Although it kills me inside to do this, I plunge my whole body into the mud. I let the thick sludge drip down my head onto my neck and shoulders. With that much mud on my head and tail, it weighs them down, thus making it no longer curly while concealing most of its natural color at the same time. Inwardly I cringe so hard at this, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I make my way back into the castle and navigate to the front entrance. Along the way, I realize I'm leaving mud tracks as I go as well as attracting vacant stares from other ponies as I pass them, but I ignore them and continue on my way.

It's okay. They can stare all they want. I won't be here for long.

Two royal guards are posted at the main entrance and exit of the castle. Both of them are facing an outward direction. Apparently their main concern is those entering into the castle.

I almost pass by them without a word, but I halt as it occurs to me that perhaps I could gather valuable information from these two.

“Um, excuse me,” I ask one of them, in this case a white pegasus. His eyes shift to me while his face remains directed forward. The moment he spots me, he widens his eyes in astonishment. Hopefully it is not out of direct recognition.

“Um, yeah.” I look down at myself. “I fell asleep in the royal Canterlot Garden a little while ago. It's just my luck that happens when the area is scheduled for a rainstorm today. I can't wait to get home and take a bath.”

I actually mean it.

“I . . . see,” the guard accepts.

I inwardly breathe a sigh of relief. It looks like he does not recognize me after all. Not yet, anyway.

“I got a quick question for you,” I broach to the guard. He nods for me to proceed, silently signaling his attention. “When was the last time you saw the Princess stroll through here? It's very urgent that I speak with her.”

I ask that because I want to establish her position and the timing. She had to have crossed through here. This is the main entrance.

“I haven't seen her all day, Ma'am,” the guard told me.

I widen my eyes. “All day? Are you serious?”

“Yes, Ma'am,” the guard reports.

“But . . . this is the main entrance and exit of the castle. Is there another?” I check.

“Well, you are right that this is the main entrance and exit, but Princess Twilight has other ways of getting around. For example, flying off one of the upper balconies, or she can just teleport.”

Teleport? She can do that?

That figures.

I look beyond the exit to the city outside.

This is annoying. No wonder she could sneak up on me so easily at the gardens. This also helps to explain how she got updated with information from Ponyville so fast, unless she has another way that I still don't know about.

Damn. I wish I could teleport. That would make my life so much easier. Probably even fun.

But still, this is useful intel. Now that I'm aware of this, I need to recalculate my attack strategy.

At this point, Twilight probably redirected some of her forces to monitor the train station since she knows that I need that transportation method to get back to Ponyville. Another choke point she can monitor is the portal back to my world, but let's take this one step at a time.

I was originally planning to head to the train station, but now that I'm aware that Twilight can easily head me off at the pass, I'll need a new strategy.

I'll need a diversion.

“I see. This is useful information,” I tell the guard honestly. In response, he nods and smiles a bit, happy to help. “However, if you haven't seen her pass through this way, it might also mean she's still in the castle. I better check inside one more time just to make sure.”

“Uh . . .” he looks at me from head to hoof then back up to my head. He raises an eyebrow hesitantly as if to suggest my current muddy condition makes my decision against his recommendation.

“I know. I'm a mess, but this is important.” I back up into the castle again. “Just in case you see the Princess before I do, can you give her a message for me?”

His expression returns to normal. He says, “Sure. What's the message?”

“Tell her that I well remember all that she's done for me, and tell her not to worry. Assure her that I always repay my debts. She'll know what that means.”

I am about to turn to leave until a question from him makes me pause and look back at him.

“Whom should I tell her the message is from?”

“Tell her the message is from a very old friend,” I reply then turn to leave back into the castle.

The instant my face is no longer towards him, it sinks to a grim and focused look.

“Um, Miss?” He calls after me. “The Princess of Friendship has many old friends. That does not exactly narrow it down.”

I continue on in silence.

