Cozy

by ferret

Rating: teen
Tags: Cozy Glow, Violence, Death, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Starlight Glimmer, Thriller, Mystery, Suicide / Self Harm
Length: 103948

Once upon a time, ponies locked a little filly in Tartarus and forgot about her. This is not that story.

Once upon a time, the School of Friendship was praised and accredited, after its lessons drove a little filly mad. Imprisoned in Tartarus with only an ancient monstrous centaur to keep her company, Cozy Glow was in the perfect place for Grogar to whisk away so that he could force her to do his bidding.

Twilight Sparkle's friends, bastions of Equestria's highest virtues, left Cozy Glow forgotten and alone, locked in that rusty cage deep underground. Nopony ever attempted to visit her, check up on her, care for her, reform her, or try to find out what was wrong with her.

This is not that story.

Published 2019-08-06 07:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-04-01 23:54:43 UTC

Little Piece of Compassion

Cozy Glow refused to sign some stupid intake form, because who gives prisoners a form to fill out? That’s what Cozy was, no matter what these ponies were trying to make her think: a prisoner. So she complied. She walked where they ordered her to. But she was not. Going to fill out a form. Condemning herself to this place.

They didn’t care. They filled it out for her, all under the watchful eye of Starlight Glimmer, who was clearly the mastermind of this whole operation. The halls were... weirdly quiet and empty.

“That’s because we just built this facility,” Starlight explained as Cozy once again demanded answers, “You’re not the only pony with problems, so I thought why not build a place that’s better than a dungeon, because our goal here is to get you out, not keep you in.”

“Well then just let me go, and I promise I won’t do anything bad,” Cozy said hopefully.

“Of course!” Starlight said agreeably, then less agreeably she said seriously, “After you prove yourself.”

“And how do I do that?” Cozy demanded, wanting any advantage she could get in this situation.

“I’m not telling!” Starlight said in amusement, “You need to get used to living here first, and then I’ll tell you how to get out. Okay?”

“How do I get used to living here,” Cozy asked, very unamused.

“It’s more about what you don’t do that I care about,” Starlight replied, “If you don’t try to escape, and you don’t skip any meals, and you don’t bite anypony, then that should be a good start. If I know anything from the last time I tried this, what you need is time to yourself, to wrap your head around all this. Plot my doom, or whatever.”

“Would you like to hear the plot I’m not going to use?” Cozy asked in a sweet benevolent amusement, “Because I’ll never tell you the plot I am going to use.”

“Right now, I’d like you to spend some time in your new room,” Starlight replied, and her magic opened a door among several in the hallway. She nosed Cozy forcefully into the room, then levitated over a key. Cozy watched as one manacle broke loose, and then another, and then the chain lifted and Cozy charged forward at the door while Starlight shouted,

“If you don’t run, then I promise you, you’re gonna get out of here.”

Stopped in her tracks by the unicorn’s forceful and very confusing words, Cozy declared, “That doesn’t even make any sense!” It was too late then. The manacles floated through the door, and the door closed with a solid click.

“A good friend of mine taught me that there’s not much fun in making sense,” Starlight Glimmer gloated from the other side of the door, through a little window in it, “So you go ahead, freak out and rage, and curse my name. I’ll be back to check on you in a while. Dinner’s at sundown~!

“You can’t do this to me!” Cozy shouted, but the mare was already walking away. “This is worse than Tartarus!” Cozy screamed, looking around at the... well, there wasn’t much in terms of decorations, but there was a bean bag, a small empty bookcase, another little window outside, with bars on it, and a... bed. An actual bed, with sheets and a blanket. She couldn’t see around a doorway to the side, but this room was much, much better than Tartarus. “Worse!” she shouted impotently, and she didn’t even have the heart to scream. Nopony answered.

Cozy smashed the bookcase onto the ground, and of course it was bolted to the wall so she couldn’t do that. She picked up the beanbag and tried to rip it, and its thick canvas laughed at her puny muscles. She tried to move the bed, and it was bolted to the wall too. She pulled off the mattress, sheets and all, pulled it all the way off the bed onto the floor, then started kicking it. It was useless. She felt weak, and exhausted, and the only thing keeping her going was her anger. So Cozy Glow just... made a tactical decision, and fluttered up onto what was left of the bed, walking in a circle on it, to find it not nearly soft enough. Then she lay down on it, just to test it out, and was asleep before her head hit the mattress.

Cozy woke up because of her hunger. She did that a lot in Tartarus, because they wouldn’t bring her more food after she threw it at them. Well she didn’t care, because they ruined her plans, so she didn’t even want to be nice to them anymore, not one single stupid pony. They thought she was so ugly, or mean, when they were lucky that she was so nice. Cozy Glow opened her eyes groggily, surprised to find herself in a well lit, pastel colored... oh right.

“Starlight Glimmer,” Cozy growled into her foreleg, then crawled to her hooves. Normally she would pace around her cage then, but this room was a lot bigger, so Cozy Glow had some options. She checked over each edge of the mattress, finding ordinary floor beneath it, then hopped off to the side with the doorway into the other room. Cozy Glow had to admit that two rooms were better than one cage, and it looked like they couldn’t see her, if she went into this other room, which was a...

A little bathroom.

Cozy Glow discovered shortly during her stay in Tartarus that her cage did not come with bathroom facilities. She thought they were going to magically suppress her metabolism or something, but it turned out that was just one of Tirek’s many amazing powers that he kept all to himself. It wasn’t long before Cozy Glow had to poop. She demanded to use the bathroom, and the guards brought her a... bucket.

She refused to use it of course, and just... held it in because she didn’t know what to do, but then she woke up at one point because it was getting really insistent. Cozy’s whole belly hurt, and her tailhole even hurt from trying to hold it in. Her panicked cries for the guards didn’t summon them nearly fast enough, so Cozy just... Cozy just lifted her tail and pooped right on the floor. What was she supposed to do?! It hurt so bad, and it–it was such a relief coming out, and... Tirek had laughed for so long.

So Cozy peed on her poop too, because why not? Then she sort of sat on the other edge of the cage from that... stuff that had come out of her butt. She had to sleep like that, and wake up hungry. Then the guards finally decided to check on her, and she hated them but she was afraid to move or she’d get some on her. Then Cozy Glow became acquainted with how cages were cleaned in Tartarus, with their occupants still inside them.

The next time the bucket was offered, Cozy didn’t resist. She just stuck her butt over it, and... they watched her while she did it, but she didn’t care. They took the bucket then, and Cozy felt even more violated somehow than when they’d turned the hose on her.

Now Cozy Glow was looking at an actual toilet, with an actual button that looked like it might even flush. She didn’t even realize she’d get her own toilet, that she’d never have to use the bucket again if she just... gave in to Starlight’s demands. Cozy hated it, but this toilet was the most precious thing in her whole life right now. She touched it to make sure it was real, and her hoof clunked solidly on its metallic surface. She stuck her hoof in the water... it was wet. “...never gonna be able to do that again,” Cozy supposed, looking at her dripping hoof.

Then she turned her pretty pink rear to the bowl of the toilet, looked around, and... the door out wasn’t even visible from in here. They couldn’t see her, and she didn’t have to do this in front of anypony. How many dozens of times had she...? Cozy Glow didn’t know how long she had been in Tartarus, but as she released her bowels and felt her poop fall into a real toilet, without anypony there watching her do it, she couldn’t help but feel like there was something horribly right with this situation.

Too bad Cozy was feeling pretty good about herself at that point, because as she strutted away from the toilet that really truly did flush, Cozy Glow noticed the mirror. By a small hoof sink, there was a mirror on the wall, and Cozy jumped back as she saw a monster coming at her in it. Then she realized it was a mirror.

Lifting one skinny, filthy, cracky hoof to meet the one in the mirror, Cozy’s curls were... gone. She couldn’t even curl her mane anymore. It was just hopelessly tangled and plastered against her skull. Cozy’s coat was dingy and soiled, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had been brushed. And this filthy, scruffy, ruined pony in the mirror, it didn’t even look like a pony. “I—I was eating!” Cozy protested at the mirror in shock, “I mean so I s-skipped a day or... a few days I was just so tired of the same... h-help. No.”

What was left of Cozy’s cute and adorable face twisted into the awful rage that she never wanted to see, and she smashed the mirror shouting, “No! No! No!” It wouldn’t smash! “No, no no no!” Cozy declared in panic, as the mirror wasn’t... was it some kind of plastic? She couldn’t smash it! She couldn’t make that weak, pathetic, horrible little filly go away. She couldn’t make that monster go away. Cozy backed out of the bathroom in terror, and... her stupid pooping butt ran into the mattress behind her, but fortunately Cozy had already pooped.

She turned around to attack the mattress, or... or something. She climbed on the mattress and scrabbled all the sheets and blankets into one big giant armful and fell on her side, hugging it to her chest and rocking there on the otherwise bare mattress. She was dead. They were going to kill her. They knew what she really was. Cozy didn’t even have her cuteness anymore. There was nothing left that was stopping them from hating her and just killing her. Just like... just like... Cozy wanted her mommy. They’d taken that away from her too. They took everything, and now they were just gonna stop feeding her, and let her die, and she’d never be able to use the power of friendship to force anypony to care for her ever again. Cozy Glow was ugly inside and out. Nobody loved her, nobody was under her control, nopony thought she was a good friend at anything, and she just didn’t know what went wrong.

Some time passed, before Cozy absolutely panicked there on the bed, when there was a knock at the door. Flipping over herself, pulling the mattress frantically on its side back against the bed, trapping herself between the two, Cozy was hidden by the mattress when she heard a strange mare call out, “Hello there! How’s our first new... oh dear.”

That mare of course would be seeing a room in as much disarray as possible, with blankets and sheets wadded together in a poorly hugged lump, the mattress tilted on its side, and a little filly’s bright blue tail sticking around the side of it as she hid herself back there.

“It’s umm... dinner time,” the mare said, “You don’t look like you’re ready to come out yet.

“Go away!” Cozy shouted at her. Then terror gripped at Cozy as she realized she needed that food. She needed that food to be beautiful again. “No wait, please!” she cried out hopelessly.

“...I’m still here, miss Cozy,” the mare said.

“I would be ever so grate–grateful,” Cozy said politely where she hid her little monster filly form behind the mattress, “If you would bring the food i-in my room, and not... look.” Cozy cursed her own stupidity. Her mind wasn’t working good, probably because she’d stopped eating! She had to be smart, and pretty, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to get anypony to love her at all. Cozy had nothing else going for her!

“Sure?” the mare said cautiously, “There’s a slot for a meal tray. Do you want... uh... I’ll just... go get you some dinner then.”

Cozy didn’t answer. She was afraid of ruining her chances at victory. The mare just left then, and Cozy peeked out, then inched out from behind the mattress. She frantically fumbled with the mussed up blankets, pulling out the sheet and furling it to land over her. There, Cozy Glow lurked in wait, until she heard the mare approaching, saying, “Okay, it’s ready. Can I... put it through the slot now?”

“...you may,” Cozy granted. The sound of a tray sliding through a slot entered Cozy’s ears. She approached the tray, still covered in a sheet, barely peeking out of it, looking down at... beans and carrot sticks, and a bowl of... of applesauce. Cozy hadn’t had apples since... before Tartarus.

Making sure she stayed covered in the sheet, Cozy made sure to eat each and every bite of food. After so long without anything worth eating, it was as flavor explosive as the grass. Cozy finished everything, even when it hurt to swallow, and then she... looked at her swollen belly. The rest of her was still skinny. It would take some time, it seemed, to make herself cute and lovable again.

“Well, you... sure ate all of it,” the mare said encouragingly, looking down at the sheet covered pony through the little window in the door.

Cozy didn’t answer.

“Was it pretty tasty then?” the mare asked.

“This sheet is only temporary!” Cozy declared furiously, “There is nothing wrong with me, and you can go now!”

Cozy was afraid the mare would try to be kind to her or something, but she just left without a word. And Cozy was... okay. She got the mattress back up on the bed, because there wasn’t any room to pace around with it lying on the floor. Then she made the bed, because why not. Then she... tried to... clean herself in the hoof sink. For her efforts, she got her arms soaked, and marginally cleaner. The sheet was also getting wet though, so Cozy backed out of the bathroom, and... took off the sheet.

She had to wring the sheet out in the other room, since she couldn’t think of a way to avoid that bathroom mirror yet. Why was everything in here so unbreakable? It was infuriating! But she looked at the sheet, and... then was bored for a while, but the room wasn’t any more unbreakable than that cage in Tartarus, so it was... nothing new, really. Well, until Starlight came back, that is.

“Hello!” Starlight Glimmer said brightly, snorting Cozy Glow out of a doze.

Cozy scrambled around in a panic, yanking the sheet over her and replying, “What are you doing here again?!”

“I said I was going to check on you!” Starlight protested, from the little window into the hall. “Why are you wearing a sheet?”

“Why didn’t you tell me I looked like this?!” Cozy demanded in return, glaring at Starlight with the sheet wrapped tightly around her, “I didn’t know I was in Tartarus long enough to starve to death!”

“Oh, yeah you are pretty skinny,” Starlight said bemusedly, “Not quite starving, but you know, certainly not healthy.”

“I look horrible!” Cozy shouted tremulously, “Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let all those other ponies see me like this?”

“Sorry, I guess I was more worried about getting you here than appearances,” Starlight said apologetically. “Have you taken a shower yet?”

“How am I supposed to take a shower when all I have is a little sink?” Cozy said, feeling horrible for disparaging her bathroom like that, but Starlight was really asking for it here.

“There’s showers down the hall?” Starlight offered in puzzlement, “There really isn’t any need for a shower in every room.”

“There is no handle on the door on this side,” Cozy spelled out for the stupid mare. “I can’t go out in the hall.”

“Nurse Tenderheart should be able to let you out, under supervision,” Starlight said critically, “You didn’t attack her or anything, did you?”

“What? No! I—I can’t be seen like this!” Cozy attested desperately.

“I really am sorry,” Starlight said regretfully, “I’m just not the sort of pony who pays much attention to looks.”

Cozy shouted in exasperation, “Looks are all I have left!”

At Starlight’s silence, Cozy blushed, but stated angrily to her, “I was doing fine! I was gonna rule all of Equestria, and everypony was gonna be my friend. I was gonna be the most powerful friend in the whole world! Then those stupid creatures ruined everything, and now that everypony knows what a stupid, hateful little monster I am, my looks are the only thing keeping me alive, because I’m too cute to die!”

Cozy sniffled, but refused to cry because she wasn’t even upset anymore! “And now that you ruined my looks with your stupid Tartarus, if anypony sees me they’ll just let me die, because there’s nothing left to save. How many ponies know how ugly I am now?!”

“I don’t know!” Starlight said anxiously, “I didn’t think it mattered that much! You’re safe now, aren’t you?”

“Am I?” Cozy countered cuttingly, “As soon as that... that other pony sees me, she won’t give me food anymore, and then I’ll just die like a stupid rotting apple who was just too stupid to eat!”

“If Nurse Tenderheart won’t give you food, then let me know,” Starlight said seriously, “And I’ll find somepony who will.”

“She hasn’t seen me, so she’ll bring me food, so I’m safe. For now!” the ensheeted filly claimed.

“I’ve seen you,” Starlight said, “And I’ll bring you food. What do you say to that?”

“You haven’t brought me food!” Cozy said accusingly.

“Well... has your breakfast arrived yet?”

“What breakfast?” Cozy asked suspiciously.

“Tell you what, I’ll bring you breakfast, and I’ll make sure nopony else comes to this door, and you take off that sheet,” Starlight said, “I’ve already seen you, so I know how you’re kind of... ehhh icky. And then I’ll see you and I’ll give you food. If I can’t, then you can wear the sheet, and Nurse Tenderheart can feed you.”

Cozy couldn’t find anything wrong with that logic, so she didn’t say anything. “I’ll be right back,” Starlight said, trotting away from the door, calling before she left, “And you better not be wearing that sheet when I get back, or I won’t give you any food!”

Cozy wasn’t hungry anyway. She felt like she was going to throw up and she didn’t even have anything to throw up. She was only eating to get plump, and cute, and well groomed and... stuff. Then maybe she could start... pretending to be a nice filly again. She didn’t know how, but Cozy did know that Starlight was a particularly dumb pony, and she’d probably even feed a monster. So the first step was to take off the sheet.

Cozy noticed with a wince that she was getting the sheet filthy, with the road dirt and... stuff that clung to her from the trip here. She put it off carefully to the side where she could grab it in an emergency. Then Cozy Glow stood there waiting, taking care not to look at herself.

Starlight came back again, with a tray in her magic containing a bowl of something that smelled like oatmeal. Suddenly Cozy Glow was so hungry she thought she was gonna die of just that. Terrified that she wasn’t gonna get her oatmeal, she couldn’t stop from grabbing the sheet, clutching it in her hooves. Cozy tried to stand there and let Starlight Glimmer see her as she approached, and looked through the little window in the door to Cozy’s room. Cozy Glow looked up at Starlight’s face like she were a leaping panther, then shakily pushed the sheet aside entirely, sitting bravely on her haunches, and saying in a trembling voice.

“T-there. Now you have to feed me. You promised.”

The slot was kind of like a mail slot, except wide enough for a tray, and tall enough for a bowl. It slid up by some mechanism Cozy couldn’t see, then a tray glimmering in aqua colored magic slid into Cozy’s room. Cozy started for it, then looked up at the window, where Starlight was still watching with concern. Then Cozy looked at the food, then up to Glimmer.

“Don’t watch,” Cozy ordered, not feeling very authoritative at all as she did so.

“Ohh no,” Starlight replied, “This isn’t healthy. You look fine, so go ahead and eat.”

Cozy trembled in rage, but she was so hungry, and she just ignored the stupid window, and stuck her face in the oatmeal, eating it as sloppily as possible. It was warm and had cinnamon and sugar in it, and it was good as the oatmeal they served at the school, which made Cozy remember the school, which made her even angrier, because Starlight wasn’t punishing her.

As the empty tray slid back under the door, Cozy said accusingly up at the pony in the window, “I hate you.” Cozy’s face was all messed up with oatmeal, and Cozy didn’t care how ugly she looked. “I’m going to destroy you, if you keep feeding me,” she seethed, “You’re so stupid for doing this. You still want to feed me? I’ll eat your food, and then I’ll get cute and lovable again. Then I’ll destroy you because I’ll be too powerful for you to stop me.”

“I... don’t think that’s how it works,” Starlight said shakily, “Listen, you uh... I need to talk to a friend about a... thing, and you should be able to wash your face in the sink. So uh, back this afternoon maybe, or tomorrow at the latest.

“I don’t care if you come back!” Cozy declared irascibly as the pony just left her there, “Stop trying to be nice to me!”

Starlight was already gone.

“I’m back here darling~!”

...

“Oh hello, Starlight!” Rarity said with a delightful smile as the lavender pony trotted into her sewing room, before that cute little bell on her outside door even finished ringing. “What brings you here today?”

“Well, Rarity, you know how we’re friends?” Starlight asked hopefully, stopping beside the dressmaker at her sewing machine. “Not best friends,” she admitted, “But still pretty good friends. I like to think of you as a friend, and by the way I just want you to know that if there’s anything you need me to do, I’ll always be willing to help out my friends!”

Rarity’s smile fell flat. “This is about Cozy Glow, isn’t it,” she grumbled.

“I don’t know what to do about her!” Starlight said, pacing in anxious distress, “I don’t even understand what’s troubling her, much less how to help her with it, or if I even should help her with it. Is she just testing me? Do I aid her, or do I help her do it herself somehow? It’s getting her eating regular meals at least, but it’s just not something I’m prepared to deal with.”

“Darling, I’m afraid I cannot help you in your little...” Rarity didn’t know how to put this delicately, “...care facility. Twilight already has me run ragged trying to teach in her school on top of running a boutique and managing the ‘Rarity 4 U’ franchise.”

“Please Rarity, I know I can’t ask you to devote yourself to this on any permanent basis,” Starlight begged in measurable distress, “But could you just see what you can do with her? I think you might be the only one who can help her at this point!”

“And just how am I supposed to help an evil little filly who you cannot even deal with?” the pale mare griped at Starlight, “I have no experience in your particular form of rehabilitation, and reprogramming.”

“It’s not that,” Starlight said, gritting her teeth, “It’s just that she’s been in Tartarus for so long, and... I didn’t even think about it when she arrived. But now she won’t even let the nurse see her, because Cozy thinks she’s gonna kill her!”

Rarity griped irritably, “I’m afraid I cannot do anything about insane little ponies, who think such monstrous—”

“She’s hideous!” Starlight blurted out.

Rarity blinked.

“Cozy Glow is at a very unhealthy weight,” Starlight said looking anxiously at Rarity, “And we’ve got her eating, but she’s stuffing herself now. She looks like a... a very unhealthy pony. I don’t think she’s been brushed once since she got sent to Tartarus half a year ago! Her fetlocks are dragging, her mane looks even more pitiful and tangled than her tail. And she won’t even take a shower because she’s afraid somepony will see her, because—”

“Darling,” Rarity said steadily, “Say no more. Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot to prepare for.”

Then she galloped straight for the Ponyville day spa.

On the way to the spa, Starlight dogged along at Rarity’s heels, saying, “Cozy Glow thinks, well she said that she thinks ponies will kill her if they see her like that.”

“I thought I said ‘Say no more,’” Rarity grumbled to herself in vain.

“She said it because there wasn’t anything good about her other than her looks!” Starlight said excitedly.

“In this case I think your insane little filly may be right,” Rarity said dismissively, “Still, we can’t leave her looking like she just crawled out of Tartarus. Now if you’ll excuse me...”

On the way to the fabric store, Starlight said, “It got me thinking, and I think there is something good about her, even now.”

“And that is?” Rarity asked, glancing distractedly back at the other unicorn.

“I don’t know,” Starlight said. “It’s just... something in the way she said it.”

“I’m sure you’re correct, even if I cannot see any redeeming quality at all,” Rarity said, heading into the store.

On the way to the brush shop, Starlight said, “I should have never left her in Tartarus while we were building this place. I think it’s made her even worse than when they put her in there.”

“That’s not exactly winning points for the notion that Cozy Glow can be redeemed,” Rarity said, with a sigh, as Starlight followed her into the shop, saying,

“What I don’t get about Cozy Glow’s...”

This proceeded for entirely too long before Rarity finally excused herself, and had to shut the door to her boutique in Starlight’s face. At peace at last, Rarity went to her inspiration room, diagramming out an ensemble that would make even the ugliest monster in Tartarus look beautiful. Starlight was asking Rarity to put lipstick on a pig, but the stars would fall to earth before Rarity was willing to admit there was nothing she could do for a filly whose state of affairs was as Starlight described.

Rarity only hoped that Cozy wouldn’t—no, she knew that Cozy Glow would try to use her new dress as a way to manipulate Rarity. That’s just what ponies like Cozy Glow did. She would act sorrowful, or delighted, or grateful, if Rarity would do “just one more thing” for her. Rarity had gotten familiar with Cozy Glow’s modus operandi during the year Cozy spent worming her way into the heart of Twilight’s school, even if only in hindsight. She could only hope her hindsight would come quicker this time, before Starlight’s ill minded affair set Cozy Glow loose upon them all over again.

Starlight Glimmer burst into existence in Rarity’s inspiration room, declaring, “Rarity, I got it! I know why there’s something redeeming about Cozy Glow!”

“...well?” Rarity asked reluctantly.

“Cozy Glow is not a monster, but she thinks she is,” Starlight said excitedly, “She’s afraid other ponies will hurt her, because they know the truth about her. That means she’s recognizing their feelings! She thinks there is nothing good about her at all and she hates that.”

“She’s not the only one,” Rarity said dryly.

“Don’t you see?” Starlight Glimmer declared intensely, “Cozy Glow doesn’t want to be that way. She knows what makes ponies cute and lovable, and she wants to be that! She wants to get better, Rarity, even though she doesn’t know it. She wants to get better!”

“You don’t seriously think she wouldn’t be leading you on, darling?” Rarity asked, “Cozy Glow is only making you think she wants to get better, so that she can take advantage of you.”

“Look, I... I can’t say she’s not some kind of genius actor, and she could be acting out to make us feel sorry for her, and I’ll be careful not to let my guard down, Rarity,” Starlight assured her as best as she could, “All I can say is I have this gut feeling that she’s being sincere. If she were that good an actor, it would be easier for her to act like Tartarus scared her into being good, or that she was too young to understand what she’s doing. Rarity, Cozy is too young to understand what she’s doing. She can’t be older than 12.”

“It... does seem unlikely that a cutie grader would have enough experience to know exactly how to act in the given situation,” Rarity admitted.

“Cozy Glow just doesn’t have that kind of self control,” Starlight urged thoughtfully, “She isn’t in control of herself, and I’m starting to wonder if she ever was.”

“You mean that entire year that she convinced you, and all the rest of us that she was the nicest filly in the whole world?” Rarity asked acidly.

Starlight stared down at the ground.

“Starlight?” Rarity asked with worry.

“When I met Cozy Glow, she was asking for my help,” Starlight quietly remarked, “She had deliberately failed her test, so she could lay the blame on her tutors, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She wanted them in trouble.”

“And...” Rarity replied, looking highly unconvinced of Cozy Glow’s potential reformability.

“Cozy Glow thought in doing so, that Twilight would just... draft them as students,” Starlight said, “That’s what she said at any rate. That if they were so bad, Twilight would have no choice but to force them to join her school.”

“That’s... not how... school works, is it?” Rarity tactically asked.

“She seemed to think it was,” Starlight mused, “But the fact remains that Cozy put herself at risk, to save the CMC from getting in trouble. She could have just... not asked for my advice, and let the reputation of the CMC get ruined. They didn’t help her at all. In fact they helped defeat her, in the end, largely because she helped... get them in good standing with Twilight’s school.”

“It sounds like she had to act like she was remorseful, so that we would continue to trust her,” Rarity suggested.

“Then why did she do it in the first place?” Starlight asked, “If she didn’t involve the CMC at all, it would’ve been even easier for her to get Twilight to accept her as an assistant. There was no reason for her to come to my office at all, other than that she wanted to help her friends.”

“Perhaps Cozy Glow wanted to endear herself to you,” Rarity suggested, “The CMC were just a convenient excuse to speak with the guidance counselor.”

“I refuse to believe that Cozy Glow anticipated that I’d be the one breaking her out of Tartarus,” Starlight said flatly, “...but you’re right. It’s hard to tell where the lies begin and the truth ends. I just don’t think Cozy is in control of herself as much as it seems.”

Rarity nodded at that, the gears in her pretty little head turning at this whole state of affairs.

Sighing, Starlight went on, saying, “When she captured me, she didn’t have to act anymore. I was... done for, as far as she knew, so why pretend to be nice in front of me? She had so much rage bottled up inside her, I think she was only talking to me so she could have some way to let it out. If that was an act, I am thoroughly fooled. But if that was who she really was...”

It would have been uncouth to say something, when Starlight needed time to think, so Rarity waited by her table full of beauty supplies, and her silent rolls of fine fabrics, while Starlight composed herself.

“Cozy Glow is very good at acting sweet and kind, to cover up the anger she feels,” Starlight said carefully, “But she’s lying about herself in order to not be feared and hated, because she doesn’t want to be feared and hated.”

“Perhaps she should be feared and hated, considering what an awful pony she really is,” Rarity said disgusted, “I still don’t see why you want me to try and beautify something like that.”

“It’s just that Cozy Glow wants to look beautiful, because she wants to be beautiful, but she doesn’t think she ever can be,” Starlight said tremulously, “She hates who she is inside, but she doesn’t know how to get better, so that’s why she cares about her appearance so much. She doesn’t think there’s anything she can do other than hide her ugliness and pretend that nothing’s wrong. Just like... me.”

Rarity stared at Starlight for a full ten seconds, before hurling down her fabrics and shoving the beauty products off her table, moaning, “I am going to have to start all over again.”

Of course Starlight Glimmer couldn’t fix Cozy Glow’s problem overnight. She came back the next day like she said, but all she could say is that she was working on it. Well, Cozy didn’t need Starlight Glimmer. She had her own plan. And as long as she could keep them feeding her actually good food, there would be nothing they could do to stop her.

It was frustrating, because the nurse pony said that Cozy shouldn’t be stuffing herself, and now she only gave Cozy a little bowl of one serving of food, every few hours or so. That left Cozy pretty much perpetually hungry, but at least her stomach wasn’t hurting anymore. When Cozy Glow was forced to stop eating by those Tartarus guards and their runny gruel, she didn’t realize it would make her so ravenous. So it actually... wasn’t terrible that the nurse pony wouldn’t give her too much to eat. Not that the nurse pony cared about Cozy Glow, but it was a convenient coincidence.

Cozy had a plan, though. These ponies had practically defeated themselves by imprisoning her here. She was thinking about how this is supposed to be an insane asylum, and that means they mistakenly thought Cozy Glow was insane, even though she knew that she did everything on purpose. Cozy was probably the most sane pony in the entire world, but if she pretended to be insane, then they wouldn’t blame her for what she’d done. If she pretended to be insane, and then pretended to be cured, they wouldn’t even suspect that she meant to do that all along. They would let her go, and as long as nopony knew the truth, they would think Cozy was a good pony again. She could be cute and loveable again, and all she had to do was pretend that it was the big, mean insanity that made her act like bad pony.

First she had to stop looking crazy though, somehow. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t a monster if she looked like one. Nopony would believe her! She gave up trying to wash herself in the sink, and the nurse pony still wouldn’t let her go to the shower alone, so Cozy was... honestly at a loss to figure out how to clean herself up. Her tail was ratty and tangled. Her fur was stuck half falling out in stubborn clumps that wouldn’t come off even with her teeth. And her mane... every time Cozy Glow reflexively tried to curl her mane on waking up, it was another jerking, unpleasant reminder that it was such a tangled mess, it looked like it was trying to escape her head. They were willing to give her a clean sheet to hide herself under, but she could only get so much off of her by rolling on it, especially after the dirt she’d accumulated turned to dust and could just be shaken off.

“Hey, Cozy?” Starlight Glimmer announced, out of view of the window.

Cozy was already safely under her sheet though, so she just said, grumpily, “What?”

“I uh, brought a friend, who might be able to help you.”

“I don’t have friends anymore, remember?” Cozy growled accusingly.

“Okay, I meant my friend,” Starlight admitted, peeking in through the window, “Actually, I don’t know if you’ve met her before, but I’m sure you’ve seen her around. Well, before the whole... Tartarus thing that is.”

“If you think that makes me feel better, it doesn’t,” Cozy replied, pouting.

“Enough, Starlight,” a familiar voice said on the other side of the door, but... it was not Twilight Sparkle. It was that one teacher at Twilight’s school, who Cozy had seen around before the whole Tartarus thing. The sewing machine lady? “I’ll handle it from here, so you can take your leave.”

Starlight left the window, and a few seconds passed before the pony said, “Go on, Starlight. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, just...” Starlight said in a worried tone for some reason. “Just please... help her, Rarity.”

“Oh I will indeed darling, don’t you worry!” the mare named Rarity said sweetly. There was hooves down a hall, a door opening and closing, and another pony’s face looked in through the window.

Silence.

“Oh dear,” Rarity said in a worried tone that was probably very condescending.

“Shut up!” Cozy said, blushing as she peered out from under her sheet, “There is nothing wrong with me.”

“And I suppose if there were, then I would take advantage of that,” Rarity said dryly, “Perhaps I should make fun of you? Perhaps I should threaten you, that I’ll tell everypony how horrid you look if you don’t do what I say, and nopony will ever think fondly of you ever again?”

“S-shut up! What are you doing?” Cozy asked, her crippled wings hitting the blanket as her anxiety skyrocketed, “You think you can threaten me?”

“I think I can tell you the truth,” Rarity said seriously, “You are in a terrible way. You are locked in a room, in a facility run by the pony you tried to destroy. You have no friends. Your one ally is imprisoned so deep in Tartarus you’ll hopefully never see him again, a true monster who hates everyone other than himself, including you. Everypony knows about your little game now, and how much you pretend to be a good pony, when you secretly hate us all and want to bend us to your will.”

“Shut up! Stop saying that about me!” Cozy shouted, “You don’t get to talk you’re a horrible pony who who attacks helpless little fillies and tries to hurt them! I’m the victim here, not you!”

“You almost starved to death in a prison that wasn’t meant for the likes of you,” Rarity continued, heartlessly, “You haven’t been brushed in months. You’re not powerful. You are not loved. You’re a helpless, scared little filly that everypony hates because they know what a horrible pony you really are. Does that about sum it up?”

“Shut up!!” Cozy sobbed, “You—you—!” She was crying! Cozy was crying!! She just started screaming because it was better than crying. She attacked the door and kicked it but it wouldn’t move. She tried to pull the bookshelf down again. She stomped on her sheet, biting it, and straining to tear it asunder, and at the sound of that horrible ripping, she bellowed, “I hate you!” at that awful pony, who was just trying to hurt her because ponies were awful and hurt her, and Cozy couldn’t think about that. She just bit her foreleg, and gritted her teeth at the pain, and refused to cry, glaring at the stupidest, most horrible pony who ever lived.

“Oh, I hadn’t known they clipped your wings,” Rarity said in quiet horror, “How awful...”

“You don’t get to talk!” Cozy shrieked, “You don’t get to—!” She wasn’t under her sheet!! Cozy was just standing there on top of her sheet! She frantically pulled it over her head, and it fell around her body as she did. Why did she rip it? Cozy pulled the pieces of sheet together, curling as far underneath them as she could go, and she couldn’t stop breathing in these huge gasps. Why couldn’t she stop breathing?!

“Do you have a problem with crying, filly?” Rarity asked in aggravation.

“Yes!!” Cozy shouted at her from cowering under the sheets. Wait, why did she tell her? Now Rarity was going to force her to cry!

There was a long silence, whereupon Rarity said, “I think you need some time to calm down, so I’ll just come back ...later. But before I go, I want to ask you, why haven’t I demanded anything from you?”

“What?!” Cozy asked, beside herself with confoundment.

“I have all the power here,” Rarity said, “I can ruin everything you have, if you do not obey me. I have the power to force you to do anything I want, and you can do nothing to stop me. So why haven’t I? Why am I just leaving and letting you go free, with no demands at all?”

At Cozy’s inability to answer, Rarity told the lump of blankets, “Take care, miss Cozy Glow. We shall meet again soon.”

Then Rarity strode down the hallway, and Cozy heard the opening and shutting of a heavy door.

“Why didn’t you tell me she hated crying?!” Rarity shrieked anxiously at an alarmed Starlight Glimmer, well out of hearing range of Cozy Glow, “I almost gave the poor filly a heart attack! I made her think I was her worst enemy! I didn’t get to brush one single hair on her horrible, disaster of a ma-ane!”

“C-C-Cozy Glow hates crying?” Starlight asked, backed up against a brick wall as she was, “How do you know that? I didn’t know that! What are you talking about?”

“I was just trying to impress upon the filly how dire her situation is!” Rarity said in horrified exasperation, “If she knew what I could do to her, but wouldn’t do to her, then she could trust me enough to let me give her some basic care. But no, as soon as she starts crying, she throws a fit! She had a temper tantrum, at her temper tantrum! She was biting her own leg to keep from crying! She might get an infection now, and it’s a-a-all my fa-a-a-ault!”

Rarity ran away sobbing then, and Starlight stood there in the alley on trembling hooves, murmuring in the silence, “What in Equestria...”

“So... you... want to get that leg over here?” the blue nurse asked hopefully. “I heard you... hurt it, and you might need a little bit of a bandaid.”

“Go away,” Cozy grumbled emptily.

“You don’t have to come out, you can just... stick your leg out through the slot,” the nurse suggested hopefully.

Cozy didn’t answer, and when she shifted, she had to pull the sheet up from where the tear fell open around her rump again.

“Oh, looks like you tore your sheet,” the nurse pony said unhappily, “You want me to get a new one?”

“I want you to go away!” Cozy growled in frustration.

Some minutes later, a fresh sheet pushed in through the slot in the door. Cozy Glow looked at it, then grabbed it, with unwanted flutters in her heart. She pulled it over herself, and kicked the torn sheet aside. Then the nurse pony asked,

“Now can you show me your hoof?”

...

Cozy stared in dazed disbelief at the bandaid covered in happy puppies, sealing off her own teeth marks in her arm. She didn’t know what was happening to her, but she didn’t like it. Those ponies weren’t asking her to reform. They were being as evil as she was, and then turning around and putting a band-aid on her booboos. Cozy had never had a bandaid before. It was obvious they were just pretending to be nice, but Cozy thought only she had to do that. All the other ponies were so stupid that they really were nice, weak, and easy to manipulate... weren’t they?

Glow is Me

Cozy Glow and Rarity stared at each other silently, the one summing up the other, searching for weaknesses, silently jockeying for who would be first to speak.

“I’m sorry for what I said, the other day,” Rarity said evenly.

“Oh thank you so much for apologizing, now why don’t you go die in a hole?” Cozy Glow replied, displaying a rather remarkable range of emotions.

Rarity looked unimpressed at the angry pile of sheets that was Cozy Glow, then said, “Filly, you need a brushing.”

“I can brush myself,” Cozy replied, frowning defiantly.

“Very well, then,” Rarity said, and through the door’s slot floated a brush wreathed in sparkling blue. Cozy looked at it, then looked up at Rarity suspiciously. Rarity placed the brush down on the floor next to Cozy Glow’s approximate side. Cozy Glow shifted under the sheet, and a small pink hoof reached out, and tugged the brush under the sheets.

Some time passed.

Cozy looked up at the door, to see Rarity still looking in the window. “Why are you watching me?” she asked, glaring.

“I set aside approximately two hours in my busy schedule to give you some basic grooming,” Rarity explained, “So if you won’t let me brush you, then I haven’t anything else to do but stand here.”

“Well, don’t,” Cozy advised grumpily. Rarity didn’t listen. “I’m not gonna do anything,” Cozy added, “And I’m not coming out from under the sheet while you’re there.”

“Your loss,” Rarity replied defiantly.

Some more time passed.

The sound of a brush catching against a very tangled mane started coming forth from under the sheet. “Nh—ouch...” Cozy barely murmured in frustration.

“I also brought a comb,” Rarity said, levitating it over to hover by the filly, “As well as a fur brush, a curry comb, a pair of scissors, an automatic trimmer, a feather straightener, a hoof scraper, a nail file, a spritzer full of fresh spring water, a package of moist towelettes...” she said, levitating each in turn to float around the filly, concluding with, “...and I happen to be a magical unicorn. Now will you please let me brush you?”

“...only if you let me out of here,” Cozy said mockingly.

“Cozy,” Rarity said testily, “You are lucky to be here. You could be rotting in Tartarus now if some ponies weren’t so generous as to offer to help you out. If I have my way, I’m going to do my best to make you beautiful. I’m going to give you a whole new look. you’re going to be a new mare, by the time I’m done. But I am not going to let you out.”

“You couldn’t even trim a bush!” Cozy said accusingly, burying herself deeper under the sheet not even looking out anymore with all the glowing things floating lazily around her.

A quiet snort of laughter escaped Rarity.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a chance to engage in any topiary,” Rarity told Cozy, “That and my little pastime in mane styling have fallen by the wayside, so that I can focus on producing the next best clothing line to grace Equestria, as well as teaching ponies a thing or two about generosity.”

Cozy looked downward, then thought she was asking accusingly, but it came out almost sounding like curiosity, “Why do you make clothing? It’s not like ponies ever wear it. You’re wasting your time.”

“You are wearing a sheet right now,” Rarity said acidly, “And if I recall you are partial to putting some lovely white ribbons in your mane?”

“Ribbons aren’t clothes,” Cozy Glow protested fussily.

“Ponies wear clothing for special occasions,” Rarity stated informatively, “And on those occasions, it is my duty to bring out the inner beauty of ponies, through what they wear, rather than trying to cover it up... with a sheet.”

“Ohhh wow, everypony’s got inner beauty!” Cozy Glow exclaimed in not amazement, “They’re all good little ponies, just waiting for you to find out what makes them beautiful inside.”

Rarity’s hair care products floated back through the slot.

Cozy Glow was highly unimpressed, when Rarity said in what must have been a vindictive tone, “Cozy, you are not beautiful on the inside. You are a spiteful, angry, evil little filly.” Cozy gritted her teeth in rage, trying not to prove that other evil pony right by shouting at her. Again.

“I don’t know what makes you think you can feel this way,” Rarity continued hotly, “But I have no illusions about rendering you a happy and lovable pony. I’m afraid no amount of beautification can quell that raging fire within you, Cozy Glow.”

Cozy... felt like she should be mad at that, but she... couldn’t? That was an insult, right? “You’re not going to be a very nice pony, no matter what I do,” Rarity said, “And frankly you shouldn’t be. Better to be a hateful little troll than have to lie about who you are, and live with that every day.”

“Stop making... fun of me!” Cozy protested in bewilderment, “I’m not a—a troll. There’s nothing wrong with me!” How was this pony insulting her in a way that Cozy couldn’t get mad at?!

“Cozy, you are a pony,” Rarity said wearily.

Cozy didn’t reply.

“You are a beautiful pony,” Rarity insisted, “And you can’t be truly beautiful, if you’re not beautiful at all on the inside. But can’t I at least try to make you feel a little bit... better about yourself?”

Cozy wanted to so badly. “No,” she said in a desperately forced calm, “No, you can’t.”

...

“Cozy, I’m coming in the room,” Rarity said impatiently.

“No, you can’t!” Cozy repeated anxiously.

“I’m taking that sheet off,” Rarity continued.

“No, you can’t! I...!” Cozy said desperately.

“Cozy, I’ve seen you underneath that sheet already,” Rarity said in exasperation, “You have nothing to hide! Is there anything wrong with me coming in, and giving you a good brushing?”

“Y-you’ll... I—I don’t know,” Cozy said, just blanking, “Why are you doing all this? What’s in it for you?”

