                            >"Nah, but she really wants to," Green calls back. "Figured I'd let her know you were here, though, so you could tell her what you thought of that."

                                            >The guard frowns and levels a steely gaze down at Cozy, who gulps despite not wanting to appear weak.

                                            >"That would be... ill advised," he finally says. "There will always be a two guards stationed at this post to keep the pair of you safe, and serve as messengers in the case of emergency. We also have strict orders to report any violence committed directly to Princess Twilight after detaining the assailant in the holding cell up here."

                                            "Golly mister, I'd never hurt my best friend here!" Cozy shouts up at him, smiling wide as she pulls the other filly against her side in a hug. "She was just joking!"

                                            >The guard doesn't look at all convinced, instead looking over to Green, who nods.

                                            >He returns the gesture and says, "Alright then. We will be checking in on you two periodically, but as long as you aren't committing any crimes, there won't be any trouble."

                                            "You don't have a thing to worry about! Green and I are just going to be playing fun games and stuffy, right, Green?" Cozy asks, tightening her forearm around the other filly's neck.

                                            >Green grunts, but nods.

                                            >"Of course. Not like there's much else to do," she replies, looking back up. "I'll talk to you guys later!"

                                            >The guard nods and disappears back into his post, leaving Cozy to drag Green back inside and slam the door.

                                            "What the buck, Green?!" she shouts as she reels on the smaller filly. "You've got your own guards, too?! What? Did you become Twilight's new patsy while I was stoned?"

                                            >"Me? A patsy?" Green repeats, actually looking offended.

                                            >Cozy smiles, glad to finally get a rise out of her.

                                            "Yeah, or do you want me to use the official title of personal student?"

                                            >Green snorts.

                                            >"What would even be the point?"


                                            >Green taps her forehead.

                                            >"Magic is the only thing I think she could teach me, and I don't have a horn. And as far as friendship is concerned, I think I've got the gist of it already."

                                            "Golly, you do? Then why did I have all the friends at Bright Side, and you didn't have any?"

                                            >Green holds up a hoof as if giving a lecture.

                                            >"I said I understand, not that I applied what I knew. I was fine being by myself, so I didn't bother trying to be all buddy buddy with the other foals. Plus I didn't intend to stay there much longer and didn't want to leave friends behind."

                                            >Yawning, Green heads towards the kitchen, saying over her shoulder.

                                            >"Anyway, I'm going to make myself a snack. You want a PB&J? Oh, and there's a furniture magazine on the coffee table there. Twilight wants you to choose what you want for your bedroom and she'll order it."

                                            >Cozy takes a deep breath through her nose and lets it out slowly.

                                            >Green, or Anon, as the guard called her for some reason, was always an enigma to Cozy.

                                            >She's smart, Cozy knows, but doesn't ever seem to do anything with it.

                                            >She's a klutz, as many have often teased her about, but she's never cared about that.

                                            >Out of all the ponies she befriended at Bright Side, Anon was the one that would never accept her invitation to be her friend, no matter what she promised.

                                            >It stung, but she always told herself that it was the lack of a valuable pawn, not the pang of rejection that upset her.

                                            >Considering what the other filly has apparently accomplished on Cozy's behalf, and that's apparently more true than she thought.

                                            "I don't get you," she finally says. "What was the point of this? Some sort of elaborate revenge for me making your life worse before? Am I supposed to spend the rest of my life here until I go insane from boredom?"

                                            >"That could make for a good revenge," Anon acknowledges as she hops up onto a stool and gets to work. "It's even a real possibility. Though that depends on whether or not you can ever convince Twilight to let you go. But no, I'm doing all of this because I think it's right."

                                            >She gestures around herself with a butter knife.

                                            >"Plus I got a free house out of it. Beats sharing a bedroom with eight other foals, right?"

                                            "Right?" Cozy asks.

                                            >"Yeah, right for you to get a chance be rehabilitated. You're just a kid, after all, you still have your whole life to change. Maybe you'll change into something better?"

                                            >Cozy pouts.

                                            >She'll change alright.

                                            >She's going to become stronger and smarter than ever before, so that when she escapes, she'll take over Equestria for sure.

                                            >And this filly is not going to stop her.

                                            >There's a growl, and Cozy feels her cheeks heat up.

                                            "Um, can I get one of those sandwiches?"

                                            >"Already making you one."

                                            "Oh, good."

                                            >"Can I get a thank you?"

                                            "Not on your life."

                                            >"... I'm giving you grape jelly."

                                            "Grape?! I hate grape! Don't you have strawberry?"

                                            >"Of course, that's what I put on mine."

                                            "Then I want that one!"

                                            >"Even after I lick it like this?"

                                            "Ew! You're so gross!"