While my face remains grim and focused, I analyze everything. The furniture, the passing ponies, the guests, the number of guards and their positions, the outside weather, the shape of the hallway I trot through, how many doors I pass. Each piece of information I assign a chess piece in my mind to one of multiple chess boards that I am mentally monitoring simultaneously. With each change I observe or every move I make, I move the appropriate piece on the chessboards. The only difference is the pieces are updated constantly. There are no “turns” in the game of real life.

I focus on these chess pieces very hard to avoid paying attention to my bothersome emotions which threaten my concentration and sanity. I can't afford that right now.

As I roam the hallways, I pass something off the corner of my right eye that seizes my attention. I back up a few steps then fully look to my right. Beyond the wall to my left is the outside of the castle. To my right, I see an opening on the wall that isn't shut by a door but rather a locked gate. Beyond the gate, I see a bunch of very old and very important looking scrolls. In addition, there seems to be lots of ball and star-shaped things hanging from the ceiling that look like models of celestial constellations.

Hello! This looks promising.

I turn to fully face this gate and approach it. I examine the room beyond carefully. I notice that there are some books and tomes in the library beyond, but most of it is just really old scrolls. I can tell from the smell wafting from the room.

Princess Twilight likes books, doesn't she? If I do something to these books, tomes, and scrolls, that will get her attention. Maybe also serve as a distraction?

I now examine the gate itself. It is secured by a very heavy looking steel padlock. I lift it with a hoof for a brief moment. I quickly determine that there is no way I'm going to be able to break this or pick this, especially while I'm still in a body I'm not accustomed to.

But there is more than one way to skin a cat!

. . .

Not that I'd ever truly skin a cat. I may be a villain but that shit is just too dark even for me. In fact, if I ever catch anyone else doing something that cruel to animals, they'll earn my wrath for damn sure.

Lucky for me, Trixie's cloak and hat comes equipped with hidden surprises. Thinking back to when I noticed them during my travel on the train, I am reminded of something Trixie once said, and even sang, a long time ago.

“You better believe . . . I got tricks up my sleeve.”

I’ll never doubt the sincerity of that claim ever again now that I have discovered proof of it. Trixie may be a talentless, egocentric, and empty-headed hack, but at least now I know for sure she comes prepared whenever she pops onto the stage in a puff of blue smoke (which often triggers my asthma attack if I'm too close to the front of the stage).

Tricks up her sleeve indeed! I'll give her a B- for effort, at least.

I respect people who are genuinely passionate about their work, no matter how bad they otherwise are.

In this case, I pull out several firework rockets and aim them through the bars of the gate. These ones are pretty easy to trigger, too. All I have to do is rip the cap off of them fast. Doing so scrapes the wicks of the fireworks like starting a stick of dynamite. This also gives me time to aim the rockets and then back off before they blast on me.

Bingo! That works! The rockets fire off into the library and crash into the shelves. One of them even ricochets back and forth between multiple shelves, setting each of their contents on fire. My attempt actually ends up a little better than I thought it would.

I am quite the whiz kid when it comes to geometry measurements, but the rockets I was dealing with were an unknown X factor to my math. Without knowing them intimately, I had to do some guess work.

I watch for a short while as the blaze in the next room spreads. It spread rather quickly, actually. The paper in there must be very dry and old.

One thing I observe that I did not account for are magical sparks exploding from some of the scrolls that burn in the next room. I'm not used to taking “magical'' documents into account because I'm not used to their existence at all. This just means that the documents are likely even more valuable. This is an unexpected bonus.

I narrow my eyes at this and smile in evil glee.

Good! This probably will twist the knife even further into Princess Twilight's black heart!

When it seems the blaze has spread enough to make it quite difficult to put out anymore, I scream.

“GUARDS! GUARDS! GET OVER HERE, QUICKLY! GUARDS!”

There is one guard patrolling the hallway nearby that hears my outcry. He spurs into a hard gallop to catch up to me when he hears the frantic urgency in my voice.