Rarity pursed her lips, then admitted, “A friend of mine came very close to destroying the world once. She was jealous of me and my... inner circle, for having something she thought she could never have: a good life, and wonderful friends. She didn’t intentionally put the world at risk, but she also didn’t care. The only thing she cared about was making us feel the same pain that she felt. She... succeeded in a way, and now she has a good life, and wonderful friends, myself included, all because Twilight Sparkle was forced to... find out what was wrong with her, and help her get through it.”

Cozy Glow just grumbled. Whoever Rarity’s friend was probably just... missed a tea party or something, instead of destroying the world, and fixing what was wrong with her was easy. Nopony could do anything about what was wrong with Cozy Glow though, and she knew it.

“Twilight Sparkle does not often give her foes second chances, Cozy,” Rarity said seriously, “Neither she nor any of us even cared to find out why you were so troubled. But Starlight Glimmer was given a second chance once, and she’s worked tirelessly to give you a second chance too. I think she sees much of herself in you, Cozy Glow. Starlight believes that if she can find out what is wrong with you, if she can help you get through it, then you can get better... too.”

Blushing, Rarity hastily concluded, “She’s my friend, and I would like her to succeed. So that is what I am getting out of it. Now can I please come in, and brush you, even just a little bit? Just an eensy weensy little bit?”

“...no.”

“Just think of how good it’ll feel!” Rarity says sweetly, “I promise I’m as gentle as a lamb. I just need you to take off the sheet.”

Cozy couldn’t. “Go on,” Rarity said encouragingly. Cozy couldn’t give in. She wanted to, and she couldn’t! She couldn’t just follow somepony’s orders without getting anything in return. That would make her feel... it would make her feel.

“Don’t you want to be brushed?” Rarity asked, and Cozy latched on to that.

“I won’t take off the sheet unless you promise to brush me,” Cozy said calculatingly, “You have to promise to brush me just a little, or I won’t take it off.”

“I... I don’t...” Rarity said uncertainly, falling to silence as Cozy despaired of ever getting brushed.

Then, Rarity kind of... somehow... figured it out, a little.

“If... you take your sheet off,” Rarity tried, “Then I agree to brush you?”

Cozy looked up at the window.

“If you take your sheet off,” Rarity said a little more confidently, “Then yes, I promise to brush you, a little. Do we have an agreement?”

Cozy... didn’t want to take the sheet off, but... that was Rarity’s demand, so Cozy pushed the sheet off until it caught on her broken wings, then she tensed up, and just... forced her wings to fold, letting the sheet fall all the way off of her. Then the scrawny, ratty, filthy little filly looked dolefully up at the little window Rarity was peering in through.

Cozy couldn’t get the brush out of her hair anymore, incidentally.

“Alright now, I’m coming in,” Rarity said cautiously, “Remember your agreement.”

“I won’t stop you, if you really w-want,” Cozy said mutedly. The door clicked, and slid open, and Cozy shrunk back as a white hoof delicately made its way inside, pulling the door open to admit the rest of the elegant unicorn. She had on fetching lavender saddlebags, which opened with her magic, and out from them came a sharp pointed array of spikes held in her magical glow.

Cozy wanted it.

“I—I want to brush myself,” Cozy remarked stepping back as the glowing implement approached her skin.

“Is... something the matter?” Rarity asked cautiously, eyeing Cozy, and probably judging her.

“Just get it over with,” Cozy said, scrunching her eyes shut, and looking the other way.

“Indeed,” Rarity said, “Just relax and let me get a few rough spots out.”

The sharp spikes poked into Cozy’s back making her stiffen in shock. Cozy just... sat there as this array of spikes dug into the small of her back, right up by her wing muscles, carving little tingling trenches through her fur as it stroked down. Cozy just... sat there on her haunches in genuine shock, as the floating curry comb just... combed her! It stroked down her hindquarters, and scraped all that loose pink fluff ahead of it. Cozy lifted a wing and it slid under it, stroking down her side in dreadful relief. It never felt this good when she did it. What gives?

Cozy felt the brush tug in her hair, as Rarity said, “Oh dear,” all without any ceasing of the tingling stroking down Cozy’s barrel and back. Something Cozy couldn’t see spritzed her hair with a chilly spray, and she saw a comb headed her way. Cozy scrambled back from it, but the comb stopped in the air then, and she closed her eyes, waiting for it to... not hurt her.

The mane comb barely pulled at all, mostly just sliding into and out of Cozy Glow’s mane. But somehow between that and the spritzing and light tugs, the brush fell out of her mane. Then the barest touches of the brush against Cozy’s mane seemed to crackle with tangles, like scraping steel wool. Cozy winced at prickles of pain, looking up as her hair just... seemed like an impenetrable fortress of tangles. But those lightest little brushes stroked further then, and with a rush, Cozy’s mane started parting around the brush. Unfortunately Cozy’s mane got hung up on the comb then, because a spray bottle of water floating in magic flew in front of her, and Cozy reflexively twisted away from it, and her hair jerked as the comb snarled while the filly covered her eyes.

“Are... you alright, dear?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t like magic touching me,” Cozy grumbled miserably, hooves pressed against her closed eyelids, “I just won’t look, and... and then I won’t care if it is touching me.”

That beautiful comb and the strangely effective brush vanished from Cozy’s senses then. She uncovered her eyes, to see the unicorn holding up her foreleg, with the brush strapped onto it, and no sparkly blue magic anywhere around at all. “Would it seriously be easier on you if I touch you with my hoof, rather than with my magic?” Rarity asked her incredulously.

Cozy looked away, saying, “S-sure, whatever.”

The brushing resumed, not as... smoothly or gently. Cozy didn’t want anypony to know about her... thing with magic, so why did she just tell Rarity? Why wasn’t Cozy angry, or... or upset with her? Rarity wasn’t any good with the feather straightener in her mouth, so Cozy handled that part, and... tried not to cringe at her own strange, sawed off half-feathers. They still felt like primaries, and acted like them, what was left of them, so it wasn’t hard to deal with. Just horrible.

“I’m afraid I might not be able to do as much without my magic,” Rarity remarked, as her hoof stroked the softer brush down along Cozy’s belly, “But I can at least make you somewhat presentable. You know, I know a few earth ponies who could do wonders on you—”

“No,” Cozy said definitively, weirded out by how when she said that her own belly kind of jerked against the brush. She was not used to being brushed there. “No this’s good enough,” she clarified, not sure how to tell Rarity that Cozy couldn’t believe she was letting somepony else brush her in the first place. It had been an emergency, but... it was a lot more intense than Cozy had expected it to be!

Rarity didn’t attempt to trim Cozy’s fetlocks, or do much of anything fancy with her. Certainly not more water spritzing. But the fur brush pulled off a solid mass of loosened pink fur. Cozy was fairly sure she’d be entirely bald by the time this was done. Rarity lay Cozy’s tail over her forelegs, then used the hair brush just on the tip of it, teasing it out smooth and straight, inch by inch. It didn’t seem like it was working at all, just scraping against a wall of tangles, but the scrapey tangle things just started to disappear then, until the brush was combing smoothly through Cozy’s blue and white striped tail.

Watching the smooth movement of Rarity’s head along the length of Cozy’s increasingly straight tail, Cozy said, “You can... use your magic.”

“Hmm?” Rarity asked, lifting her head to look at Cozy Glow curiously.

“If I cover my eyes, you can use your magic,” Cozy said with a flutter of nervousness, “It’s not bad if I don’t have to see it.”

“Are you sure?” Rarity asked, letting the brush fall into the crook of her hoof.

“Pretty sure,” Cozy admitted, “That’s just what works. I don’t really care if you use your magic, so it’s... um...”

Cozy just rolled on her belly, burying her snout under her forelegs.

Rarity looked at the filly, sitting there on the floor hiding her face, and lit up her horn, bringing forth her full arsenal of spritzer, scissors, trimmer, and other implements that required fine manipulation. Cozy was still trying to curl her hair, but Rarity hoped she could manage to coax the filly’s mane into something other than those dreadful curlilocks. Without a ribbon, the tail of her mane cascaded down behind her neck, in a way that could be teased into an acceptable squiggle, if Cozy would relax it just a little bit more.

Cozy Glow didn’t strike Rarity as a very relaxed pony.

Her fur cleaned up nicely, and her feathers... looked odd, even when folded, but that wasn’t something Rarity could do much about at the moment. Perhaps some kind of a wing cover in the future. Cozy’s tail was trying to wrap around itself, but Rarity managed to coax it into more of a tailward curve, along the lines of the Canterlot Curlique, as best as Rarity could estimate it.

Rarity was just glad she herself had a mane not unlike Cozy Glow’s. Too curly to leave be, but sleek enough to leave free. That did make it a challenge to decide where to put the smooth white ribbon like the one Cozy used to wear, but threading it through her hair and folding most of it into a layered rosette, Rarity found she could place the cloth rose just near enough to Cozy’s ear to complement it, without any potential chafing when her ear swivelled around or flattened back. As much as Rarity could hope Cozy would have no reason to flatten her ears back, it was not a likely prospect at this point in time.

Cozy had been eating well the past few weeks, and she had bulked up nicely, although she was still somewhat skinny for a filly her age. Cozy’s fur didn’t smell like lavender and roses, but it was well brushed now, soft and fuzzy as the day she was born. Her tail now relaxed into tailward curves as opposed to the crude bulky lateral curl it was used to. Her mane was left loose around her shoulders, her bangs slightly raised from her eyes by a white ribbon that formed a rosette next to her ear, which should survive the ribbon being fastened and unfastened. Her curls were looser, with a more varied distribution. All-in-all she looked rather... acceptable.

Rarity couldn’t do more without access to hair products and hot water, and at that point Cozy might as well be luxuriating in the spa. But after what Starlight said, Rarity wasn’t sure Cozy was ready for that level of fabulousness, so this simple improvement in appearance would have to do for now. Snipping each of Cozy’s fetlocks, then trimming the fur to the edge of her hoof, Rarity looked with worry at those rather unkempt pink nails. Cozy could crack her hoof with how uneven they were. But to get the filly to lay on her back...

Rarity laid down all of her articles and implements, and delit her horn entirely. “I’ll need you on your back, dear, so I can even out your hooves a little,” Rarity said tactfully.

“I told you, I c-can’t look!” the filly said shrilly, her forelegs tense over her eyes, actually sounding... alarmed?

“I’m... not using my magic,” Rarity said with an uneasy feeling in her gut. Cozy Glow hadn’t shown any signs of being frightened before. “You can uncover your eyes, now.”

Cozy cautiously climbed to her haunches, eyeing Rarity, or specifically her horn, saying, “I just don’t like magic touching me. You can go ahead and use it I don’t care.”

“My magic hasn’t the strength for this, I’m afraid,” Rarity said apologetically, “I need you to lay on your back, so I can work on your hooves more easily.”

Cozy looked at Rarity suspiciously, then lay on her back, her little hooves curling in the air above her. “You better not do anything funny,” Cozy said testily, “Because I’m only doing this because you wanted to.”

“Well, thank you Cozy!” Rarity said in an impressed tone, “I do appreciate you letting me do this for you.”

“Why?” Cozy asked in an unimpressed tone.

... Rarity just picked up the nail file in her mouth. She almost picked it up with her magic, but glanced at Cozy anxiously at the last second, then just craned her neck down to pick it up. Bracing the filly’s teeny little hoof between Rarity’s forelegs, Rarity squatted beside the filly, biting down on the nail file and patiently worrying each of her four hooves down, until the nail was even and smooth, with no signs of weakness or cracking.

Rarity was glad she also brought a hoof scraper, because the filly had some pretty significant rocks jammed up into her frog. It must have been bothering the filly for quite some time, if just on the edge of her awareness, because Cozy’s breath actually deepened when Rarity began digging the horrid things out. Staring wide-eyed at Rarity, as if she didn’t even realize what a relief it would be.

Cozy Glow couldn’t believe what a relief it was! She didn’t even know they made chisels for your hoof. She’d been using a pencil, at the school! Cozy hadn’t even realized how tight and tense her frogs were, until Rarity picked out those rocks and Cozy’s frogs relaxed beautifully. How long had Cozy been walking on those rocks? She never could see very well when she was cleaning her own hoof. Getting somepony else to do your nails was awesome!

“There, that should do it,” Rarity said, spitting out the chisel. “You can stand up, dear.”

Cozy started to stand, but sank back down with a hiss of surprise, as pain flared when she put weight on her hoof.

“Easy now,” Rarity said uneasily, “It might hurt a bit. Plant your hoof slowly. It should stop hurting once your full weight is on it.”

“I can’t, I have to...” Cozy struggled to get up without painfully planting her leg, but no dice, she just slid back to her belly no matter how hard she tried. Cozy looked up at the older pony.

“I don’t suppose you could pick me up?” Cozy asked shamefully, “I can put all my hooves down slowly then, if you put me down slowly. Not with magic!! I’m... still... young enough to be scruffed.”

Cozy only said that last part, so the unicorn wouldn’t try her magic again. She was only trying to keep the unicorn from doing something stupid. Still, she felt a strange... ache in her heart, when Rarity bit her neck and Cozy Glow was lifted into the air by the stretchy skin of her scruff. It was not an unfamiliar sensation, but Cozy Glow didn’t like what it reminded her of, that she was always going to have to pretend not to hate everypony, and everything would still be ruined forever.

Rarity carefully set her down, and Cozy felt the boneless lethargy that stretching of her neck caused, but she still lifted her hooves when they started to hurt. Carefully putting down one after the other, Cozy Glow was at last standing on all four sore but immensely relieved hooves, sinking on them more and more. The tension released from her scruff slow as the pony slowly set her down, and finally before letting go, asked, “Shat arigh’ Hosey?”

Cozy trembled anxiously. She didn’t want her to let go. Cozy didn’t want her ever to let go, but she couldn’t afford to let feeling cloud her... decisions. “You can put me down, miss Rarity,” Cozy said politely, “My hooves feel fine.”

Releasing her, Rarity teased at Cozy’s mane a teeny bit more with the comb and brush in her mouth, and fussed over her broken wings, but finally said, “Alright. That should be that. Let’s see how you look in the mirror, Cozy?”

“Who cares how I look in the mirror?” Cozy grumbled, as the older pony nudged her over into the bathroom, “It’s not like you could...”

Rarity felt quite gratified, when the filly’s grumbling fell to silence as she caught site of herself in the bathroom mirror. Cozy Glow really did... look beautiful. It wasn’t hard to do; she was naturally a very beautiful pony. Rarity didn’t want to imagine what hearts she would be stealing when she came into her marehood. Clean her up a bit, apply a little of Rarity’s personal touch, and it was easy to bring out that filly’s inner beauty. If only that filly had any inner... beauty. Wait a minute.

The filly’s shocked expression firmed into a rather bored one, as she stared coldly at the mirror, and all her inner beauty faded. “It looks alright,” Cozy said casually, “I guess I was worried over nothing.”

Turning her rear to the mirror, Cozy Glow smiled... unconvincingly and told Rarity in a sweet voice, “And now I get to walk out of here and go free, just like you promised! Thank you so much for setting me free, just like you agreed!”

Rarity tried not to sneer at the filly, telling her, “The agreement was I brush you, if you take off the sheet.”

Cozy Glow was fighting not to snarl at that, as she said with an edge to her voice, “Not that agreement. I meant the one where you say you’ll let me go if I do everything you want like a good little filly. But you always want just one more thing, and more and more and more,” Cozy was right back to shouting now, as Rarity backed away from the filly, who told her, “You’re never going to let me go! I know ponies like you. So don’t think this means I’m grateful in the slightest, because I know you’re just gonna find some more reason to keep me locked in here!”

“I would have had you locked up in Tartarus!” Rarity admitted furiously, “You are lucky that Starlight Glimmer would care enough to make this facility entirely for your benefit, to give you a chance to get better, rather than condemning you for all eternity!”

Cozy Glow seemed at a loss for a moment, then she got an even more horrible smile, and said, “You wanted to condemn me for all eternity, didn’t you?”

“I...” Rarity said, red-faced with horror at what she’d almost done to this poor filly, “I made a mistake!”

“You are so pitiful, Rarity,” Cozy Glow sneered, the words rolling out of her mouth in a dully unimpressed tone that seemed somehow so horribly familiar.

“I’m... I’m taking the sheet!” Rarity announced in frustration, sweeping the filthy sheet up in her magic, and then it was subtle, but Cozy’s pupils momentarily shrank just a bit, and her hind leg twitched, as if she wanted to step back. Rarity took everything in her saddlebags with her magic, opened the door with her magic, and backed out of the room, holding the folded sheet in front of her with her magic.

She pushed the door closed, and made sure it latched tightly. Then she didn’t even look in the little window, before trotting stiffly to the hallway door, where the nurse was waiting to let Rarity out to the world beyond.

“Why does Cozy Glow hate unicorns, Starlight Glimmer?” Rarity asked pointedly, after forcibly drafting her friend into a lunch at the Mushroom Cafe, in order to... talk.

“I don’t know, Rarity!” Starlight said in surprise, “She never acted like she hated me at—” Starlight winced. “...I probably shouldn’t finish that sentence.”

“Cozy Glow told me she didn’t like being touched by magic,” Rarity said dourly, “Unicorn magic. And this was not your ordinary disgust, no, she was practically shaking in fear by the time I was done cleaning her up!”

“She... just let you clean her up?” Starlight asked cautiously.

“We reached an agreement,” Rarity said simply. “The point is that filly did not like my magic one bit, and I want to know why.”

“Well, I... dunno!” Starlight said incredulously, “She tried to destroy all the magic in Equestria, so I guess it makes sense? I have no idea why she’d hate magic. I don’t really know a lot about Cozy Glow at all!”

“What are you talking about?” Rarity asked, squinting at Starlight, “Wasn’t she your personal assistant?”

“And Twilight’s,” Starlight said modestly.

“So... where did she come from?” Rarity queried, giving Starlight a sideways glance, “Who are her parents, and why... her parents were consulted about her imprisonment, weren’t they?”

“I don’t know who her parents are,” Starlight said honestly, “Twilight must have handled it, but for me, Cozy just sort of... showed up in my office one day. I never even saw where she was living.”

“You are supposed to...” Rarity was trying not to fume herself to being redfaced as she bit out the words, “Know that sort of thing about your... employees!”

“She was my assistant, not my employee, Rarity,” Starlight said wryly, “You think I can afford to hire somepony?”

“So... she just ‘showed up,’” Rarity clarified.

“Yep,” Starlight confirmed.

“And you know absolutely nothing about her,” Rarity added.

“All I know is she was a student who got in some trouble doing uhm, something regarding the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Starlight said, “She asked me for advice, I gave her advice, then she went back to studenting. She started offering to help Twilight with her management duties, and she was so good at it that she started doing my paperwork too.”

Starlight sighed, saying, “I wish I knew more about Cozy Glow’s past. It would really help in understanding what went wrong with her.”

“She’s a student!” Rarity realized, “She’s going to have student records.”

“Of course!” Starlight said, in astonishment, “Why didn’t I think of that? Come on, let’s go ask Twilight for her record!”

“Aaactually, I have a class to teach in ten minutes,” Rarity said cagily, “But I’m sure you can take a little bit longer of a lunch break, since you only see one student at a time.”

“That’s true enough, and I don’t have appointments back to back either,” Starlight admitted, “There actually isn’t a whole lot of... work for a guidance counselor at a school of Friendship.”

“Would that I was as lucky as you were, with Twilight’s ambitious project here,” Rarity groaned.

“I think I might be a little bit more busy once the asylum gets more ponies in it,” Starlight admitted uneasily, “But yes I definitely have time now.”

“Oh, absolutely Starlight,” Twilight Sparkle said with an accomodating smile, “That sounds like an excellent idea!”

“I think it’ll help a lot!” Starlight said happily, “It’ll be so good to talk to Cozy Glow’s parents. Find out where she grew up! I can’t just ask her about potentially traumatizing information, without having some way to confirm it. But this way we don’t have to!”

They went down to the record room, which was still pretty bare bones, but there was one single filing cabinet in it. Twilight slid it open with a glow of her horn, and sifted through the thin folders, before pulling out the one marked Cozy Glow.

Starlight took it in her aqualine magic, and scanned through the folder. There was a record of Cozy’s tests at the school, and a graph of how her grades were over the year she was there, which... might be valuable for analysis. There was a photograph of the filly looking happy and excited to be here, wherever the picture was taken. Some notes about Cozy’s role as Twilight’s assistant. And... an application form.

“Well, that’s... strange,” Starlight said, looking at the application written in rather shaky mouthwriting, “But at least we have a name, and a location. Maybe this weekend, we can schedule a visit to Manehattan?”

“Yes, I think mister Mi and missus Ness are going to have a lot of explaining to do,” Twilight said, squinting at the application critically, “How on earth does anypony have such atrocious spelling?”

That weekend, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer winked in on the Manehattan Station teleportation pad. They made their way out of the station without one single other pony using the pad, but that was sort of what made telepad lanes so conveniently empty, since most ponies either took the train, or were too busy researching advanced magic to travel, since it took a unicorn of pretty high level to manage a long range teleport, even with a beacon to guide them.

“Wow, I can’t remember the last time I left Ponyville when the world wasn’t in dire peril,” Twilight said, looking around the station as they trotted over to a pony selling maps.

“Really?” Starlight asked, “You don’t go anywhere on weekends?”

“I’m too busy catching up with managing the school,” Twilight groaned, “There are a few times, a very few times, a very, very few times that I get called on a friendship quest. But other than that... time just kind of gets away from me!”

They headed to the booth, and a few bits lighter, had a map of the city unfolded in Twilight’s magic, as the two of them looked it over.

“Huh, there’s no Manehatan street on the listing,” Starlight said curiously, “Maybe it’s outdated?”

“It could be an old name for a street that’s differently named now,” Twilight suggested, “Or the name could be so poorly spelled that it’s not Manehattan street at all.”

“Can I help you ladies?” a rather nasal sounding stallion said behind them. Both Twilight and Starlight looked up at him, as he pointed above him, so they looked up further to see that the booth selling the maps was actually labeled “INFORMATION.”

“Why thank you, good sir!” Twilight said happily, “We were just wondering if you might know which street is Manehattan.”

He blinked at that, then said in confusion, “Well, all of them. What do you mean?”

Blushing, Twilight said, “No I mean which street is named Manehattan, in Manehattan. Is there a Manehattan street?”

“Not that I know of,” he said uncertainly, “Be pretty strange if there was.”

“Is there anywhere we might look through old town records, to find if the street name changed?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“Sure, the library is north of here,” the stallion said, leaning over the counter and pointing at their map, “Just go three blocks down Halter street, hang a left on Third, and you can’t miss it. They got old records all the way back.”

“Is—um, is there anywhere we could find anypony living here by their name?” Starlight asked a little nervously.

He blinked again, before saying, “City Hall. That’s where they got public listings at least. You might just have to ask around though. I think the library has some old address records.”

“Thanks, you’re a... I mean that’s a big help,” Starlight said with a relieved smile.

The two mares headed off, talking in quiet tones to each other, before the lavender one hurried back, asking with a nervous smile, “Sorry... where’s City Hall?”

On the way there, Twilight said to Starlight Glimmer, “How about you take a look around City Hall, while I check out the library?”

“Wouldn’t you want to go to City Hall?” Starlight asked, “Because you’re the one with some governmental...” Twilight gave her the puppy eyes, “...authority, fine I’ll go to City Hall. You take the library.”

“Meet me at the library with what you’ve found!” Twilight said, immediately brightening up.

“Sounds like a plan,” Starlight agreed affectionately.

City Hall was a big, brick building, like all the other big brick buildings around here. Starlight Glimmer trotted in through the front doors, looking around until she saw a booth with what looked like a secretary behind it.

“Hello, there,” Starlight said with what she hoped was a fetching smile, “Are you the one to ask about public listings?”

“Sure, whaddya want?” the slim mare said, shuffling some papers in-hoof off to the side.

“Tomine Mi and Bid Ness,” Starlight said.

The mare tilted her head at that. “What are you doin’ here then?” she asked looking thoroughly confused.

“I’m... looking for the ponies Tomine Mi and Bid Ness?” Starlight replied cautiously.

“You don’t usually look for ponies, if you’re gonna do that,” the mare replied flatly, “Is this some sorta joke?”

“N-no!” Starlight said in surprise, “I just wanted to find a couple of ponies. Married, I think.”

“What’re their names?” the mare asked, mouthing a pencil.

“I thought I told you,” Starlight said incredulously, “Tomine Mi and Bid Ness.”

Dropping the pencil, the mare frowned and said, “Well that’s just rude! I’m gonna have to ask you to leave if you’re gonna be joking around like this.”

“It’s no joke!” Starlight said frantically, “I really do want Tomine Mi and Bid Ness!”

“Then get outta here!” the secretary mare declared angrily, then looked over Starlight’s shoulder, saying, “Would the next pony in line please step forwahd?”

“S-sorry, I uh,” Starlight scrambled out of the way, as the next pony came, a pegasus mare with a form or something tucked under her wing.

Trotting out of City Hall, Starlight rubbed her temple in confusion, saying to herself, “What was that all about? I’m gonna have to tell Twilight about this right away.”

Starlight found Twilight Sparkle in the library, with several old city maps spread out, but between the two of them, neither could find a Manehattan (or a Manehatan) street. “That is bizarre!” Twilight agreed, “They wouldn’t even see you in City Hall? Maybe I do need to pull some strings to find out who those ponies are.”

“The kiosk pony did say to ask around, so maybe we could find somepony on the street who knows who it is?” Starlight suggested.

“Manehattan’s a big city, but if it worked for Applejack and Rarity, I don’t see why it shouldn’t work for us,” Twilight admitted, a statement that made total sense, considering that Applejack and Rarity were both too embarassed to talk about that particular detail in their friendship quest.

“Excuse me—ex—excuse—excuse me,” Twilight stated as the ponies hurried past her on the street corner. Starlight Glimmer just kind of stood there, watching the ponies hurry to and fro past them like a deer in carriage lights.

Looking at Starlight’s confused paralysis, Twilight suggested, “How about you try hailing a cab. Maybe somepony’s given Tomine and Bid a ride.”

Seven cabs later, a thick steel ponyhole cover had an unfortunate accident, trapping the wheel of the carriage in the ponyhole long enough for a particularly vexed Starlight to trot up to the driver asking sweetly, “Excuse me, I need to find out if you’ve ever given rides to a pony couple: Tomine Mi and Bid Ness.”

“If that’s what you want, then why should I tell you anything?” the hefty mare said in aggravation, “How about you scram, so’s I can check my carriage wheel alignment?”

“Ohh heh heh, sorry about that,” Starlight said, levitating the cab up in the air, and applying a quick Simformias Memoriam to return the wheel to its pristine state a few minutes back. She set the cab down, to find that there were about five ponies standing in the street just staring at her, open mouthed.

“Um...” Starlight said nervously, and her logical side suggested this would be an excellent time to ask them about the ponies she was looking for, but Starlight’s neurotic side was carrying a much bigger stick, so Starlight just ducked her head low and trotted hastily out of there, after returning the ponyhole cover back to its proper place of course.

“Any luck with the cab drivers?” Twilight Sparkle asked, completely ignorant of the past few minutes as Starlight trotted up to her.

“None, sorry,” Starlight said with low ears.

“This is hopeless,” Twilight Sparkle groaned, lashing her tail, “I don’t know how Applejack and Rarity got anything out of these Manehattan ponies. None of them stop long enough to even start a conversation with them!”

“Let’s ask in a shop?” Starlight suggested, “Ponies there aren’t trotting around, at least.”

“Oh, we can ask Coco!” Twilight exclaimed lifting her head high with a delighted smile.

“Sure, we could get some chocolate drinks afterwards I guess?” Starlight asked worriedly, at the smiling princess.

“No, Coco Pommel,” Twilight clarified, relaxing a bit, “She’s a good friend of Rarity’s, and a wonderful pony, who manages Rarity’s boutique in Manehattan, and I actually do know where that is!”

“Well what are we waiting for?” Starlight asked hopefully.

They waited for nothing, and soon walked into the soothing blue atmosphere of Rarity 4 U. The proprieter—well—head sales associate walked forward, as Twilight Sparkle said,

“Hello, Coco! Long time no see. I don’t suppose we could talk to you for a second?”

“Oh, I’ll be more than happy to talk!” Coco Pommel stated, the blue haired, cream furred earth pony wearing a fetching purple collar and red ribbon that would have been noticed by ponies who were not Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle. Still, she was happy to lead them both into the back room, “Or the ‘Racc’ room, as we like to call it,” Coco added with a giggle for some reason, where the atmospheric music wasn’t quite as noticeable, “Now, what can I help you with?”

“I’ll get straight to the point,” Twilight said seriously, “We need Tomine Mi and Bid Ness.”

“I’m not sure how both of you would do that,” Coco said in bemusement, “But was there something I could help you with?”

“We’re looking for Tomine Mi and Bid Ness,” Starlight said a little irritably.

“What do you need me for then?” Coco asked in bewilderment.

“What do you mean ‘what do you need me for?’” Starlight asked in aggravation, “I need Tomine Mi and Bid Ness!”

“Well you’re not doing a very good job of it!” Coco said fussily, “Why don’t you just leave, then?”

“We’re not leaving without finding these two ponies, and where they live!” Twilight insisted sourly, “I just want Tomine Mi and Bid Ness! What is wrong with that? Is the whole city hiding them from us?”

“If you’re trying to find ponies who are in hiding, I don’t see how that’s minding your own business at all!” Coco retorted.

“Who said I was minding my own business?!” Twilight squawked, “I just want Tomine Mi and Bid Ness!”

“You just said you were!” Coco said with tears in her eyes, “Why are you being so mean?”

“I’m not being mean!” Twilight snapped, “I’m looking for Tomine—” her voice cut off as her mouth zipped shut.

With a very extremely nervously, cringy smile, Starlight Glimmer said shakily, “I think we might have a little misunderstanding here.”

Twilight unzipped her mouth, asking unhappily, “Starlight, what do you mean?”

“Think of what the names ‘Tomine Mi and Bid Ness’ sound like,” Starlight asked, sweating as she glanced from Twilight to Coco. “Not the names themselves, but what the phrase sounds like.”

Twilight tilted her head, saying curiously, “It sounds like Tomine Mi and oh for the love of Pete!”

“...no it doesn’t?” Coco said uncertainly as the princess threw her head back in an angry shout, trotting a few paces away from them in fuming frustration.

“Well, we were looking for two ponies named Tomine Mi and Bid Ness,” Starlight explained, which didn’t seem to enlighten Coco at all, since... oh for the love of Pete. “Two ponies, the first pony named Tomine Mi—” Starlight started to say before Twilight grabbed Starlight’s tail in her magic, dragging her away.

“We have to go,” Twilight blurted out furiously, “Right. Now.”

“What? Why?” Starlight asked, skidding as the princess’s magic tried to pull her along with out of the store.

“Cozy Glow was using a fake name on her enrollment application!” Twilight declared in distress, heading for the door.

“Cozy’s in a managed care facility right now,” Starlight protested, “She’s been there for months! Well... almost two months. I don’t think it’s urgent or anything!”

“But she, she might be... okay, you have a point,” Twilight admitted, releasing Starlight, and blushing, “But I don’t think we need to waste any more of miss Pommel’s time with this wild goose chase.”

“So, are you going to mind your own business, or not?” Coco asked, cautiously approaching.

“I am so sorry, Coco, it was all a huge misunderstanding,” Twilight said even spreading her wings in abject apology, “We’ve been searching the city for two ponies, one named Tomine Mi, and the other named Bid Ness, but it turns out those names were totally fake!”

“How did you find out that their names were fake?” Coco asked, incredulously, “I haven’t even told you anything about them!”

“...you don’t really know any ponies by that name, do you?” Starlight asked testily.

“Well, I know a Bid Ness,” Coco admitted, “He’s an auctioneer on the north side. The other name seems...kind of strange though. Who names their foal ‘Me’?”

“Someone with a huge ego,” Starlight groaned with an equally huge roll of her eyes.

The train ride back was much more relaxing than trying to convince the shaky, nerve-wracked alicorn to long range teleport again. “Starlight, who is Cozy Glow?” Twilight asked as the soft rattle of the wheels on the tracks accompanied their very uncrowded mid-afternoon train ride out of Manehattan.

Starlight shrugged, not really sure what to say to that.

Twilight stared forward, listening to the sounds of the train, then said, “I don’t know where she came from, or where she went. I—I know she left the school sometimes, but I never saw her go home. I never saw her parents pick her up, or... anything.”

“She can’t have just... come out of nowhere,” Starlight reasoned, “There have to be records somewhere. We can check the orphanage, maybe she was from there?”

“She was always at school before me, when I came in in the mornings,” Twilight remarked faintly, “I thought she was just... punctual.”

“Aren’t you the first pony who arrives in the morning?” Starlight asked critically.

“No, there are a few janitors who have uh... graveyard shifts,” Twilight replied, “We can ask them if they ever saw Cozy arrive, or... if they never saw her arrive.”

“Do you think she was living at the school?” Starlight asked with wilting ears, “How would she even do that?”

“You’d be surprised how easy it is to find places to sleep, if you’re still inside when they lock the doors,” Twilight replied wryly, “It wouldn’t be easy, but... I mean she is a pegasus.”

“Oh yeah, so she probably could sleep in a cloud,” Starlight said thoughtfully.

“By herself, though?” Twilight persisted, “And where did she come from? What happened to her, before she came to this school? Did something happen to her? What could have happened to her?”

Twilight’s head sank as she whimpered, “Is Cozy Glow really... truly...”

Starlight put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, and the alicorn princess swept Starlight Glimmer up in a hug. Twilight didn’t say anything in the hug, and Starlight was afraid to say it out loud, but it was starting to look like Cozy Glow might not need to be reformed at all... if she had never done anything wrong.

Author's Note

The Canterlot Curlique is the sort of tail that Twinkleshine has, though of course Rarity had to embellish on it and add a counter-curl up the middle of Cozy Glow’s adorable little tail.

The Great Cozy Caper

Cozy Glow was boooooooooored. No no she was booooooooooooooooooored. She said so out loud, droning on in her room all by herself, with nothing to do and nothing to read. The books they gave her, Cozy had already read, and she was tired of drawing on the pictures with the set of nice, safe, nontoxic crayons she was given. She didn’t realize that something else was bothering her besides boredom, but boredom was the only reference frame she had, so she was bored. Bored bored bored. Bored bored bored bored bored bored...

Hoofsteps in the hall drew Cozy’s attention. Hopping off the bed, she fussed at her hair a little bit, still not sure she liked letting it loose around her shoulders like that. It was funny how that was okay around here. Cozy honestly hadn’t put much thought into it.

“Hey there, Cozy!” Starlight Glimmer said, peeking in through the window in the door. “How’d you like to get some exercise? Come on a walk with me?”

“Where?” Cozy asked, instead of saying hello. She didn’t trust that Starlight Glimmer one bit.

“Oh not anywhere in particular,” Starlight said dismissively, “I just wanted a chance to get to know you, and it seemed like you might be willing to humor me, if I give you a chance to stretch your legs. I know it’s... frustrating that you need to be escorted everywhere, but hey, it gets you out of the room, right?”

“We’re not going into town, are we?” Cozy asked uneasily, not wanting to be subject to the stares from those ponies for even one sec.

“There’s actually a pretty big forest near here, on the edge of the farmlands,” Starlight said, “It’s a deer principality, called the White Tail Woods. Lots of pretty nice deer trails, and you won’t see any deer staring at you. You might spot a few, though!”

“As long as they’re not dangerous, that’s fine with me,” Cozy said with some reservations.

Starlight laughed lightly, saying, “Dangerous? Don’t worry about that. I’m probably the most dangerous thing you’ll run into today.”

Cozy wasn’t sure what Starlight meant by that, but it did not make her feel particularly trusting of the strange unicorn. Starlight’s evil plan came clear, when the beautiful blue sky opened up above Cozy and the swaying wheat glowed golden as they passed. Cozy’s sullen walk turned into a trot, then an excited gallop as she felt so good for being outside, and being able to run. Her muscles ached to be used. Cozy ran down the dusty road, and Starlight galloped along with her at a slower pace, until Cozy was breathing hard and exhausted and stumbling to a halt, panting.

“Wow, filly,” Starlight said in an impressed tone as she cantered up, “I am so sorry we haven’t had a chance to get you outside yet. How are you feeling?”

“Ugh, tired,” Cozy panted, “Maybe I’ll just walk for now.”

Starlight walked with her again, and Cozy Glow wondered why she wasn’t even on a leash. There was no way for Cozy to escape into the air, because they clipped her wings, but maybe she could hide herself in the golden fields of wheat. It seemed like a bad idea though, because Starlight would suspect her then, and Cozy was sure that unicorn was ready to use her magic to capture Cozy Glow, if she tried to escape. So Cozy played along for now, and walked with her, and actually got tired before they even reached the woods.

Cozy Glow tried to ignore it, but it wasn’t long before her legs were like lead, as they passed into an endless wooded land of elm and ash, burbling creeks and singing birds. “I don’t suppose we could take a little break?” she asked politely.

“Sure, no problem!” Starlight said, stopping there on the trail. Cozy stopped, and felt immense relief in sitting on her haunches. Looking around, Starlight remarked, “Ponyville sure is a pretty part of Equestria.”

Cozy looked at her, unamused.

“You know, all these farms and woodlands?” Starlight said, “Plus you’ve seen how pretty the village is, even if we’re... not going there right now.”

“I know what you’re doing,” Cozy Glow said with a disapproving frown. At Starlight’s surprise, Cozy gleefully explained, “You’re just locking me up because it feels extra good to get out. But I’m always supervised when I do. I bet you think if I feel good every time I meet you, then I’ll start trusting you, and obeying you.”

“You’re obeying me because you don’t have any other choice,” Starlight said dryly, “I don’t have to trick you into doing it. You’re supervised because you almost destroyed all magic, and it’s the most I could get the princesses to agree to. And it’s okay to have problems, Cozy, but you’re not making the best decisions right now.”

Pouting, Cozy said, “I’m sorry, Starlight Glimmer. It really saddens me to know that you think I’m insane.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Starlight countered.

“What?” Cozy replied flatly.

“You looked very sad just now, but you’re not,” Starlight said, “You’re saying you’re sad when you’re not sad. And that is why you still need some help, and maybe supervision.”

“I’m saying it because I want you to feel sorry for what you’ve done to me,” Cozy corrected irritably. “I’m making fun of you, stupid.”

“Now you’re angry,” Starlight prompted, “Can you say that you’re angry?”

“...yes?” Cozy said cautiously.

“Try saying you’re angry,” Starlight insisted, “When you really are angry, it feels a lot different to say you’re angry, saying something that you’re not.”

“I...” Cozy trailed off disbelievingly, then huffed saying, “I’m not even angry anymore.” Standing up and turning away, she added, “Let’s just keep going.”

They walked further, and Cozy’s right rear hoof was really starting to hurt, but she ignored it because she wasn’t going to let Starlight Glimmer know about something like that. She’d probably try to put a bandaid on it or something stupid.

“Doesn’t look like we’ll see any deer today,” Starlight remarked, looking around, “They sleep during the middle of the day, did you know?”

“What are deer anyway?” Cozy asked, glancing around in half curiosity, “Are they some kind of monster, or something?”

Starlight stopped.

Cozy stumbled to a halt before running into the older pony, as Starlight looked back at her and asked,

“You don’t know what deer are?”

Flushing red, Cozy said defiantly, “I don’t have to know what every creature is in Equestria. I’m not a creature culler!”

“A what?” Starlight asked curiously.

“A... I mean an... animal pony, who... who is nice to... animals,” Cozy Glow said, glancing away.

“Oh, a creature caretaker,” Starlight realized, “Yeah, me neither, but everypony knows what deer are.”

Cozy Glow stiffened. “Well I guess not every pony knows. It’s not that strange not to know,” Cozy said defensively, “Why do you care so much about these deer anyway?”

Starlight took far too many seconds composing her reply, for that reply to be, “Eh, not a big deal really. I was just curious. You wanna head back?”

“I never want to go back there,” Cozy said acidly.

“...we can keep walking for a little,” Starlight admitted, as Cozy Glow inwardly facehooved. She was just trying to make Starlight feel bad, not actually keep from going back there! It was terrible in fact, because Cozy Glow was just wiped out. It wasn’t long before she was barely crawling at a snail’s pace. She couldn’t hide it from Starlight, who said, “Are you okay? You look really tired.”

“I’m... fine...” Cozy panted, “Maybe need a... little more break...”

As they sat together alongside the trail, Starlight remarked, “You haven’t been getting a lot of exercise for quite a while. Now that I think on it, I’m surprised you even made it this far. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, well, my hoof is hurting,” Cozy pouted, “And I think I’m getting a cramp in my leg. And all because you took me on this walk, Starlight Glimmer!”

Starlight pondered Cozy for a moment, before asking, “You wanna ride back?”

Cozy blinked at her, and Starlight shifted to sitting belly-down on the trail, “You’re not too big for pony rides!” Starlight declared, “No magic, don’t worry. Just... me and my back.”

“Thank—um...” Cozy said, not sure how to process the situation, “Thank you—I mean—seriously? What are you, my mom?”

“I’m your friend,” Starlight said simply, “And I’m probably too young to be your mom, but I’m old enough that I could be kind of like a mom. So hop on, it’s no big deal.”

Cozy stood, and her hoof flashed with pain. “Okay, but only because you’re so insistent on it,” Cozy said, hobbling up to the sitting mare. She put a hoof out, and... Starlight Glimmer was so soft, and warm. Could Cozy really... she wasn’t sure if... “N-no problem, yep,” she said, tensing up then leaping onto Starlight Glimmer’s back.

Cozy felt her arms just naturally hook around Starlight Glimmer’s body as the unicorn stood up. The filly felt like she was sinking into that warmth radiating up through her belly. “There we go,” Starlight said practically, “Now let’s get back. And just to apologize for taking you back to my asylum, I’ll get you a snack okay?”

Cozy wasn’t... sure what was happening to her. She couldn’t say okay, but she couldn’t say anything other than that, so she just... sat there silently, until Starlight got moving. It was the movement that clarified things for her. Starlight’s flexing muscles underneath Cozy Glow were wonderful, and she couldn’t stop thinking of how much she loved this. It made Cozy’s eyes flood with tears and she couldn’t hold back from just sobbing like an idiot.

