The moon’s descent was nearly complete as Princess Celestia stepped onto the balcony outside her bedroom. She stretched, cracking a few stiff joints as she prepared to raise the sun. Gazing down on the darkened, snowy streets of Canterlot, her magical aura glowed as she set the sun on its course for the day.
The flicker of candlelight lit some of the homes below her. She smiled at the thought of excited fillies and colts having woken their parents up early on Hearth’s Warming morning. There were presents to open, after all. Well, for most fillies and colts, anyway. There was at least one glaring exception.
She trotted into the dining room where her sister was enjoying a cup of tea and some scones after a long night's work. “Good morning, Luna. How was your night?”
“Productive. With so few ponies getting a full night’s sleep last night, I finally found Cozy Glow’s dreams.”
“What did you find out?”
“No dark magic. No outside influences, well, aside from the obvious one. But she went seeking him, so the blame doesn’t rest entirely on him this time. Her psyche is broken, dear sister. There’s a scared, heartbroken little filly buried underneath thirty levels of the darkest thoughts I’ve ever seen from a pony so young. Or really, any pony. She’s going to end up a sociopath if we don’t do something.”
Princess Celestia arched an eyebrow. “You mean she’s not already?” She levitated the skull and severed unicorn horn from the box of Cozy Glow’s recovered possessions.
“Her mind is young, and still open to new ideas. There’s hope for her yet, but that window will close if we dally too long. As for this,” she took the skull in her own magic, “The pony this once was has been dead longer than she’s been alive. Certainly creepy, and more than a little disturbing, but not her own handiwork. Likewise, with the horn, which appears to be part of a Nightmare Night alicorn costume. I suppose she didn’t need the wings as she already has them. While the costume can be purchased at any novelty store, I’d sincerely like to know where she dug up a skull with such severe trauma.”
“That makes two of us…” Celestia shuddered.
“Perhaps… perhaps we should just leave that particular sleeping dog lie. We’ve already determined Cozy Glow didn’t kill the pony in question, and that’s really sufficient for our investigation.” Celestia nodded as Luna continued, “What hath the guards learned?”
“Nothing at all. We can’t find her parents or any other relatives. They haven’t even turned up a record of her birth anywhere. For all intents and purposes, she doesn’t exist.”
“Quite peculiar. Is thou positive she’s not a changeling?”
“We’ve confirmed she really is a pegasus pony. The Royal Guard is now acting under the assumption that Cozy Glow isn’t her real name and that the birthday she supplied the School of Friendship was likewise false. They’re already reviewing every filly reported missing in the last decade hoping to find a match. It’s a longshot, but it’s the best lead we’ve got at the moment.”
“If they learn anything, tell us posthaste. In the meantime, we shall do what we always do when a pony’s in peril. We shall save her, no matter the cost. We’ve already taken it upon ourselves to make preparations. We trust thou shall have all matters of the state well in hoof?”
“It’s Hearth’s Warming. Even the nobles have better things to do today than pester us. Though I fear we’ve once again been inundated with the gift of jelly.”
“Jelly of the Month.” Luna muttered the words as if saying the name of her archenemy. “Truly the vilest invention ponies imagined while I was… …away.”
“Happy Hearth’s Warming! We hath come bearing gifts.”
“We? I just see one of you.”
“Of course, you’re fat enough for there to be two of you!” Tirek chuckled. “Oh, do come in and say ‘hello’ Luna.”
“Thou are not to talk to us again.” Her horn glowed and a zipper appeared on Tirek’s mouth, and zipped it shut. “We’re here to visit Miss Glow, not thou.” Princess Luna shoved a few giftwrapped parcels through the bars of Cozy Glow’s cell. “Thou mayst be a criminal, but thou art still a filly. And nopony should be all alone on Hearth’s Warming. And since thou forged thine paperwork, we have not been able to locate thine parents. So it falls to us to keep thou companionship this holiday.”
Tirek unzipped his mouth. “Nobody brings me gifts for the holidays.”
Luna shoved something through the bars of his cell. “Perhaps this will shut you up.”
He tore the wrapping paper to reveal a wooden wall decoration that simply said DON’T FORGET: YOU’RE HERE FOREVER. “We’ll see about that.” He shook a hoof in Luna’s direction but she paid him no heed.
Cozy Glow looked at the meager offerings Luna had given her with disdain. “Dolls? I outgrew these trinkets years ago.”
“It has been many years since we were a filly. Forgive us for not knowing exactly what is trendy this year. When you’ve seen as many Hearth’s Warmings as we have, they tend to run together.” She slid a thin box between the bars of Cozy Glow’s cell. “Perhaps this is more to thine liking?”
Cozy Glow neatly unwrapped the gift. She’d save the wrapping paper – resources were scarce in Tartarus. Perhaps she could devise a way of escaping using the gifts given to her by the princess. Her eyes lit up upon seeing what was inside. “A chess set?”
“Thine mark. Chess-themed cutie marks are rare. Normally a sign of the idle nobility, and not necessarily representative of their skill level at the game.”
“I love chess. Nopony will play with me anymore. I mean, even before I was locked up here.”
“We presume this is because thine skills surpass that of thine opponents?”
“Checkmate in ten moves or less.”
Princess Luna’s lips curled into the faintest of smiles. “It hast been many moons since we last found a pony capable of beating us at chess. Neigh, even our sister is our inferior at battle tactics. Would thou do us the honor of a game, Miss Glow?”
“It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.” Cozy motioned to her drab surroundings. Tirek scowled at them, but said nothing. The various monsters ignored them. Cerberus was licking himself. Perhaps just a little too vigorously. Cozy and Luna turned away from the three-headed canine.
“Very well then.” Luna’s field glowed as she set the game up. For the benefit of her pegasus opponent, she placed the game inside the bars of her jail cell. “Celestia or Nightmare Moon?”
“I always take Nightmare Moon. She’s my hero, you know.”
“We didn’t. Interesting choice for a hero, Miss Glow.”
“You don’t seem particularly taken back by it. Normally when I tell ponies that they get scared.” She pouted. “Hmph.”
“It will take more than mere mind games to win this match.” Luna chuckled. “I haven’t played as Celestia since…”
“Since when?”
“Over a thousand years ago when Discord was still her opponent. We suppose finding one of those sets, now, would be a challenge.” She twirled the figure of Princess Celestia in her magic and placed her behind the row of Royal Guards serving as pawns. Next was the figure representing herself. The irony of putting Luna next to Celestia, to serve against Nightmare Moon, wasn’t lost on her.
“I would’ve figured you’d prefer to play as yourself. You know, because you’re reformed and all that.”
“It isn’t wise to mock the pony who can leave any time she pleases.” She started packing the pieces back in the box. “But if thou’d prefer to spend Hearth’s Warming with thine ever-pleasant pen pal, by all means, don’t let us stand in your way.”
“Please don’t go.” Cozy couldn’t look at the princess. “It’s so lonely in here.”
“That’s the point, Miss Glow. Regardless of your age, you’re a convicted criminal.”
“Please call me Cozy, princess.” She looked up with tears in her eyes. “Please?”
Luna sighed. “Miss Glow, calling you by your first name would require having a level of familiarity with you that we don’t have. And considering thine attempt at overthrowing our reign, we’re afraid to say thou shan’t be receiving this courtesy.”
“Could you at least drop the formal we/our/thine thing? It’s soooooo old-fashioned.”
“Now thou soundeth like our sister. But very well, I shall grant this request on one condition.”
“And that is?”
“I will speak modern Equestrian if you speak like an adult. No more ‘golly gee whiz’ and that whole cutesy act. Your tears aren’t fooling anypony anymore.” She put the pieces back on the board. Chess sets had changed dramatically over the centuries. There hadn’t been a king or queen in Equestria for over a millennium. Celestia now occupied the role of king, while Luna herself was the queen. Nightmare Moon’s queen, such as it was, was a cloud of black magic to represent the Nightmare. This particular set used the Elements of Harmony as the various pieces, with Rarity and Twilight Sparkle representing the rooks-turned-unicorns, Applejack and Pinkie Pie representing the bishops-turned-earth ponies and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy representing the knights-turned-pegasi. Eight Royal Guards comprised the pawns. Nightmare Moon’s side was set up somewhat more traditionally, with the Castle of the Two Sisters representing the rook, Shadowbolts for knights, and a pair of unicorn sorcerers serving as bishops. Nightmare Moon’s pawns were all thestrals resembling her Lunar Guard.
All-in-all, it was an exquisitely designed chess set. Luna took satisfaction in Cozy’s gentleness handling the pieces. Luna moved a pawn to start the game, and Cozy moved a pawn of her own.
The first few moves were standard as the two opponents felt each other out. Move a few pawns, advance one or two pieces. “So how have you been, Miss Glow? Your, uh, friends, no, perhaps we should say acquaintances, back at the School of Friendship have been inquiring after you.”