“What happened?” the large brown earth pony guard asks upon arrival.

“See for yourself,” I bid as I nod beyond the gate. He turns to look then widens his eyes in horror.

“Oh my CELESTIA! Starswirl's manuscripts!” he cries out in alarm.

Good. That sounds important.

“Quickly, find more help to put out the fire!” I frantically recommend to the guard.

“Did you see who did this?” He asks me quickly as he turns to look at me.

His question gives me an idea.

“Actually, yes. I kind of did,” I lie. “Or at least I think I did. I spotted a suspicious pony in the Royal Canterlot Gardens a short while ago, but it was too dark to make out any details. I tried to stop that pony and ended up tripping into the mud because, again, it was too dark. I don't even know what I tripped on, hence the reason I'm so muddy right now.

“What I do know, however, is that the suspicious pony galloped inside the castle. I tried to chase the pony down. Along the way, I spotted this!” I gesture beyond the gate to the room with the quickly spreading flames. At first I am looking through the gate, then my eyes shift to look at the guard. “You need to warn the others to search for the suspicious pony as well. If you hurry, you won't have to check a large search radius.”

He examines me. I can tell what he's thinking. After all, I look suspicious. I can't let him dwell on that thought.

“What are you standing around here for? The room is on fire and the culprit is getting away! GO!”

That spurs him into action. He zips by me in a hurry.

My eyes narrow as they follow him.

That's right! Dance for your Queen, my little puppet!

I whip my head away from him as I gallop the way I came from.

That should do it! That should gain their attention.

However, Princess Twilight is the counterpart to my mother, and my mother is a genius. Not as bright as me, but I must give credit where credit is due.

Plus, they both know me. Surely that is enough to tip Princess Twilight off to the fact that the fire is a diversion. She may be forced into action on this because of how much she cares for that which is in the burning library, but I calculate a ninety-three percent chance that she will not be fooled for long, so I have to hurry!

Multiple chess pieces on the boards in my mind dance around as a result of the new information I am gathering. Things are set in motion, and that creates a limited window of opportunity.

But I fail to make it back to the front entrance when I hear a boom throughout the castle that I do not expect.

“ATTENTION! ATTENTION, EVERYPONY! THIS IS PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE SPEAKING! THIS CASTLE IS NOW UNDER EMERGENCY LOCK DOWN. ALL GUESTS IN THE CASTLE, PLEASE PROCEED TO THE NEAREST ROYAL GUARD. THEY WILL ESCORT YOU TO YOUR OWN PRIVATE CHAMBERS IN THE CASTLE UNTIL A CERTAIN CRISIS HAS BEEN AVERTED.

“ALL GUARDS, IN ADDITION TO ESCORTING OUR GUESTS TO A SAFE ROOM, ALSO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A DARK PINK TEENAGED PEGASUS WITH BLUE CURLY MANE AND TAIL. IF YOU SPOT HER, PLEASE BRING HER TO ME IN THE ROYAL THRONE ROOM, BUT BE SURE SHE IS NOT HARMED. REPEAT, SHE IS NOT TO BE HARMED! I KNOW IT WILL BE HARD SINCE SHE IS UNLIKELY TO COOPERATE, BUT TRY YOUR BEST NOT TO EVEN SCARE HER ANY FURTHER. SHE HAS MEDICAL RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS SO SHE MUST BE TREATED VERY DELICATELY.

“AND . . . SHIMMERING SPECTACLES . . . IF YOU ARE LISTENING TO THIS MESSAGE AS WELL . . . PLEASE DON'T BE SCARED. IF YOU COME QUIETLY TO MY THRONE ROOM, I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING. I'LL ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS AND MORE. YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT.

“NOPONY WILL HARM YOU. I PROMISE.”

I immediately start checking the rooms in the hallway the moment I hear the announcement, “This is Princess Twilight Sparkle speaking!” When I realize that my nemesis has a way to communicate to the whole castle all at once, I realize that I cannot be seen in the hallways anymore.