Cozy kicked off Starlight—who stopped in alarm at the filly’s distress—the filly who slid down the mare’s side to land harshly on the dirt. Cozy got mad at the dirt, and she got to her hooves, kicking it viciously, and of course that just made her hoof hurt more, which was absolutely infuriating. “I hate your back!” Cozy shouted at Starlight in tear-filled outrage, “You’re just trying to make me feel good! I hate your back, and I hate you, and I never want to touch you ever again!”

“...okay then,” Starlight said, giving her a look that Cozy Glow was sure was pitying and condescending and mocking, “We can just walk the rest of the way. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Cozy wanted it, but she couldn’t, so she just ignored the pain and walked stiffly beside Starlight Glimmer, herded all the way back to her prison in the insane asylum. It was like a bad dream. Her whole life was like a bad dream. Cozy couldn’t do anything but stand there silently in her room, and watch Starlight Glimmer close the door, locking her in.

“It’s okay to cry, you know,” Starlight Glimmer said through the little window.

“No,” Cozy replied dully, “No it’s not.”

Cozy felt... acceptably better eventually, and the days went as fast as they possibly could, when Cozy’s most exciting moments were getting taken by the nurse pony to do exercises, that weren’t even walking through the woods. Apparently Nurse Tenderheart knew another nurse pony who knew about... recovery, and this other nurse kept making Cozy walk with giant rubber bands between her hooves. She barely even crossed the exercise yard before she was exhausted, under this pink nurse’s attentions, though supposedly it was why she could take longer and longer walks with Starlight Glimmer.

Cozy spent a lot of time looking out her window, which faced the sprawling farmland the complex was centered in. She was on the second floor, so it felt like she could gaze out there forever. She liked watching the ponies who were working the fields, because they were something to look at at least, and because they were ponies, with interesting and complex means. Seeing them meticulously harvesting the crops let Cozy speculate on just what their strategy for that was.

Starlight kept trying to talk to Cozy, and learn the truth about her, or at least give Cozy Glow plenty of space to tell the truth if she wanted. Cozy did not, in the slightest, ever. She didn’t even want to think of what would happen if she did. But she humored Starlight, and the mare was quite willing to talk about other things, like events going on in Equestria, and stuff that Cozy might have been interested in.

But Cozy Glow wasn’t talking, and though the filly didn’t know it it was starting to drive Starlight Glimmer to her wit’s end.

“That’s it,” Starlight said, snapping the book shut, “That’s all the foals in Equestria with parents unaccounted-for in the age range of 10 to 12. Every single one. Every single salmon pink filly with aquamarine blue hair with thin white stripes and curls either has a foster parent, or is in an orphanage, and accounted for.”

“To be fair, it’s a pretty rare color combination,” Twilight Sparkle said, where she sat next to Starlight Glimmer in the castle library, both of them surrounded with records and rosters from orphanages all over Equestria.

“She must have run away from her parents,” Starlight said desperately, “But there are no missing foal reports that match her description at all. Something terrible happened to her, Twilight. I’ve never seen anything like it before! I don’t even know if I want to know, with how she’s been reacting. All I know is she absolutely hates unicorn magic, leashes, and pony rides.”

“It strongly implies that a unicorn used their magic to put Cozy Glow on a leash,” Twilight agreed, “But what’s the deal with pony rides? Wasn’t she okay with it at first?”

“She was, but then she freaked out about it, just like with the leash,” Starlight said. “And she isn’t telling anypony anything about what happened to her!”

“I don’t understand it either,” Twilight said frankly, “Honestly I’m probably not the best pony to ask about understanding it. Though that does give me an idea...”

Fluttershy sank in weariness as she stepped out of the classroom. It was so horrible, having to speak before all those ponies every day, but she had to help her friend. She had an obligation, because somehow Fluttershy had ended up being a pony who knew more about Kindness than anypony else! She didn’t feel like she knew though.

She felt like her life was out of control, and her only consolation is that she wasn’t Applejack, or Rarity, who were working themselves to the bone over all their occupations. Fluttershy fed the animals, then she went to teach a class. She had nothing to complain about other than those bored, angry, judgemental students who knew Fluttershy was terribly unqualified to teach anypony, but were too polite to say it.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight Sparkle said, trotting up to the mare, “Could I talk to you for a moment?”

“Oh of course,” Fluttershy said curiously, “What did you want to talk about?”

“I need you to talk with Starlight Glimmer about... Cozy Glow,” Twilight said. Fluttershy’s ears wilted even more. “Nopony is judging you,” Twilight assured her, “Starlight just needs your advice. Cozy’s been exhibiting some very strange behavior, that... you might be able to offer some insight on.”

“I really don’t know if Cozy Glow has anything to do with Kindness,” Fluttershy said reluctantly.

“Oh, it’s not Kindness,” Twilight said, “It’s just that Cozy Glow is being um... scared of ordinary things, and too shy about it to speak.”

Blinking, Fluttershy asked, “You want me to help her with being more assertive?” Her?

“I want you to help Starlight understand how Cozy feels,” Twilight said, “And... maybe something Starlight knows, you’ll recognize from your own um... personal journey.”

“It’s really very kind of you to think that I’m better than I... used to be,” Fluttershy said softly, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to see what I can do.”

“...so that’s the story,” Starlight Glimmer concluded.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy replied.

“Do you think she’s being sincere?” Starlight asked unhappily, “Cozy’s too smart for her own good. I don’t know if she’s doing it on purpose or not. Cozy Glow hates unicorn magic, but I don’t know why she gets so infuriated by it! She gets angry about strange things, that shouldn’t even make her angry!”

“I think I know why Twilight sent me to speak with you,” Fluttershy said simply.

“Why, you know something?” Starlight asked hopefully.

“Have you ever seen me when I’m angry?” Fluttershy asked in calm reply.

“No, I... no!” Starlight said, “What?” grimacing at the pale yellow mare in confusion, “You don’t seem like the kind of pony who could get angry.”

“I... get angry,” Fluttershy admitted hesitantly, looking away, “Not so much anymore, but when I didn’t know how to deal with it... have you ever heard of the fight or flight reflex?”

“Yyyyeah, and you’d definitely be ‘flight,’” Starlight said, “No offense.”

“None taken,” Fluttershy replied, glancing at her friend again, “But the reason they call it ‘fight or flight’ I was told is that fighting and fleeing are the same reaction.”

Starlight blinked.

“It’s like left, versus right, or hot and cold,” Fluttershy said, “When you’re faced with something ...terrifying, you can either run away, or try to fight it. But either way, you’re reacting to something you’re afraid of.”

“So what’s Cozy Glow trying to fight?” Starlight asked.

“I don’t think she is,” Fluttershy said, “If she’s getting so angry....” Fluttershy clutched her wings a little closer to herself. “I’ve had some... anger management problems in the past,” she said, looking at the floor, “The things I said to ponies, and the things I did were terrible.”

“Can’t have been that bad?” Starlight said uncertainly.

“Nothing seriously violent,” Fluttershy agreed, “But I felt ashamed for it nonetheless. When you... stand there eating your donuts, you just feel so ashamed that just a few minutes ago you were running around and attacking things and screaming, and you were just so mad that you couldn’t... get what you wanted. You didn’t even notice everypony running from you, or how much panic you were causing, and just a few minutes later, you can remember every moment, where you wish you had done something differently.”

“How... angry were you?” Starlight asked in disbelief.

Thinking a moment, Fluttershy said, “I think only the pony you’ve met who comes close to that is... um... the changeling queen.”

Fluttershy tactfully avoided saying “you.”

“Oh. ...yikes.”

“She never lets go of her anger ever,” Fluttershy explained, “It’s probably why she has so many holes eaten into her. I was only like that for five minutes, or an afternoon perhaps, before my friends would help me get over it. But what I want to explain is why I get so angry.”

Starlight kind of actually wanted to see that, if only to prove to herself that Fluttershy was capable of... complete arrogant bellowing rage.

“Most of the time, fight and flight seem like very different things,” Fluttershy said, “But when you are a creature like me, who always used to choose to flee, there are times when you can’t flee. When you run and run, and it only makes things worse, and scarier. You’ve at least heard of a cornered wolf?”

“Yeah, I have,” Starlight mused.

“You don’t even realize it’s changing,” Fluttershy related soberly, “One second you’re afraid that none of the cute cuddly animals will love you, and the next, you start getting... angry with them. You don’t talk to the postpony, you yell at the postpony, because you’re too scared to talk to them. But you have to do something, and once you feel like you can’t run away anymore... well, I’ve since learned that it’s not always a good idea to choose ‘flight.’ But I’m not sure about Cozy Glow.”

“Why’s that?” Starlight asked, “I still don’t get what she’s fleeing. There’s nothing endangering her.”

“I... I don’t know why she feels threatened,” Fluttershy said, “All I can really tell you is that filly sounds terribly, terribly afraid. Her rage, and I might be wrong, but it sounds like it’s because she’s terribly afraid of something she can’t run away from.”

“Of what, though?” Starlight asked, shaking her head, “Of being treated well? Of being cared for?”

“Maybe it would hurt her pride?” Fluttershy asked thoughtfully, “You could ask Rainbow Dash. She um... knows a thing or two about pride.”

“Just going right through the six of you, huh?” Starlight asked with a wry smirk.

“We’re six aspects of a single whole,” Fluttershy replied simply, “I try my best, but together, my friends and I can do things that none of us would ever be able to do alone. So yes, you may have to talk to all of us, to get the complete picture.”

“Well, it’s not going to be easy finding time, what with the new patients,” Starlight said critically, “But I can probably get to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie pretty easily. Applejack’s uh... a little busy, but you know how dependable she is.”

“She’s never let me down, at least,” Fluttershy said with a smile. A little more seriously though, she said, “But it sounds like Cozy might be... finding reasons to be angry about things. Somecreature once told me that was how to be assertive, and maybe he gave the same lesson to Cozy Glow.”

Looking off out the window to the blue sky beyond, Fluttershy said wistfully, “It felt so... freeing. To not have to be afraid. To not have to doubt myself, or hide, or be used as a doormat by uncaring ponies. When you can find something to be angry about, your fear just... washes away. I once dumped...”

Fluttershy tried poorly to conceal a giggle, saying, “I once dumped two whole carts of garbage onto some ponies, just because they wouldn’t get out of my way.”

Starlight stared stunned, and so (composing herself) Fluttershy added seriously, “And it was very wrong of me to do so. I sincerely regret what I did.”

With another giggle escaping her, Fluttershy concluded, “It sure was fun though.”

Cozy Glow followed the nurse pony, Sweetheart by name, out of her room and down the hall. Past another door that could be locked, down a stairwell, and through another door, that also could be locked. The door out was behind her, but Cozy didn’t see any reason to run through it. She was well on her way in pretending to recover from her terrible insanity, and she was very good at pretending to be a good pony.

She followed the nurse into the cafeteria like a good little filly, and it was still a cafeteria. Everything was a little bit unsettlingly white in this building, like a canvas without colors. Cozy walked up to the counter and waited, while the nurse went back and got her food, since they didn’t have a cafeteria pony yet. The fools were already trusting her too much, grown complacant and confident, leaving Cozy unwatched for minutes at a time. She took the chance to look around, seeing if there was anything in the room she could use to her advantage.

Oh, there was a... pony.

It wasn’t a particularly remarkable looking pony. A brown earth pony was about as plain as they come. She was an adult mare, sitting there munching on some hay, looking down at her tray. Cozy Glow knew exactly what to do. Approaching the mare Cozy started crying pitifully once she was in earshot, pretending her food was making her sad, because she could never ever escape from here.

Cozy’s thoughts of gaining this mare’s trust died when the mare didn’t even look up from her food. Was she deaf? They wouldn’t bring ponies here who didn’t have something really wrong with them.

Cozy didn’t want to cry louder or it might alert the nurses who brought her in here, so she stopped crying, looking over at the cafeteria. It was too late anyway though, because the nurse was coming out, so Cozy hurried over there to get her food, before returning to the brown mare. The portion they served was larger these days, because Cozy Glow had been good about not eating it too fast, but she couldn’t leave it, and she needed the time to work on this mare, so Cozy Glow ate as quickly as she could, without choking on anything. Once all her food was safely in her belly, the filly hopped off the little stool for her to reach the table top, and walked over to the mare.

To her surprise, the mare wasn’t totally unresponsive, or unaware of her approach. At the clip clop of Cozy Glow’s hooves, the mare said without looking her way, “Sorry that something was making you cry, but I really can’t... handle it right now, so please leave me alone.”

“Can’t handle what?” Cozy asked in confusion.

The mare actually looked at her then, and at least she had pretty blue eyes. “Whatever was making you sad,” she said dully, “I... really don’t want to hear about it, sorry.”

Cozy... had a bad feeling about this, but she said invitingly, “You don’t want to hear about how we can escape from here?”

Looking confused, the mare asked, “Why would I want to escape from here?”

“Because you were so wrongfully imprisoned, of course!” Cozy replied sympathetically, “But we both know you don’t really deserve to be here.”

The mare cringed back as if struck. “What?” Cozy asked in confusion, “I’m telling you, you deserve to be free!”

“Well maybe I don’t want to be free,” the mare replied angrily, turning to stare at her food again. Cozy just... complimented her?

“Hello?” Cozy said irritably, “I’m complimenting you, not putting you down!”

“Maybe you should,” the mare grumbled, still not looking Cozy’s way. Ugggh why wouldn’t she look at her?

“Well okay then,” Cozy said pleasantly, “What have you done that’s so terribly wrong, that it’s okay to imprison you here?”

The mare looked at her again, at least, but pleadingly this time?

“Please don’t try to get them to make me leave,” the mare begged to the filly next to her, “I don’t have anywhere to go!”

“Neither do I, but why would that stop you?” Cozy replied utterly confused.

“Are you listening to yourself, filly?” the mare declares incredulously, “They feed me here, and I—I have my own room now!”

“Yeah, but you can get those somewhere else, where they’re not locking you in your room!” Cozy replied in frustration.

The mare stared at her speechlessly, then turned back to face her food, saying quietly, “No, I cannot.”

“What are you talking about?” Cozy asked skeptically, checking out that mare’s ass, “You can just...woah, you’re a blank flank?”

“Shut up!” the mare shouted, sending Cozy scrambling back, but the mare still got in Cozy’s face! “There is nothing wrong with me, the doctors told me all about it! I don’t have to let a little filly act like she’s better than—”

“Oh horsefeathers, who let you both in the cafeteria at the same time?!” the nurse pony shouted, bounding through the door to the kitchen, to put herself between Cozy and the mare, protecting the mare as she stared at Cozy Glow angrily. “Don’t you say anything nasty to her now!” the nurse scolded the bewildered filly.

“I didn’t say anything!” Cozy protested, “She was the one who started shouting!”

Behind the nurse, the mare had sank to her belly gasping out, “It was my fault I’m sorry” over and over again.

“You’re... not supposed to be with the other patients,” the nurse told Cozy sternly. “You leave the... patienting to us. I think it’s time you returned to your room.”

“Whaaat?!” Cozy declared in outrage, “But lunch isn’t even over!”

A second nurse pony was coming in to speak in soothing tones to the downed mare, as the angry one told Cozy, “Fine, you can finish your lunch. But I’m gonna be watching you!”

“You should watch yourself if you’re going to say that to me!” Cozy growled threateningly.

The nurse wasn’t even looking at her. “You—you finished your lunch!” she declared, looking at Cozy Glow’s empty lunch tray. “You already finished it! That’s it, you’re going to your room right nOWWWW!”

Cozy Glow wondered if it would be possible to find a way to grow fangs.

After that nurse was thorougly disciplined, Cozy was forced to stop disciplining her and thrown (bodily) into her room. The door shut, but she screamed and kicked at it anyway. Then Cozy sat on her bed, hitting her own head going, “Stupid, stupid! They’ll never believe I’m getting better if I keep losing my cool!”

Then she sank, face down in her bed, mumbling something that could’ve sounded like, “Who am I kidding...”

Cozy was doomed, beyond doomed. They were gonna show her any day just how nice ponies could be when they knew you were a monster. That nurse was the tip of the iceberg. It was all falling apart again, and Cozy Glow couldn’t think of any way to pull it back together again! Why wasn’t she Empress of Friendship, now? It should have worked! They hadn’t suspected a thing. She had everypony’s trust, and love, and respect, but before she could take power, Cozy lost everything.

Now that ponies knew what an ugly, unlovable filly she was, it was going to be just like before, and she didn’t even know how she escaped from that, much less whether it could happen again. Cozy Glow wished... she wasn’t the only one who had escaped. No! No she didn’t! She grabbed all the three books they gave her, and pulled them off the bookshelf, throwing them around, then went around and attacked her own stupid, broken, crippled feathers. With a sharp wrench she yanked one out, spitting out the half-pinion, just standing there gritting her teeth against the pain.

This was all Starlight’s fault.

“This is all my fault,” Starlight moaned, snout first into her desk at an office that would probably never be used because she was a failure, and her whole idea was a failure.

“What do you mean your fault?” the soft pink Nurse Sweetheart said in confusion, “I just told you that Cozy Glow—”

“Isn’t in her right mind,” Starlight Glimmer interrupted, “Gets angry over everything, and is having a hard enough time controlling herself, without ponies who were supposed to be taking care of her getting angry with her for not doing so!”

“Are you saying it’s my fault that she—” Sweetheart started to say in outrage, but Starlight interrupted again, saying,

“No, it’s my fault. I didn’t realize that these ponies could be bad influences on each other. We made a—a communal cafeteria, because it would be easier to feed everypony that way while still being able to monitor them all. But you’re only one of two nurses who aren’t volunteering, and the rest have to spend time working at the real hospital! We just don’t have enough ponies to manage even a half dozen of these mental cases.”

Sinking her cheeks into her hooves, Starlight moaned, “We should have made separate buildings or... or something. That’s what I should have done, but no I had to try something new, and now Cozy Glow’s gotten so angry that...”

Starlight Glimmer’s horn alighted, and floating in her bluish magic, three pink feathers lifted up off her desk. All were sliced neatly in half, with the upper part of the feather missing. They rotated in the air, framing the troubled unicorn’s expression, as Nurse Sweetheart said in confusion, “Feathers? I don’t understand. She shed her feathers?”

“She hasn’t let anypony look at her wings, but these feathers have blood on the ends,” Starlight explained, “I think she’s been pulling them out by the roots.”

“T-those are pinions!” Nurse Sweetheart protested, “You can’t just pull out a pegasus’s pinions!”

“Not without a lot of pain, at least,” Starlight agrees, lowering the feathers to her desk again, “Cozy resents her... wings being clipped, but she never did this before.”

“You mean I—!” the nurse yelped in shock.

“Yes, Nurse Coldheart found these in Cozy’s room, shortly after the... cafeteria incident, which was not entirely your fault,” Starlight said in both despair and reassurance, “She can’t be doing it for the attention. Cozy tried to hide them behind her bookshelf. I need to get her talking about why she’s... she’s doing this, and I need your help to do so.”

“You want me to apologize?” the nurse pony said with a guilty look at those feathers.

“No, I want you to be even meaner to her,” Starlight replied, and to the shocked nurse, Starlight murmured eagerly, “So here’s what we’re gonna do...”

Cozy Glow was in the cafeteria with another pony. Why was Cozy Glow in the cafeteria with another pony?! After the last time, she couldn’t imagine why they’d want to do this to her, unless they were trying to trick her into losing her cool again. Cozy wasn’t about to let them do that, but she was faced with a problem there. A problem that this was probably the most annoying lunatic in all of Equestria.

Cozy Glow tried to be good, and eat her food, but this time the other mare came over and just... stood behind her, right where it made Cozy most nervous. Not looking Cozy’s way, but just standing there. Cozy was fine with that. She just ate her alfalfa and pretended the mare wasn’t there.

“Can you believe they put me here?” the purple mare said in aggravation. Cozy tensed up. “It just goes to show,” the mare said, “Some ponies will stab you in the back when you thought they were on your side.”

As the pony who would, Cozy Glow could in theory respect this mare’s wisdom, if she didn’t just keep on talking at her for no reason!

“You probably don’t know me,” the mare said, “At least not yet. Or maybe not ever, if they try to keep me here. They’re going to fail of course. It’s sad really, such small minded ponies who think they can hold me down. Well they can’t, because mark my words it’s only a matter of time at this point. I bet my followers are going to break me out of here any day now, and have this whole place shut down for being an illegitimate institution!”

Cozy Glow frantically tried to finish the alfalfa in her mouth as the pony continued, “You probably don’t know me, but you will. They’re trying to keep you from knowing about me, because they’re afraid of what I represent. The future! I’m actually a famous inventor did you know? I invented a doll that could really move, but they took it off the market because they didn’t want ponies to know about me. They were worried after my debut in Canterlot that I’d become too influential, and that’s why they put me here. As if I’d ever take over Equestria! No I’m fine with letting the rulers go about ruling their little kingdom while I keep everything working. Ponies know who their real ruler is, even if they think you need a horn and wings to raise the sun. I bet I could do it. It’s foal’s play really. But I let them—”

“Shut up! Shut up!!” Cozy Glow snapped at the mare, “For the love of Grogar, shut up! Why are you talking to me? Are you stupid? You’re just a stupid lunatic who can’t even feed herself, probably! You’re too stupid, and crazy to even realize that everypony just thinks you’re an idiot!”

“You—you’re one of them!” the mare declared in alarm, stepping back from the angry filly, “You aren’t even supposed to be here! They planted you here, to try to undermine me and break my spirit!”

Attacking her?! “Oh I’ll break your spirit,” Cozy fumed, “They don’t care about you. Nopony sent me because nopony cares about you. You keep talking and talking, and you waited until my mouth was full so you could talk more, because you’re just a pitiful insignificant little weakling that nopony cares about and nopony will ever love.”

That did it. The mare couldn’t even answer her in words. A big, grownup, older mare, and she just fled from the filly, tears flooding her eyes. The purple mare cowered there sobbing against the wall all the way on the other end of the cafeteria as Cozy Glow went back to eating as if nothing had happened. Damn that felt good.

That was when the nurse pony on the other side of Cozy Glow cleared her throat.

The lunch tray clattered to the floor as Cozy Glow frantically tried to grab something from it while the nurse was grabbing her, and roughly hustling her out of the cafeteria. Cozy had to miss her lunch because of this stupid nurse, who got right in her face and shouted, “You little demon, do you even know what is wrong with that mare?!”

“Nopony cares about her, nopony will ever love her, and she doesn’t wanna admit it!” Cozy shot back, afraid to show fear, “So what? It’s your fault for putting me in the same room with her!”

The big pink nurse pony balked for a moment, for some reason, then angrily retorted, “How dare you accuse me, when you’re the one who is such an evil little monster that nopony can even be in the same room as her!”

“Well how is that my fault?!” Cozy fussed as the mare shoved her down the hall, “Maybe if you could do your job then you’d have known better!”

“Don’t think your little tricks are going to work on me, filly,” the nurse said haughtily, “That mare was mentally disturbed, not—”

“Is this what you enjoy, picking on bad little fillies?” Cozy seethed, glaring up at the nurse pony, “You don’t even have to feel bad, because I’m a ‘little monster.’ You’re such a good pony now that you only bully others when you can pretend that it’s for their own good!”

This time the nurse pony’s hesitation was entirely expected, as the hefty mare said, “S-shut up, you don’t say one more word or I’ll... I’ll put a bridle on you!”

“Oh, did I touch a nerve?” Cozy said smugly trotting ahead of the mare.

“You don’t get dinner tonight, if you say anything else!” the nurse retorted.

“Anything else,” Cozy replied sweetly.

The deed was done, and Nurse Sweetheart made her way into Starlight Glimmer’s office, saying uncertainly, “I don’t know about this. Are we doing the right thing here?”

“It’s important to set clear boundaries,” Starlight insisted, “You said she doesn’t get any dinner, so she doesn’t get any dinner. It shouldn’t trigger her... eating problems in the past. The opposite, really!”

“Yes, but I...” the nurse glanced downward, saying, “I wasn’t... the nicest pony, when I was a filly.”

Starlight’s confidence faded to concern as the nurse continued, saying, “I learned my lesson, and I became a nurse because I like helping ponies, but... but maybe I shouldn’t be working here.”

“What? Why not?” Starlight asked in alarm.

“I like making ponies feel better, and... doing things that are for their own good,” Sweetheart said dismally, “Am I just looking for ways to... bully ponies, that I can still feel good about?”

Starlight was speechless.

“I tell ponies what to do all the time!” Sweetheart protested, “And they just have to listen to me, because I’m the big, smart nurse pony, who knows what they need to get better, and they’ll thank me for it in the end. It... it feels... I just don’t know how I feel about... being a nurse pony anymore. I just need some... time to think about things.”

“I really need you to help me finish this though,” Starlight said fearfully, “If you just disappear, it’ll give the filly a seriously wrong impression!”

“Oh, yeah I mean... maybe after that,” the nurse said in surprise, “No, I wasn’t backing out or anything. I mean... I might as well put my... skills to work, right? It’ll work out in the end.”

“I hope so,” Starlight said, sighing and staring over the edge of her desk, “I think a little fibbing won’t bother Cozy too much, if I establish a rapport first. She’s very mean, but she’s... surprisingly forgiving of other ponies.”

“Really?” the nurse asked, tilting her head as she tried to imagine that.

“Ten to one, Cozy won’t even care that you sent her to her room without dinner,” Starlight said dryly, “She’ll try to use it to make you feel bad, but it won’t bother her at all.”

“Okay, but... but after this, I don’t wanna do this anymore,” Nurse Sweetheart said, her head woefully held low.

“You’re only the second full time nurse I’ve managed to hire,” Starlight said worriedly, “It won’t be easy to find another right away. How about you just... take a few days off, with pay, and we can talk about it next Friday.”

Nurse Sweetheart smiled gratefully at that, saying, “It really is a wonderful thing you’re doing here, Miss Glimmer. A lot of us nurse ponies have had a... hard time with some ponies, who really can’t take care of themselves. Getting them out of the hospitals and somewhere where we have... facilities for them is just really nice. I don’t have to deal with patients escaping into the halls here and causing mayhem. I’ll uh... I’ll be back on Friday.”

With that, the nurse pony made her leave, and Starlight buried her head in her hooves moaning, “Who is that filly?”

Cozy Glow lifted her head as somepony trotted down the hall. Ugh, it was that mean and nasty nurse pony again, the big pink one, whatever her name is. “They said I had to take you to breakfast,” the nurse pony grumbled, giving Cozy a resentful look through the window in her door. “So we’re gonna go to breakfast, nice and easy. Put this on.”

The meal slot opened in Cozy Glow’s door, and through it, the nurse kicked... Cozy froze. It was a leash. A leash and a sturdy looking black collar slid into her room.

The slot closed.

...

“I haven’t got all day, you know,” the nurse said from the window in the door again.

“I’m not eating breakfast today,” Cozy said carefully, not looking away from that leash, “Go away.”

“You think you have a choice, filly?” the nurse griped, leading Cozy to look up at her in a panic, “Put on the collar!”

“...no,” Cozy said, bumping into her bed as she retreated from the door, staring at it.

“Put it on, or I’ll have to come in there and put it on for you!” the nurse retorted, “And trust me, you won’t like that one teeny bit!”

“You’re just a—” Cozy fought back the tears very successfully, “You’re just being a bully. Do you do this to your own foals? Because you must have a ton of them if you’re that—”

“Well gosh, thanks for telling me I’m a bully,” the nurse said sarcastically, as the latch clicked and the door began to open. “That means you know I can do whatever I want to you, and nopony’s gonna bat an eye,” she continued, sidling in through the door, and pulling it shut with her tail, “All I have to tell ‘em is you’re just an evil little filly,” she said smugly, “And this’s for your own good.”

“I–I’ll bite!!” Cozy said desperately as the nurse picked up the collar in her teeth.

“I’ll bite harder,” the evil pink nurse pony growled, looming over Cozy Glow as she inexorably approached. The nurse reached for her suddenly then, and Cozy scrambled back in a panic, climbing over her bed and up the wall. The nurse leapt at her, to drag her down, but Cozy darted out of the mare’s grasp, running across the nurse’s broad pink backside to leap for the... the door that was locked! Cozy frantically pushed on it. It had to be open, or the nurse couldn’t leave either! It was opening! Cozy could escape! Cozy could escape, she could lock the nurse in the room and be safe. But before Cozy could even squeeze out the door, the nurse grabbed her and she screamed.

Dragged away from the door, Cozy screamed in panic then bit the nurse’s arm, only to get a face full of hoof as the nurse stuffed her hoof in Cozy’s mouth, making her teeth clack jarringly on the stiff nail. Cozy screamed again as the nurse tried to get the collar around her neck, sticking her foreleg in it trying to force it away from her. She bit again, but the leash was in the way, so Cozy tried to tear the leash in half with only her teeth, and it was too strong, and her hind leg was twisted painfully in the nurse’s grip as she tried to struggle away and she screamed and Starlight Glimmer appeared in a burst of cyan light, declaring angrily, “What the hay are you doing?!”

Cozy wasn’t doing anything!! The nurse’s grip slackened, and Cozy zipped out, diving for her bed and it was too low to crawl under so she burrowed under the blankets, covering and hiding herself and curling up into a shivering ball in the corner hating herself for being so weak and helpless, knowing it was going to do no good, that they were going to get her now, and hurt her.

Starlight Glimmer said imperiously, “First you try to make a malnourished filly skip meals? And then when I tell you that’s unacceptable, you think it’s perfectly alright to attack her, and force her to come to breakfast?!” and what? Cozy Glow wasn’t in trouble? What?

“I was... j-just trying to discipline her—”

“She does not need to be disciplined!” Starlight spoke over the nurse pony’s protest, “She needs to be treated with respect! I’m starting to think it wasn’t her fault what happened in the cafeteria yesterday. Why were those two left together unsupervised?”

“They weren’t unsuperv—”

“Oh, sure, they weren’t,” Starlight said sarcastically, as Cozy Glow, cautiously peeked out from under the covers. The nurse pony was practically cowering from the lavender unicorn, as Starlight said, “You made sure to supervise them after Cozy lost her temper, and apparently it was all her fault then, huh?”

“N-no! I swear she was... she was yelling at me! And calling me a bully!” the nurse pony protested feebly.

“How many times have I told you that it’s not her fault!” Starlight said, “Cozy has trouble with her temper, and you’re trying to blame her for it? That’s just making her feel terrible!”

Cozy couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t stop hoarsely breathing, struggling to keep down her... feelings, as Starlight continued, saying, “Did you know that Morning Glory apologized? That she was the one who blew up at Cozy Glow? Cozy doesn’t need supervision to stop her from being bad. Cozy needs supervision so that somepony can look out for her, and help her when she needs it.”

Starlight briefly glanced Cozy’s way, then back to the nurse, saying, “And for another thing— wait, is that a leash?!” Starlight’s horn lit up, levitating the collar and leash in her cyan magic. “Did you even read Cozy’s file?” Starlight asked shrilly, “That says no collars, and no leashes?”

“I–I thought it would be good... for disciplining her,” the nurse said uselessly, as Starlight just growled a shout in exasperation, and with a flare of her magic, the leash and collar disintegrated in midair.

“Meet me in my office,” Starlight said curtly, her horn flickering out, “We’re going to have to talk about your future employment here.”

The nurse pony left with her head low, and Starlight Glimmer walked out thereafter, but before she did, she turned to the pile of blankets that was Cozy Glow, saying, “You can eat breakfast in your room today. Just try to relax for a while, and... maybe we can talk later.”

Starlight Glimmer left without waiting for an answer, and the door shut tight behind her with a loud click.

Author's Note

Starlight, stahp.

Cozy Glow and the Feelings Hunt

Cozy couldn’t stop feeling. She couldn’t stop feeling.

“I... I hate you Starlight Glimmer, I hate you!” she shouted at the door, “You don’t get to... do this to me. Get out of my head! I hate you!” Cozy’s hooves clacked as they slammed into the door and she immediately collapsed on her belly as pain flared in her right hind leg. Cozy Glow gasped for breath, laying there afraid to move. The horrible pain died down, and eventually she managed to roll onto her back, gingerly clutching her hind leg to herself. “They broke my leg!” Cozy shouted in trembling alarm, “S-somepony help!!”

She squeaked to silence then, panting in pained panic, because now those two were going to come back! But actually, it was that blue furred nurse pony with green hair who rushed back down the hall and up to Cozy’s door. “Now hold still Cozy, don’t move,” she said urgently, “I just need to check you out, to see if anything’s broken.”

“What do you need to check?” Cozy griped anxiously, cradling her hind leg in her forelegs, “I already said it was broken!”

“With all due respect filly,” the nurse said, unlatching Cozy’s door, sliding it open, and walking up to her. “You haven’t been medically trained, have you?”

“I know what a broken leg feels like!” Cozy shot back angrily.

“Oh, you broke your leg before?” the nurse asked idly, totally disregarding Cozy’s personal space, “You seem young to have had an injury like that. Now tell me if this hurts.”

The nurse tapped on Cozy’s heel, earning a wince from the filly as hoof struck bone.

“Yes, that hurts,” Cozy said, resentfully. What was the point of hurting her?

“Now how about this?” the nurse asked, tapping above Cozy’s heel where a startled squeal escaped Cozy Glow as the pain flared up right in the bone where the nurse was poking.

“Well, good news, I think you’ve only sprained it,” the nurse said lightly, as Cozy blurted back at her,

“I felt it! The bone hurt when you hit it!”

“We can get you some x-rays soon,” the nurse assured her, “But it takes a lot to break your tibula, even for a cute little pegasus like you. You injured your tendons, which is why poking there was so painful.”

“W-what bone is the tendons?” Cozy asked cautiously.

Blinking, the nurse held back a snort of a laugh, saying, “No, tendons are the stringy ropelike tissues that connect your muscles to your bones.”

“Oh, so like gristle?” Cozy clarified hopefully.

The nurse looked at her very oddly. Cozy didn’t get it. What was so bad about gristle? “Essentially, yes,” the nurse said, “But what it means is your bones don’t need to heal. Did you recently twist, or wrench your ankle somehow?”

Cozy Glow blinked at her owlishly. She didn’t want to talk about the collar.

“Well anyhoo, I’ll immobilize your leg, and we can get you to the hospital for x-rays,” the blue, green haired nurse said in a practical manner, “It’s actually not far from this place. You won’t have to pass through town.”

Cozy was... begrudgingly grateful for that. Grateful enough to sit on the cart without protest at least, as the nurse silently headed with her in tow down the backroads to Ponyville General. The constant risk of stabbing pain was also motivating Cozy to sit still and behave. But she was... starting to like this nurse. This one, at least.

Starlight Glimmer was waiting outside in the hall, when Nurse Tenderheart returned Cozy to her room, after coming back from the hospital to let the filly rest in her bed. “How is she?” Starlight asked the nurse, not quite meeting her eyes.

“She has a nasty sprain, but her bones aren’t broken, so she should be well in a day or two, if she keeps it immobilized,” the nurse said looking more at Starlight with concern than anypony.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am,” Starlight said, “I swear as soon as I can find funding, you’ll be working here full time. I didn’t... intend for Cozy’s treatment to actually injure her.”

“You’re not saying you injured her?” the blue and green nurse pony asked, in a voice justifiably concerned.

“No, we... we were restraining her,” Starlight specified, “And she must have gotten her foot caught, when she was... having trouble with what we were doing.”

“What were you doing?” Tenderheart asked tenuously.

“Nothing we’ll be repeating, that’s for sure,” Starlight grumbled, “You shouldn’t get mixed up in all this. Let me make enemies with her. If things go bad, you’re probably the pony she trusts most of all right now. Just give her your support and well... be yourself, and I’ll try not to get her injured like that ever again.”

“I don’t know if this cloak and daggers stuff is a good idea,” Tenderheart remarked uneasily, “What are you going to do when she finds out this was all your idea?”

“It wasn’t all my idea,” Starlight said uncomfortably, “It was Sweetheart’s mistake in the first place, blaming Cozy Glow about Morning Glory. But what was I supposed to do, write Cozy Glow a form letter explaining that the nurse has been given a slap on the wrist for what she’d done?”

“All this plotting against her though,” Tenderheart contested, “How are you going to get her on your side, if you’re plotting against her?”

“I’m not trying to get her on my side,” Starlight replied in exasperation, “I’m trying to show her that I mean business! That filly really is going to get a caretaker attacking her one day, and I wanted her to know that I can and I will step in to put a stop to it. She doesn’t trust me one bit, but...”

Sighing, Starlight Glimmer hung her head before the blue nurse, saying, “What Cozy Glow trusts is power. She won’t trust me. She’ll hate me for scaring her like that. But now she knows what I’ll do to anypony who hurts her, and she can’t deny it. No matter how much she thinks I was... pretending.”

The nurse still didn’t look like she was happy with the situation as Starlight explained, “All that filly does is pretend, so maybe if she knows she’s not alone... I just really need her to open up to me somehow, even if she resents me for it later. We really don’t know anything at all about her. Where did she come from? What happened to her?”

“Have you tried asking her?” Tenderheart suggested.

Starlight lashed her curlish tail, saying, “She won’t say a word about her past. Anyway, I need to find out everything I can without asking her, so that when I do ask her, I don’t... ask the wrong questions and get her to close off to me more than ever.”

The nurse hesitated, looked down, then looked up, then said, “The filly said she broke her leg before.”

“What?” Starlight replied blankly.

“You said you wanted to learn about her, well, she said she broke her leg before,” Tenderheart stated cautiously, “She didn’t seem to know the difference between a break or a sprain, but it takes some training to tell that, so... I think she might have broken her leg before. That’s all I know though, sorry.”

“No, it’s... it’s helpful,” Starlight admitted, “Thank you Nurse Tenderheart. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go down to the cafeteria, to get Cozy some breakfast.”

Cozy came willingly into Starlight Glimmer’s office this time at least. That was a nice change. The filly hobbled over with her immobilized hind leg, only looked balefully at the couch before climbing onto the beanbag. Starlight did find it worked out well to give ponies a choice where to sit, though it sometimes made her wonder. There wasn’t much about Cozy Glow these days that didn’t make Starlight wonder.

“I’m really sorry about yesterday,” she told the filly sheepishly, “None of the other nurses have been giving you problems, have they?”

Cozy gave Starlight an appraising look. Starlight politely, but firmly returned the gift. “No, they have not,” Cozy Glow said at last, “Why, are you having a problem keeping control of your staff?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Starlight said honestly, “I think you can understand why though.”

“Because you’re weak and pathetic?” Cozy Glow said with a roll of her dusky pink eyes, “Why should anypony listen to you, if you won’t even make them listen?”

“I was gonna say it’s because they have problems, too,” Starlight Glimmer replied evenly, “Everypony does, not just the ones with mental illness.”

“Oh Starlight, you don’t have to lie to me,” Cozy said sweetly, “We both know I don’t have any kind of a mental illness, and you’re just keeping me here to fool me into thinking I do.”

“Cozy, you have an explosive temper that makes you do things you obviously regret,” Starlight replied flatly, “You have an emotional meltdown as soon as something happens to make you sad, and you think friendship is about dominance over others, even when you know it’s not. It’s not your fault if you’re suffering from an illness Cozy, but you are not well.”

“I have good reasons for... all those things!” Cozy protested a little less than confidently.

“Reasons which you won’t talk about,” Starlight replied, “Even though I swore what you say will never leave this building.”

“...did you really have to put a cupcake in your—”

“No, that was a mistake,” Starlight interrupted, “But my point still stands. You are not well, and as soon as you admit that, you can start to heal from whatever... hurt you in the past.”

“Nothing hurt me, because there’s nothing wrong,” Cozy insisted irritably, “I shouldn’t even be here.”

“Would you rather be in Tartarus?” Starlight asked dryly.

Cozy Glow just scrunched and looked the other way. After a moment of silence Starlight Glimmer exclaimed in surprise, “You would rather be in Tartarus, wouldn’t you?”

“At least Tartarus doesn’t try to make you sad for no reason, just because it’s good for you!” Cozy retorted, “You keep saying you’re trying to help me, but you just want to make yourself feel good about imprisoning me!”

“To be perfectly honest, yes I feel pretty good about imprisoning you,” Starlight said irritably herself, “Maybe if you stopped hating everypony, and trying to destroy the world, then—”

“I was not trying to destroy the world!” Cozy insisted angrily, “I didn’t know it would destroy the world!”

“And that’s the problem,” Starlight lit upon excitedly, “You never even entertained the possibility that things might not go your way. You had no backup plan, no escape route—”

“I wanted to go to Tartarus!” Cozy snapped at her, “I was going to reform Tirek, and then you were gonna be sorry you ever crossed me, because everypony would love me, and hate you. You stole my friendships, and you just wanna make yourself feel better about being a dirty little thief!”

Starlight just stared at her in amazement.

“Don’t try to deny it!” Cozy shouted.

“I won’t,” Starlight Glimmer said cautiously, “I’m just worried that you can’t think in certain ways. Can you even imagine things going poorly for you, if you tried to... to reform Tirek?”

“They did go poorly for me, because you took him away from me, and then imprisoned me here, telling everypony I was crazy!” Cozy declared in outrage.

“No no, I mean imagine I was never there,” Starlight said, “Nopony interrupted you, you had all the time in the world to reform Tirek. Can you imagine yourself still stuck in that cage, and no matter what you do, Tirek just ignores you? I’m not saying there’s any way your plan could fail, but can you imagine what it would be like if it did?”

“I’d figure something out!” Cozy replied defiantly. “There is no magic more powerful than friendship, so he’d never stand a chance!”

“It’s funny you’d say that,” Starlight grumbled, “Since you were trying to destroy all the magic.”

“Well, not... not friendship, just your stupid unicorn magic, and those princesses who could probably kill me with a thought!” Cozy claimed fussily.

“And the magic of all artifacts, and the magic of all creatures who are not pegasi, and the magic of the soil, and the magic of all potions and poultices, and the magic of—”

“Okay, fine maybe it wasn’t the best plan!” Cozy shouted, “I would have figured something out!”