“Oh, I’m just fine and dandy. One of the few perks of isolation is the complete lack of other ponies to spread germs.”
“That’s an interesting way of looking at things.”
“Just making the best of a bad situation.” She flashed ‘I’m so cute and adorable I can’t possibly be evil’ smile #87 at her, knowing full well it wouldn’t work. It didn’t.
Princess Luna rolled her eyes. “And how have you been passing the days?”
“They say you must suffer to be a truly great artist, so I figured I’d try my hoof at writing poetry. Would you like to hear some?”
“Sure.”
“Little filly in a prison cell,
Condemned forever to rot in…”
Luna interrupted her. “And that’s quite enough poetry for one day, Miss Glow.”
Tirek unzipped his mouth. “How predictably pathetic, you can’t even handle the light stuff. She gets darker and descends deeper into madness with each new poem. My personal favorite is book #5, poem #15. It’s so disturbing I wish I had thought of it myself.”
“What did I say about talking to us?”
“Not to. And while this zipper spell is quite novel, there’s nothing stopping me from simply unzipping it at my discretion. And I do enjoy interjecting with colorful commentary and sarcasm. It’s one of the few joys I have left.”
“How about a song instead?”
“I know I’m going to regret this, but very well, go ahead.”
Filly in an awful place
Equestria's secret shame
I've never seen a cuter face
And Cozy is her name
She's stuck here
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
Nopony hears her tortured cries
Poor little pony's sad
Don't believe all their lies
Cozy's not really bad
Wah!
She's stuck here
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
Cozy
She's stuck here
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
Filly in an awful place
Equestria's secret shame
I've never seen a cuter face
And Cozy is her name
Wah!
She's stuck here
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
I'm your villain, I'm your foe
I'm Cozy Glow
Cozy is her name
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
Yeah, pony, she's stuck here
“As hard as this may be to believe, I find those lyrics to be an improvement upon the original. Words cannot fully describe how much I loathe the song you just ripped off.”
“What? How? Everypony loves that song.”
“The first time I heard it, ‘twas at a restaurant in Canterlot, with my sister. I misheard the lyrics as…” She trailed off remembering Cozy Glow’s age. “Let’s just say I thought it was rather inappropriate and complained to management. In the Royal Canterlot Voice. We got kicked out and we’re still not allowed back. The rulers of Equestria banished from a mere eating establishment!”
Cozy Glow snickered. “Everypony mishears that. It’s the whole reason that song’s popular in the first place.”
Luna’s left eye twitched ever so slightly. “Of all the musical trends to develop in the thousand years I was away, I don’t believe I’ll ever appreciate more than two of them.”
“Which two?”
“Swing and disco.”
Cozy giggled. “Swing I get. But disco? Really?”
“And what’s wrong with disco?”
“You mean, aside from everything? It’s fallen out of favor. Like, really out of favor. After a massive backlash it’s kind of a punchline these days.”
“Ponies today have no taste. Sadly, ‘tis all I have left to listen to since the vast majority of the music of my youth has long since been lost to history.”
“And what do you like?”
“What you would term ‘classical’ music. Only it was rather contemporary when I was listening to it. Unfortunately, time hasn’t been a friend to it. We didn’t have records, so once the ponies passed away, that was the end of their music. Some of the sheet music has survived to this day, but not nearly enough of it. And today’s instruments sound different anyway. The instruments remain the same, and yet they are manufactured differently.”
“I like Baythoven.”
“In his era, he was the equivalent of Coloratura or Songbird Serenade or whoever’s popular this week. Many of the mares back then swooned over him.” She laughed. “Ironically, he couldn’t carry a tune if you hoofed it to him. It’s why all his music is instrumental.” She sighed. “But he was quite the master when it came to melodies, even if I was fonder of Buck, personally.”
“I can see you’re adapting well to modern society. Liking disco is sure to win you many friends amongst the movers and shakers of Equestria.”
“Miss Glow, I’m afraid that if you intentionally try to tweak me one more time I’m leaving and will most certainly not return. Moreover, I’ll decree no one is to ever visit you ever again. Not even your parents.”
“Good luck with that. The reason you haven’t found my parents is because I’m an orphan.”
Luna shook her head. “Miss Glow, are you familiar with the story The Little Colt Who Cried Wolf?”
“Of course. Two false alarms, and then when the real wolf shows up nopony believes him and he gets eaten.”
“Methinks you’ve cried ‘wolf’ too many times for anypony to believe anything you say. And while I’d truly love to know why you’re a habitually lying, borderline sociopathic spoiled brat, I’m afraid I simply won’t believe any answer coming from your mouth. Which means I’m not falling for any of your sob stories.”
The ice now completely broken between the filly and the princess, Cozy Glow went on the offensive. One of her Shadowbolts hopped around the board, picking off two Royal Guard pawns before being struck down by a third.
One of the unicorn sorcerers was next, striking down another two pawns before being taken by the Rainbow Dash knight. At that point, taking advantage of the gap in her first rank, Cozy Glow castled to the kingside, fortifying her defenses.
Luna looked to her own defenses. Most of the pawns on her kingside had been claimed by Cozy Glow in the opening moves. Cozy’s aggressiveness hadn’t been as reckless as it seemed at first glance. Her kingside rook, Twilight Sparkle, was already in play, so instead she castled queenside. With the addition of the Rarity rook, all of her major pieces were now in play.
Cozy, meanwhile, put both rooks and the Nightmare serving as queen on the same file. The second rook was effectively backing up the first, and the queen was backing them both. Cozy Glow chuckled. “I call this move Cozy’s Cannon.”
Luna had to admit, it was a formidable strategy, though not unprecedented, and certainly not unbeatable. Challenging, yes. Cozy Glow was already shaping up to be the best opponent she’d had since her return. Luna still had the advantage in material, she may have lost more pawns, but she still had all of her other pieces. And then she saw it. Cozy Glow could checkmate her in three moves with her Cozy’s Cannon formation, but she could break the cannon in two moves with her Applejack piece. The rook in the middle was pinned in.
Applejack paid the price a minute later as the Nightmare removed her from the field of play, but Cozy Glow’s offense had suffered a major blow. That only served to enrage the little filly who stepped up her attacks in retaliation. The next few moves were a war of attrition, with the two players taking pieces on almost every turn.
“You seem eager to sacrifice pieces.”
“Of course. They’re just tools to use to win.”
“Are they now?” Luna motioned to the piece resembling Fluttershy. “Note that she’s backing up the pawn on this square. While Rarity is protecting this pawn over here.”
“Yeah, so? Did you name your pawns or something? Are you that attached to them?”
“As it is, I’m quite familiar with the Royal Guards. And while I’m less familiar with the Solar Guard than the Lunar Guard, I recognize Prowl, Ironhide, Cliffjumper, Bluestreak, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, Red Alert, and Trailbreaker easily enough.”
Cozy Glow looked at the Royal Guard pawns again. “I can’t see any difference whatsoever. Are you saying these pieces are based on real ponies?”
“Of course they are. The rest of the pieces represent real ponies. Why wouldn’t the pawns?”
“Why? I mean, they’re pawns. They’re useless. They exist only to be sacrificed.” She paused. “Don’t they?”
“Is that how you view ponies as well, Miss Glow? As mere tools to use and discard after obtaining your objectives?” She picked up the pawns she had captured from Cozy Glow. “Bonecrusher, Dirge, Kickback, and Thundercracker. I remember them all fondly. They were loyal to me to the end. I understand that after my exile to the moon, they were all banished from Equestria for treason. A leader’s actions have repercussions for even the lowest pawn. That pawn represents a pony with hopes and dreams. A pony with a family who will miss him if he doesn’t return home from the battle for glorious conquest. His life is in your hooves.”
Cozy let go of the pawn she’d been about to sacrifice to clear a path for her rook to pass through. “Touched him, so I’ve gotta move him. Sorry little pawn.” She moved the pawn into the path of one of Luna’s knights, specifically the piece represented by Rainbow Dash.
“So you do have a conscience. Good to know. Pretend for a moment that instead of serving the forces of Nightmare Moon, these pieces were instead your fellow students, following you because they foolishly put their trust in you. Now, here are your teachers trying to stop you. Can you see the disappointment in Fluttershy’s eyes? And there are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Ponies who got in trouble trying to help you when you were in danger of failing out of school. And you locked them all in a closet. There were ponies who truly cared about you, Miss Glow. Instead, you saw them only as a means to an end. I believe your exact words were something along the lines ‘Friendship is power’ or some such nonsense. What you failed to grasp is that friendship is a two-way street. They cared about you, but you didn’t care about them.”
“It is power! Twilight and her friends have proven that time and again! They defeated this guy easily enough.” She pointed to Tirek.