I curse my fate. I nearly reach the front entrance, but I'm not taking any chances.

Besides, now that I know that the castle is in emergency lock down, I already know the guards at the front entrance won't let me go anyway so there is no point in checking.

The third door I check is not locked. I enter it without hesitation even as I continue to listen to Princess Twilight's announcement. After all, if she's blaring her announcement to every creature in the castle, then she's also revealing her whole hoof of cards to me. I won't reject a free opportunity to learn the resources of my opponent.

After I shut myself in the new room, I hold it shut by leaning on the door. I steer my ears behind me to listen if the room I am in is unoccupied. It seems I am lucky again, at least for the moment.

While standing there like that, I listen to the conclusion of Twilight's announcement. When it is done, I narrow my eyes.

Well of course she does not want to harm me! That would weaken her leverage. If the issue is only about me then I'm sure she would not hesitate to freeze me in stone as well, but her problem is my mother is also involved.

My mother's knowledge is jump-starting Horse-Lands technology level by at least a century. Power like that is too valuable to ignore lightly. As long as my mother remains useful, Twilight needs me relatively unharmed.

At least, unharmed physically. Mental harm is another story entirely. If it is within Princess Twilight's power, which I am finding very unwise to underestimate right now, I'm sure she would use her magic to erase my memories of ever visiting Horse-Land as well as the awful fate she has in store for me eventually.

Failing that, she'll at least want to cut a deal with me to shut me up until my mother's usefulness is complete. After that, it's anybody's game.

No thank you! I won't let you touch my memories, Twilight! I remember my foes.

I will never forget. I will never forgive!

It's interesting that Princess Twilight did not announce my true name over the “magic intercom” or whatever the spell is called. Maybe she did not want to start a panic?

Another thing that's interesting is she did not describe Trixie's cloak that I am currently wearing. That, too, would be a useful identification mark for the guards to know. Why leave them in ignorance?

Unless . . . she didn't! Maybe she secretly informed the guards of that identification mark. She did not blare that information out loud because she knew that I might be listening. If she did announce it out loud, she knew there was a high probability that I would ditch the cloak.

Which means I have to ditch it anyway. I can't take the chance that she secretly passed on the info to her guards. A cloak like this stands out too much anyway despite how much it's covered in mud. Gathering attention is likely the entire point of the cloak's gaudy design. That theory compliments what I know of Trixie herself. She always did like to be the center of attention.

I pause a moment as I mentally assess the chess pieces on the boards in my mind as they stand.

Princess Twilight's announcement moved a lot of pieces around all the boards of my mind simultaneously. That was one massive move on her part. Now it's time to reassess the new results.

I have to ditch the cloak for sure. The castle is now on high alert and on lock down. The guards have been given some description of me. The mud on me partially obscures that, but now they are likely to arrest anyone that looks remotely suspicious. If I resemble the description Twilight passed at all, they'll escort me to her throne room where she'll not only erase my memories of my time in Horse-Land but potentially modify my memories as well. I must avoid her at all costs for the moment.

Alright, Cozy. This is a challenge, but you've got this. Twilight may be a Princess, but you are a Queen! Act accordingly. Assess all of your resources. Get your pawns to the other side of the board and upgrade them. Moreover, make your enemies resources work against them. You still need a unicorn to open the portal back to earth, after all, and it also has to be a pony who knows how to operate the machine. To your knowledge, only one pony in this world qualifies for sure on that front.

Starlight Glimmer may also serve your purposes to open the gate, but the odds of that aren't as high. Plus, from what you can tell of your mother, Princess Twilight is more likely to be a naive fool. Starlight Glimmer, on the other hand, is a bit too unknown of a factor.

Besides, you have no idea where Glimmer is anyway. Certain locations may be more likely, but not likely enough to make it wise to count on.

Work with what you know. When possible, gather more information and resources along the way as well.