Looking at her cautiously, Starlight asked, “What do you think would happen in the winter, if the sun never set?”

“It would melt all the snow?” Cozy prompted cautiously.

“Have you ever made a snowpony?” Starlight asked simply.

“No, why?” Cozy warily replied.

“I guess you’d never have the chance to, without magic in Equestria,” Starlight said with a shrug. “Because there’d be no snow ever again. So what else? Unicorns couldn’t use their magic, so nopony could ever teleport again. Have you ever used a teleportation station?”

“No, why would I?” Cozy replied, “I’m not even a unicorn!”

“You had friends who were unicorns though,” Starlight said, “I bet I would’ve been happy to take you to Manehattan or Las Pegasus at some point.”

“Oh, and you wouldn’t want to ask my parents about that?” Cozy asked bitingly.

“Who are your parents, anyway?” Starlight replied, and Cozy stiffened, because she hadn’t meant to say that at all. Of course they would try to find out about her parents. How could they possibly not be suspicious, after they did all the police detectivey stuff they did because they found out about Cozy’s plans?

...Cozy missed her skull.

“It’s no big deal,” Starlight stated with a nervous laugh, waving her hoof, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable with it.”

“Okay, then I won’t,” Cozy said neutrally.

“Seriously, Cozy,” Starlight impressed upon her, “You didn’t think through the destruction of Equestria’s magic, because you have trouble even imagining what would happen if things don’t work out in your favor. That’s what I’m trying to help you with. It’s really, really important for anypony to think about times they’ve failed, and how it was their fault. I’m sorry Cozy, but you... can’t do that, right now.”

“Well what am I supposed to do, then?” Cozy said resentfully, fighting back tears, “You think I’m crazy just because I didn’t think of every single way things could possibly go wrong?”

“How about thinking of only one way things went wrong?” Starlight suggested, “Just one. What’s a time when you really messed up, and things didn’t work out because of you, rather than anypony else?”

“There was—I can—” Cozy huffed, biting out, “I can think of those, lots of those, because there’s nothing wrong with me. I just can’t think of it right on the spot!”

“Well okay, take your time then,” Starlight Glimmer said easily, “I just want to know one thing you’ve done in the past, that you wish you didn’t. Not something other stupid ponies do, but something stupid that you did. It’s okay if you do things that you wished you hadn’t. I just want you to think of one time where you felt that way. Just one time.”

Cozy Glow thought, and... thought. Why was she drawing a blank on this? She messed up so much it should be easy to remember an incident where other ponies weren’t the ones who messed up. Maybe some time when she was alone, so no other ponies could mess her up? But then she wouldn’t have any way to mess up! When could she have messed up?

“Wow, are you actually realizing that?” Starlight Glimmer asked in fascination.

“N-no,” Cozy said with a frightened glare at the counselor... prison warden... pony. “I’m just thinking. Maybe I don’t want to tell you.”

“No, no it’s good that you’re realizing it!” Starlight said blithely, ignoring Cozy’s obviously not realizing anything at all, because that would be losing to Starlight Glimmer! “It means that you’re not a lost cause! Some ponies who have your problem can’t even tell that their... perception is distorted. I-it’d be really good if you did, I mean. I really think you’re doing it!”

“I’m not doing anything, you stupid pony!” Cozy shouted angrily. Then blushing, she stammered, “U-unicorn. Pony unicorn!”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, saying, “Fairly sure my horn doesn’t make me stupid. But anyway, thanks for humoring me, I know what I’m saying doesn’t make a lot of sense, and I am pretty crazy for doing this. It’s okay if you can’t... think of certain things right now, off the top of your head. How about we cut this short, and I might even have an extra cookie to share next time, if you spend some time thinking about... how weird it is that you can’t think of any times you messed up. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can, but it doesn’t mean I will,” Cozy said resentfully, planning on most certainly not earning that cookie whatsoever even if Starlight always brought cookies from Sugarcube corner that were the most amazing thing Cozy had ever... okay maybe she would think about it a little bit.

Cozy figured it out, as her leg healed nicely over the next few days. Drawing a picture of Starlight laying helpless on the floor while Cozy got to stand all the way on top of her desk, Cozy Glow realized that Starlight was just trying to make her doubt herself. Cozy couldn’t help it if she was just that good. She didn’t make mistakes, because she wasn’t stupid like the other ponies. She never regretted anything she did because she couldn’t... because of obvious reasons.

Thus, in the next counseling session, Cozy Glow felt outright smug as she walked into Starlight Glimmer’s prison warden counseling office without a leg brace, and flumped her small form on the beanbag, with only a slightly painful twinge from her hind leg. The beanbag was more like too comfortable to sit in. Not as soft as a cloud, but warm and plush instead of wet and cold. She lay there gazing luxuriously at the enigmatic unicorn, before saying in a gloating tone, “So, are you going to ask me?”

“...yes, but first things first,” Starlight said, and her horn lit up, lifting a delectable chocolate chip cookie from its box and floating it over to Cozy Glow. Cozy flinched back as it approached her and the cookie paused, before settling onto the floor, the blue magic’s glow fading around it. Cozy leaned forward and took it gingerly in her hooves, looking at Starlight a little uncertainly, because it was payment for information, but Cozy didn’t even tell Starlight yet. When Cozy went back on her word, was Starlight going to try to take her cookie back?

Actually that would be pretty amusing.

“I just want to make sure you know you’re getting your cookie,” Starlight said from from behind her desk, “So you can tell me whatever you want, and I won’t be able to hold it against you.”

“What do you mean?” Cozy asked innocently.

“Well, it’s just you probably have some pretty upsetting things to say to me,” Starlight replied, folding her forelegs on the desk.

“...how do you know?” Cozy asked a little less than innocently.

“Eh, it’s what I would have done,” Starlight said, failing to suppress a small smile. “Go ahead and eat it. Then you can hit me with your best shot.”

Cozy couldn’t exactly refuse to eat it.

The warm, almost savory sweet cookie dough, the dark chips just melted on her mouth. Cozy loved chocolate. It was her absolute most wonderful favorite thing since coming to Ponyville. And... she wanted another cookie, but Cozy would return to Tartarus before she asked that unicorn for a favor. Everything Starlight said and did always came with a catch. Cozy just wasn’t sure what it was this time.

“So what do you think?” Starlight asked, after Cozy finished her cookie, “Have you thought about any times you made a mistake?”

“No, but that’s because I don’t make them,” Cozy explained patiently, “I can’t help it if you’re the one making all the mistakes all the time. Some of us are smarter than any stupid pony.”

“So you can’t think of a time when you made a mistake, because you’re just that good,” Starlight prompted.

Giving her a suspiciously sideways look, Cozy Glow said, “...yes? No. No I can think of a time, if there ever was a time. But there wasn’t, because I’m just that good.”

“Far be it from me to question that,” Starlight poised, “But if you had made a mistake, and for some reason you couldn’t think of it, do you mind if I offer some suggestions?”

“Suggestions?” Cozy repeated warily.

“Yes, I’ll help you think of times that you made a mistake,” Starlight said, “And you can tell me how they weren’t a mistake.”

“Why are you asking me to just... yell at you?” Cozy asked in bafflement, “I told you I don’t make mistakes!”

“Well I do make mistakes,” Starlight said, “And I need your help to show me how I’m mistaken, and how things really happened. So how about it?”

“...what’s in it for me?” Cozy asked testily.

“You... wanna go outside after this?” Starlight offered, “I have some time to take a walk with you afterwards.”

Cozy desperately wanted to get outside and run around until every inch of her young body stopped screaming at her to move move move. And she’d been very good at ignoring that screaming, until Starlight brought it up, of course. Cozy had been unable to do anything at all the past few days, while her leg healed and it was driving her crazy!

“And maybe another cookie?” Starlight offered sweetly.

“Fine, but... it’s your funeral,” Cozy Glow said anxiously, pretty sure that this was going to bite her in the butt somehow.

“When you first came here, you got in a bit of trouble with the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Starlight suggested, “And you came to me for help. That wasn’t a time that you messed up?”

“No, it wasn’t. It was a time they messed up, by letting Twilight kick them out, instead of asking to attend the school,” Cozy replied easily.

“Okay, that clearly wasn’t your fault,” Starlight said in a way Cozy didn’t feel like was entirely sincere, “There are a few other possibilities, so bear with me.”

“I’ll bear something,” Cozy grumbled under her breath.

“You were defeated, once,” Starlight Glimmer said offhoovedly, “You thought you had the perfect plan, but you made mistakes, and a bunch of strange creatures saved the day.”

“They didn’t save the day, they ruined it,” Cozy shot back.

“Oh, sorry yeah, ruined it,” Starlight said sheepishly.

“That was their fault,” Cozy said, “They could’ve just left well enough alone, and everything would have been all hunky dory! I was doing just fine without them.”

“Uh huh, I’m sure everypony would have recognized you as the Empress of Friendship, and nopony would have been able to stop you,” Starlight drawled wryly.

“It might not have worked out perfectly, but I would have figured it out,” Cozy insisted cagily.

“Yeah, about that,” Starlight said, “You told me earlier that you didn’t think much about destroying all the magic in Equestria, since you didn’t have any other way to win.”

“...yeah?” Cozy tried.

“Well you didn’t win, so now you have plenty of time to think about it,” Starlight suggested, “So let’s talk more about what would happen if you destroyed all the magic in Equestria. What do you think would happen?”

“You wouldn’t be able to... stop me from becoming more powerful than anyone else in the world,” Cozy Glow said, squinting at the unicorn suspiciously.

“How much food do you think we could grow?” Starlight asked, “There would be a lot less food without the magic to sustain it.”

“So?” Cozy said, trying not to think about it.

“I think you know what it’s like to be hungry, Cozy Glow,” Starlight said seriously, “Ponies would die. Ponies would have to sit there, wishing they could find something to eat, watching themselves get thinner and hungrier, until they just died.”

“Well—that’s—” Cozy wouldn’t cry, “Because—the princesses had their stupid magic that... how else was I supposed to fight them?!”

“Mmm,” Starlight barely acknowledged, “Do you know how Princess Celestia and Luna came to be princesses of Equestria?”

“They’re the only ponies who can move the sun and moon,” Cozy said, tilting her head in confusion, “...right?”

“Actually a team of about sixteen unicorns can move the sun,” Starlight replied, “It’s kind of risky though. Princess Celestia made... a special bond with the sun. It’s her cutie mark, you know?”

“Well that’s how she got to be princess,” Cozy said, “Because she has the power of the sun.”

“If you read her diary, she and Luna raised the sun and moon for quite some time as fillies, before they became princesses,” Starlight countered.

“You read Princess Celestia’s diary?” Cozy asked very skeptically.

“There’s been a republishing of an old journal she and her sister kept, when they were fillies,” Starlight shrugged, “I can probably get a copy if you want to read it.”

“...what’s in it for you?” Cozy said.

“Why does somepony always have to have something in it for them?” Starlight asked in frustration, “I just want to help give you something to do when you’re stuck in your room. Gotta fill up that bookshelf somehow, right?”

“You’re giving me the diary of the princesses who rule Equestria,” Cozy stated slowly for a simpleton like Starlight to understand, “And you don’t think I’ll use it to rule Equestria?”

“I read it, and I don’t rule Equestria!” Starlight protested, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t even have anything about how they came to rule Equestria, but I can tell you how they did, according to what Princess Celestia told Twilight. The two sisters came to rule after they grew up a little, and defeated Discord with the Elements of Harmony. Everypony practically demanded the princesses be given rule over Equestria, then!”

“What? Why?” Cozy asked distrustingly but also a little hopefully.

“Because they defended all of Equestria from harm,” Starlight explained, “Ponies felt safe, with the princesses in charge, because that way Princess Celestia and Luna could protect everypony, all by themselves.”

“Well that’s stupid,” Cozy said bitterly, “Ponies just forced them to be princesses to make them do all their work for them! I meant who became a princess through power?”

“Uh, nopony,” Starlight replied carefully, “There was a unicorn king who did that, but... you know what happened to him.”

Cozy Glow didn’t want to acknowledge that she did.

“So, that’s one way to become a princess at least,” Starlight said, “When Equestria has no princesses, thanks to your... magic destruction I suppose, all you have to do is defend us from a great threat, and we’ll rally behind your power. And then you have to defend us forever. It’s probably not the way you’d want to become princess.”

“Certainly not!” Cozy huffed, crossing her forelegs.

“I guess that’s what I don’t understand about your whole plan, Cozy Glow,” Starlight said uncertainly, “You wanted power, but you didn’t get power. You were just taking power away from other ponies. Yes you’d be relatively more powerful than them, but you’d still be a pegasus filly, who couldn’t defeat a monster like Tirek if she tried. How were you going to convince everypony that you alone could protect them?”

“I... I was gonna think of something,” Cozy said, blushing and dropping her forelegs to brace on them again.

“But you didn’t,” Starlight said, “And now that you think about it, nothing about your plan would have given you anything you wanted. You wouldn’t get any power. It wouldn’t make ponies love you more. It would hurt many ponies, making them fight more, making them fight you more. You could go hungry, or you could die. Cozy Glow, do you still want to destroy all the magic in Equestria?”

“Y-yes,” Cozy claimed desperately.

“Do you?” Starlight asked, her eyes full of sorrow as she looked into the eyes of Cozy Glow, “Do you really?”

“Maybe?” Cozy said fearfully, shrinking before the unicorn’s gaze. Cozy couldn’t stand it. Not that look, no!

“Are you really that stupid?” Starlight asked in desolate anger, and was she—was she crying? “You would destroy everything, and hurt yourself, and suffer, just because you couldn’t stand to admit to anypony that you were ever wrong?!”

Cozy scrambled back further, hiding from those horribly familiar eyes, blurting out, “No! No I’m not that stupid! Please stop looking at me like that! Why are you crying?”

“I–I’m...?” Starlight started to retort, then she looked down at her desk, saying distantly, “Oh, I am crying. Huh.”

Silence.

“Sorry, just give me a minute,” Starlight said, shuddering.

“What is wrong with you?” Cozy Glow asked, fluttering up from her beanbag in alarm, and then suddenly falling, landing jarringly on the floor of course. She would never get used to that.

“Look, I–I’m not perfect either, and I’m still trying to figure this all out,” Starlight said, wiping her eyes dry with her foreleg, “It’s just that for a minute there I thought you were too stupid to recognize your mistakes.”

“Well, I’m not,” Cozy said, looking sidewasy at Starlight, wings spread warily.

“So you do recognize that you made a mistake, right?” Starlight asked, sniffling hopefully, “Back then you didn’t think it was a bad idea to destroy all magic, but now you do, right?”

“N—should I?” Cozy asked in conflicted uncertainty.

“Well, yes!” Starlight said giving Cozy a curious look.

“Why should I?” Cozy retorted, “Of course you wouldn’t want me to destroy the magic, because you’re a unicorn! You’re just trying to make me think that it’s so good that you get to be more powerful than me.”

“No! I’m just trying to give you a chance,” Starlight retorted, “If you can’t think of any mistakes you’ve ever made, then... then maybe you can’t get better after all. I just need you to think of one mistake. Please, Cozy. I-it doesn’t have to have anything to do with magic. You... you helped the Cutie Mark Crusaders become tutors, and because of that, they helped defeat you! Would you have helped the CMC if you’d known they would defeat you?”

“No, I wouldn’t, but I had to help them, because otherwise they’d know I was only pretending to be good, and everypony would hate me,” Cozy observed, “Just like they hate me now!”

“Why did you even go to them in the first place though?” Starlight pressed, “They wouldn’t have been in the school when you were defeated if you hadn’t. You weren’t just setting them up, so you could have an excuse to talk to me were you?”

“N–Y—” How did Starlight know?! “S-so what if I was!” Cozy declared in outrage.

Staring at Cozy in amazement, Starlight said, “Oh Celestia, you were looking for an excuse to talk to me.”

“Maybe a little?” Cozy said, half hiding behind her beanbag, “I don’t plan that far ahead!”

Silence.

“Oh. Oh, of course you don’t,” Starlight said in a tone lacking in both trust and belief, “But if you could do it again, you’d have picked some ponies who weren’t gonna lead to ruining your plans. Or you’d do something else to get my attention. It was a mistake to ask those three for help, and you couldn’t know that until after you were defeated!”

“Right! So it means I didn’t m-make a mistake, because I didn’t know,” Cozy said all flustered.

“It was a mistake, you agree it was a mistake, and you made it,” Starlight said carefully, “Cozy Glow, you made a mistake.”

“But I didn’t know!” Cozy protested shrilly.

“You don’t have to know to make a mistake,” Starlight insisted, “In fact I don’t think you can make a mistake, unless there’s something you don’t know about the situation. Cozy please, can you see that it was a mistake, and you made it?”

“How was it a mistake if I was defeated?” Cozy shot back, “Don’t you want them to beat me, and put me in a cage, and make me—?”

“I got you out of that cage!” Starlight declared furiously, “And I want you out of this cage. But it doesn’t matter what I want. It was a mistake because you wanted to take over the world, you thought the CMC weren’t an obstacle to your plans, and you were wrong. That means you made a mistake.”

“Why do you want me to make a mistake so bad?!” Cozy shouted at her.

“Because you can’t!” Starlight shouted back, “You can’t admit it! You’re—powerless and weak. You are a bad pony, Cozy, and you need to change that, because you can’t even admit that you made a mistake!”

“Yes I can!” Cozy declared, scraping her hoof as she faced the angry unicorn.

“You can’t even say it!” Starlight insisted, “You can’t even say ‘I made a mistake!’”

“Yes I can!” Cozy repeated angrily.

“Then say it!” Starlight shot at her, “Go ahead, I dare you. I bet you can’t. You can’t even say ‘I made a mistake’ because you’re just a weak, pathetic—”

“Yes. I. Can!!” Cozy screamed.

Silence.

“Then say it,” Starlight said quietly, looking at Cozy in contemptuous disgust.

“I made...” She could say it she could say it! “I m-made a mis–mistake,” Cozy said feeling... wrong for how hard it was just to say it. But she didn’t! She never made mistakes! It was a lie, and Cozy Glow was going to go back to Tartarus before she admitted that she couldn’t even say it. “I made a mistake,” she growled, tensely, “There, I said it. Even if it’s a lie.”

“I don’t know...” Starlight said skeptically, “Say it again.”

“I... made a mistake,” Cozy said irritably, “It’s not true though.”

“And again?” Starlight prompted.

“What is the point of this?” Cozy demanded hotly.

“It’s getting easier to say, isn’t it?” Starlight said all sneakily, “You almost couldn’t say it the first time. Say it again, and notice how it’s getting easier to say.”

Puzzled, Cozy Glow said, “I made a mistake.” It was easier to say. Cozy hadn’t even realized she couldn’t think about that stuff. She didn’t even know she was—!

“Rrrrrrr!” Cozy growled in rage, jumping off the beanbag and stomping to the door, reaching it and shouting, “Open this! We’re done here. I don’t want to talk to you ever again!”

“Fine by me,” Starlight said, strutting up to her, “C’mon, let’s go outside.”

She—! “I don’t want to go outside with you!” Cozy shouted, “Take me to my room, now!”

“We’re going outside,” Starlight said flatly, “Are you going to come with, or do I have to use my magic to drag you outside?”

Fear stabbed Cozy’s rage, and she said, “No I’ll go, just...” she gave an angry snort trying not to sound so trembly when she said, “You’re an awful, evil, hateful witch!”

Starlight opened the door to her office with her hoof. Cozy Glow had thought it was a magic only latch. But the latch clicked, and the door opened, and Starlight Glimmer said, “After you.”

Cozy Glow didn’t know what to think, until they got outside in the crisp cool Autumn air so full of the smells of leaves and fireplaces, and she asked resentfully, “Why are you even—”

“You remember how I was saying there are ponies so crazy that they can’t even imagine a time when they ever failed?” Starlight remarked, gazing at the leaves, “Every time somepony points out a time, they have to pretend that it wasn’t a mistake, because their brains are just broken.”

Looking at Cozy with sympathy, Starlight said, “I’m really glad that I can say when I make a mistake, and... I wish you would.”

“You don’t mean that,” Cozy said with a roll of her eyes, “You want me to pretend like I made a mistake, because then you’ll be better than me.”

Starlight paused on the path away from the hospital, looking at Cozy Glow. “I didn’t fire Nurse Sweetheart, you probably noticed.”

“Oh golly, did she scare you into keeping her?” Cozy asked in sweet concern.

“...let’s just get moving,” Starlight grumbled unhappily.

Cozy walked along with Starlight Glimmer, down the trail into the woods. The filly’s leg felt stiff at first, but as she walked along, it relaxed somewhat. With leafy shadows playing across their forms in the soft wind overhead, the mare paced slowly on alongside the filly, looking forward and saying softly,

“Nurse Sweetheart is a good pony, Cozy. A better pony than me sometimes.”

Cozy certainly wasn’t going to defend Starlight. They were all terrible!

“I... I couldn’t be there, when she punished you for arguing with Morning Glory,” Starlight continued sadly, “I only heard about it afterwards. But I wanted to be there. I wanted to show you I could be there, and help you.”

“So what? You were there, when she punished me later,” Cozy said suspiciously.

“I didn’t know how much you hated leashes,” Starlight pleaded, “You... accepted one the first time, and I burned it to ash without even asking how much it was bothering you.”

“And you burned the second one to ash, too!” Cozy attested.

“I... made a mistake,” Starlight said, stuttering to a halt. Cozy stopped with her, while the unicorn looked down at the filly and continued, “I gave Nurse Sweetheart the leash, and told her to take you to breakfast on it.”

Cozy stared at her in disbelief.

“I wanted to show you what I could do for you!” Starlight said pleadingly, “Just a nice, safe demonstration. I wanted you to know I wouldn’t let things get worse, before somepony came along who really hated you.”

Ears going down, Starlight said, “Then I teleported in and—you were screaming, and I just panicked. I was supposed to sternly lecture her, then let you off your leash, and I just aborted everything and got out. I just made up that part about the leash being in your file. She didn’t—we didn’t really know it was that serious, and I’m so sorry you hurt your leg.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Cozy said completely flabbergasted, “You can’t just tell ponies when you were tricking them. The trick doesn’t work then! I know you were stupid for trying to get me on your side, but this is a whole nother level of stupid!”

“Wait, you knew?!” Starlight asked, lifting a hoof in alarm.

“It was pretty obvious,” Cozy admitted with a wince, “The old good cop / bad cop routine. There’s no other reason you would have teleported in just then.”

“I thought if you found out, you’d hate me!” Starlight retorted anxiously, “That’s why I’m telling you!”

“I do hate you!” Cozy said, stomping angrily on the dirt, “It’s not gonna work on me, because I’m never going to be on your side, because I’m never going to trust anypony about anything!”

“I wasn’t trying to get you to trust me!” Starlight protested in confusion, “Why would I tell you about all this if I thought it’d make you trust me?”

“I don’t know!” Cozy shouted in exasperation.

Starlight Glimmer took in a breath, and let it out.

“I don’t want you on my side, Cozy,” Starlight said frankly, “I don’t care if you hate me, because I’m gonna help you anyway. What I was trying to do is get you to respect me. I want you to know exactly what I’m gonna do if anypony tries something like what Nurse Sweetheart did. You wouldn’t have believed me if I just told you. And you still don’t believe me, but at least you saw me doing it.”

“It—it still didn’t... but that’s not why they do that!” Cozy protested in flusterment.

“What do you mean?” Starlight asked with wide, innocent, clueless eyes.

“They do it when they’re shaking a pony down, to find out what he knows,” Cozy said, “Trying to get information out of him.”

“What kind of information?” Starlight asked hopefully.

“Like where his boss was hiding if he wouldn’t pay up, or if something happened to one of the girls,” Cozy explained, “They always had to watch out for—”

Cozy Glow stopped talking.

“Sorry, Cozy,” Starlight Glimmer said in apparent apology, “I won’t tell anypony about what you said.”

“You’d better not,” Cozy said, looking warily at the lavender unicorn.

A few moments and Starlight said, “Well, at least you’re not screaming at me and running away.”

“Why would I do that?” an offended Cozy Glow asked, blushing and adding, “...this time.”

Sighing, Starlight said, “Let’s just keep moving...”

As they walked through the whispery woods, Starlight Glimmer said, “So, now there’s no way for me to become better than you.”

“What are you talking about?” Cozy asked irritably.

“I just told you of a big mistake I made,” Starlight said, “So it’s too late for me to be better than you. Now if you tell me about a mistake you made, then there’s no way it’ll make me any better than you.”

“What’s your problem?” Cozy retorted angrily, “You just won’t give up. Why are you really trying to get me to tell you about my mistakes?”

“It’s okay if you did make a mistake,” Starlight suggested blithely, “And if you want to tell me about it, you might feel better. So that’s why I’m asking.”

“You just want me to spill all of my secrets!” Cozy protested, “Nothing doing, nuh uh, no way.”

“You don’t have to spill your secrets,” Starlight assured her, “You could just tell me... how you felt about what happened, when the Cutie Mark Crusaders went up against you.”

“I felt pretty good,” Cozy lied, “About showing them how I have all the power.”

“And if there’s any mistakes you feel like you made,” Starlight added uneasily, “You can tell me about those too.”

“Do I have to?” Cozy whined.

“No, though I would appreciate it,” Starlight confessed, “You don’t have to, but you can tell me if you want, why things... went wrong back then.”

...

They were halfway back to the hospital, before Cozy replied, “I didn’t think they would make friends with Sandbar.”

“Hum?” Starlight asked perking an ear.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Cozy explained, “They were so dumb. They just walked into the broom closet, and that was it for them. And then... then those stupid creatures broke into the harmony chamber. I thought I could blame everything on them, and they just stole all my power. Why do they get to be better at friendship than me? I had the whole school hating them, and then somehow they ended up so powerful because all of Equestria loved them, and everypony hated me.”

“That was pretty unfair, wasn’t it,” Starlight admitted, “Though, everypony was going to hate you regardless.”

“Why?” Cozy asked looking up at Starlight with big eyes.

“Why do you think all those royal guards were there?” Starlight asked, “They were coming after you long before those creatures broke into the... is it really called a harmony chamber?”

“Tirek told me it would turn the tree’s magic against it,” Cozy said grumpily, “Guess it wasn’t good enough.”

“I guess what I’m saying is they already defeated you, before they got any magic at all,” Starlight said, “Harmony didn’t help with anything other than saving their lives. And... saving my life too.”

“How did they defeat me before they got any magic?” Cozy declared in confusion, “I told, you everypony hated those creatures, and only cared about me!”

“They freed Chancellor Neighsay,” Starlight replied as Cozy balked, “He warned the princesses, and they warned the rest of Equestria. Everypony outside that school was marching against you, for what you almost did to them.”

“They freed Chancellor Neighsay?” Cozy blurted out in astonishment, “But he hated them!”

“Guess you made a mistake there!” Starlight said in amusement.

“N-no I didn’t,” Cozy said evenly, looking forward at the path they were walking down.

“Well if you did, then it’s okay,” Starlight said casually, “And if you tell me it was a mistake, then you’ll feel better. Right now you have to hide it if you make a mistake, but if you tell me, you won’t have to hide it anymore. I promise I won’t say a word about it to anypony else.”

Cozy Glow thought about it, but she couldn’t find anything wrong with Starlight’s logic, and why would Cozy even care if she made a mistake? It’s not like she had a broken brain or anything. Her ears going down, Cozy said, “...I didn’t think they were going to free the chancellor. I didn’t think he’d take over the school. It was a mistake, and it was all going wrong. He was such an idiot that he had to ruin everything—”

“Yes, we know he was an idiot,” Starlight cut in, “But worry about yourself, not him. You made a mistake, it was all going wrong, and are you okay now?”

“No I’m n-not—” Cozy said, her eyes tearing up as she desperately blurted out, “Grogar dammit it’s all their fault! Her ridiculous friends telling all their stupid lies about—”

“Did you know our newest princess is an ear of corn?” Starlight remarked.

“What?!” Cozy shouted beside herself with—what??

“An ordinary ear of corn became a princess, because they found it between two nearby buildings,” Starlight explained, as if that explained anything.

“What are you talking about?” the filly declared in outrage.

“Well, why do you think they made it a princess, when they found an ear of corn between two buildings?” Starlight asked.

“I don’t kno—”

“Because it’s an alley corn!” Starlight said with a bright smile.

“An... ali...corn?” Cozy asked in utter confusion.

“That’s what’s between two buildings,” Starlight said, “An alley. That’s where they found the corn.”

Blinking, Cozy, said, “Oh, so it’s an alley...corn. W-was that supposed to be a joke?”

“Don’t worry, there are plenty more saved up where that came from,” Starlight said proudly, “Anyway, I think we’ve talked enough, so let’s just enjoy the walk for now.”

Then they were walking silently among the trees.

“...what are you really doing?” Cozy queried suspiciously.

“I’m just walking!” Starlight quipped innocently, “The leaves sure are pretty this time of year.”

“I know you’re hiding something,” Cozy insisted, “Don’t try to fool me.”

“It’s really nothing,” Starlight replied, “Right now I just want to enjoy this walk.”

“And you want me to enjoy it too,” Cozy said resentfully.

“That’d be nice...” Starlight admitted, “But you can feel however you want about it, it’s your choice.”

Cozy wanted to say more, but she didn’t think anything that infuriating unicorn said would make sense at this point. So she just walked. And... smelled the air. And the leaves really were a beautiful sight, like the whole forest was aflame. Cozy would have protested more, but she had had entirely too much excitement in one day. She didn’t know why, because nothing happened, yet she slept like the dead that night, so protesting her injustice was the last thing on her mind.

Also once she got back to her room, Starlight Glimmer gave her another cookie.

Author's Note

They say the way to a filly’s heart is paved with cookies.

Starlight’s Search

Cozy Glow liked when she got to take walks where she and Starlight Glimmer didn’t talk. Even when she could feel the cooling wind in her wings, reminding her of how broken they are, it was nice to just walk along in silence. It was certainly easier than letting that unicorn manipulate Cozy into feeling things she didn’t want to feel.

Unfortunately, one of her quiet walks was much more exciting than any other walk they’d had. It was inevitable, really. Word got around about the asylum, that Cozy Glow was there, and what Cozy Glow had done. Cozy’s leg healed beautifully, and Starlight took her out walking more often, to make sure she exercised it as much as she needed. That put the two of them outside, and not always hidden by the cover of the woods. A pegasus who was looking out for them could probably spot the two of them a mile away.

She and Starlight were walking through the dry grass of a breezy meadow out in the autumn sun, when Cozy’s wings snapped out at the feel of a suddenly approaching storm. No, a tornado! No a hurricane! Rainbow Dash slammed into the ground before them with a thoom, and a rush of wind practically picking Cozy up and carrying her away. It didn’t quite though, so Cozy was able to keep her hoofing as the angry rainbow maned pegasus shouted at Starlight, “What the buck is this?!” Gesturing at Cozy, Dash declared, “What the buck is she doing out of Tartarus?!”

“She’s—” Starlight started to explain, but Rainbow Dash interrupted, saying,

“No, no Twilight already explained everything to me. You think you’re gonna reform her? After what she did?”

“Rainbow Dash, stop,” Starlight said irritably, “What she did doesn’t matter. It’s—”

“Doesn’t matter?!” Rainbow Dash declared in outrage, “Cozy Glow is a murderer! ”

Cozy Glow blinked.

“She’s a what?” Starlight asked in outrage.

“You heard me!” Rainbow Dash said with a furious scowl, “She knows what she did!”

“I really don’t,” Cozy admitted, with a very uncomfortable feeling about this.

“You—she—!” the furious pegasus said, looking from Cozy to Starlight indecisively, and then said in a tormented whine to Starlight, “She almost killed you and you don’t remember??”

“But she didn’t kill me,” Starlight pointed out helpfully.

“What about all the other times when she did?” Rainbow Dash demanded angrily.

“I’m pretty sure she hasn’t killed me multiple times, either,” Starlight said, raising an eyebrow.

“No, the other ponies she’s killed, besides you!” Rainbow Dash protested in exasperation.

Giving Rainbow Dash an uneasy look, Starlight replied, “I’m pretty sure that Cozy Glow has never successfully trapped any other pony in a giant ball of magic and hurled them into the aether, either.”

“No that—I’m not talking about the magic!” Rainbow Dash fussed, “I’m talking about the clouds!”

Starlight seemed troubled by this revelation.

“Are you stupid?” Cozy Glow genuinely wanted to know of the pegasus, “I made sure that pegasus magic wouldn’t get destroyed! That was the whole point!”

“Not everypony in the clouds was a pegasus!” Rainbow Dash hollered back.

...

“Two hundred and twelve ponies, Cozy,” Rainbow Dash attested to her face, “Two hundred and twelve ponies fell out of the sky that day. And I could only catch one. I could only catch her,” the pegasus pointed one blue forehoof at Starlight Glimmer. “Do you think there was somepony there to catch everypony else?”

“I—uh—no?” Cozy said, shrinking back in wide-eyed bewilderment.

“There were fifty-eight ponies who died from falling out of clouds,” Rainbow Dash stated, “Fifty-eight ponies you destroyed forever with your stupid scheme!”

“Well um... whoopsie?” she said uncomfortably, smiling sheepishly at Rainbow Dash.

Stepping in between them, Starlight said angrily, “Rainbow Dash, this is a really bad time for—”

“No! You don’t get to shield her!” Rainbow Dash seethed, “She doesn’t get out of this for free!” Shouldering aside Starlight Glimmer, she shouted at Cozy, “There were foals who died! You murdered foals!”

Cozy was panicking inside, trying to think what a normal pony would say to this. They’d be trying to comfort Rainbow Dash, right? “Golly, that sounds terrible! I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash,” she said with a trembling lower lip, “But... at least it’s not as much of a waste?”

“Not much of a—!” the pegasus stared speechless at Cozy because Cozy was messing it all up! Why couldn’t she think of what to say?!

“Because they haven’t lived as long!” she tried to explain, sympathetically, “They don’t have as much life to waste. It’s worse if foals are crippled, right? Because then they have to live with that for a really long time! Why are you being so mean to me??”

“You are completely insane!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed at her in horror, “I don’t know why Starlight thinks there’s anything good about you. You don’t even care that you... you killed foals! How could you do that? How could you do that to all of us, every single pegasus who lost a friend that day? You killed them, Cozy! You did! You didn’t even know them, and you killed them all!”

“Okay, stop,” Starlight said, and Cozy scrambled back as Starlight’s weird unicorn magic flashed brightly. Cozy looked herself over, but there was no magic on her.

“W-w-what was that?” Cozy asked tremulously, staring suspiciously at Starlight.

“Rainbow Dash isn’t going to yell at you any more, Cozy,” Starlight said, not looking away from the chromatic pegasus, “You can say whatever you want to her, and you won’t get in trouble for it, because Rainbow Dash and I are going to have a nice private talk afterwards about judging other ponies.”

Cozy looked at Rainbow Dash, who still looked absolutely furious, but wasn’t twitching a muscle, or saying anything. “I-I didn’t mean to kill anypony,” Cozy Glow told Rainbow Dash uncertainly, “I didn’t even think about ponies walking on clouds, until you ran in, and... and then it was too late, then! You can’t blame me for taking advantage of an accident! It was a mistake. I am sincerely, and terribly sorry all those ponies got hurt, but there were plenty more ponies for me to be friends with.

“You’re getting upset over nothing,” Cozy huffed, turning away from Rainbow Dash and rolling her eyes, “It’s not like a few dead ponies were going to ruin any of my plans, so why should I care? Why does everypony get so upset about ponies dying? It happens all the time! And if I didn’t mean to, it means it was just an accident, not my fault, and I’m not a murderer!”

She got silence in reply.

Turning back to Dash, Cozy asked suspiciously, “Why aren’t you yelling at me? You’re just standing there!”

“I’m... holding her in place with my... magic...” Starlight Glimmer said, her horn glowing as she concentrated on the rainbow pegasus who was illuminated slightly in her aqua green magic’s glow, her frightened eyes darting from Starlight Glimmer to Cozy Glow. “So just... say what you want to—”

“Let her go!” Cozy yelled, wings spreading again as she stared in horror at the paralyzed pegasus, growing more shrill as she said, “No I don’t want this! Stop it right now, you can’t do this! You have to let her go! Stop it Starlight! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!!”

Rainbow Dash staggered back from Cozy as Starlight’s magic faded. “It’s... it’s not my fault!” Cozy protested to Rainbow Dash as Starlight stared at Cozy in surprise, “I didn’t tell her to do that! She did it because she’s a unicorn! She does it to me all the time because she hates me and I didn’t even do anything to deserve it!”

“I never did that to you once, Cozy,” Starlight said in outrage, “And I should have, when you were pulling your own leg out of its socket just because the nurse was trying to collar you!”

“She did what?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in confusion.

“Okay, no, okay we are all going to calm down,” Starlight replied, “We’re going to calm down, get Cozy in her room where she is safe, and then you and I are going to have a little chat, Rainbow Dash.”

“Why should I—” Rainbow Dash started, but Starlight interrupted, getting right in Dash’s face, growling,

“Because I don’t want you or anypony else dropping out of the sky to attack a pony who is not well, without even telling me about it, or talking to me about your problems, when she is in my care, under my protection, and she is mine.”

Marching off from there, Starlight’s magic started dragging Cozy by her tail behind Starlight like some kind of primitive cave unicorn. Her clipped wings fluttering uselessly, Cozy protested to the unsure looking Rainbow Dash back there, “See? See?! She’s doing it to me!”

“This is not the same thing,” Starlight shouted over her shoulder, “Now come on or I am going to drag you both the whole way?”

“So... are you like... Cozy’s mom, now?” Rainbow Dash asked cautiously, after having slunk meekly into Starlight Glimmer’s office, with Cozy returned safely to her room.

“I’m the director of the Ponyville Asylum for Troubled Ponies,” Starlight said tactfully, “Of whom, Cozy Glow is currently our most disturbed, traumatized, and fragile patient.”

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. She uneasily ceased laughing when Starlight didn’t laugh with her. “Seriously?” Rainbow Dash asked in frustration, “How is that filly in any way traumatized? Fragile? She didn’t even in flinch at all those ponies she killed!”

“That’s right, she didn’t flinch,” Starlight said darkly, “How many times do you have to kill somepony before you stop flinching at it?”

“Well you’re not... flinching very much, either!” Rainbow Dash protested, “How many ponies have you killed?”

Starlight stared at her like a lost puppy in a hurricane.

“Everypony,” Starlight replied, sinking her head wearily down against her desk.

Rainbow Dash looked at her askance.

“It didn’t take,” Starlight explained, “But the point is that little fillies are very saddened by death. She should have been crying her little heart out at learning that ponies died because of her.”

“Not if she’s a little monster, who doesn’t care about anypony,” Rainbow Dash drawled in an unimpressed tone.

“That’s... one possibility, yes,” Starlight said testily, “Or, maybe, she’s an ordinary filly, who had something terrible happen to her, that changed the way she thought about ponies dying, and now she’s afraid to cry.”

“Well, what happened to her?” Rainbow Dash asked with a wince.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Starlight Glimmer said, ears dropping glumly.

“Then how do you know anything happened, and she’s not just bad?” Rainbow Dash retorted, hopefully.

“Do you know the last thing that made Cozy cry?” Starlight asked in a casual way.

“I dunno. She saw somepony she could pretend to be sad in front of?” Rainbow Dash asked, flat-eared.

“No, that—technically yes,” Starlight admitted, “But I didn’t mean the last time she cried. I meant the last thing that made her cry, as far as I know.”

“Obviously I don’t,” Rainbow Dash said grumpily, “What could possibly make her cry?”

“Cozy hurt her leg, and I was giving her a ride,” Starlight said, “I barely started moving before she was crying.”

“Why was she crying?” Dash asked, confused, “Because she hurt her leg?”

“I’m... pretty sure that’s not it,” Starlight replied dryly, “After she started crying, she pushed off of me then and started getting angry at me. She threw an outright tantrum, said she hated me, and that I was trying to make her feel good. Then she insisted on walking the entire way back on a hurt leg, without so much as a whimper.”

“...but why was she crying?” Dash persisted.

“Because I was doing something nice for her,” Starlight mused, “That’s what I think at least. She hates herself so much, she can’t stand it when anypony does anything nice for her.”

“I sure didn’t see her crying a lot last year, when Twilight was basically doing nothing but nice things for her, because she didn’t know Cozy Glow was bucking evil,” Rainbow Dash said, unconvinced.

“That wasn’t Cozy Glow,” Starlight replied softly.

Rainbow Dash blinked.

“Cozy Glow was pretending to be nice, all last year,” Starlight explained, “We weren’t being nice to her. We were being nice to the pony she was pretending to be.”

“And that’s... different from now?” Rainbow Dash asked cautiously.

“I think so,” Starlight said, “Cozy lost everything. She was totally exposed by her disastrous attempt to take over Equestria. And now that I know what she’s like when she’s not pretending to be somepony else, she can’t stand it when I do nice things for her.”

“That’s... pretty messed up,” Rainbow Dash said frankly.

“Cozy Glow is not a filly who’s just bad,” Starlight Glimmer declared, “She wants to get better, even if she won’t admit it. She isn’t in control of herself. She won’t talk about her past. So I think something happened to Cozy, which made her this way.”

“Well, regardless, do you think she can get better?” Rainbow Dash asked, “That filly’s bad news!”

“Yes, I do,” Starlight said confidently, “If I can keep her from manipulating me, I think she can come to respect me, and look to me for support, even though I know who she really is. Then we can work on healing her suffering.”

“How do you know she’s not already manipulating you?” Rainbow Dash skeptically wondered.

“I don’t,” Starlight said, staring at nothing, “She probably already is. I don’t know how much of Cozy’s distress is sincere, and how much of it is manipulation.”

“What if all of it is manipulation?” Rainbow Dash asked in understandable concern.

“Then at least it won’t make her any worse,” Starlight said with an uneasy smile, “Besides, she’s gotta slip up some time, right?”