The centaur unzipped his mouth. “I wouldn’t say it was easy for them. I did manage to drain all of their magic first.” He made a slurping sound as he licked his lips. “Yummy, delicious magic.”
“That’s so creepy. Then again, so is someone your age being pen pals with a young filly like me. Seriously, you’re pretty messed up, dude.”
“Didn’t stop you from writing to me. You initiated it, even.”
“He was just another tool to be used and discarded, right Miss Glow?”
“It’s not like I could bust him out of Tartarus. The magic was all gone, so the door would be shut permanently. And without magic to steal, he’d never get powerful enough to be a threat to me. Besides, he seemed okay with the prospect of being stuck here forever provided he could get his revenge on the Elements of Harmony.”
“Right up until the pink one started talking.”
“I suppose Pinkie Pie does have that effect on ponies. Of course, you also sold your dear pen pal out to those very same enemies of yours. You even donated the remainder of your magic to their cause.”
“It was worth it to get rid of them.”
“So, Miss Glow, you can see both the lack of long-term strategy on the part of your pen pal, as well as his overall value of your friendship with him. Is the irony lost on you? He’s a horrible strategist, yet you asked him for help. And he turned on you the second your use to him was no longer needed, just as you would undoubtedly have done to your own followers.”
“They would’ve willingly served me. I’d be living the good life. Surrounded by friends to take care of my every whim.”
“I believe you may be confusing ‘friendship’ and ‘slavery’. I understand things changed during my thousand year …vacation… on the moon, but I’m still pretty sure these shouldn’t be particularly difficult to tell apart.”
“Details. With me as Empress, everything would be fine.”
“Really? Pray tell how you were going to run the economy. How about meetings with the nobles? Foreign relations with other world leaders? How about raising the sun without magic? What are your qualifications? Where’s your endgame, Miss Glow?”
“Maybe I didn’t think things all the way through. I just figured I’d keep doing what you were doing, but it would be better because I’d be the one doing it.”
“Miss Glow, do you even comprehend the fallacy behind your failed attempt at overthrowing the diarchy? Friendship is magic, correct?”
“That’s what got hammered into my head at that infernal school. Twilight and her friends are the only thing to have ever happened in the history of Equestria. Blah, blah, blah friendship. Blah, blah, blah magic.”
“And you were eliminating the magic from Equestria. Ergo, when you arrived in Canterlot with a superior number of unarmed students and attempted to use the magic of said friendship to overthrow my sister and myself, you would have quickly discovered there was no magic left in friendship. Instead, you would have found yourselves overwhelmed by a much smaller platoon of Royal Guards equipped with swords, spears, and superior training. There would no doubt have been many casualties. All of them on your side. Your so-called friends. Your unwitting pawns.”
“Their sacrifices would be remembered by the Empress.”
“True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like autumn leaves, found everywhere.”
“How profound. Did you get that off a throw pillow?”
“Commemorative plate, actually.” Luna shook her head. “But that’s not important. We’re getting sidetracked here. Miss Glow, you never considered these ponies your friends, but rather your lackeys. There’s a difference, and even if there was a spark of magic left to be had from friendship after you sucked all the magic from Equestria, you wouldn’t have triggered it. In other words, you were doomed to failure. Much like your current situation in the game. Check.”
Cozy Glow moved a thestral pawn between Nightmare Moon and the threatening Princess Luna, forcing Luna to retreat to a safer location. “Check isn’t the same as checkmate, princess. You should know that better than anypony. Look at the wedding fiasco with the changelings. Your sister was defeated by a giant bugpony thing. Chrysalis didn’t even break a sweat. Tirek,” she motioned to him, “locked the three of you up in Tartarus. And then the Storm King’s flunky with the broken horn waltzed into our nation’s capital and captured the three of you with ease. I’m failing to see how you could stop a colony of ants, let alone a real invasion.”
“Chrysalis was feeding on the power of love, and denied the Elements of Harmony from entering the fray, leaving us without the magic of friendship. Tirek encountered no resistance since we had voluntarily given up our magic to Twilight to hide it from him.”
“Put all your eggs in one basket. A horrible strategy – the four of you could’ve done more to counter him working together than one-on-one. You play chess. You’re quite good at it,” she conceded. “So why would you even consider such a weak strategy?”
“We weren’t countering him. We were hiding that which he wanted. With our combined powers, added to all the magic he’d already harvested from the ponies of Equestria, he’d be unstoppable. It wasn’t worth the risk he could best one or two of us. Draining even one of us would’ve turned the tide of the battle immediately.”
“And Tempest Shadow? You know, unicorn with a broken horn and perhaps the single most ridiculously adorable real name of all time? Seriously. Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Is that a pony or a brand of soda?”
“Void crystals.”
“All three of you in seconds. And you were retreating.” Cozy Glow removed Luna’s final pawn from the chessboard. “Just like you’re doing in the game.”
“I was seeking reinforcements.”
“Pity that was you last pawn. Looks like you won’t be getting reinforcements here, either. No promotions for you.”
Luna sighed. “So you thought us weak; ripe for conquest.”
“More like unfit to rule. All that power and you couldn’t use it effectively. What good is all your magic if it can be rendered useless with a chunk of crystal? Friendship is the real power. You can’t counter that with a void crystal.”
“I won’t argue with the value of friendship. But I’ll reiterate that you don’t understand the very concept of friendship. It’s not only about what friends can do for you. That’s part of it, because friends are there when you need them. They’re even there when you don’t. But you should be there for them too. When they need it, and even when they don’t. A friend helps in times of trouble and plays in times of joy.”
Luna opened a picnic basket and her magical aura levitated the items between the two of them. Apples, grilled cheese sandwiches, and sodas were hardly a meal befitting a princess, but they were supposedly the favorites of the pony she was playing chess with. A pony who hadn’t eaten anything in the months she’d been incarcerated due to the magical nature of Tartarus. There was no need to feed prisoners when the spells that comprised Tartarus kept the prisoners in a perpetual state of stasis. Tartarus had been created to hold Equestria’s most dangerous villains and monsters in an environment where their natural magic would be negated. Since many of the creatures had carnivorous diets, a spell had been created to use their own magic as a source of sustenance for them. Tartarus had never been intended to house pony criminals. Cozy was the first. And her natural pegasus magic, that which granted her the abilities of flight, cloudwalking, and weather manipulation, was keeping her nourished. The filly’s stomach gurgled at the sight of the delicious food. “Sweet Apple Acres’ finest apples, compliments of Applejack.”
Cozy Glow stuck her tongue out, but it didn’t stop her from grabbing one of the apples and biting into it.
“Not a fan of the Element of Honesty? Perhaps Laughter’s contribution to today’s meal is more to your taste?” Cupcakes levitated their way to the table. “Baked by none other than Pinkie Pie herself. She misses you, you know. She misses all her friends when they’re far away.” She turned to the centaur in the next cell and placed a cupcake in front of him as well. “She even baked something for you, Tirek. Along with a promise to stop by and finish your ‘not-a-birthday’ party sometime soon.”
Tirek shuddered and unzipped his mouth once again. “And yet it’s Cozy Glow and myself deemed Equestria’s vilest villains. Truly there’s no justice in this world.”
Luna laughed. “As if Tartarus could contain her.”
“Or keep her out!” Pinkie Pie popped out of the picnic basket. “Oh! Is this a party? It looks like a party!”
Tirek was thankful for the zipper. It ensured his internal screaming didn’t become external screaming. He wouldn’t show fear towards this mare. Annoyance, perhaps, but most certainly not fear.
Cozy Glow squeezed between the bars of her cell and picked up the picnic basket. Then she looked inside it. “There’s no way she could fit in there!”
“I know, right! Sorta like how you just escaped your cell, completely by accident!”
Cozy Glow looked around her. Pinkie was right. She was free. Well, in a manner of speaking. She was still trapped in Tartarus, with Princess Luna and Cerberus there to make sure she didn’t get far. “Not that I can really go anywhere.”
“Silly filly!” Pinkie booped her nose. “With an attitude like that, you’re right, you’ll never get anywhere. Like, Twilight’s always ‘Law of Gravity this’ and ‘physics that’ and I’ve never let any of those ridiculous abstract concepts get in my way!” She hopped back into the picnic basket.
Cozy Glow pondered her former teacher’s words. Now that she looked around her, she could see that the portal Princess Luna has used to enter Tartarus was less than three lengths away, and both Luna and Cerberus were too far away to stop her. She could make it if she tried. Luna was watching her intently, but made no move to stop her from bolting. Would Pinkie Pie actively encourage her to escape? ‘Random’ was the best word to describe the party pony. All she wanted was for everypony to be happy. Months ago Cozy Glow had considered that a waste of the pink mare’s potential. Now though, after several months of misery and boredom in Tartarus… perhaps there was method to her madness after all. Escaping Tartarus would make her happy. She wanted to be happy again. Not this miserable, bitter, wretch of a filly that she’d turned into. She’d had fun with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, her classmates, and even, she gagged at the thought, her teachers. She hated to admit it, but seeing Pinkie only reminded her of how much she kind of missed all of them.