And for God's sake, ditch the stupid looking cloak already!

I push away from the door. Using my wings under the cloak, I finally pull the awful thing off of me. Once that is done, I search the cloak one more time to see if there are any more useful things in there for me to collect since this is my last chance to check. I find a few things that might come in handy later.

Once I do, however, I look at them and wonder where to put them. I pause for a few seconds on that thought until I recall Pinkie Pie stuffing an unusual amount of stuff in her hair effectively.

Something is very unusual about Pinkie Pie's hair, at least in my reality. It seems gummy and tangled which helps her to hold stuff in there. The really surprising thing about it is the sheer amount of stuff she stores in there. It's as if her hair is like a magical Bag of Holding. How utterly fascinating and illogical.

Something tells me that Pinkie's pony counterpart might be a bit weirder. Failing that, the odds are at least stronger that her pony self is more magical. Considering how magical her human self is in a world that tends to lack it completely, that's saying something.

I don't have Pinkie's elastic or reality-bending qualities myself, but my hair is currently muddy and drying. It can at least temporarily serve as storage. The part of me that's like Rarity shrivels at the thought of using my hair like this, but I'm running low on options so this is no time to be sentimental.

I'll do plenty of pillow crying later when I have this current crisis resolved.

So I stuff some of Trixie's useful gadgets into my hair then finally move on. While I do, I carefully balance my head to make sure the stuff does not fall out. Fortunately, the items are too light to put a serious strain on my neck, at least for now.

Looking around, I notice that this room has a window leading outside. Also, I'm on the first floor. I trot over to the window and push it open easily. Looking down, I notice that the window is only three feet off the ground this time. I can easily climb over this.

Oh! Well, this is easy.

I navigate my way through Canterlot city and do my best not to be spotted. The important thing I keep in mind is not to run . . . or gallop, I should say. Instead, I play it cool and casual, like I really belong here. My dry muddy body attracts some attention, but it is mostly disdain, especially from the city's unusually high population of social elite.

Along the way out of the city, I manage to swipe up a hand fan, or is it hoof fan? And how the hell do these ponies hold this stuff with their hooves anyway?

Probably the same way they manage to turn doorknobs by touching them.

Error! System crashing! Recommend immediate restart.

Despite the evidence I gather that it is possible to hold objects with a hoof, I can't wrap my head around it enough to do it myself. Besides, I'm having trouble enough as it is walking on four legs. Limiting myself to three seems unreasonable under these circumstances.

Not to mention that my wings function as more than an adequate replacement for my hands. In fact, I'd even go so far as to call them better because they have a longer reach and are far more flexible. Every long feather of my wings sort of acts like a tentacle. I think this because each feather is flexible with every inch of it up to the tip. As a result, I can easily wrap my feathers around any object I grasp, such as the “hoof” fan.

Which, in turn, I use to shield my face from view without looking too suspicious. My wings would work to conceal me better except then I'd actually look like I'm hiding something. If I'm just fanning myself, however, no pony bats an eye at me.

My destination isn't the train station, however. There is an eighty-percent chance that guards are already posted at the station with orders to arrest me on sight, and the odds are increasing over time because that just means they have more time to set themselves up there.

Twilight might be able to teleport herself, but I calculate an eighty-five percent chance that is a rare skill, otherwise I would have seen more unicorns pull that off. Why would there be any unicorns on the train, for example, if they could just teleport themselves to their destination? Is distance a factor?

But maybe Twilight can teleport others, or carry others in her spell if they stand at close range.

Failing that, I know the pegasi guards can get to the station far faster than I can even with their bulky armor to weigh them down, which is why I calculate such high odds that the station is already being monitored.

So, instead of the train station, I'm looking at a far more bold plan.

But I really dread this necessity.

I make my way to the edge of Canterlot. There I notice, with a nod of approval, that they have indeed set up a kind of wall around the outer edge of the city.