Cozy Glow buried herself under her sheets and blankets in her real bed that she could really sleep in, and had never been gladder to be locked away from the outside world. She missed her skull...

In a sparkling explosion of magenta light, Twilight Sparkle appeared in Starlight’s office, shouting, “Rainbow Dash! There you are! I told you that’s not the whole story! I’m not going to let you... uh...”

The angry alicorn seemed to notice she was in Starlight’s office, then, with both Starlight and Rainbow Dash looking at her curiously, but calmly.

“Oh... yes, talking to Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight said appreciatively, “That’s more like a good idea. I thought you were going to go and start yelling at Cozy Glow herself or something.”

“Yeah, I um, IIiiii got some weather work to take care of so um,” Rainbow Dash replied, trotting out the door with a wing hiding her blushing face, before taking off to soar into the air overhead. Twilight looked after her, before turning to Starlight Glimmer and stating flatly,

“She totally started yelling at Cozy Glow, didn’t she.”

“Eyup.”

Later that day, Cozy Glow had some time to calm down. She didn’t even bother trying to hide when Starlight came to her door. Sitting on her bed, the pink and blue filly looked out the little window with bars on it, wondering how her mom felt when she did it, pointedly facing away from the pinkish lavender unicorn. Cozy’s powder blue tail swished idly as she sat on her haunches with her butt facing Starlight Glimmer.

“Oh, it’s you,” Cozy Glow drawled in the most disinterested of ways, as Starlight Glimmer opened the door and strode inside. Cozy didn’t even need to look to know who it was.

“Yep, it’s me,” Starlight said in that fake chipper voice of hers, heading up to the silent filly on her bed, “So... you okay?”

How exactly was Cozy going to go about getting Starlight Glimmer to leave her alone forever, and let Cozy just die in this room? “You are so pitiful, Starlight Glimmer,” Cozy said in a mocking voice, turning to face the nervous looking unicorn mare. “You still think you can fix me. You still think there’s anything to save, and the more you trust me, the more I win.”

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” Starlight offered, but Cozy shot her down, saying,

“It’s you who’s the problem, not me. You just keep trying when you know it’s not gonna work.” A horrible grin filled Cozy’s face as she told the naive unicorn, “I’m a murderer, remember?”

“There’s no way you could’ve known—” Starlight huffed in flustered frustration.

“Oh I could’ve known, I just didn’t care about all the ponies who died,” Cozy casually clarified, idly eyeing her forehoof, “It’s just like Rainbow Dash said. I’m not sorry, and I would throw them all off the clouds myself if I could.”

“You would not, and you know it!” Starlight protested, stomping a hoof on the floor.

“Poor Starlight Glimmer,” Cozy purred, climbing down from her bed to stalk around behind the unicorn, “You think you’re gonna solve all my problems. You think I’m just gonna smile at everypony and be nice and happy forever.”

“No. No I don’t, in fact!” Starlight retorted huffily, looking back.

“Then leave me alone, and stop trying to fix me,” Cozy snapped at her, “There is nothing to fix. You just want to control me. You’re is just as bad as me, and you’re only trying to fix me because I’m the one who got caught. Don’t you want to be bad? Don’t you want power?”

“I have power!” Starlight shot angrily back at her, “I could leave you in this room and forget about you, and nopony else would care, because you won’t tell us who your parents are, or where you came from. I could hurt you and I could defeat you, and you think I want that?”

“Yes you do!” Cozy protested, shouting, “There’s nothing wrong with taking what’s yours. What are you gonna do, save all those old dead ponies I killed? Well you can’t! They’re gone forever!”

“I don’t care if those ponies are gone forever!” Starlight shot back, “You—”

“No, you don’t,” Cozy said coldly, “You don’t care about them, or me, or anything other than getting what you want. You’re just like me and you don’t want to admit it. You know that the only way to get anything good is to take it, and the only way to take it is power.”

Starlight was staring at her in horror, so Cozy concluded sweetly with a smug flick of her tail, “I’m sorry Starlight, but I guess you just can’t handle the truth.”

“What happened to you, Cozy?” Starlight demanded in a fear-stricken, tremulous voice.

“Nothing happened to me,” Cozy said irritably, “It’s just the truth! I can’t help it if you ponies are too stupid or sneaky to realize it.”

“What did Tirek say to you, that made you think any of that was true?” Starlight asked, wilting sorrowfully.

“He didn’t say anything to me!” Cozy retorted hotly, not sure what Starlight was getting at, “He told me how to get power, and he tricked me! Just like you said. He tricked me, and I was going to destroy him for that, with the power of friendship.”

“I-I’m sorry, Cozy Glow,” Starlight said regretfully.

“What do you mean you’re sorry?!” Cozy shouted, “I wasn’t even talking about you anymore!”

“You got me good, heh,” Starlight said shakily with a playful kick of her forehoof to the side, “You made me so angry I wasn’t even listening to why you were angry. You have so much good in you, and nopony even realizes it.”

“What? I do not!” Cozy spluttered, backing up until the bed hit her rump.

“You know what’s evil,” Starlight contested, “You know the difference between bad and good. I don’t even know what to think about those ponies who died, but here you are all ready to tell me exactly why and how you’re a bad pony for doing it.”

“I...I what? No! Isn’t it obvious?” Cozy said in total confoundment.

“I never even thought about killing another pony, and you already hate murderers,” Starlight said in growing excitement, “You’re not a bad pony because you want to be. You don’t think you have any other choice!”

“S-shut up, yes I do!” Cozy protested, her fear rising as the tears threatened to break through.

“You hate how those ponies died,” Starlight insisted, “And you want to save them, but you can’t. Can’t you see you want to be bad not because you are, but because if you were bad, then everything you did would be okay? You just want everything to be okay, Cozy Glow!”

“Shut up!” Cozy sniffled, wiping at her stupid eyes, “Id’ll never be okay ad I’m a monster pony because I hate you and—”

“How is a rabbit the same as a plum?” Starlight cut in urgently.

Cozy sniffed, asking breathless and mystified, “W-what?”

“A rabbit,” Starlight lifted a hoof upright, “And a plum,” Starlight moved her hoof to the left. “How are they the same?”

“They’re...? Round?” Cozy said in utter confusion.

“No, a rabbit is the same as a plum, because they’re both purple,” Starlight explained, “Except for the rabbit.”

“But then they’re not... is that a joke?!” Cozy demanded in outrage.

“That’s what I’m told,” Starlight said jovially, “Sorry, I was going a little bit overboard there. I just want you to know that I’m not going to let Rainbow Dash or any other pony do that to you. You can call me a stupid pony if you want, but I’m not gonna give up on you. Like it or not, you’re stuck with me. I don’t care if you’re crazy, or a murderer, or whatever. You deserve a chance, Cozy Glow. Other ponies might try to put you down or hurt you, but I’ll do everything I can to keep them from taking that away from you.”

At Cozy’s dazed stare, Starlight blushed, and added, “You don’t have to believe me, but seriously if there’s anything you need, I’ll make it happen.”

“Will you help me rule over Equestria?” Cozy asked in innocent eye-fluttering hope.

“What you need not just what you want,” Starlight said, flat-eared, “It can’t hurt to ask though. In that case, no.”

“C-could I have—” Cozy blurted out haltingly, panicking as this would totally give her away, but she wanted it and Starlight would never, but maybe she would, and it couldn’t hurt to ask, could it?

“You’re lying,” Cozy said, squinting at the older mare, “I could ask for something and not even you would ever give it to me. Because you can’t stand it if I’m bad.”

“Try me,” Starlight said dryly. “The worst I can do is say no.”

Cozy tried not to feel hope flaring in her heart as she said, “You wouldn’t give me a—a skull.”

Starlight’s eyes widened, as Cozy tried not to beg and plea and fear, saying, “I-i-it’s mine. I had a skull. They took it away from me, and they wouldn’t give me it even in Tartarus and I... n-never mind.”

Cozy stared at the ground in terrified silence, just waiting for the accusations and the suspicion, knowing that Starlight Glimmer was probably going to be sneaky about it or something. Starlight Glimmer was quiet for far too long.

“C’mon, let’s go out for a walk,” Starlight repeated noncommitally, “And I’ll think about it.”

“A walk?” Cozy asked skeptically.

“You still need your exercise,” Starlight said practically, “And I’ll make sure the next pony who shows up to give you a hard time is gonna regret it.”

Cozy was sure Starlight was gonna ask about the skull on the walk, but all Starlight talked about was the pretty leaves falling all around. Even Cozy had to admit, she hardly believed that seasons could be so beautiful. But why wasn’t Starlight asking her? Did that mean Cozy wasn’t going to get her skull back? That must have been it. Starlight just didn’t even want to think about it, so Cozy Glow wasn’t ever going to get it back again. She... really missed it.

Twilight Sparkle led Starlight Glimmer into the dimly lit room in the Ponyville Friendship Castle Police Department. They made use of the castle’s secure facilities by taking up a wing in the lower section. Twilight was allowed in of course, and so was Starlight Glimmer at the heels of the princess. A member of the Canterlot investigation team was waiting for them in the evidence room.

“Adult female earth pony skull,” the stoic investigator said as they approached, indicating as such on the table. Both Twilight and Starlight couldn’t resist balking at the sight. That was a real pony’s skull, just sitting there.

“Six puppets on strings representing the element bearers,” the investigator continued politely, moving on past the skull through the rest of the evidence on the table, “One cardboard crown and yoke in the likeness of Princess Celestia’s regalia. One framed portrait of Cozy Glow. One desk ornament shaped like a large gold star...”

“Yeah, we need to look at the skull,” Starlight said leerily, unable to stop glancing at the morbid thing. Was it looking at her? She could swear it was looking at her. Was that what was Starlight’s own skull looked like? That weird looking... thing? That was in her head?

“...of course you do,” the mare said flatly, trotting back to the skull. The investigator was a tan furred pegasus with pink and green hair and pale blue eyes, not anypony Starlight or Twilight had met before, a pony who flew in from Baltimare for the purposes of this investigation, but a pony neither of the other two mares were especially familiar with, and not somepony they expected would stick around for a very long time.

“Not much to say,” she said in a vaguely apologetic tone, “It’s a skull. Lower jawbone missing but those typically separate when uh... decomposition happens. Some interesting marks beneath the ear canal, likely some sort of trauma before or after death. Pretty unhealthy teeth. The nose has been broken and healed at least once.

“It isn’t falling apart, is it?” Starlight asked uneasily, “Is there a... preservation spell on it?”

“No enchantments or other magic detected, and it is in good condition,” the investigator replied, “Though some pitting around the upper jaw indicates, er...”

Wincing at the two queasy looking mares, the investigator said, “I only ever see this in murder cases, where scavengers have gotten to the victim and... well the physical removal of flesh from bone is what causes that pitting, normally not present when the flesh decays on its own.”

At everypony else’s silence, the investigator uneasily continued, “The skull is one of the last bones to be scavenged, so without the rest of the skeleton it’s hard to say for sure. I just don’t see the clean bone you find when it gets skeletonized by corpse beetles.”

“Corpse beetles?” Twilight Sparkle asked, grimacing in anticipation.

“You probably don’t want to know,” the investigator said, ears going flat, “Suffice to say it’s the skull of a mare who passed away three or four years ago, who was likely a murder victim left out for scavengers, before she was buried, and then... obviously un-buried.”

“H-how many murder cases have you seen?” Starlight asked shakily.

“Me?” the investigator asked, giving Starlight a surprised look.

“Just... curious, heh heh,” Starlight said with a nervous smile, “You seem pretty... comfortable about this stuff.”

A moment’s thought, and the investigator said, “There’ve been two I’ve seen in Ponyville. One was a familial dispute, the other was in a battle over some ancient artifact. There’s not many ponies with a talent for autopsy though, so I get to see most of the murders in Equestria. Maybe about two a year?”

“S-so 2 ponies are getting murdered every year,” Starlight said anxiously, “I didn’t even know. That has to add up to a lot.”

Shrugging, the investigator replied, “There are hundreds more ponies every year who die natural deaths instead of murders. I just don’t get invited to funerals.”

“The last time I went to a funeral I was just a foal,” Twilight said distantly, “I never knew my great grandmother very much either.”

“You ask about a skull, you deal with death, that’s sort of how it works,” the investigator said, irritably lashing her tail, “What did you think it was, a costume prop?”

“Would have made things a lot easier if it was,” Starlight replied, ears wilting.

“Do you think there are any more forensics you can perform on this, er, skull?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“Not without damaging it,” the investigator replied warily, “Why do you need to? I thought with Cozy Glow apprehended and uh, tried, that this case was closed.”

“‘Uh’ tried?” Starlight asked skeptically, only getting the investigator glancing nervously at Twilight Sparkle in response. Facehooving, Starlight Glimmer groaned, “Cozy Glow didn’t get a trial either, did she.”

“Because she confessed,” Twilight said as if that were obvious, “There were several royal guards who were eyewitnesses to this!”

“And you trusted her at her word?” Starlight replied irritably.

Twilight fishmouthed a moment.

“A...bout the only thing we need to do at this point,” the investigator said cautiously, “Is find out whose skull this is, and return it to its grave,”

“Can we... borrow it?” Starlight said equally hopefully, “We might be able to find some clues who it belonged to!”

“It’s not exactly by the book,” the investigator said reluctantly, “But with the princess’s permission, I don’t see why not. You just have to make sure not to get it damaged. Ponies wouldn’t appreciate you returning a broken skull to their relative’s grave.”

“Oh, there are a few preservation spells I stumbled across that should do the trick,” Starlight said dismissively, “I’m sure I can bring it back to you good as new!”

“Better you return it to where it belongs,” the investigator said with a tired sigh, “I want this awful thing to be over. Did you read that news article they published last week?”

“No,” Starlight replied cautiously, “Should I have?”

“Probably yeah,” the investigator said with a disgusted scowl, “It’s the one with the headline ‘Foal Murders Foals.’ Really boils my blood.”

“Why’s that?” Twilight asked.

“Because it’s not murder if you didn’t intend to do it. It’s ponyslaughter!” the mare huffed, “But murder makes headlines, and meanwhile the real murderers are cheering, because now everypony thinks that all they did was accidentally kill somepony!”

“That’s why Rainbow Dash attacked her!” Starlight realized in shock, “She must have read that newspaper article!”

“A hundred ponies die on accident every day,” the investigator continued to gripe, “That filly barely tops half of that number. It’s just all the unicorns lost their twinkly magic and...”

The pegasus glanced at the two unicorns and blushed, adding, “Uh, no offense.”

“None... taken,” Starlight said, “It was pretty terrifying to lose my magic, but I’m not going to attack somepony over it!”

“It’s just a buncha sensationalist garbage I tell you,” the colorful investigator mare agreed in relief, “They need to report on the real crime, not this...” She gestured wordlessly at the evidence table, searching for how to say it, finally fighting out, “...sick kid.”

“Why don’t they publish a report on this pony?” Twilight said, pointing a hoof at the skull, “I bet it’d be big news how she died.”

“If only it was easy as calling the newspapers about it,” Starlight sighed, “The answers are right here, but without Cozy’s help...”

“At least we know the skull is significant to her,” Twilight said sympathetically, “I think some hard decisions are going to need to be made, Starlight Glimmer. And you might be the only mare in Equestria who can make them.”

Starlight was sure of it. That skull was definitely giving her a smug look.

Well, it finally happened. Cozy Glow ate lunch together with other ponies. They weren’t allowed to talk with each other of course, and there was a nurse by Cozy Glow’s side the entire time, but Cozy got to leave her room, sit in the cafeteria, and eat her food, with all sorts of interesting ponies around her.

There was the famous one, a pink unicorn who Cozy had never heard of before, the upset one, a plain brown earth pony mare with no cutie mark who had gotten into a shouting match with Cozy before. There was that shifty eyed pony with the pink and blue hair, and another brown mare, oddly enough, whose mane was curled back in a conservative looking swoosh. Were crazy ponies more likely to be brown? Cozy Glow certainly didn’t know many sane brown ones. Or any brown ones for that matter. Was brown a defective color?

These and other questions she did not ask, because the goal as Starlight told her, was to eat lunch together, without any altercations. Cozy wasn’t required to actually interact with any of them, and they weren’t allowed to bother her. It was the perfect arrangement comfort-wise, except that it left Cozy Glow feeling more helpless than ever. They were all stupid and insane ponies, so why did she want them to come over and bother her?

Cozy Glow just wasn’t comfortable with going into a situation blind. She wanted to learn about these ponies, so she would know how to get them to do what she wanted. She had to start building support for her cause somehow, but she couldn’t let them get to her, make her lose her cool, and then make bad things happen. She had to find out about them before she said hello. But how was she going to get anypony to trust her enough to tell her about the other patients?

“Oh, the one with the swoosh in her mane is named Intern,” Starlight said after lunch to a flabbergasted Cozy Glow, “She had some traumatic experiences in her past, and an emotionally abusive mother, so I wouldn’t try to tease her about her parents, if I were you.”

“R-really?” Cozy asked, surprised as all heck that Starlight was just answering her.

“Her mother named her Intern, so that she wouldn’t succeed,” Starlight said in a very unimpressed tone, “Just to give you an idea of what kind of pony she is. Don’t worry, Intern’s not anything like her mom. At least that’s what I’ve heard from the uhm, support group who were trying to care for her, before Intern came here.”

“Don’t you have... doctor confidentiality or something?” Cozy asked incredulously, “Why are you telling me all her secrets?”

“Doctor what? It’s not secret, first off,” Starlight protested, “And second off, you are really good with other ponies.”

Cozy didn’t deny that.

“I want you to know how to treat ponies around here,” Starlight said, “I won’t tell you anything that could get them in trouble, but I want to make sure that you won’t say something to hurt her on accident.”

“You want to know if I’m doing it on purpose!” Cozy realized, looking shocked at the surprisingly sneaky unicorn.

“Maybe a little, but if you do, I’m sure you have your reasons,” Starlight said with a sheepish smile, “You just have to make sure they’re really good reasons, because if you do something like that on purpose, ponies won’t like you, or trust you as much. You will stop liking yourself in fact, unless you pretend she isn’t a pony, and that has all sorts of problems with it.”

“What do you mean pretend she isn’t a pony?” Cozy asked skeptically.

“Intern and you are both ponies,” Starlight explained, “She’s intelligent just like you, kind in her own way, and you can both help each other out, because you’ve got so much in common. But if you found a pony who was just like you, and you hurt her, isn’t it a lot like hurting yourself? What if somepony hurt you that way? Do you really want somepony else to feel like that?”

“Well... no? But...” Cozy said cautiously, “I just have to keep other ponies from hurting me.”

“Yeah, that also has problems,” Starlight said with a wince, “Because now you have to assume everypony’s trying to hurt you. It’d be a lot less scary and overwhelming if you think of somepony as a friend, but then you would have to feel bad about yourself for hurting her. See the problem?”

“Uh–I... I guess?” Cozy replied, trying to imagine it, “How would I think of somepony as a friend, though?”

Starlight blinked at her. What did she say? Cozy was confused.

“How about a trust building exercise!” Starlight said pleasantly, pulling out a deck of playing cards in her magic. Then dropping the deck as Cozy tensed up, Starlight blushed, and scooped it up with her tail instead. “Sorry, that wasn’t the exercise,” she said, getting the cards on her desk with some difficulty. “Do you know how to make a card house?”

“A card house?” Cozy asked skeptically.

“Oh it’s really dumb. Let me just...” Starlight started hoofing out cards, and trying to balance them, but was having some serious trouble of it. “Oop–sorry,” Starlight said sheepishly as the cards clattered down again, “It’s a lot easier with magic.”

“Y-you can use your magic,” Cozy said, inching away from the desk.

“It’s supposed to be difficult though, not easy!” Starlight protested. “It’s a... hold on I... just gotta... yes!”

She had successfully made sort of a cross between an M and a T using four cards for the base, with a fifth laid on top.

“See these are the walls, and this is the roof,” Starlight explained indicating the top and side cards as Cozy Glow sauntered up to the desk, to look at it curiously. “Card house! You can make them way more elaborate, but it doesn’t look very stable, does it?”

“I guess it doesn’t,” Cozy said noncommitally.

“You could push it over, no problem,” Starlight said dramatically, “And then all my work would be ruined!”

“All thirty seconds of it?” Cozy asked, unimpressed.

“Now I’m going to turn around, and you’re gonna show me I can trust you,” Starlight explained, “By not knocking down the cards. You won’t get in trouble if you do, but if you want me to trust you, you can’t knock down the cards.”

Starlight then turned away from the table, facing the wall. Eyeing the purple and cyan haired pony uncertainly, Cozy Glow reached forward with a little pink hoof and pushed the card house over. Starlight turned around, and Cozy actually blushed because... because she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that, or not do that, or anything.

“Oh...” Starlight said ears falling in disappointment at the sight of the fallen cards, “Well, now it’s your turn. Build a card house, like I did.”

Cozy did so and—wait no it—it kept falling over, when she... no wait she had to...

“Harder than it looks, huh,” Starlight said sympathetically.

“H-how do I...?” Cozy said in frustration.

“Balance the card on your hoof, so you can place the other card, there see?” Starlight said, “Now just pull out just the edge of your hoof and place the third card on top... there you—oops! Careful when you set it down. One more try.”

Cozy got it on the second try, which was good considering she was starting to contemplate throwing every deck of cards in Equestria into the aether. “Okay,” Starlight Glimmer said delightedly, “Now I need you to turn around and look the other way, and I promise I won’t knock over your card house.”

“...why?” Cozy asked, eyeing Starlight Glimmer warily as the unicorn sat on the other side of the desk from Cozy Glow’s card house.

“Just humor me, for now,” Starlight said smugly.

“I don’t want you to knock over my card house,” Cozy said, glaring at the other pony.

“We’re going to have to clean it up eventually,” Starlight lazily replied, “But I promise I won’t knock it down this time. Do you trust me?”

“No,” Cozy said flatly.

“Does it matter if I knock it down?” Starlight asked teasingly, “It’s just a few cards. You could just build it again. Why do you care so much about a house of cards?”

“I don’t!” Cozy protested, “Why would I even care—fine. Go ahead and knock it down. See if I care.”

“It’s just an exercise,” Starlight assured her, “Just turn around and give me a chance to knock it down.”

Cozy turned around reluctantly.

“Think I knocked it down, yet?” Starlight asked the filly facing the door of her office.

“No,” Cozy replied curtly, “Y-you’re not going to, because that’s just part of your plan.”

“It’s your plan too, right now,” Starlight said confidently, “You built that house of cards. And you think I’m gonna knock it down, even though you wish I wouldn’t, just a little bit.”

“You aren’t because you have something planned,” Cozy insisted, “You’re just gonna make me think I don’t want it knocked down.”

“Think what you like,” Starlight said, “But I promise you that when you turn around, your card house will be there.”

“Can I just turn around yet?” Cozy replied in aggravation.

“Yes, you can turn around,” Starlight told her. Cozy Glow did so and... there was a house of five cards standing on Starlight’s desk, still. It made Cozy feel...

“W-what is this?” Cozy Glow asked suspiciously, staring at Starlight, while that house of cards was there, and not knocked over, and it was doing something to her!

“It’s a trust building exercise,” Starlight explained, “What you’re feeling right now is trust, because I kept my promise and didn’t knock it over.”

“I don’t care about a stupid card house!” Cozy protested.

“You don’t have to care about it a lot,” Starlight said dismissively, “It’s just an exercise. Just to feel what it’s like to trust somepony.”

Cozy looked at Starlight, and her lip trembled, and she said tightly, “You should say a joke now.”

Eyes widening in alarm, Starlight said, “Oh uh, sorry just... just turn around one more time, we’re almost done. And this time I’m going to knock it over.”

“What?” Cozy Glow asked testily.

“It’s the second half of the exercise,” Starlight replied, “Now you’re gonna turn around, and you can trust me when I say I’m going to knock it over. So just turn around, one more time.”

Feeling seriously conflicted about this, Cozy Glow turned around one more time. “Okay, I’m getting ready to knock it over,” Starlight announced, “You think it’s still going to be standing when you turn around?”

“No,” Cozy said distrustfully, “You’re doing something sneaky. And you’re gonna knock it down. And I-I’ll scream if you make me...”

“Wait, listen close,” Starlight said, quieting down. Cozy listened, and she could hear a soft flutter of cards toppling down on top of each other.

“It’s done,” Starlight said, “I promise you that I have knocked over the card house, but before you turn around, there’s just one thing...”

Cozy listened, puzzled, then with a thwa-a-a-a-a-ap all the cards sprayed against the back of her head!

“Hey!!” Cozy declared in outrage, spinning around to find Starlight biting her lip to try to keep from grinning. It wasn’t working very well.

“Sorry, but that was hilarious,” Starlight said in amusement to the filly with cards stuck haphazardly in her hair. “Anyway, that is what it’s like to think of somepony as a friend. It’s just a stupid card house, but you know you can count on me when I say it’s gonna be knocked down. Once you have a friend, you’ll feel that way about important things, like secrets you know they’ll keep, or you know they’ll help you out when you’re in trouble. And Cozy, if you meet Intern and you hurt her on purpose, you won’t be able to think of her like that. You won’t be able to trust her not to hurt you. You’ll have to be on guard all the time, not just from her, but from anypony else who could hurt you.”

Actual fear stabbed Cozy’s heart at Starlight’s humorless and very serious gaze, as she said, “That’s why I’m letting you know about Intern, because I know you don’t want to hurt her. It’ll just hurt you if you do, and I believe you’re smart enough to know better, to use that knowledge to help her. Please don’t prove me wrong.” With a slight smile, she added, “Who knows? You might make a friend.”

A pause to lower an ear indecisively, and Starlight said flatly, “Actually, probably not. Intern’s not exactly all there, if you know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t know what you mean,” Cozy said, cautiously.

“She has... these... episodes,” Starlight said with a wince.

After a few meals under close supervision, Cozy Glow got the chance to understand just what Starlight was talking about. The nurse had been slowly relaxing her security around Cozy Glow, and Cozy had the chance to choose where to sit this time, choosing to sit near the brown pony with the swooshy cowlick in her hair, who was most cruelly named Intern.

“Hi there, I’m Cozy Glow!” Cozy said in a very friendly tone.

“Oh, hi,” the young adult mare said in a high, soft voice, turning and looking down at filly, “Did you want something?”

“Well,” Cozy said a little slyly, “Did you know that Starlight Glimmer has been saying a lot of things about you?”

The mare didn’t respond, and Cozy’s smile inched down as the mare didn’t respond. She didn’t move, she didn’t react, she just stared at Cozy with these deep brown, haunted, empty eyes.

“I–I’ll just leave you to your lunch,” Cozy Glow said nervously, backing up from the mare, to discover that Intern was still staring at the spot Cozy Glow used to be in, if she was staring at anything at all.

Cozy watched the mare from all the way across the cafeteria, until Intern closed her eyes, rubbed them with a forehoof, and then went back to placidly eating her food.

A few meals later, Cozy got her second chance, approaching Intern and asking, “Hey, what happened back then?” Cozy asked in a hurt tone, “Why did you just sort of... stop?”

“Oh, there’s just certain things I can’t think of,” the mare said, between mouthfuls of eating her cereal.

“Like what?” Cozy asked curiously but it was already too late. The mare stared down into her cereal, and she didn’t drop her bowl at least, but she just kind of dully stared downward at it, forever.

“I didn’t—I mean stop thinking about those things!” Cozy protested, “Oh no, I’m making it worse! Stop thinking! I’ll just... I’ll just l-leave you to your breakfast!”

The mare didn’t think to apologize to Cozy afterwards, if she was even physically capable of it, when she started calmly inserting her snout into the cereal bowl crooked in her foreleg, to munch on cereal again.

“How about... instead of asking me where I came from again,” Cozy said very testily, perched on the beanbag in Starlight Glimmer’s office, “You tell me what the bell is wrong with Intern?”

“Bell?” Starlight Glimmer asked oh no!

“T-the hay, what the hay,” Cozy corrected herself hastily. “It’s just—bells are... in hay uhm...”

“I’m not going to force you to tell me,” Starlight said wearily, again, marking something in her clipboard, “But what about Intern? You mean her episodes?”

“She just stopped!” Cozy protested, “I don’t know why you thought I could do anything to her. Is she even a real pony?”

“Hm... remember when you were in Tartarus?” Starlight said casually, “If I recall, you mentioned they made you use a bucket.”

“T-t-they—so what?” Cozy Glow asked hotly, “What does that have anything to—?”

“Do you think Tirek ever watched you?” Starlight asked, “You know, watching it come out?”

...

“And that’s what’s happening to Intern,” Starlight said with a self satisfied nicker to the horrified Cozy Glow.

“What?” Cozy asked frantically, trying to claw those images out of her brain except she had no claws.

“Intern had some terrible things happen to her,” Starlight said, “And... I think her schizophrenia made it worse. So, she’s basically having traumatic flashbacks. All the time.”

“Why did you have to say that? Now I can’t stop thinking about it!” Cozy heedlessly moaned in despair scrunching her forelegs into the hair on her head.

“Yeah, well I know you will be fine, because you’re a tough little filly who can come out of most anything intact,” Starlight said unsympathetically, “And Intern’s a lot more fragile. Plus she’s on horse tranquilizers. So we’re still trying to figure out how to deal with that.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Cozy asked irritably, “Now I’ll never be able to look at him without—”

“Because I want you to trust me, Cozy,” Starlight said honestly, “How could you ever trust me, if I didn’t trust you?”

“You don’t even trust me to go to the shower without a pony watching me!” Cozy retorted.

“It’s really hard, Cozy Glow,” Starlight replied in sad frustration, “You did something that made Twilight Sparkle throw you in Tartarus! You hurt so many ponies, and it’s just hard for us to trust you.”

“They got their magic back,” Cozy Glow grumbled, “What’s the problem?”

“Not that, ” Starlight sighed, “Before that, when you didn’t tell us how angry you were, and you didn’t tell us how frustrated you were with our school. You lied to everypony, making us all think you were a nice, wonderful, loving, friendly filly with no problems whatsoever. And then you pushed me into a magical vortex of doom!”

Cozy was trying to think how to respond to that, when Starlight quickly added, “The magical vortex of doom was kind of cool, actually, if incredibly dangerous. But you could have thrown me into a broom closet, and it would have hurt just as much. Not hurting my horn, but hurting my trust in you. If you can act like there’s nothing wrong for a whole year, then suddenly... ruin everything, how am I supposed to tell that you’re even getting better?”

Looking vaguely in the direction of where the communal showers were upstairs, before addressing the filly sincerely, Starlight added, “How do I know you won’t break the showers, when I thought you were totally calm and happy just a moment before? You hurt everypony’s trust in you badly, Cozy Glow. I’m trying to trust you again, but all I can do is give my trust back to you a little bit at a time, and hope that you’re smart enough not to betray it this time.”

“Golly Miss Glimmer, would you rather I had just started shouting at Twilight Sparkle about how stupid her School of Friendship is?” Cozy asked with a cold resentful glare, “I was only going there because you were all stupid enough not to ask questions. You had control of this incredible power, and I needed it, but you were just wasting it! What does not eating strawberries have to do with honesty? Rainbow Dash just made us play dodgeball the one time I went to her class. You ponies don’t know anything about friendship, or power, you just keep pretending that you do! And you wanted me to just tell her that?”

Starlight looked like she was going to cry. Well, good. She should feel awful for how she was the worst guidance counselor ever. “Yes!” Starlight denied. Wait, no she didn’t deny it? Cozy was confused!

“Yes, that’s amazing Cozy!” Starlight said in tearful delight, “I didn’t even know you thought we were wasting our power. A-and I never knew how you were doing in any of your classes. You never told me about Rainbow Dash. I could’ve asked her why she thinks dodge ball teaches Loyalty. You could have asked her! I could have asked Applejack what...”

Trailing off in puzzlement, Starlight asked, “Did she really tell you not to eat strawberries?”

“Just that strawberries weren’t as good as apples,” Cozy replied in a disinterested tone, “And something about how someponies couldn’t be honest about that, so you had to remain vigilant. It was stupid, and I never went back, so—”

“You never went back?!” Starlight asked in astonishment and uh oh.

“Y-yeah, shows how much you know,” Cozy said, trying to sound smug about it, “I didn’t even have to go to any classes. All I had to do was read your teacher journal and I could pass all of your tests, easy! Why else would I think I’m better at friendship than you? Because I am!”

“See, that’s honesty that could have helped,” Starlight insisted, leaning on her desk with interest towards the filly, “You pretended you were attending classes?”

“It’s not like any of the teachers cared,” Cozy said with a roll of her eyes, “Once I was Twilight’s personal assistant, everypony always thought I was busy with something, if they even noticed.”

“But if you’d told me, or somepony else, then maybe we could have fixed our classes,” Starlight said hopefully.

“Not likely,” Cozy Glow grumbled.

“Maybe there was a secret to it,” Starlight went on, “And if you knew the secret it’d be obvious why those classes were good. But we can’t tell you it, if we don’t know you think your classes are stupid!”

“I don’t see how this is confusing your little brain,” Cozy Glow growled, “Ponies don’t like mean little fillies who can’t control their temper, and they don’t like monsters. If I told Twilight and her friends that I was planning on ruling all of Equestria, they would stop me! I am not a mean little filly. I am cute and lovable, and if you don’t let me be that way, then nopony will ever do anything for me at all. Do you want me to die, Starlight Glimmer? Do you want me to just jump off a cliff, after you cut my wings in half so I just break open on the rocks?”

“No! No I... what?” Starlight asked in horror.

“Then stop trying to say there’s anything good about honesty at all,” Cozy stated practically, “I want to be cute and lovable, so I am cute and lovable, and it doesn’t matter what’s going on inside, as long as ponies think what I want them to think!”

“T-that’s...” Starlight said, still speechless from the force of Cozy’s words.

“And don’t even get me started on Loyalty!” Cozy rolled her eyes.

“I just want you to trust me, Cozy!” Starlight said in a pained whimper, “I want to show you that you can... be as bad as you want, and I won’t even blink.”

“Says the pony who won’t let me have what’s mine,” Cozy said imperiously, “Just because you think it’s evil, and bad. Well it’s not. Because I am cute and lovable and there’s nothing you can do t-to make me feel bad about it.”

Looking at her worriedly, Starlight said, “This is getting a little heavy. Maybe we should wrap this up. Talk about it later. You want to go on a nice quiet walk?”

“Oh sure, a nice, quiet walk, where you tell me all about what’s wrong with me,” Cozy said sarcastically, “And then somepony flies out of the sky with good wings, and tells me—no—tells you the truth you don’t wanna believe. Because you don’t even know me, and no, I don’t want to tell you, so you can just go get drubbed.”

“Drubbed?” Starlight asked in confusion and oh no! “What’s that?”

“I-I didn’t say that I meant... drugged with... bad drugs,” Cozy said with a nervous smile.

“Well, I’ll try to avoid that,” Starlight said, marking something down on her clipboard. “So, about that walk.”

“No.”

“No talking,” Starlight assured her, “Just walking.”

“...can we go into the woods?”

Author's Note

Starlight is such a lovable psychopath. ♥

Cozy Glow the Skullfilly

“Okay, no problem, Starlight you’ll just...” Starlight said, pacing to the right, “You’ll just tell her exactly what she wants to hear, you’ll be the perfect leader, only showing your feelings at just the right time to manipulate her, and you’ll force Cozy Glow to give up all her secrets. There’s nothing wrong with this because she’s the crazy one, not you.”

Pacing to the left, Starlight continued, “You’re not crazy just because you feel like she’s gonna die the moment you press her for her past, and you can’t explain why. Sure, she pushes all your buttons at once, but you’re just an unfeeling machine who doesn’t have to respond to it. There is nothing wrong with you, your intentions are pure, your ideas are sound.

“Then you’ll convince Sea Swirl to heal by breaking her spirit!” Starlight said pleasantly with a disgusted roll of her eyes, pacing to the right, “That’ll work perfectly, with no problems. Just make sure she knows she’s worthless and keep her away from any sharp objects, and she’ll just magically get better. Then you’ll find out why Screwloose keeps relapsing, and you’ll comfort Trophy Pot by telling him that it’s good for him to be mutilated, because he’s utterly deranged and it’ll make him slightly easier to control once he’s settled in here.”

Pacing to the left, she said, “Never mind his injury is the source of his suffering. Why would anypony have to account for that? Why would ponies ever think that I don’t know what I’m doing? Why would they think this is an unprecedented institution in Equestria which is understaffed and poorly trained? Why would anypony think I can’t take all this on myself and just figure everything out, when I didn’t even think to make a cafeteria that every patient could eat in?

Turning aside to glare at the skull on her desk, Starlight snarled, “And what are you looking at?”

The skull had no answers for her.

“You’re a great listener, you know,” Starlight said in amusement to the skull, “Whoever you are. And that’s really the question here. Why do you have such curiously specific damage, and old injuries at that? Whose grave did Cozy Glow rob to get you, and why? Why was she opening up like she never had before, just to ask for you? You had no traces of enchantment, no inscribed runes, no secret messages carved inside the skull, and yes I checked, and I never want to cast a view-me-closer spell inside somepony else’s skull ever again.”

Squinting at the skull gave Starlight no answers either, though she did feel like she was getting comfortable with looking at it, from all this practice. Starlight Glimmer wasn’t sure whether or not she was comfortable with being comfortable around pony skulls. She cast a scanning spell on it again, but it revealed nothing other than the solid bone, and the preservation enchantment Starlight had cast upon it herself.

Sighing, Starlight levitated the skull, and went trotting off to Cozy Glow’s room, with it floating behind her in tow.

Starlight Glimmer didn’t know what to expect, when greeting the filly brightly, she opened up Cozy Glow’s room and trotted in there, skull in tow. Cozy’s reaction to it was... interesting. The filly remained guarded. Startlingly guarded.

Starlight Glimmer couldn’t bring herself to... touch the skull. The jarring feeling of the bone connecting with her hoof was just too creepy for words. Her magic was fine, but that was out of the question around Cozy Glow. So instead Starlight felt just incredibly lame, as she had to carry the skull on a rolling cart. Cozy didn’t seem to mind though. Cozy didn’t hesitate at all, in fact.

Starlight couldn’t even touch the skull, but Cozy Glow took it off the cart easily in her forelegs, holding it close to her, and looking down at it wordlessly. Starlight waited for Cozy to get defensive by trying to insult her, or blow up at her, or start crying and blow up at her.

Cozy Glow just looked at it.

“Are you going to be okay?” Starlight asked with worry at the quiet filly.

Cozy didn’t answer the question, but instead without looking up, asked, “Why are you letting me have this? Don’t ponies want to investigate it?”

“We’ve already investigated it as much as we could,” Starlight said, with a helpless shrug, “We couldn’t find out anything you probably don’t already know.”

A pause, and the filly asked, “Are you going to ask me who it is?”

“Do you want to tell me who it is?” Starlight replied.

“...no,” Cozy admitted, clutching it closer.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you aren’t ready to talk about, Cozy,” Starlight said, “You can keep it. Whoever it was, it looks like they were pretty important to you.”

Cozy looked up at Starlight, then down at it again, then up at Starlight again, and the filly looked so lost and frightened when she murmured, “Thank you.” Then Cozy put the skull on her back, and retreated not to her bookcase, but her bed. She climbed up on the bed, and curled around the skull, facing away from Starlight Glimmer.

“I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner,” Starlight said, getting no response from the filly.

Starlight Glimmer’s ears went down when she left the room, leaving Cozy shut inside.

“It was incredible!” Starlight Glimmer said later to Twilight Sparkle in utmost excitement, “She actually thanked me! She’s never done that before!”

“I’m sure she’s thanked you before,” Twilight said to her friend over tea, “She sure thanked me enough, before everything went south with her.”

“I think this was the first time she’s ever actually meant it, though,” Starlight said hopefully, “That skull is important to her!”

“How do you know she meant it?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“Cozy Glow is incredibly reluctant to open up,” Starlight attested, “I’ve never seen her look so frightened when she thanked me! Isn’t this wonderful?”

“Are you sure frightening her is a good idea?” Twilight uneasily countered.

Starlight frowned. “It isn’t a good idea to frighten her, you’re right,” she said seriously, “I just feel like I’m really getting through to her.”

“So whose skull is it?” Twilight asked hopefully.

Starlight sighed.

“She won’t say?” Twilight asked, her ears dipping in disappointment.

“She’s not ready to talk about it yet,” Starlight said reluctantly, “If that skull is important to her, then we might just be asking the filly to talk about somepony close to her, who she lost. I can’t just... expect her to talk to me about that.”

“It is imperative that we find out where Cozy Glow came from though,” Twilight stated in a hoff stomp frustration, “We still don’t know if other ponies are involved with whatever happened to her, and if they’re dying...”

“It might have been a natural death,” Starlight said uneasily, “Maybe the filly lost a friend of hers and that just... drove her over the edge?”

“You remember what Last Stand said,” Twilight offered warningly, “About... scavengers?”

“The investigator also said it was inconclusive,” Starlight said testily, “Without the parts of the skeleton that scavengers actually gnaw on.”

“This whole thing stinks, Starlight,” Twilight griped, “And I don’t like it one bit. I just know it’s going to come back to bite us.”

“We’re good ponies, aren’t we, Twilight?” Starlight asked abruptly.

Twilight furrowed her muzzle.

“If anything’s gonna bite us in the butt, it’ll be making Cozy think we’re using her,” Starlight explained for the princess, “We may be good ponies, but if we don’t act like it, she’ll think that’s who we really are. Would good ponies do something to hurt her, just to accomplish our goals?”

“No...” Twilight said reservedly, toeing at the ground, “No, they would not.”

“We don’t know that anything is wrong,” Starlight insisted hopefully, “All we know is that Cozy has some very... unequestrian notions, which she must have been taught somewhere! We know that she isn’t missing from any known orphanage nor has any family filed a missing ponies report for her. We know that... she likes... a skull. I’m guessing that Cozy hails from a far away land... somehow, but beyond that, I don’t know.”

Sighing and turning away, Starlight added in frustration, “For all I know maybe she was the one who killed the pony whose skull she carries.”