Logically, though, Luna was a chess master. The portal was obviously a distraction. A queen’s sacrifice to draw her out, but she had no intention of falling for it. The alicorn hadn’t even budged when she’d slipped out of the cell to investigate the picnic basket, like her escaping was the most normal thing in the world. So she paid the portal no heed and instead turned her attention to the spot where Pinkie Pie had disappeared. Cozy looked into the basket but the pink mare was gone. She picked up the basket and held it upside down. “Empty.” She crammed as much of herself into the basket as she could, looking all the world like an obese cat trying to fit into a kitten-sized box. “I think I’m stuck.”
Tirek facehoofed. “The would-be Empress of Equestria, everypony. I’d like to remind you that this is the filly who was mere moments away from overthrowing you.”
“I assure you that you won’t be escaping Tartarus that way.” Luna snickered at Cozy’s plight. She levitated the filly, picnic basket and all, back into her cell.
“If I had wanted to escape I could have jumped through the portal you carelessly left open five times over before you or Cerberus could have reached me. Are you going to extricate me from this?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, come on!”
“You got yourself into it, I’m sure you can get yourself back out of it.”
“How is it that this imbecile came closer to succeeding than I did?”
“Perhaps if thou were cuter, thou would draw less attention to thyself. While it’s easy to dismiss a precocious, helpful yearling, it’s rather challenging to miss a centaur towering fifty meters tall sucking up magic and laying waste to the countryside…”
Using her only free rear leg, Cozy Glow pushed the picnic basket between two of the bars of her cell. Once she had it wedged in, she slowly wiggled backwards until she finally tumbled out with one last push of her forelegs. She brushed herself off and sat down behind the chess set as if nothing had happened, ignoring the titters of the Princess of the Night. She grumbled and made her next move.
“How does one become pen pals with a prisoner in Tartarus? Nothing is supposed to get in or out. There’s no mail delivery.”
“It was Professor Fluttershy’s idea, really.”
Luna cocked an eyebrow. This had all the makings of another Cozy Glow tall tale. “Do tell.”
“It all started when Professor Fluttershy suggested sharing kindness with somepony who needed it. Someone less fortunate. Perhaps someone as lonely as she herself was before finding the magic of friendship. We had just learned about Tirek in Professor Dash’s class. Which, as I’ve since learned from Tirek, was a highly exaggerated account of what really happened. I figured he could use a pen pal.”
Tirek unzipped his mouth yet again and handed a stack of paperwork to Princess Luna. “Our correspondence. Well, her letters to me, anyway. I’m sure you’ve already acquired my letters to her.”
“No. Another mystery I was hoping to solve today.”
“I burned them. I committed everything to memory and burned the evidence. Just like he taught me.” She grinned. “As for how they were delivered, dragon flame. I had Fluttershy’s permission, so Spike didn’t even question it.”
Luna nodded as she scanned the letters Cozy Glow had written to Tirek. From an innocent, detached start they’d turned into a desperate plea for attention. If the ever increasing number of hearts with each subsequent letter was any indication, it appeared as if Cozy Glow had developed a prepubescent crush on Tirek, and was willing to do anything for him. Without the other half of the equation, she’d never know for sure, but it was certainly within the realm of possibilities that Tirek had preyed upon her insecurities. He’d been alive for centuries, and spent many of them in Tartarus with nothing to do but think. Manipulation was second nature to him. It was certainly Cozy Glow’s modus operandi as well – they were kindred spirits, in a way. No wonder she wanted his attention so badly. She had much to learn and he had much to teach.
Despite that, she could detect no signs of interest from Cozy Glow now. Perhaps seeing his derelict, withered form in the flesh had been enough to kill the crush. Or perhaps there’d never been a crush in the first place, and she was playing him as much as he had played her. It was a topic best left to speculation. She resisted the urge to shudder. Cozy and Tirek as an item? Disgusting.
It was irritating having so many questions and so few answers. Cozy Glow was a horrible pony, of this there was no doubt. Selfish, egotistical, psychotic. For somepony who cunningly planned a coup d'état, it made no sense for her to have absolutely no strategy for what came after she was in charge. Was it all a game to her? Was Equestria merely a piece on the chessboard to take without a second thought? Was she so focused on the quest that the actual prize was irrelevant? Or perhaps her plan was still in motion? Was being trapped in Tartarus a setback, or all part of her plan? For a pony so young, Cozy Glow was a surprisingly good strategist.
Still, Luna had seen her dreams. Between that and their conversation thus far, it was enough to be positive that she wasn’t too far gone to save. Still, it was going to take a lot of time. She was obviously broken in ways ponies weren’t meant to be broken.
She regarded the filly sitting across from her. She still styled her hair with the cutesy curls that had endeared her to so many older ponies. Her facial expressions still curled into mischievous smiles and adorable pouts. To the point where Luna questioned if it was even an act at this point. Cozy was young, and had presumably been playing this game for quite some time. Somewhere along the line ‘cute’ and ‘nice’ had become second nature to her.
“I’m sure you’re already planning to break out of here and get your revenge. Maybe you’ll bring Tirek along. But only if you think he’s useful. Then you’ll double-cross each other at the most inopportune time and just end up back in Tartarus by the end of the day. You and he have different agendas, you know. Everything’s all hunky-dory while your interests align, but the minute they don’t… Well, you see how he betrayed you once already. It’s not like you had real friends at the School of Friendship. Nah, it would be silly to think you’d make friends at a school specifically designed to encourage just that. Better to throw in with a defeated villain and try to take over Equestria instead.”
“I was so close.”
“Actually, you were. You came exceedingly close to obtaining your goals, without any specific plans on what to do once you met your objectives. It would have been an absolute disaster. A disaster along the lines of making the night last forever.”
“What’s wrong with that? It’s what you wanted, right?”
“Perhaps, a long time ago, a part of me desired that. I would have doomed the entire planet to extinction. We eat plants. Plants need sunlight to grow. Sure, we have some artificial greenhouses but their capacity would never be sufficient to suit our needs. Ponykind would be dead within a few months. I was foolish, Miss Glow. Just as foolish as you. That you idolize my twisted nightmare form is tragic. Nothing good would have become of my rule. Just death and destruction.” She removed another of Cozy Glow’s pawns as she said that. “The same things that no doubt would have arisen from your own rule, should you have succeeded in your conquest.”
“Oh sure, you automatically assume I’d be a tyrant. Maybe things would be better under my rule. Ever think of that?”
“Not really. You’ve already indicated you had no particular plans aside from just continuing to do what my sister and I have been doing. The only difference being it would be you. Oh, and you’d be doing everything without the benefit of magic. Good luck raising the sun or moon without that.”
Cozy harrumphed and grinned at the chessboard. Both sides were well down on material as Luna and Celestia closed in on Nightmare Moon.
Luna was curious as to why Cozy would grin in her current predicament. The filly had refused to concede defeat, even when reduced to only her ‘king’, Nightmare Moon. Still, a few more moves and Luna would win…
…Or would she? Luna examined the board. Cozy Glow could make no legal moves. Moving Nightmare Moon in any direction would put her in check, but the square she was currently resting on was safe. The game was over in a stalemate.
“Well played, Miss Glow.”
“I must say, you’re easily the best opponent I’ve ever had. About halfway through the game I shifted my strategy from ‘winning’ to ‘not losing’ because you’re just that good.”
“Thank you. And you’re the most skilled player I’ve had the opportunity to challenge since I last played Star Swirl the Bearded.”
“Can we do this again?” Cozy Glow looked up to her with those big, adorable eyes. She’d put just the right amount of ‘sad puppy’ into them without going so far as to be exaggerated.
It was time for Luna to put her own end game into motion. “You should teach Tirek how to play. Perhaps you could continue your correspondence with him, this time via chess-by-mail.”
“Why would I go to all that trouble when I can just set the chessboard up between our cages?”
“Because you have a choice to make, Cozy.” Cozy looked up at the princess. She’d actually called her ‘Cozy’. “You can choose to stay here, and rot in Tartarus for eternity with Tirek, or you can come back to Canterlot with me. You’ll be my protégé, and I’ll take it upon myself to show you how a true leader operates. Perhaps when faced with the realities of running a country, you may rethink your ambitions of conquest.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“Doing the right thing. When Nightmare Moon was vanquished I was offered forgiveness for my crimes against Equestria. I’d very much like to extend that same courtesy to you. When I was defeated, Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony on me. As Nightmare Moon, I didn’t want to be reformed. But the Elements released the Luna inside that wanted nothing more than to be reunited with her sister. We didn’t use the Elements on you. Perhaps we should’ve. Or perhaps you don’t need them. Tartarus is no place for young fillies. And perhaps, selfishly, it would be nice to have somepony to play chess against.”