I regard that as a wise precaution. I would have been really upset at this city's designers if they overlooked that really important detail. In a society where only one-third of the population can possibly fly, that brings up a serious concern for the other young fillies and colts who play too close to the edge of death.

With enough ingenuity, of which I have plenty, I find a clever way around this obstacle, only to find myself facing a greater one.

I now stand at the edge of the cliff with the protective wall of the city now behind me. There I press my back to the wall like I did with the window in Ponyville.

There is one critical difference between these two scenarios, though. One was only a six foot drop, give or take a few feet, but this . . . I am above some of the clouds. The ground is too far below to make out any details. All I can really see is the basic coloration of the whole landscape.

So, unless this world really does operate on cartoon physics, the obstacle that looms before me is truly deadly this time.

Besides, sometimes even cartoon physics is not enough to save a character. When they get the ax, though, it's usually off-screen if the cartoon is G-Rated.

Alright, Cozy, I don't blame you for panicking with this one. The other situation was downright ridiculous, but this . . . your fears are well justified.

If I take this plunge . . . that's it. I either fly, or I die. It's as simple as that.

I narrow my eyes slightly as I gaze off the cliff. While I do that, I'm hyperventilating some, but it isn't as bad as last time, oddly enough. Maybe it's because of my motivation or curious sort of acceptance?

I really would rather die than be condemned to the fate I saw for my other filly self, especially if it turns out her consciousness is still awake and aware. That is the ultimate fear of cleithrophobia. I didn't have that fear before today, but now I very likely do.

I'm never going to shake that image from my mind. My filly self, frozen in time, unable to move. Unable to cry. Unable to call for help despite how desperately she wants to.

Princess Twilight probably wants me to forget that. Normally I would agree, except for two things; number one, I am a spirit of vengeance! I neither forget nor forgive those who have slighted me.

Number two, I fear that will be my fate if I drop my guard. My mother acts like a temporary shield, but eventually her usefulness will come to an end. After that, the other minions of Princess Twilight will come for me to make sure to eliminate the last threat to her Queendom. If I do not remember the threat she poses to me, then I'll be far less prepared to defend myself.

So I'll do anything . . . literally anything . . . to avoid that fate.

Even this.

As I look over the edge of the cliff, it occurs to me why I fear this less despite the greater threat it poses over the last time I faced something “similar”. It's because I've encountered something else that I now fear more.

It's still true that I don't want to die, but if I had to choose death or the possibility to be locked in stone for eternity while still alive, then I choose this. I choose death.

When I reach that conclusion, an oddly calming sensation washes over me. It even puzzles me for a moment. Why do I feel so calm all of the sudden? This is far worse than the six foot drop I faced earlier.

The answer, I reason, has to do with inner acceptance. Even when I face a dangerous challenge, it is far easier to face it with a complete understanding of who I am.

I am a woman who will do anything to avoid the fate I saw.

I am a woman who will do whatever it takes to achieve her vengeance.

I am a woman who loves her mother, and will do anything it takes to return to her loving embrace.

There are many smaller goals in my life, too. Things that don't feel as important individually but, when I add them all up, it feels very significant altogether.

Plus, and this one is important: I am Cozy Glow, a woman who can achieve her dreams no matter what obstacle is placed in front of me.

I am special.

I am amazing.

I am!

I spread my wings and gaze over the cliff defiantly.

Enough of this tripe! This challenge is far beneath me.

Besides, I don't need to learn how to fly yet. All I need to get down is to merely glide. For that, I just need to hold my wings straight. Small adjustments may be necessary due to wind currents but, other than that, the physics of the issue is pretty simple.

Indeed, far too simple for a genius like me to be overwhelmed.

Besides, this is nothing compared to what I will achieve.

Pay careful attention to this, Horse-Land.

Watch me fly!

Or . . . at least . . . fall with style.

Next Chapter: Chapter Fourteen: Checkmate, Twilight Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 26 Minutes