“Cozy Glow might not even be her real name,” Twilight added soberly, “And I could understand her parents... not... wanting to come forward about having raised her, given what she’s done. So there’s no reason to think she isn’t from Equestria. I just can’t imagine that anypony in Equestria would hurt a filly so badly, not without getting held accountable.”

“Well there is also her odd accent,” Starlight said with a half smile, “That’s what’s got me especially puzzled about her.”

“Odd accent?” Twilight asked curiously, “She always sounded like a filly straight out of Canterlot to me. What with how she enunciates her words.”

“She hides it well, but when you catch her off guard, her accent slips,” Starlight said, sipping thoughtfully at her tea, “Saying things like ‘drubbed’ and swearing about a ‘bell’ instead of hay. I still have no idea what the word ‘golly’ is supposed to mean.”

“You got me,” Twilight said with a shrug of her wings, “It’s not any word I’ve read before. It’s probably a combination of two words that she just mashed together.”

“Or that she was taught to mash together!” Starlight contested, “Like a pony from a distant land, perhaps?”

“Perhaps,” Twilight admitted reluctantly.

“Then there’s how when Cozy Glow is really upset,” Starlight pondered, “She never swears to Celestia or Luna, or anything normal. She keeps swearing to somepony called Grogar.”

Twilight’s ears perked. “That name sounds familiar,” she said, “What have you found out about it?”

Blushing, Starlight said sheepishly, “I haven’t exactly done any research on it yet. I’ve just been taking notes on some of her odd use of language. And did you know she has no idea what a deer is?”

“Really?” Twilight said curiously, “Even I’ve seen deer, on occasion.”

“No I mean, Cozy Glow literally didn’t know what they are,” Starlight said, “She just... has some shocking holes in her knowledge. Maybe nopony taught her what a deer was?”

“The Hooved Creatures is basic education,” Twilight said skeptically, “She’d have at least been taught about deer, goats, cows and sheep, if not bison and yaks on top of that.”

“I don’t think she was, somehow,” Starlight said, “And yet she knows words I’ve never even heard of, like drubbed!”

“Drubbed is a colloquial term for struck, in the sense of striking somepony else,” Twilight said helpfully, adding with a wince, “In the sense of beating somepony to the point of humiliation. I’ve never seen it used in conversation, but perhaps certain criminal circles...?”

“It would make sense if Cozy’s parents were career criminals,” Starlight said with a disgusted grimace, “She certainly takes after the family.”

“That might be why she isn’t talking about her past, too!” Twilight said eyes brightening, “Maybe she’s protecting their identities, to keep the heat off them!”

“You know, you might be right!” Starlight said with dawning realization, “I can’t imagine that filly being protective of anypony, but with how she’s been treating that skull...”

“...she really likes it, huh?” Twilight asked uneasily, as Starlight’s excitement fell to silence.

“She’s been taking it to bed with her,” Starlight said softly, “She’s been sleeping with it, like it were some kind of a plush toy.”

“What in Equestria...” Twilight said faintly.

“Exactly,” Starlight replied, “If you can find anything on this Grogar character, please let me know.”

“I’ll do what I can, Starlight,” Twilight said cautiously, “I know I have a very good memory, but I have also read a whole lot of books.”

“At least you’ve heard of it before!” Starlight said, looking away nervously, “Heh heh... it’s pretty amazing I can read at all, really.”

“Everypony receives basic education,” Twilight said with a sympathetic look Starlight’s way.

“I know, I just... hate how easy it is for me to learn, now that I actually started studying,” Starlight said staring morosely down into her tea, “Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t drop out of school to...”

“You probably would have been a brilliant and acclaimed scholar,” Twilight declared dismissively, “Whom I had heard of and deeply respected, and we would never meet each other in our entire lives.” With a small smile, the princess added, “But, well... I like what turned out better, even if you have an... unconventional approach to your life.”

“I guess it wouldn’t be me if I weren’t doing something crazy and over the top,” Starlight said with a shaky smile, “I just hope that this one won’t backfire on me too.”

“Your asylum has one important difference from your other ventures,” Twilight offered, to Starlight’s ear-perked interest, “You may have a penchant for... crazy and over the top, but you also have a real talent for reaching ponies that have been rejected by others. You don’t judge, you don’t assume, when the rest of us can’t do anything but judge and assume. You can... empathize with these troubled ponies, in a way that would probably make me go all Twilynanas if I tried even five minutes of it.”

“Twilynanas?” Starlight asked skeptically.

“It’s a long story,” Twilight grumbled, “What I’m saying is you get along with bad ponies, Starlight Glimmer. I know that might not sound very flattering, but I really think you can help some of them, where the rest of Equestria has failed.”

“I hope so, Twilight,” Starlight said, finishing off her tea, “So, back to work then?”

Twilight nodded a little distantly.

“Is everything okay?” Starlight asked with concern.

“Everything’s fine,” Twilight said gently, levitating her cup and saucer back to the table, “I’ve just got a lot on my mind these days. Next week, Wednesday at two?”

“Sounds good to me!” Starlight replied with a smile, “I’ll see you then.”

Cozy Glow was feeling pretty good. She had the counselor so wrapped around her little hoof that Starlight had even given her the skull back. Cozy wished she had asked for the other stuff, to make it look like she didn’t want the skull in particular, but really, she was just glad to have it with her again. Well... safely in her room, at least.

Cozy didn’t appreciate being locked in her room so much, but she was pretty sure her skull wouldn’t mind it one bit. She placed it carefully on an empty spot in the bookshelf every time she left her room, and every time she came back, it was there waiting for her. It just made her feel all warm inside with confidence and satisfaction, when Cozy Glow knew where it was, somewhere locked up so tight that it’d surely be there when she returned,.

So that’s why Cozy Glow did not glare at Morning Glory today, only looked up at her curiously. Normally the plain brown mare would retreat wincingly from Cozy Glow’s glare, but finally she had an opportunity to do otherwise, so she worked up her courage to talk to the filly.

“Sorry...” the mare said testily, walking up to Cozy Glow in the cafeteria, “They’re saying I shouldn’t apologize to you but I really didn’t mean to... you didn’t know what was going on with me. So sorry for yelling at you. I know you’re... they said you weren’t good to yell at.”

“It’s okay, Miss Glory,” Cozy said sympathetically, “I understand. But what could be going on with you? If you feel like you can tell me, that is.”

“It’s not a secret, not anymore,” the mare said in a disaffected huff, not sitting with Cozy, but not leaving either, “They say I don’t need to keep it a secret anymore. No point. Everypony on the street saw what I... was.”

“...did you rob ponies?” Cozy asked uncertainly.

“No, I was a... I mean I wasn’t really,” the mare stammered, “I just thought I couldn’t—I couldn’t think of anything else to do.” Looking at Cozy sorrowfully, the mare said, “You’ve never been hungry and... sleeping on the streets before.”

“Obviously, because I can sleep in the clouds,” Cozy said a little irritably, flapping her mostly fixed wings to demonstrate. “Why would I sleep on the streets?”

“Yeah well...” the mare sat beside Cozy, scrunching in frustration, before saying, “You have wings. You can fly. I can’t do... anything. So I had to sleep on the streets in a stupid... box.”

“Oh, you meant you,” Cozy realized, looking thoughtfully at the brown earth pony, “So you slept in a box?”

“It was raining, and I didn’t know what else to do,” the mare claimed wearily, “And that’s what’s going on with me. Because I was living in a box and started selling myself b-because there wasn’t anything else I could do.”

“I’m pretty sure Equestria doesn’t have slavery,” Cozy said skeptically, “You can’t just sell yourself.”

“No, I mean...” the mare blushed, looking at the filly uncomfortably before looking away again.

“I-it’s an adult thing,” Morning Glory said finally, “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Eyes widening in surprise, Cozy exclaimed at her, “They have whores in Equestria?”

“Sssshh!” the mare frantically shushed her, and Cozy knew not to shout! She just... forgot for a second.

“Don’t talk about...” the mare gave a conflicted grimace, then turned away again, saying anxiously, “Everypony on the street saw me though. I was just desperate, and going into season, a-and it’s at least one good thing about me, right?”

“Oh, I get it,” Cozy said looking up to the nervous mare, “You’re embarassed! Oh that must be so awful.”

“Embarassed?” Morning Glory asked Cozy, giving her a look of incredulity.

“Golly yes,” Cozy said with a reassuring pat to the mare’s side, though wondering internally about the mare’s odd reaction, “It can be real embarassing, when you have to do that in front of other ponies.”

“It wasn’t just embarassing!” the mare protested, “I—I used my body!”

“So?” Cozy asked, leaning back in genuine confusion, “Don’t you have to do that to be a whore?”

“You don’t understand, filly,” Morning Glory hissed at her anxiously, “I had stallions inside me!”

“I just don’t see what the big deal is,” Cozy said crankily, “That’s what whores do! I mean unless you give him a hoof job?”

“T-those were cheaper,” Morning Glory said with a blush, “You realize that stallions want to... want to ravish your body, right, filly?”

Cozy stared forward thoughtfully. “I haven’t been in heat yet,” she said distantly, “I suppose that’s going to be starting soon. Don’t know if it’ll go so well for me.”

“How old are you?” Morning asked curiously.

“I turned 14 last month,” Cozy replied with a dismissive wing flip, “But enough about little old me. Why do you think you have to be embarassed, just because you used your body?”

“I...” Morning sighed in frustration, “Let’s call it embarassment then,” she grumpily conceded.

“How about you look on the bright side!” Cozy said with a friendly smile, “You made a lot of money, plus having a stallion ravish your body is really fun, right?”

“No!” Morning Glory declared in horror, then blushing, looked away, saying “Y-yes! No it... it was really scary, actually.”

“Scary?” Cozy Glow asked, her smile falling to uncertainly.

“He just... I didn’t know what it would feel like,” Morning said anxiously, “I didn’t think it was happening I thought I could escape, and then... I felt him. Then he was holding me, and I could feel him, and I couldn’t stop doing it, and...”

“You mean a stallion raped you?” Cozy said with a sympathetic wince.

“N-no, I let him do it,” Morning Glory said, staring downward, “He p-paid for it after all. And I didn’t have any other choice. I had to get out of that box. It just started happening to me, a-and I was wondering if he was going to make me pregnant.”

“Did he make you pregnant?” Cozy asked in shock.

“Yep, he just... pushed right in there and bam, started making me pregnant,” Morning Glory said with a shaky smile, “I just stood there, feeling it happen, and... panicking, and I was thirteen, but you’re not that much older, so please... don’t let that happen to you.”

Morning Glory had tears in her eyes now, and Cozy had no idea how to deal with this. “My mom made me inside her, no problem!” Cozy protested in confusion, “She could give birth to anypony without breaking a sweat! And you’re saying it’s bad what happened to my mom?”

“No, it’s bad if it happens to you,” Morning Glory insisted, “Because you’re just a filly. You don’t want to be getting pregnant, and... lowering your prices because you’re trying to get ready for the foal and you can’t even afford anything. Just sitting there, unable to stop getting more pregnant, a-and doing crazy things with stallions, because you’re already pregnant, so you don’t even care about debasing yourself, and...”

“My base is fine,” Cozy retorted, “You’re the one who’s debasing herself!”

Morning Glory squeaked to silence.

“You do have serious problems,” Cozy said in frustration, “If you think you’re debasing yourself just for having a foal. What’s so bad about whores anyway? You’re making stallions feel good, and sometimes mares, and just because I never mated doesn’t mean I can’t tell that it’s fun. And that’s what you’re upset about? Where is your foal, anyway?”

“I-it... I–I lost the... i-it just started cramping up one day and...” Morning said helplessly, tearing up.

“Well gee whiz, Miss Glory,” Cozy clarified sarcastically for her as Morning Glory forgot her tears in disbelief at the filly, “It sounds like you didn’t even have a foal at all. And you got... wait, you seriously got pregnant the very first time you did it?”

“Y-yes, I was in season so...?” Morning Glory said uncertainly, “That’s kind of how it works, you know.”

“Mares usually have to do it a whole bunch to get pregnant,” Cozy chided her, “Some can’t even manage it, all season. You probably got pregnant while you were doing all those stallions, thinking you were pregnant. And that’s great! That’s just how your body works, and it’s how my body works someday, so I’d really appreciate it if you would stop saying it’s a big scary disaster!”

“But it is!” Morning Glory insisted, “It’s shameful—”

“No it’s not,” Cozy declared disgustedly, “You’re just being a big baby about it. You’re here now, and you’re fine. All you had to do was a bunch of stallions, and you’re acting like you did a bad job!”

“I-it’s not okay what I did—” the mare started to say, but Cozy insisted unsympathetically,

“It is okay, you are okay, and you did a good job.” As Morning Glory fishmouthed at her, Cozy Glow counted out frankly, “You made stallions feel good, you made a lot of money...”

“N-not a lot,” Morning said bashfully.

“And maybe you got pregnant but that’s why you have a place for foals to go,” Cozy insisted, “So it’s not terrible. Just... apologize to me and leave me alone. I don’t care if I get pregnant some day, and I don’t care if I start doing stallions. There’s nothing wrong with what you did, and you’re getting all upset over nothing.”

With that Cozy turned to her lunch, determined to ignore the mare until she had finish—

“E-even if I raised my tail for a stallion and—!” Morning Glory said in a furious whisper right beside Cozy.

“Yes, even if you did all that weird stuff,” Cozy said with a roll of her eyes, then went to eating her food and—

“Even if I was begging for it and I wanted to—!” Morning Glory stopped short of becoming shrill, looking around the cafeteria in fear.

Thankfully, nopony had noticed things getting heated between them.

“I cried so hard when I lost my foal,” Morning Glory said softly, “I felt like such a failure.”

“Well, you were,” Cozy told her grumpily, eyeing her plate of food hungrily, “But if you want a foal so badly, why don’t you just try again?”

“I—!” Blushing hotly, Morning Glory said in a measured tone, “I... do not want a foal.”

“Golly, then I guess you didn’t fail at all!” Cozy said in false cheer, “Seriously, why are you so upset about being a whore, and then having whore things happen to you?”

“Whores are evil!” Morning Glory protested desperately.

A surprised laugh burst out of Cozy Glow.

Morning Glory wasn’t laughing.

“You haven’t even seen evil, if you think that’s evil,” Cozy said in a pitying tone, turning to look at the older mare, “Whores are just...” she waved a hoof, trying to think how a stallion would see it, “...fun and a little dangerous. So thank you for apologizing, but you can’t apologize if you didn’t do anything wrong, Miss Morning Glory, not even when those stallions were making you pregnant. Now can I eat my lunch already?”

“O-of course,” Morning Glory replied in shock, “You don’t even mind that I...”

“Anypony who does is stupid,” Cozy Glow told her flatly, “Unfortunately most ponies are stupid, but that doesn’t mean they’re right.”

“I don’t believe you,” the brown earth pony mare said, tensely.

“You don’t have to believe me, if you know it’s true yourself,” Cozy replied smugly. She turned to eat then, hoping Morning Glory would take the hint and scram.

And the mare finally did, but not before standing there an uncomfortable amount of time, until Cozy Glow heard her soft words, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Cozy asked, looking up from her food, but Morning Glory was already trotting halfway across the cafeteria.

“Whatever,” Cozy grumbled, going back to her hay with the relish of somepony who did not give a flying feather about pregnant whores. She filed that one away for later though.

“I wish you were here,” Cozy said wistfully to the skull cradled in her hooves. Lying on her back, on her bed, Cozy wasn’t sleepy yet, and with the lights out there was nothing else to do, so she just lay here talking to it. Because she really didn’t have anyone else to talk to.

A barely perceptible laugh, and Cozy said, “You should have seen it. Ponies in Equestria are crazy. There’s a mare here, who’s... here! Just because she got embarassed! I don’t get it at all. Embarassment means you’re as crazy as that... pony who thinks she’s a dog? You’d probably know what was going on here. I just don’t know at all.”

Nuzzling the skull, she said, “At least they gave you back. It was so easy. All I had to do was ask, and Starlight just gave you to me. I don’t know why she keeps acting like she cares about me, but she did and that made her give you to me. She thinks I can get better because she was just as bad as me, but...”

Sighing, Cozy lay her cheek against the pillow, saying dully, “I can’t get better like she did though, no matter how nice she is to me. I almost had it. I almost had everypony in this world in the palm of my wing, and then bam. Rainbows. If the tree hadn’t interfered, I could have showed all those stupid unicorns and their stupid magic, and Starlight’s right; that’s not all it would have done. Why didn’t I even think?”

Cozy’s skull had no answers for her.

“I guess I’m a killer now too,” Cozy said unenthusiastically, lifting her head to look at it again, “It wasn’t the same though.” Shuddering, she hugged it closer saying, “I wish I could have killed them myself. Broke their heads open, or crushed their spines, or stabbed them in the heart, until they bled out all their blood. You would have liked that. But instead all I get to do is sit here not even knowing that they were dying. It’s all my fault and I didn’t even get to see it happen. I didn’t even get to see them die.

“I thought I had the solution to all my problems, and it just went all wrong,” Cozy whimpered petulantly in the darkness, “Everypony hates me now, I don’t have any power, and nopony in all of Equestria believes I am cute and loveable anymore. They aren’t forgetting. They’re still attacking me. It’s only a matter of time now until somepony comes to take their revenge, and not even Starlight Glimmer will be able to save me.”

Elsewhere, Cozy Glow’s tinny voice came over the speaker, saying fussily, “Oh momma, what do we do now?” before lapsing into unsatisfied silence.

Starlight Glimmer stood in a dimly lit room. The slender, lavender unicorn stood in the dim light, before a tall array of monitors, all filled with mysterious shadows. The lower left monitor showed a shadowy silouette of a little filly laying on her bed, talking to a skull, and the audio crystal in the corner was blinking red.

Starlight stood, frozen, staring in silence at the monitor, until the filly’s chest moved evenly up and down, and only her soft snores broadcast over the microphone. “That c-can’t be her... nopony’s life is that bad,” Starlight said uselessly. Nopony could hear what she said, because she wasn’t a patient being monitored at a mental hospital. “Oh dear sweet Luna,” Starlight murmured, sinking to her haunches, struggling to even comprehend what that would do to somepony.

Cozy gave no further truths or half-truths, continuing to sleep away the night, until Starlight finally realized she was falling asleep too, albeit on her hooves. Starlight Glimmer snorted awake, then blushed, and unlocked her forelegs from bracing on them. She shut off all the monitors with the press of a button, hoping she could get somepony to work night shift on this soon. Starlight Glimmer wasn’t sure she ever wanted to turn them on again, herself. Then, she turned and trotted away from the towering monitor array.

The door in the hall labeled “SECURITY” quietly opened and closed, then the soft clopping of a mare could be heard moving through the lower levels, until Starlight was outside, out of the building, looking up at the moon shining down on her from overhead. “Am I doing the right thing, Princess Luna?” Starlight asked, gazing up at its shining surface silently.

The lavender unicorn watched for a while, then shrugged, trotting on her way, muttering in amusement to herself, “I really should ask her that in person, actually.”

“Cozy Glow does not have nightmares,” Princess Luna replied evenly.

“What?!” Starlight Glimmer said in stark disbelief, “But she’s severely traumatized!”

“Do not take that as an indication she is not,” the princess said cooly, “Ponies will suppress their fears even in dreams, when they are not ready to face them. Imagine if you will, that you could dictate the filly’s dreams, and you gave her a dream of exactly what plagues her. How do you think she would respond?”

“She would freak out!” Starlight easily replied.

“And she would wake up,” Luna concluded, “Nightmares have limits, Starlight Glimmer. It is a grave danger indeed when they surpass those bounds. I think the filly may have nightmares in her future, if what you say is true, but I fear it will be a sign of her healing, not of her distress.”

“Can you at least tell me what she dreams about?” Starlight Glimmer asked desperately.

Princess Luna looked thoughtfully at the pony, the only pony standing there in her court. The elegant throne the princess rested on was in a relatively small room. The princess never needed a large one, and really she was grateful she needed one at all. Dark lavender curtains outlined the windows into an expansive sky full of stars. Luna needed not natural lighting, for all was revealed in shadow.

“I will tell you what she dreams of,” she told Starlight Glimmer tactfully, “Once you tell me what your friend Sunburst thinks, when you tell him about the one where you were suspended from a kite as a filly in your first estrous while he—”

“Okay, point taken!” Starlight said, frantically waving all those terribly unmentionable images out of the imagination of her, or anypony else who might have heard them speaking. Not that anypony else could possibly have listened to their conversation, for Luna’s court was impregnable.

As the lavender unicorn backed up with ears low in apology, Luna’s passive look softened. She told Starlight Glimmer seriously, “All I will say is that Cozy Glow once dreamed of conquest. Now, she dreams of you.”

“Me?” Starlight asked, ears going up in confusion.

“Take from that what you will,” the princess replied, “But I do think you are reaching that filly on some level.”

“I hope so...” Starlight said uncertainly.

“I must take my leave soon, my little pony,” Princess Luna said, “The night is still young, and there are nightmares yet to be defeated.”

“Thank you for seeing me, princess,” Starlight said gratefully, “I didn’t know you saw ponies on request.”

“Ponies should know our court is open all the night,” Luna replied unsympathetically, “Would that I knew how to bring it up to them.”

“Well, either way I’m grateful” Starlight said with a smile, “And thanks for saving me from the giant pony eating skull.”

“It was no matter, Starlight Glimmer,” Princess Luna said, spreading her wings and lighting up her horn, “Now, I believe you were busy doing something?”

“I was?” Starlight asked curiously, unable to think of anything she had been doing, other than that kite Starlight was strapped to, the wind whistling around her ears as the filly was held tight up in the air. This time Sunburst didn’t see her though, because this time Starlight had been trained by the ninja ponies of the Far East, so she got to watch... everything.

With the birds tweeting and the warm sun beaming in through the window into her room, Starlight Glimmer awoke feeling well rested, but... she lifted her blanket and looked at herself under it, groaning, “Maybe next time I’ll just write her a letter.”

Spitting out a sliced off pink feather, Cozy Glow exhaled in relief saying, “Oh, finally.” Her feathers were finally molting. She was preening her wings one day, and a pinion just painlessly came off right in her teeth. Her coverts had been shedding for days, making her whole wing itch until she nibbled or flapped them out. Her secondaries too, one after the other, relatively well formed but smaller feathers. But now finally she’d lost a primary.

It took about two weeks for a pegasus to molt, at least that’s how long it took Cozy. It happened twice a year or so. She was always losing feathers on occasion, but it just sped up briefly during that time, to freshen everything up, and take care of her pinions. Her new secondaries were already starting to fan out from their pin feathers. The pinions that Cozy had... removed by force were also fanning out, which was a huge relief since she was insanely protective of her primary pins.

Not that she was insane, even though they had her trapped in an insane asylum. Cozy just didn’t want them to cut her feathers in half again, and the thought of cutting them before the pins had fanned out just made her twist up inside in utter squick. Because you could actually feel your pins, as in they hurt to poke them, or nibble on them, so cutting them... what would that even do? Cozy Glow didn’t want to know. She just wanted to fly again.

The past months had been utter torment, hurting her hooves just walking around everywhere, trapped by walls with no roof, when it was so obvious where she should fly. But she couldn’t, because they wouldn’t trust her. And the only reason they wouldn’t trust her is that Cozy Glow had to pretend, in order to be who she really was. Cozy’s missing primary was a source of relief, but also worry. Because if she grew back her primaries... were they going to cut her wings in half again?

So she was unusually reserved and shy, when the yellow furred Nurse Coldheart came to take her to the shower today. Cozy was afraid if she messed up, she’d lose her wings again, so it was too scary to say anything bad. “Can I please shower by myself?” she asked the nurse pony plaintively, “I do so want to be trusted around here. Maybe if you see I can behave when I shower myself, we can build some trust together?”

“Makes sense to me,” the nurse said easily, “You break anything though, and I’ll have to go right back to watching you like a hawk.”

“Oh golly, thank you so much! I won’t break anything of course,” Cozy said, gloating to herself how easy this was. It was just like that card house that Starlight made. “I promise that the showers will be A-OK.”

With hot water streaming down the fur on her sides, dripping off from her belly, Cozy Glow thought about what she was going to do. Now, Starlight was a bit of a wild card, but she seemed to genuinely want to trust Cozy, so that could be useful. Cozy needed to get to the point of having basic freedom to do what she wanted without being watched. Then she could resume her search for ways to bend Equestria to her will.

Cozy Glow turned off the water, to rub some conditioner into her hair. It was hard to maintain her tail all wavey like this, harder than when she just rolled it up and tied it off, but she had to admit it looked... nice. Plus Cozy wasn’t about to disappoint Rarity, the next time she came to visit. Cozy Glow didn’t want Rarity to think she was returning to her old ways. As if Cozy ever left her old ways, because she was right all along. None of these ponies knew what was good for them, and she had to get them ready if she ever wanted to destroy that old—

“Are you done in there?” the nurse called out suspiciously.

“Just rinsing off!” Cozy called back, then turned on the hot water again. She would have to make her plans at a time when ponies weren’t doing their trust building exercises, letting her in the shower on her own. It wouldn’t do to have them thinking Cozy was trying to escape in the shower, unless she actually figured out a way to do so.

By the time Cozy shut off the shower and went about drying off, her blue mane was plastered to her skull and her tail was dripping with warm, clean water. She was going to have to include hot showers in her plans: it felt so good to have water like that. First wringing out her mane and tail, to get most of the water down the drain, Cozy stood up, shaking off as water droplets scattered around the shower room. She whipped her tail, still heavy from water, then checked her feathers. It looked like some of the soap had gotten into them, so she’d have to take care of that.

But first she walked out of the shower, where the nurse pony was waiting for Cozy by the sinks. “Would you like to check?” Cozy asked graciously, “The showers are all working perfectly fine.”

“No thanks,” the nurse said casually, “You need any help drying off?”

“I’ll be fine,” Cozy said a little self-consciously. She was tired of being treated like a baby, just because she wasn’t all grown up yet. And crazy. “See? These make it easy,” Cozy added, pushing the button to activate the wall dryer. It wasn’t a big one, but it didn’t take a lot, and if Cozy twisted her tail hairs, she could squeeze the last of the dripping water from it, while the hot air dryer loosened everything up and made Cozy’s fur get all fuzzy.

Cozy’s wings still weren’t working, but it wouldn’t be long. The ponies graciously provided wing oil next to the soap dispenser, so Cozy didn’t have to sit there for half an hour waiting for her glands to produce enough. She nosed the smooth oil into her wings until they were sleek and gleaming, then used her wings to rub any excess oil into the itchy patches of her fur.

Cozy Glow looked in the mirror, seeing her old self again, sort of. Her fur was clean, pink and fuzzy. Her hair in stripes of blue. She was healthy and full, eating better than she perhaps ever had. Cozy looked into her own eyes, a dingy orange pink so close to the color of her fur. She blinked them to check her eyelashes, though she had never done anything particularly special with those. Cozy didn’t think it would have a huge effect on her appeal anyway.

Her mane was already starting to curl, so Cozy Glow ruffled it up with a hoof, focusing on relaxing it as she tugged its tangles out with the hair brush. It was weird how much effort Rarity had gone through over the past few months just to show Cozy how to curl her hair sideways like this. Cozy Glow felt like Rarity disliked her, and Rarity had every reason to, yet she... insisted on helping her. Cozy didn’t understand why, but she did respect Rarity’s judgement on manestyles. It did feel kind of natural to Cozy the way her hair could curve in sort of S shape before curling up and around. Curling her hair all the way didn’t really... need to happen anymore.

Cozy Glow was just glad that she’d finally found a better way to deal with her stupid curly hair, instead of back when curlilocks were the only way she knew. It was nice to look different. She could look at herself in the mirror this way, without remembering all those other ponies, and... things that her old hair reminded her of.

Cozy felt good as she headed for her room, and the nurse smiled at her, which made Cozy feel as fuzzy inside as her fur. She almost didn’t mind being shut in, trotting in there and jumping up on her bed, where she had a book open that Starlight had brought for her, the fool. When Cozy picked it out from a list, she was just joking. She never thought Starlight would actually lend her a step by step guide to making friends and influencing ponies.

The eponymous book might hold the secrets to Cozy Glow’s downfall, and help her avoid repeating her mistakes. It was even written by one of the most powerful ponies in Equestrian history, so Cozy’s total domination of all the land was at her hooftips, as she read. It even started out with a fight! Like actual ponies dying! She’d never read anything like that in the School of Friendship before.

Cozy Glow just had to figure out how to convince other ponies that they weren’t allowed to criticize her, even if she was only pretending to be a good pony, and then she would be able to influence ponies even more than she was already, until none were able to stop her! It was troubling though, because the book seemed to be trying to convince her to fall for that trick, as if doing that would guarantee the success of anypony other than liars and cheats.

But Cozy was pretty sure the next chapter would clear all that up.

Two very dense chapters later, and the book struck the door to Cozy’s cell, flopping down on the floor as Cozy groaned in exasperation from where she lay.

Certain infuriatingly poorly titled books aside, Cozy Glow was progressing quite well toward her long term plan of making it seem like she was cured. She didn’t even blow up at Sea Swirl anymore for being an arrogant self-absorbed nitwit. The mare couldn’t help it, really. Cozy had managed to turn her around to the point that Sea Swirl was desperate to prove herself to the young filly, which at least made for some entertainment. Cozy Glow didn’t really see much use in it though, since she could’ve gotten just about anypony to do what she wanted them to do, on a short term basis, so what was different about this one? As funny and engaging as the older mare could be, Cozy couldn’t think of a reason she might need Sea Swirl in the future.

Most of the other patients were like that. That crazy pink and purple mare was freaking out about the applesauce invaders the other day, and Cozy could have easily gotten her to do what she wanted, simply by threatening her with her applesauce cup, but... what would be the point? The mare was funny and over the top, and... somehow more genuine than normal ponies. Crazy ponies couldn’t act sane, Cozy realized, so they always had to act like they really are. But what could you do with that?

Cozy Glow was feeling more confident at least, thanks in part to the skull she returned to find once again, there in her bookcase where she’d left it. She hadn’t blown up at anypony in a long time, and she was even starting to get her game back, pretending to feel things for the counselor, Starlight Glimmer.

So Cozy Glow was quite dismayed at dinner one day, because a new patient came in, a stallion with bright pink hair. He pranced about like Pinkie Pie curious about everypony, while nurses Coldheart and Sweetheart watched them all carefully from where they stood by the door, and finally the stallion lit upon Cozy Glow. Sliding his tray up next to hers, he plopped his big butt on the bench to the left of her, going straight for the potato chips.

Cozy scooted away just a bit, but it occurred to her that she’d never been this close to a stallion before. The other stallion living here was named “Made” something, but he scared Cozy Glow. He’d look at you with these narrow pupils, and say things that made you feel like something was terribly wrong, and he just gave Cozy and everypony else the creeps. Before that? It just wasn’t her place to be close to them, especially considering what stallions were usually thinking about doing back then.

This guy was a lot friendlier looking than the other stallions, though Cozy was still trying to get used to being the one looking, instead of the one looked at. She’d figure it out pretty soon, but for now, she saw a creamy furred earth pony stallion with shockingly pink hair up in a fabulous mohawk, to match the color of his eyes. A fellow pink-eyed pony, his cutie mark was a trophy, which was... sort of like a chess piece? Closer than a pen and pencil, at least. Perhaps he got it in conquering something? It had a terrible scar cut into it though, which matched with the long scar along his side.

He noticed Cozy looking at the scar, and Cozy looked away as he did, but she knew he saw her, and she couldn’t stop a stupid blush from coming to her face. The stallion looked intrigued, as he asked the filly in a warm tenor,

“Do you have a skull?”

Cozy Glow’s fur stood on end. She looked at the stallion in a new light, saying, “What do you mean? Who told you I have a skull?”

“The doctor!” he replied in baffled confusion, “Can you believe it?”

“Why did they tell you?” Cozy said, turning to him in alarm, “That was supposed to be private!”

“Don’t worry, nopony can see it!” he replied confidently, “Nopony even knows it’s there! But how do you know it’s there?”

“I can... see it?” Cozy said uneasily.

“You can?” he said in hopeful excitement, “How? I can never see my skull, no matter how hard I look with my eyes!”

Giving him a look of disbelief, Cozy asked, “You don’t have a skull too, do you?”

“I don’t know!” he said in genuine fear, “I don’t know! How am I gonna hold my eyes in?!”

“Your—eyes?!” Cozy said, leaning back from the stallion anxiously, trying not to notice the pink nurse Sweetheart looking their way.

“Without my skull, my eyes are going to fall out!” he declared in horror, “Oh, what am I gonna do?! Where are my eyeballs??”

“You—” Cozy’s face flushed red as she said, “You meant your own skull inside your own head?! Are you seriously that stupid??”

“I don’t have a skull though!” he protested frantically, “You said so! You looked at my skull and you said I didn’t have one. You need to help me find my eyeballs!”

“You have a skull, you idiot!” Cozy shouted, “I don’t have a skull! I—I mean I do have a skull, just like everypony does in their own head!”

“How do you know though??” he asked in terror.

“Why are you asking me about skulls?!” Cozy retorted, “Are you trying to make me sound crazy? You’re trying to make me as crazy as you are with your stupid eyeballs and pretending you don’t even know about your own—” the nurse grabbed her then, picking her up right from the bench as Cozy screamed, “Let me go! I’m not crazy!! He’s the crazy one! He’s the psycho killer, I bet, who killed all the foals and doesn’t even care that they—”

After Cozy Glow was carried outside the cafeteria into the hallway while she howled accusations, Nurse Sweetheart—of course it would be the evil nurse—got right in Cozy’s face and the pink pony growled, “You. Need. To. Calm. Down.”

“I am calm!” Cozy protested shrilly, pushing away from her, “He’s the—!”

“No,” the nurse interrupted, “You need to take deep breaths and—”

“I won’t!” Cozy squealed in rage, “I won’t! There is nothing wrong with me!”

“I don’t care if there’s anything wrong with you,” Nurse Sweetheart shouted at the filly, glaring at her with a fury that made Cozy’s brain stagger to a halt. “Take a deep breath,” the nurse ordered, “Do it!”

Cozy tried but she couldn’t take a deep breath because her chest was shaking too much. W-w-w-why was the nurse acting like—?

“Again!” Sweetheart demanded. Cozy tried again, and they repeated this until Cozy Glow was sucking in shaky breaths saying,

“I–I–I don’t know what happened! What was... why are you...?”

“Keep going, filly,” the big, pink mare said sounding worn out in a very familiar way, “You’re doing great.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” Cozy said in trembling fear that threatened to turn to the unthinkable, “What are you doing to me? I–I can’t—!”

The nurse didn’t seem to like how Cozy started repeatedly hitting her own head against the wall to keep from crying, so the nurse grabbed her again. Something impaled Cozy in the butt like a needle—oh it was literally a needle, so Cozy screamed imperiously “Take me to my room I need to go to my room!!”

The nurse scruffed her so Cozy couldn’t escape, then carried her weakly protesting form down the hall. The nurse took her straight to her room, then tossed her inside. Then as Cozy struggled up with her rear end stinging, the nurse was pushing one of the generic teddy bears Starlight used in the stupid therapy stuff, shoving it ungently through the slot in Cozy’s door.

“Take it out on that,” the nurse said coldly as the bear popped out and tumbled to the floor before Cozy Glow. Cozy couldn’t believe the nurse said it, but Cozy wasn’t going to say no. She leaped upon the bear, crushing it to the ground, biting it, ripping its head off in her teeth, and as she did, that leaden weakness continued creeping from her butt, sinking into her whole body, until Cozy couldn’t even lift a hoof to kick more stuffing around her room. She barely had enough energy to look up at the nurse, looking at her through the window, and say in shock, “Thank... you,” before Cozy was out like a light.

It didn’t feel like Cozy had fallen asleep. But there she was, waking up all tucked into her bed, with a sore butt. Again. The torn stuffing had been mostly cleaned up, and the nurse was gone, leaving Cozy Glow in the quiet of her room, alone. Sitting up, the filly stared at her dainty forehooves, murmuring, “What is happening to me? Why couldn’t I stop getting angry? I was doing so well, and it just—!”

When Cozy Glow laid her hooves down, her right foreleg came down on smooth, hard bone: it was her skull. Her other skull. The skull that Cozy Glow always made carefully sure to place on her bookcase after waking up, it was laying next to her in bed, pressed up into her soft pink fur. Cozy Glow couldn’t have gotten it herself. Did the nurse actually get it? Like actually picking it up and carrying it over to her, while Cozy was unconscious? Cozy Glow knew Nurse Sweetheart didn’t have any magic.

“I thought she was just a bully,” Cozy said, pulling the skull into her embrace, “I didn’t think she would... she really picked you up? Nopony does that! They’re all afraid of you, or grossed out.”

Looking at the silent door, Cozy Glow wondered who Nurse Sweetheart really was, since she obviously wasn’t the pony Cozy thought her to be.

“I’m nothing but a bully!” Nurse Sweetheart wailed in anguish.

“You can’t tender your resignation over this,” Starlight Glimmer said tiredly, “I can’t stop you from leaving, but this is just stupid.”

“It’s not stupid if I can’t stop bullying my patients!” the nurse retorted, “I lost my temper and—and they’re not safe around me! What if I hurt somepony again?”

“That was my fault for forcing it, when I didn’t know how badly traumatized Cozy Glow was around leashes,” Starlight said flatly, “You didn’t hurt anypony today, and you stopped a disaster in the making.”

“Why did she thank me?” the nurse moaned miserably, “She’s nothing but a sweet angel of a filly and I just grabbed her and j-j-jammed it in—”

“She’s an absolute demon, and you removed her from a potentially traumatizing situation, stopped her from traumatizing anypony else, including our newest patient, who I think Cozy Glow might be friends with if she gets to know him,” Starlight said dryly, folding her forehooves before her, “You’re seriously questioning yourself for sedating her, when she was bashing her own head against the wall?”

“B-but she thanked me!” the nurse whimpered, “She just said thank you and fell over like a sack of beans!”

“So even Cozy approves of your actions,” Starlight declared abasively, “You know how hard she tries not to cry, and you helped her with that. She doesn’t just thank anypony, Sweetheart. You did something... very important for her, whatever it was.”

“It was... probably the teddy bear,” the nurse said faintly, “She just tore it in half. I’ve never seen anypony so...”

“Mad?” Starlight suggested.

“Hurt.”

Author's Note

Oof...

Would Be Psychoanalyzer

When a weary purple and pink unicorn came to Twilight Sparkle’s office for a little private conversation over tea, Twilight was more than delighted to entertain her. Starlight had missed these weekly tea parties for the last three weeks after all. So with a “BUSY” sign on the door to the school headmare’s office, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer chatted over tea.

Unsurprisingly, the conversation soon turned towards Cozy Glow and her mysterious skull.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to let her keep it?” Twilight asked incredulously.

“I’m not taking it away from her, Twilight,” Starlight said flatly, setting down her teacup.

“Why not?” Twilight asked, “You’re going to just let a filly sleep with a skull? ”

Starlight gave Twilight a conflicted expression, before hanging her head and saying, “I’m starting to see why you put Cozy Glow in Tartarus.”

Frowning self-consciously, Twilight protested, “It’s not healthy for a child to become fixated on a skull. There’s nothing unreasonable about that!”

Instead of contesting that, Starlight said, “Yes, and the fact remains that she is fixated on it. Until we give her more sustainable coping methods, I’m afraid that’ll have to do. She thanked me for it, Twilight. That was the first actual empathy I’d ever seen from her.”

“Having empathy for a skull isn’t—”

“No, she thanked me, Twilight,” Starlight interrupted.

Twilight paused at that to think. Sipping at her tea, she said, “She really was a different pony last year. I thought I knew her.”

“It might have been the first time where Cozy Glow has thought about the well-being of somepony other than herself,” Starlight said hopefully, “All that gratitude she showed last year was just an act. But now that her true colors have shown through... she’s finding reasons to be genuinely thankful. Do you know she thanked Nurse Sweetheart the other day?

“Nurse Sweetheart?” Twilight prompted curiously.

“She’s the assisted care nurse who’s been helping corral some of the patients,” Starlight said, “She almost quit the other day because Cozy thanked her... that’s how powerful it was. Cozy had... lost control, and was hurting herself and needed to be sedated. And I think the filly recognized that.”

“How so?” Twilight asked, “Cozy thanked the nurse for sedating her? That seems... odd.”

“The nurse gave her a stress doll,” Starlight clarified, “You know, something to attack to get the anger out of your system and the uh... sedative into your system. Cozy was so mad she tore its head off.”

A pause, and Twilight asked flatly, “You mean that literally, don’t you?”

“Yes...” Starlight said pensively, “And I will say that it... hurts to get angry, so angry you think you’re going to do something you regret. And Sweetheart just... diffused that in the span of five minutes. Cozy wasn’t thanking the nurse for sedating her. She was thanking the nurse for understanding her, giving her what she needed and... saving her from having to cry.”

“I really can’t even imagine what would make somepony so averse to crying,” Twilight said, shaking her head as she sipped at her tea.

“Losing the most important pony in the world to you,” Starlight said somberly, “Left all alone to deal with her grief at such a young age, with no closure. She didn’t give up. O-other foals would have given up and died after what Cozy went through. I’m surprised she doesn’t ever do anything but cry, and... maybe that’s the point.”

“You... found out what happened to her?” Twilight asked hopefully.

Shaking her head, Starlight says, “Only that it had to be more than a foal could bear. Cozy once told me that things will never be okay, and I think she’s convinced of that, that the only thing she can do to survive is to hide her broken nature. Cozy just wants things to be okay again, but she thinks they can’t, so the closest she thinks she can ever come to happiness is... to pretend she’s the kind of pony who doesn’t care when horrible things happen.”

“...like ponies dropping out of the clouds,” Twilight said softly.

Starlight sipped at her tea.

“How are you doing, Starlight?” Twilight asked with concern, “Having to listen to Cozy’s troubles, it really seems to be hitting you hard.”

“You’re not wrong,” Starlight sighed gloomily, “I don’t know how I can help her if I can’t deal with my own issues. I hated the pony I used to be, even when I was. Cozy’s there right now: hating who she is, but feeling like she has no choice. If Sunburst had... had died somehow. If I only got to reunite with his skull...”