“What would that entail? You know, aside from playing chess.” For the first time in months, Cozy Glow felt hope. But she tempered it. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch. You’ll continue your schooling, however, you won’t be returning to the School of Friendship. Education is important, and I think it would behoove you to learn from history’s mistakes instead of repeating them. Seriously, had you just asked Twilight about why leading an army of school students against the leaders of Equestria was a bad idea, she could’ve told you all about Sunset Shimmer’s attempted Equestrian conquest. Maybe she could’ve invited Sunset to the school to share her story with you. Enslaving ponies? Your former guidance counselor, Starlight Glimmer, could’ve shed light on why that doesn’t work. As you can see, we’re pretty big on forgiveness. But you have to want to change and be a better pony. You’re here, currently, because you’ve shown no remorse for your actions until now.”
Tirek unzipped his mouth. “Ugh, All that sentimentality. Gag me with a spoon.”
“I see you’ve been rubbing off on your pen pal.”
Tirek thought about what he had just said, grumbled, and zipped his mouth shut once again.
“So what’s it going to be – the road to redemption with me or spending eternity in these lovely accommodations?”
“Golly, gee, Princess, that’s a tough choice! I mean Tartarus has its charms. I’d miss Mr. Crankypants over there complaining every time I try to talk to him.”
“It was quiet before you came here. I miss that. Of all the possible punishments the princesses could’ve dished out, I’m sure they chose to send you here as punishment not just for you, but for me as well. So don’t let me keep you here.”
Cozy Glow perked up. “Well, looks like that’s settled! I’ve got to stay here and cheer my only friend up! That’s what friendship’s about, right?”
“Nooooooooooo! She accepts your offer to leave! Get her out of here before I throw her through the portal myself!”
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to go back to Equestria and make some new friends!”
“You know this means you’re going to have to cooperate with us. You’re going to have to tell me your real name, and where your parents are. We’ll need their permission to make you my protégé, after all.”
“Actually, you won’t.”
“Miss Glow.”
“Seriously. You want the truth; I’ll give it you. And all of this can be backed up with a trip to Chicoltgo. It’s all on file. My real name is End Game. My parents are Caïssa and Checkmate, but they don’t even know I’m alive...”
“I’m sure they were just busy and not intentionally ignoring you.”
“What? Oh! No, my parents never ignored me. As far as parents go I guess they were okay. They taught me chess and everything. Actually, I faked End Game’s death and then started a new life on my own under the name Cozy Glow.”
“Why?”
“I had bigger aspirations. Don't get me wrong, I really do love my parents. But family is a weakness that can be exploited. Even though the queen is the most powerful piece in chess, think about how we protect it almost as much as we protect the king. Once I knew what I wanted to do, I did all this for their protection. Cozy Glow has no family, only friends. But none so close that they can be held hostage. I know you're going to want to verify all this before releasing me. I assure you, every single form from my emancipation to my death certificate to my name change is on file with the Chicoltgo Hall of Records. And End Game's obituary can be found in the February 23rd edition of Chicoltgo Sun-Times. I took care of all the paperwork personally. Tied up all the loose ends of my old life so I could start my new one.”
She grabbed a water bottle from what remained of the picnic lunch and doused her hair with it. She started working her hair with her hooves, and soon she had a different hairstyle entirely. Her hair hung down, one of her bangs covering her eyes, much as she'd seen Fluttershy do so many times previously. “There. Now I even look like my obit picture. I don't have my cutie mark in that picture. I, uh, I kinda got my mark when I started planning my takeover of Equestria. So my parents never even saw it.”
“Good morning, class. Today’s lesson is…” Twilight Sparkle went silent as she saw Cozy Glow sitting in her old seat.
“Hi Pwincipal Twiwight. Golly, I guess I did a bad thing. Gee whiz, can you ever forgive me?”
“What…what are you doing out of Tartarus?” Twilight lowered her horn into an attack posture.
“Why is nopony happy to see me?” Cozy Glow pouted, and the rest of the class broke up laughing.
Twilight opened her eyes and cast a quick anti-changeling illusion spell. Ocellus stood where ‘Cozy Glow’ had been mere moments before. “Not funny, Ocellus.” Before she could start her lesson, however, the door to the auditorium burst open and Princess Luna strode through.
“Greetings, fairest Twilight Sparkle. We hope we’re not intruding, but we have an important announcement.” Rainbow Dash, Starlight Glimmer, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the rest of Twilight’s friends followed Luna into the auditorium and joined Twilight on stage.
“Do any of you know what’s going on?”
“Not a clue,” replied Starlight. “Princess Luna just asked us to come with her.”
With a glow of magic, Luna opened the side door to the auditorium, and Cozy Glow entered. She trotted to the center of the stage as the crowd gasped. “Well, golly, where do I begin? First I want to apologize to my fellow students for misleading you and abusing the trust you put into our friendship. I didn’t get the concept of friendship. I suppose in a way I still don’t.” She looked to Princess Luna. “I’m gonna work on it. I promise! Next I want to apologize to my teachers, the faculty here at the School of Friendship. Not just for my actions, but for my inability to grasp true friendship. You tried so hard and I let you down. Mostly though, I want to apologize to Starlight Glimmer for trapping her. I owe everypony in Equestria an apology, but I wanted to start here with the ponies and creatures I hurt the most. I… I still don’t understand friendship. I want to be a better pony. Maybe… maybe someday our paths will cross again. Under better circumstances. I’ll probably end up in Tartarus again, but I want to thank Princess Luna for giving me another chance anyway.” She trotted towards the door, head hung low and tail tucked between her legs.
Twilight and her friends looked at each other in shock. It was Starlight Glimmer who recovered first. She ran over to Cozy Glow and scooped her up in a hug. “I forgive you, Cozy Glow.” Tears streamed down Starlight’s face as Cozy started openly weeping. “Speaking from experience, you won’t regret letting other ponies into your heart for real. You and I need to talk sometime soon. And not just as guidance counselor and student. I need to tell you about Our Town and everything that’s transpired since then.”
Twilight Sparkle joined them. “I also forgive you, Cozy Glow. There’s a friendship lesson here about forgiveness. And maybe you can write to me about it when you figure it out. I also wish to apologize to you. There’s nopony in Equestria more qualified to teach friendship than me. I failed you as a teacher. You were here, under my snout, and I still couldn’t reach you. I’m sorry.”
“Taking over Equestria is uncool, squirt. So, don’t do that ever again and we’re cool.” Rainbow Dash held a hoof up for Cozy Glow to bump.
Fluttershy scooped Cozy Glow up in a hug. “I was so worried about you. A little filly all alone in Tartarus. It must have been horrible. I…I’m glad you’re going to work on being a better pony. You’re a good filly, you just made some bad decisions.”
“Y’all want my forgiveness, ya gotta earn it. Words are one thing, actions are another thing entirely, sugarcube. Y’all learn from Princess Luna and stay on the straight and narrow from here on out, and I’ll forgive ya.”
Rarity walked up to Cozy Glow and regarded her for a moment. “Forgiveness is a two-way street, Cozy Glow.” She nuzzled the filly. “Ponies don’t forgive solely for the benefit of the one seeking forgiveness, but also for their own benefit. It does nopony any good to carry hatred in their heart. So I forgive you, Cozy Glow, and ask you to forgive us as well. Revenge is a dish best served neither hot nor cold, but rather not at all.”
Pinkie Pie pronked over to Cozy Glow and pulled her party cannon out of thin air. Seconds later the stage had turned into a fully decorated ‘Yet Another Successful Villain Redemption’ party complete with balloons, streamers, and cake. Lots of cake. “I forgive you, you silly filly! What’s in the past is over and done with. You can’t change the past no matter what you do, so don’t dwell on it. But you can change the future, so focus on what’s to come, and why you want to be a better pony. And cake!” She shoved a piece of chocolate layer cake into the filly’s mouth.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders surrounded Cozy Glow. She sat on her rump as the three fillies circled her, warily. It was Sweetie Belle who broke rank first, flinging her forelegs around the pegasus filly. “If Rarity forgives you, I forgive you too.”
“Yeah,” agreed Scootaloo. “If Dash is cool with you than I am too.”
“I’ll forgive ya when Applejack does. But if you want some help becomin’ a better pony, y’all can just ask the three of us. It’s what we’re here for. I’d say we’d help you figure out your cutie mark, but you outplayed all of us so I reckon you’ve got a pretty good handle on your chess piece mark.”
“It’s a rook.”
“Yeah, what Sweetie Belle said. A rook,” Apple Bloom added hastily. “You play a good game. I think my sister wants to be cautious considerin’ just how y’all deceived us so easily the first time around. Y’all earn that trust again and it’ll be right as rain between us, ya hear?”
“Just don’t lock us in any more closets. That was soooooooo boring.” Scootaloo added.
Sandbar, Gallus, Ocellus, Yona, Smolder, and Silverstream joined them all on the stage.
“I’m sorry,” Cozy Glow started, but Smolder held up a clawed hand.
“Save it. Back home in the Dragonlands, this is normal. There’s always some dragon thinking he can shake things up and conquer the rest of us. Normally we’d fight to resolve our differences, with the winner being declared right. We can’t do that because I’d snap your hollow pegasus bones without even breaking a sweat. So I figure since we’re in Equestria, and they’re pretty big on this ‘forgiveness’ thing, I’m gonna give it a try. Don’t make me regret it.”
Yona embraced Cozy Glow in a bonecrushing hug. “Cozy Glow almost cause Yona to plummet to death. Yona not like falling. Yona not like heights. Yaks meant to stay on the ground. Falling not perfect. Yona not figure out how to smash falling yet, so Yona can’t smash imperfect progressive aspect verb. Cozy Glow not perfect, but Yona not smash her either. Yona forgive.”
“Yona…kinda…smashing….me…with…forgiveness…and hugs…” Cozy Glow gasped as Yona finally let her go.
“Yona forget Yona’s strength. Yona smash hug!” She hopped into the air and thrust a foreleg into the air. She pulled her list of 'things to smash' out of her fur and crossed both ‘forgiveness’ and ‘hug’ off of it.
“Oh, is it my turn? It’s my turn!” Silverstream also scooped the much smaller pegasus into a hug. “Let’s be friends! Like, for realsies this time!”
Gallus strode over and pried Silverstream off Cozy Glow. “Back home in Griffinstone, things are a mess. Everygriff is rude to one another. Like Smolder, I can’t really hate you for something that wouldn’t be out of character for a griffin. Maybe I even respect you a bit more since I never thought I’d see that kind of audacity from a pony. But don’t do it again because I’m only willing to forgive you once.”
“You inadvertently caused some narrow-minded ponies to open their minds. You made Chancellor Neighsay realize that ponies aren’t inherently good, and that other creatures aren’t inherently bad. And, well, I don’t think any of us could have convinced him of that no matter how good we were. So thank you. If we changelings can go from stealing love to openly giving it, then it should be no problem for a pony. I forgive you.”
“I’ve seen the worst that ponies have to offer between you and Chancellor Neighsay. At our core, we ponies are herd creatures. We crave social interactions, and we fear the unknown. Some of us are even prejudiced against it, thinking only ponies are capable of things such as love and tolerance. Chancellor Neighsay learned his lesson. Have you?” Sandbar looked at her.
“I’m honestly not sure.” Cozy Glow stared at the floor. “I get that my actions were wrong. I’ve come to realize that my plan for world domination was fatally flawed and would have resulted in my eventual defeat. I’m not entirely sure I’m sorry for my actions, or if I’m just sorry my plans failed. I need to work this out.”
“Then why don’t we continue this conversation once you figure that out.” He draped a foreleg over her withers. “For your sake, I hope you figure it out sooner rather than later. I’ll forgive you once you forgive yourself.”
“I’ll try.”
“You’ve been away from your fellow ponies for a few months now. How does it feel to be back among your own kind?” Twilight asked.
“Golly fantastic! I missed everypony.” She nuzzled Sweetie Belle.
“I see you enjoy the close physical contact of your fellow ponies,” Luna observed.
“I guess I just want to make sure this is real and not just a dream. Normally I have nightmares, but if this turns out to be just a dream it’ll be the single worst nightmare of my life. Because it means I’ll wake up and still be in Tartarus.” Her lips quivered and her eyes shone with unshed tears. “I… I can feel they’re real. I’m not going to wake up in that horrible, miserable place tomorrow.”
“This is what you threw away, Cozy Glow. Was it worth it?”
“No.” Silverstream had picked her up once again and was squeezing her in a hug. “How come you never hugged me like this before, Silverstream?”
“Because you never needed a hug. Well, I guess you did but I just didn’t realize it. Forgive me?”
“Uh, sure? I tried to conquer Equestria. If you can forgive me for that…”
“And maybe if we’d shown you how much we all cared about you and appreciated you, you wouldn’t have tried to do that in the first place?”
Cozy stared at her hooves. “No, pretty sure I would’ve gone through with it regardless… But I appreciate you trying to take some of the blame.”
“It’s what friends do.”
“I’ve got a lot to learn about friendship.”
“That’s okay! Once you return to school, I’ll be happy to tutor you!”
“I’m not returning to the School of Friendship.” A good number of the ponies gathered gasped at the news. “I need one-on-one instruction. I really don’t get friendship. Maybe someday I can come back, but I really need to fix that first. With Twilight’s permission, I’d be happy to visit periodically though.”
“Permission granted. Though, perhaps, it would be best if you scheduled future visits in advance.”
“Of course, Headmare Twilight. I know how you like adhering to schedules.”
Twilight continued. “You seem to grasp that one of the ways to show you care is through physical contact. As Silverstream is so conveniently demonstrating.”
The hippogriff blushed. “I may have gotten carried away a bit.”
“It’s okay.” Cozy smiled. “It’s more than okay, really.”
“Do you understand why ponies nuzzle one another or why we hug?” Luna asked.
“Because it feels good?”
Luna nodded. “It does. It expresses affection in ways words can’t. Hugs can be given to denote friendship, to comfort a pony in their time of need, to help console in times of loss. The close physical contact is a sign of familiarity and confirms that nopony is truly alone that has friends. You can’t fake affection.”
“Yes. But as Empress, I could just order ponies to hug me.”
“I see.” She turned to the ponies packing the auditorium. “You two! I command you to hug me.”
Rainbow Harmony and Bifröst looked at Luna, then at each other. “Us?”
“Yes, you two.” Luna’s aura glowed and she levitated the two pink ponies to her. Harmony awkwardly wrapped her forelegs around Luna’s withers while Bifröst tried hugging her around the barrel. Luna turned to Cozy Glow. “Hugs convey affection felt towards a pony. Does this look affectionate to you?”
“Can’t you just order them to be affectionate?”
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way.” Twilight stepped forward. “After the fiasco with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you seemed to improve in school. You grasped the concepts of what to do to make ponies like you, but not the very foundation of why they should like you. Friendship works two ways. There’s give and take. You were good at the giving aspect, but only because you were trying to position yourself like a chess piece. In hindsight, it’s crystal clear. Hug me.”
Cozy Glow stepped up to Twilight and hugged her. “Is this affectionate enough?”
“Yes, surprisingly. When you think about me, what do you feel?”
“I dunno. I think you’re smart, a little naïve, easily flustered, and more than a little OCD. Like, seriously, you put the ‘obsessive’ and the ‘compulsive’ both into obsessive-compulsive disorder. They should’ve just named it after you: Twilight Sparkle Disorder.”
Twilight frowned and broke the hug. “While I appreciate the blunt honesty, let’s try this again. This time tell me how you feel about me, and not what you think about me.”
“What’s the difference?”
Luna stepped forward and looked at Twilight Sparkle. The look they shared communicated everything they needed to know between them in a split second. They’d just isolated one of Cozy Glow’s problems and now it was time to fix it. “Let’s pretend for a minute that Twilight here is hanging over the side of a cliff. Her magic is exhausted and her hooves are slipping. You’re the only pony close enough to pull her back up to safety. Do you do it?”
“Of course.”
“Why would you do it?”
“She might be useful to me at some point in the future. And she’d owe me one. I’d own her sorry flank.”
“Her magic is permanently exhausted. She’ll never be useful to you in the future, nor will she be a hindrance to your future endeavors. So you’ll get nothing out of her in the future, and you know that in advance. Do you do it?”
Cozy Glow put a hoof to her chin. “I guess? I don’t have any reason not to, right?”
“Right. She’s in no position to stop you from whatever you’re doing.”
“Then yeah, I pull her up.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to see her die.”
“And why’s that? Would she make a good slave to serve you?”
“Well, her brain would still work, right? She could be a good strategist who’d be well-rewarded for a Cozy Glow victory.”
“She tells you in advance she won’t help you. She’ll thank you for the help, and then she’ll trot away and you’ll never see her again. She won’t serve you and she won’t stop you. And if you turn your back on her, she’ll die. So even with no benefit to you at all, do you still do it?”
“Yes,” Cozy replied, without hesitation.
“So you mean to tell me you actually care about this naïve, easily-flustered, obsessive-compulsive pony?”
“Maybe? Is that caring? Or is that just doing the right thing? I don’t want to see her die. Unless… is necromancy still illegal in this scenario?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Too bad. She’d make a wicked-cool zombie.”
“She totally would!” Rainbow Dash agreed.