Twilight sipped at her tea.

“Cozy Glow needs professional help,” Starlight said in frustration, “Not some... half broken emotional cripple who is starting to feel like Cozy’s right and nopony could ever get better from what happened to her. I need to find her a pony who can sympathize with her, without empathizing with her. It’s just hard to find good ponies with the time and funding we have.”

“I’m fairly sure I could fast track that funding,” Twilight said cagily, “Since the lives of more foals are potentially at stake.”

“That might get the police involved though,” Starlight replied uneasily, “And I don’t want them breaking in and acting like they own the place. Our patients already think the asylum is a prison.”

“Still, you’re up to a dozen inpatients by now, aren’t you?” Twilight asked hopefully.

Starlight nodded, saying, “The one you brought in was number 13. She definitely seems to have pathological sociopathy.”

“What I don’t understand is why she came to me,” Twilight said glumly, “I thought she was just somepony’s lost filly, but she’s as mysterious as Cozy Glow. Probably from the same place, considering what she did.”

Shaking her head, Starlight Glimmer said, “And thei weirdest thing about her is how she insists that she is... what was that word again?”

“A yewman being,” Twilight confirmed, “It’s some kind of ape creature according to her, but I don’t know any species of ape called yewmans.”

“Nevertheless, she is really... messed up,” Starlight said, “Sort of the same way Cozy Glow is, and... a few others. I’ve been thinking about trying a little group therapy there, just to reduce my workload.”

“I seriously do not envy you,” Twilight Sparkle said, with a bemused laugh, “I don’t know what I’d do if I had to take care of anypony like that.”

“She’s not as bad as she was with you,” Starlight mused, “She was more of a danger to herself than others, and we have her on close watch.”

“Still...” Twilight said uneasily, “How are you doing? Are you really okay with doing this?”

“I’m more concerned about them than me,” Starlight said, shoulders sinking, “I’m working twelve hour days to get this done, but there’s still not enough time to get them all out of their rooms and talking to me. Some of them are isolated for long periods of time, and that’s not healthy for anypony.”

“12 hours?!” Twilight exclaimed wide-eyed, “Nopony works that long! Starlight, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

“I have some candidates!” Starlight protested weakly, “Some pretty promising ones in fact. If we have about... one counselor per four patients, that’s what I’m aiming for. It’s still a slow process though, even if I had the funding.”

“Well, good luck with that, and if there’s anything I can do...” Twilight said unhappily.

Smiling at her gratefully, Starlight replied, “Oh don’t worry, princess. You’re already helping just by being there for me. Honestly that’s why the skull is helping Cozy too. It can’t get her funding, but if she knows it’ll always be there when she comes back... n-not that I’m comparing you to a skull or anything.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Twilight drawled with a roll of her eyes, sighing and adding wistfully, “If only we knew who that skull really was.”

“Yeah, if only... heh heh!” Starlight replied with a leery smile.

“They made me cry in therapy again.”

Cozy Glow curled around her skull, sitting in her room all alone, remarking, “I tried not to. I don’t know why they keep making me sad. I’m not sad, a-and I’m not angry! Why should I be? Nothing bad happened to me. It just seems bad because ponies don’t understand I don’t know why I keep getting angry. I don’t care about this stuff. I don’t care about what happened. I don’t care about you, or... or anything, but power. That’s all that matters.”

The lights went out, but Cozy wanted to keep talking, so she said, “My wings are almost better again. It sure took a long time! Especially the pinions that I didn’t pull out. I’m making sure my wings are clean and oiled and all the feathers are straight, and I managed to hover today! Betcha in a week I’ll be flying around just like I used to: your little a-a-ang—”

Cozy swallowed her feelings and taking care not to disturb the skull, she started kicking the indentation in wall until her hoof hurt. It was her bad leg, so it didn’t take long. “Sorry about that. I just get a little silly sometime,” Cozy said wryly, pulling her blankets over them both, “I’ll show them all someday just how I really feel.”

Starlight Glimmer turned away from that particular security monitor. They had a security guard now, but the police mare Twilight had provided was off her shift, mostly because that gave Starlight an excuse to listen in on Cozy Glow’s little private conversations before bed. Doubt sunk in Starlight’s gut as the filly quieted down though, because even though she was just trying to help Cozy Glow and learn more about her, it felt really bad to do this.

Starlight didn’t know what to do. Every time she thought about telling the filly she was being monitored, it was too tempting to wait just one more night. She couldn’t get Cozy Glow to admit who the skull was in her sessions, and she knew it wasn’t helping the filly one bit to keep covering up the truth like that. Starlight could either tell Cozy she knew the truth and help the filly lie, or Starlight could... not tell the truth. Starlight knew she’d let it slip eventually, that she was listening in on the filly, but she just... couldn’t get Cozy Glow to open up any other way.

One thing was for sure, Starlight was going to move heaven and earth to make sure that nopony could take that skull away from Cozy Glow. She only hoped that was not somehow all part of Cozy Glow’s plan.

Cozy Glow had no idea what she was doing. There was an exercise yard that Cozy was allowed, even expected to go out to, with supervision. She’d never been watched this much in her life, and she didn’t like it very much. But she got to run around in relative freedom in here. Plus the ponies here were crazy, and because they were crazy they didn’t make sense, and because they didn’t make sense, it was... thrilling.

So that’s why she wasn’t exercising her wings and trying to stay in the air for longer periods of time. She was pinned between two ponies, as they careened about on roller skates, blinded by a convenient towel emergency, only saved from crashing into the side of the building or the walls of the exercise yard by Cozy Glow’s frantic shouting of “Left! No your other left! Right! Jump!”

The schizophrenics were Cozy Glow’s favorite, at least so far. The pink mare and that cream colored stallion with an equally pink mane, they were just so much fun, even if they weren’t much else. When they weren’t talking about anything and nothing at all, they were having wild hallucinations, or something equally peculiar. And unlike Intern they jumped into it with all four hooves and made up these wonderfully elaborate stories about what happened that were just over the top oddball awesome.

Cozy Glow still wasn’t sure where Screwball had gotten her hooves on a quad of roller skates, which she and the stallion named Trophy Pot (but he wanted them to call him Cracked) were sharing, with four of eight hooves on the ground, their outer two hooves sprung up in the air for balance, and Cozy stuck in between them shouting out commands until they all crashed in a heap.

The nurse caught up to them then, and Cozy Glow stood atop the two semi-conscious ponies, waiting for the nurse to say, “You’re not supposed to have roller skates!”

“Well maybe you should ask the pony who gave them to them,” Cozy protested grumpily, “It was going great until they crashed into that towel rack!”

Cozy had no idea what she was doing, because it defied any notion of purpose. She couldn’t for the life of her think of how provoking the mentally disturbed in order to delight in their antics would accomplish anything, but it was so much fun. Ponies kept saying that she was bad for not having everything planned ahead so it would all work out perfectly every time and never hurt anypony, but Cozy Glow was starting to think that maybe being bad wasn’t always such a bad thing.

Cozy wasn’t sure what the Screwball mare’s deal was, but she really liked the stallion. He was the nicest stallion there, and Cozy really felt like she understood what he was going through. It was the second time she met him, a few weeks before today’s roller skate incident, when Cozy Glow came to that understanding, regardless of the words he barely exchanged. It was one of his less lucid moments in fact, when Cozy barely knew him, but he came bounding up beside her, not to Cozy Glow, but to his friend, the screwy pink mare. All boisterous and excited, he declared to Screwball,

“I just realized! When you go up a creek without a paddle you can’t find the paddle and finding things is how you sleuth out problems like a detective with a magnifying glass and a funny magnifying hat that goes on his head to make sure it doesn’t fall off because he has a skull otherwise his hat would fall off down into the canyon where he was flying which had a river on the bottom swimming in the lagoon you can’t beach a whale if I’m thirsty.”

“Oh no!” the mare declared in horror, “You’re one of them, again!”

She then managed to climb underneath the table entirely, despite her hindquarters almost getting stuck, and seemingly unaware of her plight, he continued to babble something about how the moon being made of cheese led to a snow fort tissue crisis, while the mare, commandingly rather than fearfully stuck her hoof out and declared, “Stay back! I have a hoof and I’m not afraid to use it! You and your heads!”

Cozy Glow was of course sitting right beside the pink mare when this occurred. And she was just going to watch in amusement until a nurse pony came to break them up. The nurse ponies always did that, even though... it really wasn’t clear either of the two lunatics wanted to be separated. Then Cozy noticed something, and against her better judgement, blurted out,

“Wait, you’re a pegasus? I thought you were an earth pony!”

He stopped talking long enough to turn and look at Cozy with confused pink eyes, before replying, “Earth ponies are on the earth which is round like a ball did you know? Throwing it across space like a spaceship I used to have that made noise and lights and the carnival has a ferris wheel that..”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Cozy said frustratedly, shutting the stallion up again, “How are you a pegasus all of a sudden?”

“I have no idea!” he said happily, then he looked back under the table, to talk with the screwball mare again. Or “talk” to her, rather.

“Have at you, you fleend!” the mare eventually declared at the rambling stallion, and leaped forward, tackling him to the ground. Or, she would have if she didn’t get her butt stuck between the bench and the table again. Then, still babbling, he helped pull her out, whereupon she trotted away laughing, and he went and trotted after her.

It was kind of adorable really. Cozy wondered if they were going to make foals together. Then she shuddered at the idea of those two being anypony’s parents. As Cozy Glow watched them head off together, she blinked in surprise again, because the trophy marked pony was once more an earth pony. With the scar cut into his cutie mark, the one across his right eye, and the long scar along his...

The pink and blue filly stiffened, and a cold chill went down her spine. Her wings snapped out. She regarded the diminishing rear of the stallion who was possibly the happiest, most cheerful patient in here. Turning and looking at her food then, Cozy Glow had to calm herself down enough just to fold her wings instead of taking off right then and there. Lost in thought, Cozy Glow... understood what that stallion was going through.

Cozy Glow also had no idea what she was doing when she was reading about something called Algebra, or when she was playing out in the yard, or walking under the trees. It was a lot more fun than trying to plan ahead, but how could she continue having no idea, without making another mistake that turned everypony against her again? How much fun could she have, before something went horribly wrong again?

“Cozy, I said why don’t you go first!”

“Huh?” Cozy said, looking up at Starlight Glimmer, in the circle she sat in with those other ponies. “Me?” Cozy griped, “Why do I have to go first!”

“Because I want to give you a chance to set a good example!” Starlight countered kindly, “Now tell us your name, and why you’re here with us today.”

“My name is Cozy Glow, and I’m not supposed to be here,” Cozy replied snippily, giving an irritated flip to her swirly blue tail for good measure.

Starlight didn’t even blink. “Alright everypony,” she said pleasantly, “Repeat after me one more time. Hi Cozy!”

“Hi Cozy!” the group echoed unenthusiastically.

“My name is Sea Swirl,” the next pony in the circle said, that blue haired pink unicorn Cozy had unfortunately come to know. Drawing herself up smugly, Sea Swirl said, “And I do want to be here. Not like any of you crazy ponies, who don’t even think they have a—”

“Let the others speak, please,” Starlight Glimmer said, idly tapping the riding crop held in one foreleg against the other. She then glanced around, saying, “Well?”

“Hi, Sea Swirl,” the rest of the group chorused dully.

“My name is Fuck You and I don’t even care if I’m here or not,” a green furred pony said, highly fascinating to Cozy Glow because she looked roughly the same age. Cozy had seen her around meal time before, but didn’t know that the counselors here thought they both had the same mental disease! Well, not the same precisely. Cozy Glow was pretty sure that ponies were gathered here in this room for the common malady of being the most annoying awful jerks in the whole asylum. Except her, of course.

That green furred, raven haired filly on the other hoof... it wasn’t that she had no fear of being bad, but she couldn’t shut it off, the way Cozy could, and she didn’t even try. It was obvious the filly had gone through some seriously hornheaded shit before, at any rate. Cozy was still trying to figure out how to approach her, without getting on her bad side though, unless that was the right side to be on with her.

Cozy was so distracted with her thoughts on the other filly, she didn’t hear the other two patients speak. It probably wasn’t important. She did snap her head around in surprise though, at a brightly cheerful voice saying, “My name is Pinkie Pie, and I love making my friends smile!”

Starlight Glimmer was also staring in astonishment at the bright pink earth pony too. “Pinkie Pie!” she declared in irritation, “What are you doing here?!”

“Uh, I dunno,” Pinkie said thoughtfully, “Sitting around in a circle and introducing everypony?”

“Pinkie, you’re not supposed to be here,” Starlight told her in a tired irritation.

“I’m not?” Pinkie Pie asked innocently.

“You’re completely sane,” Starlight insisted patiently.

“I am?” Pinkie Pie asked in what sounded like genuine surprise.

“Pinkie Pie, just... go,” Starlight said, “This asylum is for troubled ponies only. Not that there is anything wrong with being troubled, but you do not need to be here. We’re not here to talk about happy things.”

“Welll...” Pinkie Pie postulated, “...okay!”

Then she went bounding out of the room.

Starlight shut the doors to the group room as Pinkie Pie left, muttering, “How does she keep getting in here?”

“Perhaps Cozy’s right,” that one new arrival said smugly while Starlight’s back was turned. She was a light green furred unicorn mare with long orange hair, who had come to the asylum under very suspicious circumstances last week or so. Cozy wasn’t worried about her, not so far at least, because the mare may have had a serious chip on her shoulder, but she also had pretty weak magic, and a solid black ring on her horn to ensure not even that would be a problem.

“It’s you ponies who should be in here, not one such as myself!”

She was also pretty dumb. Cozy raised an eyebrow at the mare who looked like the smuggest pony to ever admit that she wasn’t a real pony. How was that even close to a witty comeback?

“Stop looking at me like that!” the orange-haired mare said in anxious irritation, looking around at the others in the room, only a few of whom were even paying attention. “I didn’t choose to be like this! You did this to me, you—”

“Give everypony a chance to talk,” Starlight interrupted, pointing her riding crop at the mare’s nose. The mare looked like she was about to explode, but surprisingly just backed down then, sitting on her haunches with a flump, and staring forward with a haunted look in her bright green eyes.

“Now,” Starlight said, returning to her place sitting in the circle, “Sea Swirl, why don’t you tell us—”

“Oh, of course you pick her,” the raven haired green filly groaned. Cozy giggled, despite herself, covering up her mouth with a foreleg.

“Why don’t you tell us how you feel when ponies don’t think you’re famous, Sea Swirl?” Starlight continued patiently, as everypony turned their attention to the least appropriate pony to do so.

“Ponies don’t know greatness when they see it!” the other lavender unicorn declared, standing up, “They’re trying to—”

“I’m not asking about them,” Starlight interrupted patiently, “How do you feel when they do that?”

“Like I’m... not getting what I deserve, because other ponies...” she shrunk back from a glare from Starlight, “Because I... don’t... I hate how other ponies treat me!” Sea Swirl eventually blurted out, “They think I’m crazy! Or they just ignore me!”

“And how do you feel about that?” Starlight repeated.

“I... I hate it!” Sea Swirl also repeated, albeit very uncertainly, “And I just want it to stop! I just...” she sank to her belly again, “...want it to stop.”

“Well that’s—” Starlight started, but Sea Swirl desperately interrupted, saying,

“I don’t know why I’m even here. I’m the most well adjusted pony in this room. Including you, Starlight Glimmer. You don’t respect me at all because you believe those lies about me. But you and I both know that I deserve to be—”

“That’s enough, Sea Swirl,” Starlight interrupted. After what happened last session, it was very understandable why Sea Swirl squeaked so silence and shrank back at Starlight’s words. We do not speak of what happened last session. “How about you, Cozy?” she asked much more gently of Cozy Glow, “How do you feel when ponies make you upset?”

“Upset?” Cozy ventured.

“Yes, upset,” Starlight clarified gently.

“Upset,” Cozy repeated irritably, “They make me feel upset.”

Thinning her lips, Starlight declared, “Maybe that wasn’t the best question. How about what do you think you share in common with the others here?”

“We’re all ponies, through and through!” Cozy said happily, with a glance at the orange and green one, who just narrowed her eyes at the filly.

“I’m not sure Shutterbug here likes being a pony,” Starlight replied thoughtfully, also noticing the bitter mare.

“Why should I like—you preposterous—” the orange and green Shutterbug fumed, then smiled unpleasantly, saying in a syrupy sweet tone, “Why, no. I just love being a pony, just like anypony here, who has always been a pony.”

“I haven’t!” the green filly shouted, before Cozy’s heart could leap in her throat that maybe somehow impossibly this Shutterbug pony knew. The green filly’s loud exclamation was enough to make Cozy Glow looking at her incredulously, along with everypony else in the room. How many ponies here weren’t ponies?

“I’m a red-blooded, pony fucking, tool using yewman being!” the filly declared in something between pride and outrage.

“Not right now you’re not!” Starlight pointed out assertively.

“Is that some kind of ent?” Shutterbug asked in bafflement.

“I eat cows for dinner!” the filly insisted, fiercely.

“And how are you going to eat a cow, little filly?” Shutterbug replied in cold disdain.

“I’m gonna get changed back!” the filly declared, “And then I’m gonna make you eat your fucking words!”

“You should watch your language!” Cozy Glow interrupted teasingly, “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to say bad words?”

“What bad words?” the green filly asked, tilting her head at Cozy in surprisingly honest confusion.

“You know,” Cozy said uncertainly, “The... F-word?”

A pause, and Starlight Glimmer exclaimed, “You know what fuck means??” looking at Cozy in delight.

“No?” Cozy said, glancing around nervously, “Why? Don’t you know what fuck means?”

“No!” Starlight said in excitement, “What does fuck mean? Tell me!”

“You don’t know what fuck means?!” the green filly exclaimed at Starlight in horrified exasperation. “This is just fucking telling!”

“Seriously, Cozy,” Starlight said eagerly, “You have to tell me what fuck means.”

“I don’t know what fuck means!” Cozy denied desperately, “You tell me!”

“You tell me what fuck means?” Sea Swirl asked curiously, “I don’t know.”

“Tell me fuck means what, don’t you know!” Petunia Petals declared cheerfully all the way across Equestria.

“You don’t know means fuck, I tell you what!” Sunny Skies replied affectionately as they platonically cuddled together.

“Fuck what you don’t know!” Pinkie Pie shouted at the fourth wall of the asylum in outrage, “Meanies! I’m telling!”

There was a worried silence, as if nopony wanted to continue along this line of thinking.

“You want me to whisper it into your ear, Glimglam?” the green filly asked slyly.

“It’s ‘Glimmer’ actually,” Starlight replied, “Glim-mer.”

“This is getting us fucking nowhere!” Cozy shouted.

“You still haven’t told me what that word means!” Glimmer shouted back at her.

It was a good session.

Cozy Glow didn’t really like those crazy ponies who were supposedly like her. She hated most of them, in fact. She liked the crazy stallion named Cracked, and a few others, for various reasons.

“Are you gonna eat your pudding, or just stare at it?”

“Huh?” Cozy said, looking up from her pudding in brief incomprehension, before sighting on Morning Glory, who sat beside her at the lunch table in the cafeteria. “Just thinking about things,” Cozy revealed unenthusiastically, “Not much else to do around here.”

The brown mare actually laughed a little at that.

“Y’know, I am really sorry about what I said the other day,” Cozy said in a sincere fashion, “I just didn’t know it was all that bad, the sort of stuff you did for money.”

“Well, it is bad,” Morning said softly, turning away, “Worse than bad.”

“That’s kind of insensitive, you know,” Cozy said in a hurt tone, getting an irritated look from Morning Glory, “I don’t know anything about what you went through, but I’m gonna have to do that stuff too, in just a few years. I know that lots of other mares really like it, but it still makes me scared that I won’t like it, when you say it’s worse than bad.”

“W-well it’s...” Morning said, sounding conflicted as she looked at Cozy again, “They... you’re not going to have to do it for money.”

“So?” Cozy replied impishly, “You like getting money, don’t you?”

“Not for that!” Morning Glory replied in troubled offense.

“Well, why not for that?” Cozy Glow asked curiously, “I really don’t know, sorry.”

A moment’s thought, and Morning Glory said, “That... it’s supposed to be a wonderful, loving act that you do with somepony you love. It just kills you inside, when... when they can do anything they want to you, because you’re just worthless...”

“You sure do know a lot about what is supposed to happen,” Cozy said warily, “And what happened was really bad, but it sounds like you’re sad because you wanted to have something better happen to you.”

“Y-yes...” the mare said, looking on the edge of crying again.

“I’m just a filly, so I don’t know anything about that stuff,” Cozy reiterated chirpily, “If you asked me, I would’ve thought it was supposed to be bad. All that wonderful stuff sounds like an old pony’s tale to me.”

At Morning Glory’s questioning look, Cozy concluded, “Other mares might say it has to be wonderful and loving, but if it’s supposed to be terrible then you you didn’t miss anything!”

Morning Glory’s face progressively twisted up with grief as she said, “I missed—a colt to—to love me and...”

“Wow! You get your cutie mark, and a colt just appears out of nowhere, and says he loves you?” Cozy asked in amazement.

That broke her gloom. “No, I mean,” Morning Glory said grumpily, puzzling over her words, “You still have to find a special somepony, but—”

“Hey! What if you did that now?” Cozy suggested brightly.

“It’s too late—” Morning Glory started, but before she could glance down and turn away, Cozy cut in,

“I envy you, really. You’re allowed to leave the hospital! You can go into town! You couldn’t find a special somepony back then, but it’s not too late now. Who cares if you’re bad or not? Go talk to a stallion you like, and if he doesn’t like you not having a cutie mark, well I guess that’s his problem, huh? You’ve been through so much, I think you can handle a rude stallion or two. Wouldn’t it be so wonderful to find somepony who makes you happy? I think you should go for it!”

The plain brown earth pony stared at Cozy in a mix of affection and disbelief, before replying in frustration, “Cozy, you’re... you’re so nice! How could you be a... a villain?”

Cozy Glow’s ears twitched back. She hadn’t meant for the mare to bring up her... thing. She just wanted Morning Glory focusing on positive things in her life. A broken pony wasn’t as useful to her as a healed one, after all.

“I get angry sometimes, and want to do things other ponies don’t like,” Cozy said, glancing away, “And I make mistakes. You have seen me when I’m angry?”

“Y-yes.”

“Well there’s your answer.”

Morning Glory continued to stare at least, still lost for words, still worried for Cozy for no reason. Cozy eagerly reassured her, “Don’t worry about me though. I bet by the time I have to go find a colt, I’ll be all reformed!” Cozy was so glad she could flutter up high enough to comfortingly pat the older pony’s head, saying, “You don’t have to be a whore if you don’t want to anymore, so just go have fun!”

“It’s... so strange how easily you can talk about it,” Morning Glory said with a searching look of the blue and pink filly as Cozy lightly landed again. Cozy Glow didn’t much like ponies trying to search for her past. “I... I guess you really are a foal,” the mare hesitantly concluded, “You just seem so grown-up sometimes. And you’re only 14?”

“Y-yeah. 14. Can we not talk about me, please?” Cozy Glow hissed testily.

Backing off, Morning Glory stammered, “Oh o-okay. Sorry.”

With a kind smile, Cozy said sweetly, “Thank you for caring about me, but you don’t have to worry about me right now. Let’s talk about you. You said once that you hated it when a stallion could do anything he wanted to you, but what if he couldn’t?”

“What about it?” the brown mare replied sulkily, “I don’t have to do any of that anymore.”

“But I mean, while you were doing it,” Cozy said encouragingly, “If you could have done what you wanted, couldn’t that have made it... kinda fun?”

The older mare’s blush was answer enough, so Cozy Glow asserted, “Even if ponies did it wrong in the past, there’s nothing wrong with wanting somepony to do it right, right?”

“I suppose so...” Morning Glory said shyly.

“Don’t you miss that feeling at all?” Cozy asked sweetly. Morning Glory was too shy to answer, which of course meant yes.

“What if you were with a stallion tomorrow?” Cozy urged, “You wouldn’t have to do anything he told you to do. You wouldn’t have to say yes to ugly or mean ones, just because they have money. If you had a real coltfriend, who was cute and lovable, then you’d be able to feel that again, without it being bad at all. Just imagine what he could do, that you would love so much?”

“Yeah...” Morning Glory said with a distant look in her eyes, and maybe a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth.

“I think you should try again,” Cozy suggested, “Go find some colts to be friends with, or let them find you. You don’t have to be a whore anymore. You can just talk to them about whatever you want. I bet you’d find one who likes you, and all those stallions before can stuff it, because you’ll finally have what you always wanted.”

“Do you really think I could... I could just talk to a stallion again?” Morning Glory asked Cozy hopefully.

“Stallions are just ponies like you and me,” Cozy explained, “He’s out there looking for a wonderful mare like you too. Just introduce yourself, and ask if he’s been here before, what he thinks of the place, then what else he does. If he asks what you do, tell him that you’re helping at the new asylum. And if it’s hard to say hi, here’s a trick I heard once: try thinking about him doing you before you go up to him.”

“W-what?” Morning Glory asked with a full on heavy blush.

“It’ll make you feel less anxious, and inhibited!” Cozy insisted, “Don’t worry, mares do it all the time.”

“Oh I could never...” Morning Glory said, hiding her blush under her forelegs, as Cozy insisted,

“Nopony’s gonna know you were just thinking about it,” Cozy said, adding in a whisper, “And even if nothing happens, you still get to imagine a nice, strong stallion being with you.”

“I–I’m imagining that now,” Morning Glory confessed quietly and completely unnecessarily.

“Great!” Cozy replied approvingly, “And you’d never tell me that, unless your body was making it easier to say things to ponies. It’s happening to you right now, just from talking like this! You don’t have to imagine a lot, just enough to feel your body getting ready. Then walk up to him, and let your instincts do the talking. And just imagine what could happen to you.”

“...I have to go,” Morning Glory said tensely, then trotted off toward the building. Cozy couldn’t help but giggle as she watched her go, because it was beyond obvious what that mare was going into her room to do right now. Morning Glory’s room that... Cozy’s smile faltered. Morning Glory’s room, that could be opened from the inside.

“How does Morning Glory have a coltfriend?”

“Golly,” Cozy Glow asked giving Starlight Glimmer a look of innocent, clueless concern, “Why would you ask little old me about that?”

“Because she has been saying nothing but good things about you,” the tired looking unicorn said in an accusation they both knew to be flimsy, “And she’s been unable to approach stallions because of her... past. Until you spoke with her, and... helped her, somehow.”

Cozy Glow was not about to tell Starlight Glimmer that Morning Glory was one of the tolerable ones, so Cozy wanted to use her in some fashion, but it was hard to find much use for a pony who had so many problems, so by fixing Morning Glory, Cozy Glow could gain a more powerful follower.

Instead, Cozy said grudgingly, “Morning Glory thinks she’s bad just because she did things with stallions for money. All I told her was it’s okay to be bad. She can’t change things back then, but she can now. I don’t know why she’s talking to colts again. Maybe her therapist is the one who’s really good at helping her. Have you talked to them?”

“I’ve been her... therapist for a while,” Starlight admitted, “But that brings me to something else. I’m...” rubbing her eyes, the lavender unicorn sighed, “Totally exhausted. I don’t think I can keep seeing everypony all the time.”

“You have hired other therapists, right?” Cozy asked cautiously.

“That’s what I wanted to talk about,” Starlight said hopefully, “You and I... well, I’m pretty sure you’ve got me wrapped around your little hoof by now. But I wondered if you might be interested in seeing another therapist, besides myself?”

Cozy Glow actually hadn’t considered that. She could get away from Starlight Glimmer? Would another therapist be any better? Somepony else was going to be talking to her? She wasn’t... ready to talk to somepony else.

“You don’t have to ask,” Cozy said in muted unenthusiam, looking downward, “I know you want to get rid of me. It’s okay if nopony wants to stay with me.”

Starlight gave her a conflicted look, but instead of calling Cozy out, like she usually did, the mare said, “You’re worried about being... that filly, aren’t you?”

“What filly?” Cozy asked, looking up in confusion. Was Starlight just trying to throw her off balance again?

“The filly who can’t let ponies go,” Starlight said, “Who gets sad and upset when her parental figures leave the room, just because she can’t be by herself. You don’t want to be that... typical little filly.”

Cozy knew her non-answer would be taken as a yes, but she couldn’t think of what to say. It was technically true, but that wasn’t what was important here, was it?

“Well don’t worry, you haven’t gotten rid of me just yet,” Starlight said with a smile that made Cozy want to blush, “We can still take a walk together every now and again. I just won’t be trying to pick your brain as much.”

“Pick my brain?” Cozy said looking blankly at the older mare.

A moment’s confusion and Starlight snickered, saying in amusement, “Yup, just gonna mine all the precious thoughts out of your brain. Polish them, carve facets out of them, mount them on a necklace, wear it to fancy parties, yep I’ve got big plans for those thoughts of yours!”

Cozy couldn’t stop a giggle herself, as she said, “That’s silly.”

“Sometimes it’s okay to be a little silly,” Starlight replied with a little smile, “I really do need your help though.”

“My help?” Cozy asked in puzzlement.

“Yes, you can... tell me if they’re any good or not!” Starlight said genially, “All I can do is interview them and look at their qualifications, but the pony you’ll be seeing, you will be able to get to know very well, and if she tries to do anything funny that might get you hurt...” She wasn’t smiling anymore. “You just let me know right away, alright?”

“Who exactly would I be seeing?” Cozy asked warily.

“Oh, I found the perfect candidate,” Starlight said, returning to delight, “I think you’re gonna love her...”

As the cackling evil illusion of a filly faded into nothing, Paradise Skies was already having second thoughts of working here, albeit not out of concern for the patients so much as the staff. “Was that really necessary?” the redheaded, pale-furred pegasus stated unhappily, as she emerged from the testing chamber.

“You wouldn’t believe how many candidates it filters out,” the asylum director said happily, albeit in something of a forced happiness. Starlight Glimmer was a pinkish unicorn with a bright aquamarine stripe in her purple mane, and Paradise wasn’t sure what to make of her. “Ponies have to be ready to deal with difficult patients if they’re gonna work here,” the mare explained, “Don’t worry. All I wanted was to make sure you would not break down in tears or anything.”

“With all due respect,” Paradise replied in quiet outrage, “That test was outright insulting to the mentally troubled. It’s a myth that ponies suffering from bipolar disorder switch from friendly to mean in a heartbeat. It’s also untrue for your illusion to act like that filly was secretly planning on conquering Equestria. In real world cases of borderline personality disorder, ponies like that are motivated by their fear that others are attacking them. Ponies laugh uncontrollably from extreme anxiety and panic attacks. They don’t just declare themselves Empress of Friendship and then cackle madly about it.”

“Actually...” the mare said uncomfortably, but Paradise wasn’t done yet.

“And just why was she making so many uncomfortable implications about my mother?!”

“Maybe I need to work on it a bit,” the swooshy haired unicorn admitted with a wince, “But given what you just said to me about it, you’ve already proven yourself more than capable of working here. You know the realities of bipolar and borderline patients, Dr. Paradise, and you’re willing to stand up to me for what’s right, even though it might mean you’d never get the job.”

“That... that’s true, I suppose,” the doctor said, taking a step back and folding her wings, “You didn’t design a deliberately bad test just so I would criticise it, did you?”

“Oh, never mind that. We can talk about it after you’re all set up here, Dr. Skies,” Starlight Glimmer said, scrunching suspiciously, “Now about your actions as a licensed therapist. You were recommended by a pony named Shady, a former patient of yours...”

Starlight went on to ask Paradise about any number of things including if she had any experience in close quarters combat, which Paradise could understand, considering that Cage had been moved here. If anypony other than that pony had ever more fetishized her own disorders, they would be very hard to find. Still, Paradise was out of her element, and the only reason she was even thinking about doing this was to keep an utter disaster from happening here. Ironically, that appeared to be precisely what got her hired.

Paradise didn’t know what this Starlight Glimmer was getting at, or why a hero of Equestria was running some strange combination of hospital and prison, but Paradise was certainly not going to leave well enough alone and let more ponies go without proper treatment. Never mind the rumor that some terrible villain was being held here, where he could potentially endanger the patients!

“Thank you for taking the time to see me,” Cozy Glow said gratefully.

“Oh, it’s... no problem, Miss Glow,” the new therapist said with a look of surprise that probably indicated she expected Cozy to be different.

Cozy giggled, saying, “You can call me Cozy. What’s your name?”

“My name is Paradise, Cozy,” the redheaded pegasus mare declared, standing by the door to her office so Cozy Glow could walk right in. She had light creamy fur and feathers, and bold red hair that curled neatly around her ears, but did not curl around itself the way Cozy’s hair liked to do. And something about Paradise’s eyes of green seemed... open and welcoming. No doubt she was doing it deliberately, as a professional therapist. They probably took a class in how to make your eyes do that.

The room Cozy was taken to for her meeting with Paradise was very similar to Starlight’s office. Cozy figured it would make sense to have more than one such office, if they were keeping a bunch of crazy ponies here. Avoiding the couch as usual, she turned circles making herself comfortable on the soft beanbag chair, while the therapist strode into the room after her.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Miss Paradise!” Cozy said cheerfully, with a cheeky smile.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” the therapy pony replied, “You can call me Paradise though.”

“As long as you don’t call me Miss Glow, that’s okay with me!” Cozy replied.

Paradise gave a soft laugh at that, and Cozy added, “Wait, do you mean Paradise like an tropical island, or like rolling the dice?”

Blinking a moment in confusion, Paradise laughed and said, “A tropical island would best suit my name. That’s probably why my cutie mark has palm trees on it.”

“Ohh,” Cozy Glow said looking at the therapist’s hindquarters, bearing twin palm trees and a crescent moon, “How did you get your cutie mark?” she asked curiously.

“It was an island, in fact,” the therapist said with import, “And I suppose it would be tropical. I was with a number of foals who got lost on a sailing expedition. I really don’t think it’s all that special, but it means a lot to me. It reminds me of how I was calm under pressure, and how I brought comfort to the other foals, keeping them calm while we waited for our teachers to come rescue us. I wasn’t the only one who got their cutie mark that day, but I was the one who decided to help troubled ponies. Some ponies really do need that kind of help, just as terribly as stranded foals.”

“What other foals were you stranded with?” Cozy asked, wide-eyed in wonder, “Were there a lot of them?”

“There were... six fillies, and two colts,” Paradise said thoughtfully, “We were quite the ragtag bunch, in those days that we waited for rescue.”

“What did you do while you were there?” Cozy asked, “Besides comforting the other foals?”

“Oh, we got ourselves into quite a bit of mischief,” Paradise said in amusement, “One of the colts was a farm pony, so he knew a lot about living off the land. It was thanks to him that we got a fire started on the second night, on the beach to hopefully attract any rescuers. There was enough grass and shoots growing to get by on thankfully, and I helped with getting a ready source of fresh water, but after two nights we were all ready to go home.”

“That sounds so pretty though,” Cozy said dreamily, having a very hard time picturing something she’d only seen pictures of in books before, “A fire on the beach. What was the colt’s name?”

“Oh, it was Texas,” Paradise declared, “It’s an old name that means friend in an ancient pony tongue.” Blushing slightly, she added with fondness, “He certainly lived up to his name that night.”

“How so?” Cozy Glow asked with interest, “Just because he lit the fire?”

“No, he lit a lot more than that,” Paradise chuckled mysteriously.

“What do you mean?” Cozy asked, kind of thinking she knew, but it would definitely be good to let Paradise take her time in answering.

“W-well, you know, when you get a bunch of fillies and a colt or two stranded on an island,” Paradise said blushingly, looking upward and waving a dismissive forehoof, “With no adults to tell you what to do...”

With a shocked gasp, Cozy Glow asked, “Did you kiss??”

Blushing harder, Paradise said, “Yes it... it was only natural to be curious, and we were sleeping together. So yes we kissed, and...”

“And...?” Cozy prompted at the mare’s anxious silence.

“And we... got up to a lot of fun things, as well as some trouble,” Paradise said with a full scrunch before her blush faded. “I feel like this conversation has gotten seriously off track,” she added unhappily.

“Oh well that’s okay,” Cozy said in an understanding tone, sinking into her beanbag again as she looked with amusement at the other pegasus, saying sincerely, “It’s always fun to talk about your cutie mark story.”

“How did you get your cutie mark?” Paradise asked curiously and Cozy’s friendly smile froze. Shit.

“I–I was just... playing chess, it wasn’t anything special,” Cozy said, blushing and looking away, “Not everypony gets their cutie mark on an adventure.”

“You like playing chess, then?” Paradise inquired.

Cozy Glow hated playing chess. “Oh, not a lot, now that I think about it,” she said with an apologetic smile, “Maybe it has to do with something else. Like playing games in general.”

“Why don’t you tell me more about the games you like to play?” Paradise asked hopefully, and dangerously as far as Cozy was concerned.

“You don’t want to talk about how I was a bad pony?” Cozy asked in sorrowful confusion, “I thought that’s why we were here.”

“We’re here to talk about whatever you want to talk about,” Paradise said amiably, “Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“But not about... what you got up to on that island,” Cozy prompted unsurely.

A little blush returned, and Paradise said, “Yes, talking about you would be...”

“Preferable?” Cozy suggested.

Paradise smiled and nodded, “Yes, exactly. We’re not here to psychoanalyze me, after all.”

“Well,” Cozy said, looking downward regretfully, “We can talk about me, I suppose. I know I did something bad once, because I was really mad about stuff, and now ponies don’t think I can control my temper.”

“How do you feel about ponies like that?” Paradise leapt upon gently, as Cozy pouted her lower lip.

Sighing deeply, Cozy Glow said, “It’s true. I was getting really mad, and I couldn’t control my temper at all! Starlight Glimmer has been so helpful to me since then. I’m glad she gave me a second chance, because I feel like I’m getting better every day!”

“You are doing well as far as I can tell!” the friendly-voiced therapist said in pleasant surprise, “When was the last time you got angry with somepony?”

“Oh, it was a long time ago,” Cozy replied, looking upwards as she paused in thought. “Hmm. I think it was when one of the nurses was being mean to me. I tried to tell her that I would be okay if she just left me alone, but she just tranquilized me, and left me on my bed.”

Blinking, Paradise said, “Are you... sure? Because that is very unethical behavior.”

“I don’t know much about ethics,” Cozy admitted wryly, “They say it was to keep me from hurting myself. That’s what they said at least. They sometimes do it to other ponies too, like the pink mare, with the weird eyes, and the stallion with only one wing. They’re really nice, but sometimes the nurses say they need to be tranquilized and shut away...” she paused a moment, before reluctantly adding, “...like me.”

“One... wing?” the fellow pegasus said in a predictable amount of alarm.

“Oh yes, he lost his in an accident a long time ago,” Cozy explained, “I asked why they don’t give him an artificial wing, but they say it makes him easier to manage.”

The therapist sort of looked like she was going to explode, but staring guiltily at Cozy, she forced herself to relax saying, “I’ll have to look into that, but this is your time, not his. If I could, I’d like to get to know you better.”

“Golly, I don’t think there’s much to know,” Cozy said in bemusement, “I thought I was just an ordinary filly, until I made a mistake that... hurt a lot of ponies.”

Cozy’s eyes ran with tears, as she said piteously, “I didn’t know they would get hurt! I didn’t think it would be so bad. I just made a mistake, and now everypony hates me!”

Coming up and snugging Cozy in the crook of her neck, Paradise said, “There there, it’s alright.” Cozy managed to spend several seconds pulling herself together, then stepping back from Paradise to wipe off her tears, returned to her own personal space. The therapist said compassionately, “You can’t have known the full consequences. You’re still just a filly! I didn’t realize that it was a pony like you, who...”

“No, it’s okay, you can say what I did,” Cozy said remorsefully, “I just wish I could make it up to everypony somehow. But the only thing they say I need to do is be a good friend. So that’s what they were working at with me, before you came here.”

“What would you say your greatest obstacles to that are?” Paradise asked, settling her haunches to the floor, closer to the filly on her beanbag.

“Gee, I dunno,” Cozy said thoughtfully, “I’ve always been a pretty good friend. I don’t know if that’s really even the problem! I think I just got real mad at my friends, and I guess that means I deserve to be here. I just want to show everypony that I’m not a bad filly. I didn’t mean to hurt everypony’s trust, but Starlight Glimmer says that it’s because I shouldn’t be myself, and that nopony will ever trust me again.”

“Oh, she’s so wrong, you have no idea,” Paradise assured the poor filly, “What else has she said to you? Has she ever hurt you, or touched you anywhere you aren’t comfortable with?”

“Well...” Cozy said thoughtfully.

Starlight Glimmer looked up from yet more medical paperwork, as the new therapist came stomping in, declaring offendedly, “Starlight Glimmer! I don’t know what sort of operation you think you’re running here, but it has to stop!”

“What?” Starlight said, very, very honestly, staring at the redheaded mare like an alien as Dr. Paradise said,

“You need to let Cozy Glow free right this minute!” Paradise asserted with an outraged stomp, “There is nothing wrong with her that would justify keeping her here!”

“...what?” Starlight repeated in utter disbelief.

Author's Note

Shut up! You’re not my mom! I can use whatever characters I want!

Flight to Cloudsdale

Starlight Glimmer sat in her office, confronted by her new hire: A red-headed Dr. Paradise who, by the spread of her wings and her ears flat back, was pretty hopping mad. The pegasus burst in the door, and started saying the most absolutely unbelievable things.

“Cozy Glow is a perfectly normal filly who simply made a mistake, which she sincerely regrets,” Paradise seethed, “She’s more well adjusted than most of the ponies I’ve ever seen, and a good deal more well adjusted than you and your cronies! What exactly do you think you’re doing, imprisoning innocent foals and claiming they are dangerous criminals?”

“Well—” Starlight said, as Paradise angrily shouted,

“Do you really clip her wings??”

She fell silent then, as though noticing she had only let Starlight get one word in, edgewise.