“Hey!” Twilight objected.
“What? That would make you at least twenty percent cooler.”
“I’d be dead, Rainbow.”
“Yeah, but only sorta dead. Because you’d be a zombie. And zombies are way cool.”
“Let’s try an example that doesn’t end with me possibly dying and being reanimated as a zombie. And since Rainbow’s volunteered…”
“Wait, I didn’t volunteer for anything…”
Twilight grasped Rainbow in her magic and dropped in front of Cozy Glow, perhaps a smidge too roughly. “In this scenario, Rainbow has just asked you to kill her and reanimate her as a zombie. What do you do?”
“I get a blunt object and a morally ambiguous unicorn.”
Twilight’s hoof hit her forehead. “Instead of doing what she wants you to do, instead you should talk your friend out of doing something incredibly stupid.”
“Why?”
“Because not only is it the right thing to do, it’s also looking out for your friend’s best interests. Becoming a zombie isn’t a good thing for Rainbow Dash. She’d be dead.”
“Awww, but it would be way cool, Twi. It’s like the only way I could be cooler than I already am!”
“So sometimes being a good friend means doing something that might make your friend mad at you?”
“If you explain why you do something, your friend will hopefully understand, and thank you for saving them from making a terrible mistake. For example, the Wonderbolts don’t allow zombies on their team.”
“Oh. I don’t want to be a zombie anymore.”
“So you’re saying I should lie?”
“Wait, what?” Rainbow and Twilight both asked at the same time.
“Do you know for a fact that the Wonderbolts don’t allow zombies on their squad? Because last I checked, the Wonderbolts were part of Equestria’s military, and zombies are the perfect expendable soldiers to send into battles too risky to send living ponies. They mindlessly obey orders and they’re already dead. You couldn’t ask for a better pawn.”
“When you put it that way, zombies don’t sound cool at all.”
“You know what, you seem to do very well with logic. So just use logic to make it as unappealing as possible like you just did.”
"Twilight, I fear we've interrupted your class enough for one day. We have another stop to make on our way back to Canterlot, so we must bid you, your friends, and your students adieu."
The first Hearth’s Warming after losing a loved one is always the hardest. Caïssa hadn’t moved from bed that whole day, despite Checkmate’s urging that life had to go on. Life had been going on for almost a year. New Year’s Day had passed, and another year had begun, for whatever good it was worth. Her little End Game was gone. What did it matter anymore?
She went through the motions like she did any other day. She went to work. She came home. She ate something because apparently that was something she had to do. She slept, even if it was fitfully at best.
A chess fan, her wardrobe consisted primarily of black and white garments. It had been nearly a year since any of the white ones had been worn. She was, for all intents and purposes, a living zombie.
She was roused from her ever-deepening descent into depression by a knock on the door. She ignored it, as she always did. If Checkmate was home, he’d get it. Since the knocking continued, it was obvious her husband wasn’t in.
“Hello? Is anypony home. This is Princess Luna.”
Caïssa snapped out of it. A quick look in the mirror told her she was in no way, shape, or form presentable enough to let in one of Equestria’s princesses. It had been months since she’d vacuumed or even dusted. The house was almost as much of a mess as she herself was. She didn’t even dare breathe, lest the princess hear her and demand entry.
“I wish to speak to you about your daughter, End Game.”
Curiosity warred with fear and embarrassment. Why would a princess possibly want to speak to her about her dead daughter? “Just a minute, princess,” she found herself saying before her mind registered the words had been her own. She grabbed a comb on her way past the bathroom and tried to make herself look as presentable as possible. She trembled and dropped into a bow as she opened the door to royalty.
Luna wrinkled her nose in disgust. Cozy’s parents had let themselves and their home go. Anypony could plainly see they missed their filly. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but there’s a possibility the events concerning your daughter’s death were misstated. Her body was never discovered, correct?”
“That’s correct. It was an explosion. There were no survivors, and no bodies found in the wreckage. Why?”
“Because recently a filly showed up in Canterlot with no memory of who she was,” Luna lied. They’d agreed not to mention the fiasco at the School of Friendship. Because of her age, the press had been instructed to refer to as ‘an adorable young mare named Cozy Glow’ without describing her or including a picture of her. If these were her parents, End Game would be allowed to reclaim her identity without having to deal with the stigma of being a reformed villain like Starlight Glimmer or Fizzlepop Berrytwist. She'd have to live with her own actions, but she didn't need constant reminders from everypony else. “I’ve spent the past few months trying to establish the identity of this pony. Her cutie mark is that of a rook.”
“I’m sorry, but End Game never earned her cutie mark.”
“Perhaps she earned it since she went ‘missing’.” Luna intentionally replaced ‘deceased’ with ‘missing’. If Cozy Glow was lying about these being her parents, Luna would send the filly back to Tartarus personally. And with a vengeance. She was getting a mother’s hopes up. To dash them would be unforgivable. She whistled, and Cozy Glow stepped out from behind her. Luna had insisted Cozy keep her curls. If Cozy Glow was truly this mare’s daughter, she’d recognize her no matter what disguise the filly had taken.
“Are you my Mommy?” Cozy stuck to the script they’d worked out. For a filly as good at deceit as Cozy Glow, it wasn’t challenging to slip into the character of an amnesiac. Let her memories ‘come back to her’ as her parents filled her in.
Caïssa’s expressions changed from bitter to shock to relief to embracing the filly in a hug tight enough to make Yona proud in less than second. “End Game!”
“Mommy!”
“My sweet, precious filly returned to me. It’s a miracle! I’m never letting you out of my sight ever again!”
“Moooooooooom.” Cozy Glow rolled her eyes.
Luna chuckled at the thought. It would certainly make it much harder for Cozy Glow to overthrow a government with her mom keeping an eye on her. “Your daughter is quite the prodigy at chess. I’m a grandmaster, and she played me to a stalemate in our first match.”
Caïssa wrapped her forelegs around her daughter even tighter. “That’s my little filly. End Game has won every tournament near here three years in a row. And a chess cutie mark!” She squealed in delight. “Oh, I always knew you’d get a chess mark someday! I’m so proud of you!”
“I’ve grown quite fond of End Game in the time I’ve known her.” It was less of a stretch than Luna truly wanted to admit. Despite keeping her guard up, the filly had managed to wriggle her way into the lunar alicorn’s heart. “With your permission, I’d like to make her my protégé. Much as Twilight Sparkle was once the personal student of my sister, Princess Celestia. I see a great deal of potential within her, and I think with proper guidance her star will shine bright. Equestria needs more ponies who can see the big picture. The end game, if you will.”
“Of course, Princess. It’s an honor. If that’s okay with you, sweetie?”
“I’d like that.”
“Of course, she’d have to move to Canterlot.”
“Oh.” Caïssa’s face fell. She’d just had her daughter returned to her, and now she was losing her again. Life wasn’t fair.
“The Crown will of course pay to relocate End Game and her family. She’ll spend her days in the castle, being tutored by the finest scholars in the land.”
Caïssa looked relieved. “That sounds wonderful. I think she’d benefit from one-on-one learning. She was always bored in school because the teachers never moved at her pace. She skipped two grades and was still ahead of everypony in her class. She was always getting in trouble, and never really got along with her classmates.”
“She had trouble making friends?”
“You have no idea.”
Luna smiled. She was pretty sure she had a pretty good idea idea. “She’ll receive the best friendship tutoring from the only qualified friendship tutors in Equestria, the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Who?”
“Tutors at Twilight’s School of Friendship. Furthermore, most of her evenings will be spent with me, as she refines her chess game. She'll return to your domicile at night. You’ll be relocated to a residence within easy trotting distance of Canterlot Castle. If you’re unable to relocate your current jobs to Canterlot, the Crown will assist in finding similar jobs in the capital.”
“Thank you!” The disheveled mother threw herself at Luna and embraced her in a hug. “You returned my End Game to me. The rest sounds amazing, but having End Game back means everything to me.” Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“Thou art most welcome, my little pony. Now, however, End Game and I must return to Canterlot. I hate to cut your reunion short, but I’ll need her help with the preparations for your arrival.”
With Cozy Glow’s identity confirmed, Luna returned with her to Canterlot. She’d discussed the events of the past two weeks with her sister via her dreams, as she and Cozy had been staying in a hotel outside Ponyville waiting for the school to reopen after the Hearth’s Warming break. But it hadn’t made sense to travel on to Chicoltgo only to double back to Ponyville, which was located relatively close to the entrance to Tartarus. Unsurprisingly, they’d primarily spent the time playing chess. Cozy was indeed a quick study – while Luna was ahead in victories, Cozy hadn’t been completely shut out by the grandmaster.
Celestia, meanwhile, had made the preparations for Cozy Glow’s arrival. Security was increased, though the Royal Guards had been explicitly instructed not to treat the filly like a criminal. It was with no small amount of surprise that Celestia greeted her sister only to discover Cozy Glow scampering around her hooves like nothing had ever happened. The filly was bouncing back quicker than anticipated.
“Greetings, sister! As we discussed, Cozy Glow will be my personal student from here on out. It occurs to me she’ll be less enthralled with overthrowing our government once she sees what running it truly entails.”
“Golly gee! It’ll be just like having Twilight Sparkle living with you!” Cozy Glow beamed. “I know all her favorite organizational methods!” She smiled up at Celestia, but gasped in surprise at the pony behind her. “Excuse me, Mr. Guard sir, but is your name Sunstreaker?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“This is going to sound strange, but you’re in my chess set…”
“A few of us were selected to be pawns. It was quite an honor. You’re the first pony to recognize me from that.”
That pawn represents a pony with hopes and dreams. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are your hopes and dreams?”
“Well, Miss Glow, it’s my sincere hope that letting you into the castle isn’t a major tactical blunder. As for my dreams, I’d like to travel around the world one day. I’ve been fortunate to see much of Equestria in my service, but there’s a whole world out there that we don’t know a whole lot about. I’d like to help change that.”
“I don’t think it’s a mistake. I really, truly don’t want it to be a mistake. Which, granted, is exactly what I’d say if I knew it was a mistake on your part, so take it how you will. But Tartarus is awful, so I have a lot of motivation not to go back. Your dream sounds wonderful. I got to hear about Twilight’s adventures outside our borders. I think you’ll enjoy it.”
“I’m sure you already know this, but we’ll be watching you like a hawk. If you’re not being escorted by Princess Luna, you’ll be escorted by one of us. And I assure you, we’re well aware of your ability to weaponize adorableness, so we’ve already picked out the most battle-hardened amongst our ranks to keep an eye on you. Specifically, the guards who also happen to be mothers.”
“That’s… that’s actually brilliant. They sold you short making you a pawn.”
“Flattery will you get you nowhere, Miss Glow.”
“Just being honest. Yeesh, I’m not always evil. Just most of the time.” She sighed. “But Princess Luna’s gonna help me work on that.”
“For your sake, I hope she succeeds.”
“Me too. Thank you. Weird as it sounds, it helps. I think I needed to hear that pawns have their own aspirations.” She blushed. “Sorry, I don’t mean to imply you’re a pawn, it’s just I think in chess terms.”
Sunstreaker allowed the slightest of smiles to grace his face. “It sounds like you have a lot to think about, Miss Glow. Your personal guard detail will be waiting in your room.”
“I get my own guards?”
“You’ll never be unsupervised in this castle. That means you have your own personal detail.”
Cozy nodded. “I understand.”
Celestia listened to the exchange. Her gut was telling her Cozy wanted to reform. In all the centuries she’d been ruling, her gut instinct had never led her wrong. Still, Cozy Glow was a master of deception. If anypony had a chance of fooling her, it was the filly standing in front of her. With Cozy Glow here, she was glad she’d postponed commissioning a stained glass window of her defeat at the School of Friendship. That was one window that was never going to see the light of day now. In the grand scheme of things, there were better moments in Equestrian history worth preserving in stained glass anyway. She bent down to look Cozy Glow in the eyes. “Welcome to the eighth rank. We have no shortage of material here, so we’re well-protected against a back-rank checkmate.”
“Duly noted.”
“You are, however, one of my subjects, and a guest as well. While you’re here, you’ll be treated fairly and with respect. Should that not be the case, you’re to let Luna or myself know at once. You’ll be under continuous surveillance, but your stay will be as hospitable as it can be under the circumstances. You will observe and you will learn. There are parts of the castle that are off limits to you. These will be explained to you by your guard detail. Suffice it to say, if we find you in one of them, you’ll be sent right back to Tartarus. Permanently. Am I clear?”
“Crystal.”
Cozy cringed as the princess reached a hoof towards her. To her surprise, Celestia pulled her in for a hug. “I care about all of my subjects, even you. It’s my sincere hope you’re able to learn the true meaning of friendship. I leave you in the capable hooves of my sister. Fair thee well, Miss Glow.”
Luna escorted Cozy to her room where she found her personal guard detail waiting for her. She looked around the room, which was decorated in black and white, like a chess set. “You know, I’m a filly. I actually like colors.”
“Tis your room. You can decorate it any way you want it. Just remember you won’t actually be living here. You’ll continue living with your parents, but this will be your own personal space in the castle. You’ll have plenty of time to redecorate it while we get your parents settled in. I understand your mother has already quit her job and is currently en route to Canterlot. You saw how much she cares about you. While you may have had their best interests in mind, what you did to your parents was horrible, and you’ll have to live with that for the rest of your life. I also want to make it clear the only reason we perpetrated that ruse was for their benefit, not yours. They needn’t know their daughter committed high treason. So they won’t hear it from us.”
“I understand.”
“Before I go, allow me to introduce you to your guard detail: Moonracer, Chromia, Stormclash, and Skyburst.” She motioned to a mint green unicorn, blue earth pony, and a pair of teal pegasi with bright red hair. “At least one of them will be with you at all times.”
“You two are twins, aren’t you?”
“Whatever gave you…” started Skyburst.
“…That idea?” finished Stormclash.
“Call it a hunch.”
“They’ll set some ground rules, and then you should get to know them better since you’ll be seeing a lot of them from here on out.” With that, she let herself out.
“When did you last sleep, sister?”
“Two weeks ago. But you know as well as I that we don’t truly need to slumber.”
“Regular resting helps keep our minds sharp.”
“In addition to keeping an eye on Cozy Glow, I still had my normal nocturnal duties of raising the moon and safeguarding dreams. Her dreams are even darker than I thought upon my observations that first night. I suspect she’s punishing herself like I did with the Tantabus.”
“For her crimes?”
“Sadly, no. Rather for her failure. I fear that’s even worse. Without my magic she can’t produce a Tantabus of her own, but she suffers in her sleep as if she were afflicted with posttraumatic stress disorder. It’s not healthy. It’s one of many things we need to work on. She’s a complex and fascinating little filly. I’d expect nothing less from one with her mark.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“We each have our own burdens to bear. Thou cast the light that reveals the truth, and cast judgement upon those who’ve committed misdeeds. I lurk amongst the shadows, redeeming those who think themselves incapable of being forgiven, as I, myself, have been forgiven. Cozy Glow has a long road in front of her. But she’s not too far gone. She’s having trouble with the basics of friendship. Twilight and I think we’ve isolated her core problems. With our help she will become a happy filly with a bright future ahead of her.”
“And what of her pen pal?”
“It is my sincere hope that she continues corresponding with Tirek. I’m encouraging them to play chess-by-mail. Something to occupy his mind from the tediousness of Tartarus. Specifically, something to let him know somepony cares. Perhaps it will inspire him to join her in reformation?”
Celestia chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d make this much progress with Cozy Glow. And while I, personally, would dismiss Tirek as beyond saving, if anypony can do it, it’s you.”
“Neigh, sister. If anypony can do it, it’s Cozy.”
Tirek scratched his head as he looked at the chessboard Cozy Glow had sent him. It wasn’t as fancy as the one Luna had given her, but she assured the centaur she’d purchased it herself. The first thing she’d bought with her allowance. In all his years, he’d never even attempted to learn chess. Strategy wasn’t really his strong suit. Still, it beat sitting alone with his thoughts. “Hmn. Perhaps I shall move my knight.” He moved the piece on his own chessboard and scribbled his move on a sheet of parchment and sent it on its way to Cozy Glow. Nc3
Author's Note
Now with fanart! Huge thanks to SmiffySmoof for the following:
Looks like Cozy's finally getting the hang of hugging. 
Absolutely adorable! Thank you very much!
I figure this fic will be rendered completely irrelevant with either the season nine opener or the season nine/series finale. I think it’s safe to say Cozy Glow is going to return.
While I don’t agree with using a filly as the villain of season eight, I understand why she was the perfect choice. Ignore the motives of her character, and instead look at season eight overall. A season which focused entirely on ponies and other creatures befriending one another. What message would it send to have one of those other creatures be the villain? No, it had to be a pony. Now why they’d go and use a young filly in a show aimed at young girls is a mystery. Maybe they thought the target demographic could relate to her as a villain? Or maybe bronies have truly become the target audience for FIM.
So Cozy Glow. A very polarizing character. The first pony villain to actually be held accountable for their actions instead of either apologizing, reforming, and being allowed to continue on with their lives, or to just scamper away unhindered (or whatever it was they did to King Sombra – probably death, unless that fragment of horn is supposed to be containing him somehow?).
Lastly, the final image. I’m sure almost everyone recognizes that from The Simpsons. In this case, ‘it’ refers to reforming. Guess she made a positive impact on him after all…