“Not... as such,” Starlight Glimmer said tactfully, closing the folder she was looking at, and filing it in the cabinet behind her as she spoke eye to eye with the mare. “We had to clip her wings once, as a condition of allowing her to leave Tartarus.”

“That filly did not come from Tartarus!” Paradise responded with an angry hoof even scraping the floor. Starlight had to defuse this quick, or she might lose her!

“What made you think Cozy Glow doesn’t need to be kept here?” Starlight asked her, folding her forelegs, as she considered making cocoa to try to calm things down more. The kettle was right across the room, but...

“It doesn’t take a trained mental health professional to tell that she’s just an ordinary little filly who you’ve convinced everypony she is a danger to society!” Paradise protested, “And you habitually drug your patients into submission?”

“No!” Starlight protested, discretely getting out a few mugs that she spooned some dark cocoa powder into. “Well, except for Intern. But we only sedate ponies when it’s absolutely necessary, for their own safety!”

“That’s not what it sounded like,” Paradise grumbled, while Starlight poured the steaming hot water out behind her into the two mugs. “Does a pink haired, cream coated stallion with only one wing sound familiar to you?”

“Crackpot?” Starlight remarked bemusedly.

“How many days has he spent sedated?” Paradise seethed, “Do you even let him out of his cell? He and his friend—”

“Those two are both wildly psychotic,” Starlight said frankly, “For very different reasons, but the outcome is the same. They’ll seem like they’re sort of lucid, and then go do something that could get them killed. Do you know how many times I have had to teach Crackpot that soap is not a kind of candy? And don’t even get me started on Screwball!”

“That’s no excuse to keep them sedated all the time,” Paradise said with an accusing green-eyed glare. “It sounds like you’re not capable of taking care of them.”

“All the time?” Starlight asked, honestly confused, “We don’t sedate those two enough! Once it was to keep them from attempting to climb the building, and once it was... something involving tapioca pudding. I think those two have gotten sedated maybe three times each, at most!”

“That’s not what Cozy Glow was saying!” Paradise retorted. Starlight’s face fell in horror.

A moment of shocked silence, and Paradise unsurely continued, “So you can’t just expect not to be held accountable for what amounts to a prison for innocent ponies.”

“How many uh—times have you spoken with Cozy Glow?” Starlight asked with a rising feeling of dread.

“Just the intake interview, but it was enough to learn some very disturbing things about your asylum,” Paradise said in sulky disapprovement.

“Just the intake?!” Starlight blurted out in astonishment.

The awkward silence this time was broken by the tinkling of a metal spoon stirring within a mug of hot liquid across the room.

“Are...” Paradise looked back over her shoulder, “Are you making cocoa?”

“I uh... thought we could take a moment and relax,” Starlight said nervously, “And talk about what’s really going on. I think you’re... kind of going to need some cocoa after this.”

With Paradise watching in speechless indignity, Starlight quickly dropped a few big marshmallows into the cocoa, then floated the two mugs over, one to the table beside the angry therapy pony, and one over to Starlight’s side of the desk.

“I knew this was going to happen,” Starlight groused wearily. “I don’t know if it’s part of the healing process or not, but I guess Cozy Glow has started lying again.”

“What do you mean again?” Paradise asked, seeking Starlight’s eyes for an answer, “The filly wasn’t lying to me. She made some very coherent arguments for a foal her age. I can see the truth for myself, so you can’t hide behind—”

“Do you remember that disaster we had last year?” Starlight asked, “All throughout Equestria, magic failing?”

“Remember it?” Paradise said furiously, “My friend almost died because of it! If I hadn’t caught her when her bubble popped, it would have been a disaster!”

“Well, Cozy Glow caused it,” Starlight said evenly, “She deliberately tried to destroy all the magic in Equestria, and she almost succeeded.”

“She can’t have caused that,” Paradise said with a disbelieving laugh, “Every unicorn lost their magic! If she was that powerful, how would you even keep her locked up?”

“Cozy Glow discretely gathered a set of six artifacts, each an important step in a ritual that basically sucked Equestria’s magic down the drain,” Starlight explained, “Anypony of any age could have done it, but Cozy was the only one who figured out how, and the only one who did. And while she did it, we all thought she was the sweetest, most helpful, most well adjusted little filly in Equestria.”

“How do you know she was the pony who did that?” Paradise asked cautiously.

Starlight paused. Was this really a good idea? She knew that she wasn’t the right pony to help Cozy though, and Paradise had seemed so... thoughtful! Starlight was confident Paradise could come around. She just needed to understand some things about the filly, which may have been deemed state secrets.

“Okay, I want to remind you that you swore not to reveal any state secrets,” Starlight Glimmer said testily, “The details of Cozy’s... actions could make her situation here even more precarious. It’s already been leaked that she was the one who almost destroyed the magic. I do not want what I’m going to tell you to get to the press. Cozy... is a... severely troubled pony, and I don’t think most of Equestria would understand that her actions are... confused and misdirected, but not evil. ”

“I’m well aware of that sort of confidentiality,” Paradise said frankly, “But she is not as disturbed as you say, because if she was, she wouldn’t be able to fool a trained professional. She’s just a filly! Even adult ponies like that are out of control, and nonfunctional, and often times it’s hard to get a coherent sentence out of them. Nopony just... hides their nature like that.”

Starlight sighed, remarking, “Sometimes I think everypony who does just never gets caught at it.”

“What do you mean?” Paradise asked uneasily.

“It happened when I was the temporary headmare at the time, at Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship,” Starlight said, gazing off at the memory, “I almost thought Twilight would give the role to Cozy Glow, because Cozy was the princess’s assistant at the time, and worked really hard to keep the whole school running smoothly. It was... amazing in hindsight, though the filly was so modest you barely even noticed how much she was doing to help. There was hardly a pony or creature in the school who didn’t have her to thank for something. Cozy was everypony’s friend, always there to listen, and very compassionate.”

“This isn’t exactly painting the portrait of a dastardly villain,” Paradise said critically.

“Well,” Starlight said thoughtfully, trying to figure out how to put this, “When the magic started failing, Cozy Glow convinced Twilight and her friends to check on Tirek, sabatoging the magical key she gave them, to trap them inside Tartarus. And none of us knew they were in trouble.”

“Oh, that’s um...” Paradise said a little less sympathetically. She probably was having a hard time even imagining what it would be like trapped in Tartarus.

“As soon as Twilight was trapped,” Starlight continued, “Cozy Glow came to the temporary headmare—me—saying something terrible was happening in the basement. I knew the school didn’t have a basement, so that was pretty alarming in of itself. She let me to a crystal cave that had somehow formed beneath our very hooves, where at the center I saw those six artifacts, all activated, gathering Equestria’s magic into a giant glowing ball. I could tell right away it was a very dangerous situation, and I approached it cautiously, to try and disable it without touching it.” Waving a hoof in vague description, Starlight uneasily concluded, “Then, Cozy Glow pushed me into it.”

At Paradise’s horror, Starlight declared, “It dragged me into the magical vortex, thankfully not killing me, but easily overwhelming my own magic, and I couldn’t get out! I didn’t believe she did it, so I called for her help, and you know what she did?”

“What?” Paradise asked, clutching her mug of cocoa in her forelegs.

“She apologized,” Starlight said with a bleak smile, “She said she was sorry it had to come to this, but that I had done this to myself, because in becoming headmare I had gotten in the way of her plans. She said that I almost ruined everything but in the end I was just another stupid pony, who would believe just about anything she said.”

Starlight sipped at her cocoa, continuing, “She came back, over the course of the day. Cozy had been lying to us for months. I’d never seen her so angry before, or angry at all in fact. She could be honest with me now though, since I was good as dead, and I guess she needed somepony to talk to. She told me ponies didn’t understand that friendship is nothing but power, and by being friends with the most ponies, she was going to be the most powerful of them all. Then she put on a cardboard crown she’d fashioned and started calling herself the Empress of Friendship.”

Paradise almost even accidentally the whole thing.

“Her face was... a mask of evil,” Starlight intoned, “The most terrifying, hateful, barely controlled monster that I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen Tirek. She was all smiles and giggles before, but now she was just... beside herself with rage. Then... well... some exchange students ritually sacrificed themselves, Harmony itself got involved, and Cozy Glow was defeated. My horn had eh... cracked by then, so I was in bad shape, but I remember seeing her, and it was so strange how Cozy was just a filly again. Just an angry little filly trying to get out of trouble, until the guards caught her, and locked her in a cage. Then they took her straight to Tartarus.”

“That... she can’t be... what?” Paradise declared faintly, having forgotten about her cocoa entirely at this point, “You’re lying!”

“I swear it’s true, and everything I’ve told you, I witnessed myself. Cozy Glow is the most deviously manipulative pony I have ever met,” Starlight said in an excited fervor, “I’d say she was a genius, if she wasn’t so... broken inside. She’s helped patients here more than I have, just because she’s thinking that if she fixes them, then they can be her own personal army, to bust out of here.”

“What are you saying?” Paradise asked worriedly, “That she was lying about the drugging and mistreatment?”

“I’m saying that everything she told you was a lie,” Starlight said, “Cozy’s capable of it, and I’m sorry to say she’s doing it again. She made her lies seem like the truth, by using truths she knew would manipulate you. She... told you about her clipped wings, right?”

“Y-yes, and—” Paradise started, but Starlight went on saying,

“She did that because you’re a pegasus, and she knew it would throw you off balance. That’s how she’s been treating orderlies, more and more lately. She’s trying to... get better, and the only way she knows how is to pretend to be better, to fool us into thinking she’s reformed.”

“But why?” Paradise asked, “Why would she... tell me all those lies? Why would a... a psychiatric patient manipulate her new therapist to go to the director? Is she just compulsively lying?”

“Well, I can only speculate, but...” Starlight said thoughtfully, “That was the intake interview, wasn’t it?”

“Y-yes,” Paradise admitted, “I wasn’t going to just wait around, after hearing what she said.”

“What did Cozy tell you about herself?” Starlight queried, pleasantly, “Where she came from, what’s troubling her, what she values, you know... the things you ask about in an intake interview?”

“W-well,” Paradise said, sipping at her cocoa, “She said she was genuinely sorry for what she did, and that it was a mistake she sincerely regretted.”

Burying her muzzle in her forehooves, Starlight mumbled, “I think teaching her that was a mistake. But go on.”

“And that you clipped her wings—” Paradise started, but Starlight interrupted,

“Not about me. About her. How did she feel about having her wings clipped? How long has she been grounded? Did she tell you her pinions have molted, and she’s actually flying again, more and more each day?”

“But... how do you keep her in the asylum then?” Paradise asked in confusion.

“By making it abundantly clear that she’s safe here and nowhere else,” Starlight said flatly, “She knows she’ll always have a good meal, and a warm bed here, and that if she runs away it’s right back to Tartarus for her. She stays here because she knows I... I’m fond of her, and she thinks she can use that to bend me to her will, and fool Equestria into trusting her again. And you spent the entire intake interview not talking about her, so I’m not entirely sure she’s wrong.”

“How am I supposed to psychoanalyze a pony like that?!” Paradise demanded.

“Very carefully,” Starlight said, ruminating over the latest turn of events in that filly’s terrible foalhood...

“I’m not sure what I should do about colts,” Cozy Glow told her skull, as in the moonlit security room, Starlight listened over the monitor, “I think they might be making me feel funny. I feel so strange thinking about that place between their legs. Is it my fillyhood, trying to get me to become a mommy? I’d never put a colt’s thingy in there, but... am I gonna start wanting to?

“I wonder if I could get a colt on a leash,” Cozy purred to the skull she was stroking, “Then I wouldn’t have to worry about him doing anything I didn’t want. It would be so easy to know what colts are like under their tails. I could touch him anywhere I wanted...”

Starlight Glimmer couldn’t understand what was happening to Cozy. Why were her night time conversations with her mother getting so racy? With all the piles of fallen leaves outside, it was about as far away from the season as it could be, so why was the filly... talking about this stuff so much?

Cozy Glow was the perfect picture of innocence during the day, never even alluding to feeling funny, and the worst part about it is Starlight couldn’t talk to her about it at all. Starlight had to keep totally silent on it to anypony at all, or Cozy might find out and feel betrayed. Even if Starlight could have talked to her directly... every time Cozy Glow caught Starlight’s eyes in her soft pink innocence, the lavender unicorn couldn’t get out of her head what that filly was considering doing.

It wasn’t just the insecurity of an apprentice level filly, struggling to get herself to even learn about how ponies make babies. It was Cozy’s strangely comprehensive knowledge about certain things. Not knowledge, but... asking the right questions. The ones that made Starlight second guess herself, and wondering where the filly learned about stuff like that. The calm with which Cozy spoke about her belly—no, her womb growing larger because of what she did with a boy, it was uncanny. And Starlight couldn’t stop listening!

When did Cozy’s conversations stop being about her past, and what was troubling her, and start being about... what Cozy’s body was capable of containing? It made Starlight blush every time, and... she was getting to where she wanted to do more than blush. Thinking about that brilliantly devious filly losing herself in her instincts, Starlight felt so... dirty about it. It was a natural stage in a filly’s growth to think about those things, but Starlight wasn’t supposed to be listening to it. It wasn’t what she wanted to listen to, at least not at first.

Then Starlight Glimmer would see the filly fluttering around in the exercise yard, sparing Starlight a warmly affectionate glance that was just more of the filly’s facade cropping up. Cozy wasn’t even close to what you’d call a young mare, and Starlight Glimmer... remembered her friendship with Sunburst as a foal. She remembered what that friendship had made her think of, and what it had led to in dark hours of the night. And Cozy Glow was... feeling that way? What was Starlight supposed to do about that, that wouldn’t lead to another filly crying herself to sleep because she thinks no colt will ever love her again?

Cozy Glow was having so much fun screwing with Starlight Glimmer. She couldn’t believe Starlight hadn’t realized that Cozy figured out she was spying on her! Cozy Glow didn’t want to admit it, but that unicorn mare was probably the smartest pony Cozy had ever met, so Cozy felt a real sense of accomplishment when she managed to get one over on Starlight.

There was just... something so fun about messing with her. Cozy Glow could never figure out just what was going on in Starlight’s head, unlike just about every other pony in Equestria, and that made it exciting, and thrilling to try. It made Cozy’s heart race just thinking about toying with Starlight, so invulnerable yet so vulnerable somehow. When Starlight got embarassed and flustered, it was just so adorable, so Cozy loved teasing Starlight with the very adult urges and desires the older mare had to feel.

Cozy was just glad she wasn’t old enough to have any of those feelings yet.

Cozy Glow’s brilliant idea of screwing with Starlight like that came from a very unexpected source of inspiration. Trotting down the hall, her limbs awash with the excitement of moving freely, Cozy found her worries weren’t all that bad when there was play time to be had out in the courtyard. All this being cooped up inside had definitely taught Cozy the value of going out and cutting loose. She was hardly thinking about what could be turned to her benefit, when Cozy Glow entered the fenced in exercise yard, and right away spotted that green filly, sulking off in the shade of an otherwise sunny day.

Pointing at the green filly with the volumuous black mane, Cozy Glow asked Nurse Coldheart excitedly, “Can I go play with her?” as the nurse accompanied Cozy out into the courtyard, “I haven’t seen her out to exercise at the same time as me before, but I met her in our group therapy. So we’re practically friends already!”

Looking like she was anticipating severely regretting this decision, the yellow and blue nurse pony eyed Cozy warily and said, “Yeah, okay. Just play...

“...nice.” the nurse trailed off at the end of her sentence, saying it to the diminishing rear of Cozy Glow, who was already galloping over to the filly.

“Good morning, Fuck You!” Cozy said brightly, slowing to a cheery canter as the raven haired filly looked up to notice her approaching, “What are you getting up to?”

“Oh shit, it’s Crazy Glue,” the filly said with a roll of her also green eyes. “What do you think I’m up to? Being a—”

The filly stopped to think. Then she shouted angrily at Cozy Glow, “My name is not Fuck You!”

“Oh, well then,” Cozy said, fidgeting slyly on her hooves, “What is your name?”

The filly kind of fishmouthed at her, as if trying to come up with a retort to that, at last glancing down and saying, “It’s... why do you care?”

“Well, I need to know what to call you,” Cozy said, spelling it out for the dumber filly, “That’s a strange name though, miss Why Do You Care.”

“Ugh,” the filly groaned tossing her head back in disgust. “Just call me Green...” she looked down at her fur, as if trying to come up with a name on the spot, which obviously she was, “...Arrow.”

“Green Arrow?” Cozy asked thoughtfully.

“Yeah, Green Arrow,” the filly said more confidently, straightening up and meeting Cozy’s eyes.

“I don’t know,” Cozy said uncertainly, “I think Fuck You is a way better name.”

“Fuck you,” the filly said, turning away in disgust.

Cozy had to hold back a giggle at that. Maybe this filly wasn’t so dumb after all. “So, how old are you?” Cozy asked hopefully, “Eleven? Twelve?”

Not turning her gaze back to Cozy Glow, Green Arrow said, “I’m thirty-nine.”

Cozy blanked at that. That was not what she expected at all. Was that a bad attempt at a joke? “No you’re not,” Cozy said teasingly, refusing to play along for now, “You’re just a filly!”

“I was 39,” Green Arrow stated grumpily, looking at Cozy Glow without a hint of amusement in her expression, “Not anymore though, thanks to Purple Smart.”

“Purple Smart?” Cozy asked in honest confusion. Was that a pony’s name?

“You know, midget princess,” the filly chirped irritably, “Lives in a fucking stupid crystal castle, drags people out of their world with her OP magic, then pretends like it’s not her fault?”

“Princess Twilight?” Cozy Glow asked, “When did she... drag people... out of their world?” growing considerably uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.

“I dunno, a month ago?” Green Arrow said a little self consciously, “I fucking saw her in the fucking window, and I don’t know what happened. Just coming out of it in fucking Ponyville, a fucking little girl without any fucking hands, and everyone’s like “Oh, do you need any help, little filly?” Then when I made it to her stupid castle, it was pinned up all over her walls in that room she was in, shit like in-between places and the realms and the nameless void and all that drag you out of your world bullsh—”

“The Realm of Darkness?” Cozy asked her urgently, “Did it say anything about the Realm of Darkness?”

“I don’t know!” Green Arrow retorted, taking a step back uncertainly, “I didn’t stop to read it! I just started yelling at her to send me back, and you know what she did? She sent me to fucking foal services! They put me in a foster home like some stupid kid! What’s so important about the Realm of Darkness, anyway?”

“It—she couldn’t possibly—i-it’s just this... thing I heard about in a story once,” Cozy said in desperate calm, “A-and it was really scary. I just... didn’t know, you know, if Twilight was gonna try to s-summon it or anything, heh heh...” blushing, she added, “Sorry I just get scared so easily, those stories can really fluster me sometimes!”

“Uh huh,” the filly said unsympathetically, “So why are you talking to me about it?”

“You were the one who was talking about it with me!” Cozy protested irritably, “With your dragging from another world, and Twilight and realms and bull... bullshit. And... are you really thirty-nine?”

“Yeah? Last I checked,” the filly said giving Cozy a wary look, “I don’t know why I’m a fucking little girl pony now, but I don’t fucking give a fucking...”

Green Arrow’s ears went down at that as she turned away, and it didn’t take a genius to see that she did fucking give a fucking something about it. Cozy really couldn’t care less, but she was uninclined to talk about realms and darkness not one bit more, so she asked, “Are you married? Do you have any foals back in your world?”

Blushing, Green Arrow looked back at Cozy, asking in surprise, “W-why the hell would you want to know that?”

“Oh golly, it’s just if you really are thirty-nine whole years old,” Cozy postulated innocently, “Then maybe you have foals. So maybe you know how to make a foal!”

The other filly giggled in amusement at that, then frowned a moment at her cheerful sound and glared at her own snout. “Yeah I know how,” she said proudly to Cozy Glow, the other filly standing up to strike a pose, “And it feels fucking awesome. But do you wanna know what it’s like to do it as an adult human male, or do you wanna know what it’s like to do it as a filly?”

Cozy blushed heavily at that, saying, “Fillies can’t because they haven’t done estrus yet.”

“Well y’ know, you don’t need estrus to do it,” Green Arrow said wryly, giving Cozy a sultry look..

“Y-yes you do,” Cozy said a little less than confidently. She hadn’t exactly researched it or anything, but it was obvious, right?

“O really?” Green Arrow asked, smugly, “You know how I got here? The foals at that school were real curious about where babies come from...”

One explanation later and Cozy Glow was beside herself with mirthful amazement, asking, “And that’s why they put you here?”

“That’s what I figure!” Green Arrow crowed in amusement “But yeah, they were all oh you can’t possibly be an adult human male. You were just buttraped as a super duper young filly so you have a distorted whatever whatever. So clearly I need therapy, and they’re totally not holding me here to keep me away from the other foals at all.”

“Well they’re not keeping you away from me,” Cozy pointed out. She really hoped that would continue. This filly was amazing.

“You’re like an evil child though, so maybe they think we deserve each other,” Green Arrow said wryly.

“Hey, I didn’t do anything like you did,” Cozy griped in amusement, “Did you really do it in front of the entire class?”

“Yeah, I had charts and graphs and everything!” she said with a devilish giggle, “So now I know pretty much everything about pony fucking reproduction.”

“And all because you...” Cozy trailed off in confusion, unsure of how to complete that sentence.

The other filly tilted her head, as Cozy rubbed her chin, saying, “Wait a minute. Why did you do that? What were you trying to get out of it?”

“Ehunno,” the filly said with a shrug, “Seems kind of stupid now. Sure was funny at the time though.”

“Well,” Cozy said a little self-consciously, “What I did was bad, but... it wasn’t stupid. I just made a few... mistakes, that ended up ruining everything and getting me caught for... um...

“...draining all the magic out of Equestria.”

“All the magic?” Green Arrow asked skeptically, “Is there anything about this place that isn’t magic?”

“It was supposed to be just unicorn magic,” Cozy said disagreeably, “And the magic of magical artifacts, but they keep acting like it was all the magic ever or something.”

“Why did you do it?” the filly asked.

Cozy blanched at that, hesitating, but looking at the hornless earth pony, she admitted, “Because... unicorn magic is... dangerous, and they shouldn’t have it. And if it worked, I could... y-y’know it’s not really important. It didn’t work, so I’m here. And... I was in Tartarus for a while before that.”

“They sent you to Pony Hell?!” Green Arrow asked in disbelief.

“It wasn’t that bad!” Cozy protested, “It was... okay fine, yes it was that bad. But Starlight got me out of there, so now I’m here. You know Starlight, right?”

“You mean Glimglam, leader of the crazy house,” Green Arrow suggested, “She pulled you out of fucking Tartarus?”

“She... went through a lot of trouble, actually,” Cozy said, thinking on it belately, “And I don’t really know why. She thinks I can be reformed.”

“Can you?” Green Arrow asked.

“Oh, of course!” Cozy said with a magnanimous smile, “Pretty soon I’ll be saving Equestria just like Starlight, and they’ll give me a medal and everything!”

“...not buying it,” Green Arrow said flatly, unconsciously scraping at the ground.

“Fair enough,” Cozy said, impressed, “So I guess if you showed your whole class, then we might not be the only foals who know how to do that adult stuff about making babies, then.”

“Do you wanna do that adult stuff?” Green Arrow asked with a sly smile.

“N-no, I just was thinking—” Cozy said unsurely.

“C’mon, it’d be fun,” the forest green filly said, stalking towards Cozy there on the exercise field, “Haven’t you ever wanted to try it? Ever wondered what’s so great about it?”

“Ye— no, I...” Cozy said taking a step back.

“You don’t even have to worry about babies,” Green Arrow murmured silkily, close enough to touch Cozy nose to nose, “If it’s just between us... fillies.”

Cozy Glow’s speechless full-on blush continued facing the green furred filly because she couldn’t think of any way out of this. Did she even want to get out of it? She never got to see what the lesbian mares did. She could guess though...

Smirking, Green Arrow turned away, saying in a loudly amused tone, “I’m just fucking with you,” and strutted right past Cozy Glow.

“H-h-hey!” Cozy found her words, protesting, turning to trot after the filly, “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It means I’m just fucking with you!” Green Arrow said with a nervous flick of her tail, “Not like ... I don’t even know why you brought it up.”

“I only brought it up, because we both have so much in common,” Cozy Glow said furiously, “I was just trying to play with you!”

“What?” the filly asked, looking back, her anger dropping to confusion.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go play something, like sky kick. Or something,” Cozy said uncertainly, “And... you said you were thirty-nine, so...” So she changed the subject, to avoid talking about her past, but Cozy couldn’t say that out loud, “So I just asked you about it, s-so you would play with me.”

“What’s sky kick?” Green Arrow asked, looking at Cozy’s folded wings, “You know I’m a filthy mud pony, right?”

A laugh burst out of Cozy despite herself. “You’re a what?” she asked in amused disbelief.

“And you’re a pegasus with your OP wings,” Green Arrow continued resentfully, heedlessly, “So what am I supposed to do?”

“Oh!” Cozy realized, “No it’s an earth/pegasus game I learned. I have to throw the ball down to you, and you have to kick the ball back up before it hits the ground, so I can catch it again.”

A pause, and she added, “Apple Bloom said one bounce was okay.”

Her ears twitching slightly downwards, Green Arrow sat on her haunches and looked away waving a foreleg and saying dismissively, “I’m not a little kid. I don’t play stupid games like that anymore.” Looking at Cozy resentfully, she emphasized, “I’m a grown fucking man!”

Cozy Glow wasn’t so sure of that. Turning aside, the tears started welling up in her eyes as Cozy declared sorrowfully, “Oh golly, it’s okay I understand if you don’t want to play with me. I was just so lonely from having no other foals to ever play with,” and she was going to finish with, “But I suppose that doesn’t matter to you,” when Green Arrow interrupted, struggling to her hooves, looking at her in alarm saying,

“Shit, are you crying? I didn’t mean... look I’ll play with you. I just won’t like it. I’m not a real kid, after all!”

Wiping away her tears, Cozy said glumly, “O-okay, I don’t mind if you just... put up with me... for now.”

“I didn’t mean—” the filly started as Cozy gayly trotted off to go find a ball, because she smiled to herself at a strong suspicion about Green Arrow, and it turns out she was right. With Cozy Glow zipping to and fro in the air to catch the ball and throw it back, and Green Arrow scampering around to kick the ball upward before it bounced, the other filly was sweating, and smiling and giggling excitedly, entirely forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to be having fun.

Thirty-nine years indeed, Cozy thought as she didn’t even try not to laugh at the joy of being able to just fly around and play. Cozy Glow was gonna have to teach that other filly how to lie more convincingly.

Paradise stood atop the asylum, staring pensively to the horizon, feeling the wind blowing in her crimson mane. They had put her working with four ponies, and of the four she had to say Screwloose was probably the easiest to deal with. It just took a sturdy leash, a chewbone, and the willingness to accept a fellow pony was for all intents and purposes, a dog.

Paradise wasn’t concerned with that bitch’s antics though, but instead for the patient she was most worried about: a little pink filly named Cozy Glow. Somepony was seriously messing with Paradise, when it came to the case of Cozy, and Paradise wasn’t sure it was Cozy herself. The asylum director had some... odd notions about Cozy, never seeming to say everything that she was thinking about the filly. Every time Paradise left Starlight’s office, she felt like there were a thousand questions she felt like she had wanted to ask, but never got the chance to.

Where did Cozy Glow come from? Why were her parents not available? Why must so few ponies know about Cozy’s crimes? What was her history, and how did she come to become the great Enemy of State that she was today? Had she received any previous therapy? Had she ever made an attempt on her own life? Paradise at least got a “probably not” out of that one, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to ask Cozy that question directly. Was it the filly who could muddy the waters so effectively? Because there was also an older, more experienced mare Paradise was dealing with, a mare who once was also a villain, then supposedly got better without any counseling at all.

Paradise closed her eyes, feeling her crimson red mane gently blowing in the high breeze. All she could think to do was ask Cozy Glow the more... innocent questions, that Cozy seemed to be infuriatingly good at refusing to answer...

“Gee whiz Dr. Paradise, how do you expect me to answer that, when you haven’t told me anything about your parents?” Cozy had said from where she lounged on the beanbag, blinking innocently up at Paradise.

“I’m not here to talk about my parents,” Paradise said testily, rubbing a hoof into her forehead, “I’m here to talk about you.”

“Well I’m not here to talk about my parents either,” Cozy insisted, nodding her head practically, “So I guess we’re just here for no reason at all.”

Paradise started to concede, “If you’re not ready to talk about them, that’s okay but—”

“Okay then I’m not ready,” Cozy interrupted, before Paradise could even finish her sentence.

“Did they hurt you in some way that makes them hard to talk about?” Paradise asked desperately.

“Golly, I don’t think so,” Cozy said in a concerned voice, rolling her eyes up in thought, “Hmm... no.” She grinned cheekily at Paradise, saying, “I just don’t want to.”

“Why not?” Paradise asked in frustration.

“I don’t want to talk about that either,” Cozy said, nosing idly at a wing, as if she was bored of being here. What was Paradise doing wrong??

“What do you want to talk about?” Paradise tried, with a hopeful grimace.

“Were your parents both pegasi?” Cozy asked, peering at Paradise curiously, “I’m just curious because your colors are kind of unusual for a pegasus.”

“I don’t want to talk about my—!”

“You have to play along with her,” Starlight had told Paradise urgently, “When she says something, you say something trickier. She’s the kind of pony you have to outmaneuver before she’ll respect you.”

“I don’t want her to respect me,” Paradise said in aggravation, “I want her to trust me!”

Starlight’s silence was telling, and her answer even more so. “I don’t know if I can help you, Paradise,” Starlight said regretfully, “Cozy Glow has never trusted me at all. I can tell you some things about her, but I can’t tell you how to get her on your side. I’m not sure she can think of anypony else as anything but her enemy.”

Opening her eyes, Paradise lightly leapt off the top of the four story building. Her soft white feathers slipped comfortably through the air currents as she flew. Starlight was right about one thing. This was Paradise’s specialty, and there might have been nopony else more qualified to help the filly. Paradise was a darn good therapist and she knew it, but applying it to a filly who just wouldn’t let you ask anything of her, ready to twist your words as soon as you said anything to her, Paradise wasn’t sure if it was even possible.

Coasting down, Paradise’s hooves gave a satisfying thump, regaining her weight just as she touched down. She smoothly segued into a trot as her sleek frame settled solidly to the ground, heading into the asylum again. It was time for Cozy Glow’s morning session, and Paradise hoped that it might somehow go right, but she really didn’t feel like she was smart enough to play the little filly’s game.

One infuriating round of questions later, and Paradise had about had it.

“I’m not trying to talk about oatmeal,” Paradise said, flat-eared and not even caring that she was.

“Then why do you keep bringing it up, Dr. Paradise?” Cozy Glow asked so sweetly.

Testily, Paradise retorted, “I swear, I am just trying to ask you about—”

Paradise gave a snort of frustration, pacing angrily around her desk to confront the filly who didn’t look nearly alarmed enough at the older pony’s approach. “I am done,” Paradise said furiously to Cozy Glow.

“Oh, no! Are you getting frustrated?” the filly asked in barely concealed amusement, fluttering her eyelashes at Paradise, though a strange fear glimmered in the back of her eyes.

“Yes,” Paradise said, “Yes and I’m not going to deny it. You are trying to control me, to keep me from helping you, and I don’t like it one bit. Don’t think that I don’t realize it, just because I’m not smart enough to fool you too. I don’t care what we do, and I don’t care what we talk about, but I’m not going to respond to your needling.”

“Can we leave the asylum?” Cozy asked innocently.

“Yes!” Paradise declared, turning her back to the filly to face the door. Looking back she said, “You can fly now, can’t you? Let’s go somewhere. Anywhere. You pick.”

Well that left Cozy momentarily speechless. Paradise tried not to delight in that, as Cozy recovered her wits, saying, “I uh... I mean gee whiz Dr. Paradise, is it safe to ask me? What if I tell you to go somewhere dangerous?”

“Then we will, and it’ll be your fault,” Paradise said snippily, “Come on let’s go. Let’s just go.”

“Well, okay, but...” the filly said, starting to step off the bean bag and pausing in conflicted thought, “Where are we going?”

“Anywhere that doesn’t involve me having to sneak past guards,” Paradise replied earnestly, “You want to go to Canterlot? Cloudsdale? Come on, you want to go somewhere, don’t you? Or would you rather just go back to your room—”

“No!” Cozy retorted in an nervous sort of fashion, “Can we go to uh–uhm... Hollow Shades?”

“Where’s that?” Paradise asked, blinking in surprise.

“I... I don’t know,” Cozy replied anxiously, “All I know it it’s a place. We could just ask somepony... who might...”

“What’s wrong?” Paradise asked the distraught filly, as Cozy Glow retorted in bitter frustration,

“I can’t ask anypony anything because everypony in Equestria hates me now! I didn’t think you were going to let me—we could try the library—but that’s Twilight Sparkle’s castle! Ohh... I-I’m...”

Then she looked at Paradise in a desperate fear, but her voice was sweet and calm as Cozy Glow said, “Golly Miss Paradise, you know, if I don’t miss my guess, you’re just saying this just to make me all flustered and upset. Aren’t you?”

“I’m not going to try to do that to you anymore, or ever,” Paradise said, a little too uneasy at the filly’s state to be irritated, “If it’s making you upset to decide, then I’ll just... take you somewhere, okay? You’ve been here too long. I think you might be... getting too used to being imprisoned. Lots of ponies here can leave to visit friends and family, but you can’t because...”

“Because I’m a criminal,” Cozy said, with a teary eyed pout and... now that Paradise paid attention, it was obvious that Cozy Glow wasn’t even trying to seem genuinely sorry. “Bad ponies have to stay in prison. It’s the law,” the foal said, ‘sincerely.’

“I know it’s... technically the law,” Paradise admitted warily, “But I won’t tell if you won’t tell. Let’s just... let’s go to Cloudsdale. I just moved from there, so I could show you around my old neighborhood a bit.”

“You’re... willing to break the law, just to try and get me to trust you?” Cozy asked less insincerely, giving her therapist a very sideways glance.

“No,” Paradise said in frustration, “Yes. I just don’t want to keep running in circles with you like this. If I’m trying to get you to trust me, then I’ll tell you. And yes, I’m trying to get you to trust me. I won’t pretend like I’m not. I can’t fool you, so I’m not going to.”

“That’s exactly what somepony would say who is trying to fool me,” Cozy cut back unimpressed, “You’re not special just because you wanna be one of the cool fillies the rest of us look up to. You’re just pretending, and I’m not going to fall for it, either. So sorry about that, Dr. Paradise.”

Paradise couldn’t stop from blushing hotly at that, but she couldn’t play that filly’s game, no matter how much she wanted to. Instead, Paradise replied tensely, “Starlight’s been having private meetings with me about how to counsel you.” Cozy’s ears noticeably perked at the confession, so Paradise continued, “And I shouldn’t tell you that, but I am. I’m supposed to be figuring out what’s bothering you without asking you about it, and that’s just not working for you. So let’s just forget about your treatment for now, and go to Cloudsdale. There’s a cute little odds and ends shop down the street from my old apartment. You’d love it!”

Cozy just blinked at her blankly.

“Or,” Paradise said unsurely, “I could take you to your room, and we could forget about this whole idea—”

“No! No,” Cozy blurted out, wings snapping open. After a frozen moment, she composed herself with a humorless giggle, smiling shyly and saying, “That sounds like it’d be ever so fun, Dr. Paradise. Let’s go to Cloudsdale!”

Paradise tried not to shudder externally and led the filly out of the building.

Cozy Glow tired quickly of flying across Equestria, because she probably hadn’t ever flown this much in her entire whole life! Her recent wing clipping hadn’t done her fitness any favors, so she thoughtlessly griped, “How much further is it? My wings hurt!”

“Not much further,” her red-headed escort said, scanning the skies as she glided alongside the filly, “We’ve already taken two rest stops, so just hold tight.”

They had entered a bank of clouds not long past, the ground fading in and out of a fluffy opaque whiteness as they flew up and over, down and around, cruising past the wispy streams of mist on this mostly cloudy day. They both had on thick scarves, but Cozy was kind of wishing for a sweater at this point. It was just really chilly this time of year. Cozy remembered the last one, and wondered when all the ponies were going to come and dump all that powdery white stuff all over the place.

“Can we maybe land? On the ground?” Cozy asked crabbily, “And walk the rest of the way?”

Paradise laughed out loud at that, saying, “Oh Cozy, you didn’t tell me you were a jokester.”

“Starlight’s the ‘joke’ster,” Cozy said, air quoting the word “joke” with her forelegs, “I’m being serious. Where is this city anyway?”

“We should be able to see it right past this cumulus,” Paradise replied as they approached the lumpy mountain of clouds accumulating in the sky. She didn’t descend though, so Cozy asked,

“Are we going to fly through it?”

“No, we’re going to fly over it!” Paradise said, looking up at the tippy top of the darn thing.

“My wings hurt!” Cozy protested, “I don’t wanna fly up there. What if I get a wing cramp?”

“We can rest at the top, alright?” Paradise asked, with very little consideration that Cozy felt she was due.

“Why aren’t we flying under it?” Cozy whined, “I thought we were close to the city!”

“We... we are close to it?” Paradise said, looking back to the filly in confusion. Shaking her head to clear it, the older mare said, “Just come on. Let’s get to the top of this, and then we can get our bearings.”

Paradise beat her large, powerful, adult wings then, rising up the clifflike side of the cloud face. Cozy hovered a moment, looking upward, before groaning, and fluttering her tiny wings mightily to start rising up slowly and full of frustration. Paradise didn’t even care if Cozy died probably. She would just let Cozy Glow get a wing cramp and fall to her death. Paradise probably had her best friend die in the cloud walking accident, and so she’d just stand there laughing at Cozy for trusting her.

Cozy didn’t fall though. She stubbornly rose up to the top of the cloud mountain, where Paradise was sitting on the fluffy peak. “Come on, Cozy, the view from up here is fantastic!” she called back to the filly.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Cozy griped, “How are we even supposed to see a city from all the way up here?” Paradise didn’t answer, as Cozy ascended the peak and rainbows caught the filly’s eye. Cozy Glow landed next to the older pegasus with a flump in the cloud, looked up from her hooves, and was... confused at what she saw before her.

Multiple rainbows? Why were they pouring down? She could see colorful dots flitting two and fro, giving an idea of the scale for how large this cloud was that they were facing, by how tiny everypony was in the distance. It wasn’t a regular storm though, at least not like any Cozy Glow had seen before. Bright fluffy white, and almost looking like it was smooth in places to the point of being sculpted, with tall columns and some sort of a... a giant funnel shape over there? What the trog kind of cloud was that?

“Well, what do you think?” the redheaded therapist asked with a pleased smile, gazing out towards the weird storm, “I think it always looks better from above. You still regretting flying all the way up here?”

Utterly confounded, Cozy pointed a forehoof at the giant cloud...thing, looking up at Paradise and asking, “What is that? ”

Blinking down at her, Paradise too seemed confounded, as she replied uncertainly, “...Cloudsdale?”

Cozy lowered her forehoof, then looked forward. Then she looked back at Paradise. Then she looked forward, then back to Paradise. Then Cozy Glow stared forward and blurted out in shock,

“You built a city out of clouds?!”

Far, far above the earth, but not all that far above Cloudsdale, Cozy Glow sat with Paradise on a tall cumulus cloud, overlooking the city from a distance. Cozy had never seen anything like it in her life. She didn’t even think it was possible! Could you really make an entire city out of clouds?

It was obvious now. This giant cloud—no—infrastructure of clouds was connected with spiraling roadways, buildings made out of the cloud itself embedded in it, supported with pillars that were also made out of clouds. The whole city splayed forth as far as she could see, cascading rainbow waterfalls glowing in the sparkling sunlight. It was the most beautiful thing Cozy Glow had ever seen. Ponies made this? It was like a dream!

“Cozy, have you never seen Cloudsdale before? ” Paradise asked the filly in anguished concern and astonishment.

“What? N-no, of course I have,” Cozy said, looking nervously up at the mare even as she smiled confidently, “Seen one cloud city, you’ve seen ‘em all, right?”

“Don’t lie to me,” Paradise warned her.

“Why would I lie about a silly little thing like that?” Cozy asked innocently.

“I said don’t lie,” Paradise said dangerously, “Have you never seen Cloudsdale before?”

Cozy... couldn’t say anything now, that would make the mare think that she had seen Cloudsdale before. Paradise had already made her decision. Cozy Glow had already gone and shouted about it like an idiot, and now Paradise knew Cozy... didn’t belong here. What could she say though? How could she get this mare off her back?

“Well, let’s hurry up before we—” Cozy said, leaping aloft to flee into the city.

Paradise bit Cozy’s tail, yanking her back to the cloud, then stepped on it so Cozy couldn’t fly off, saying, “No. Have you never seen Cloudsdale before?”

“I have, I–I mean I...” Cozy said in total panic, and why couldn’t she think of words right now?! What else could she say? “I don’t want... to tell you,” Cozy whimpered miserably, wondering if... if dead silence would work.

Paradise pursed her lips at that, then let Cozy’s tail go. “At least you’re being honest about that,” Paradise called after her as Cozy swooped up in front of Paradise, hopefully out of reach. “Starlight already told me you didn’t like to talk about your past,” Paradise assured her, “And you don’t have to. Just... please don’t play games with me.”

“I... I wasn’t...” Cozy stammered, trying to stop from blushing hard.

“Please?” Paradise asked in sorrowful exasperation.

“I...I’ll... think... about it,” Cozy said at last, not quite meeting the mare’s eyes. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

Paradise’s bright green eyes softened as the filly cautiously settled back down to the cloud beside her and just stared at the city in something between calculation and wonder. Paradise smiled at Cozy sheepishly and said, “Well I guess the cat’s out of the bag. You don’t have to tell me why you don’t know, but how does it make you feel, that I know something you didn’t want me to know?”

Cozy... “Fine?” she said cautiously, looking up at Paradise, “What are you—”

“Good? Bad?” Paradise insisted.

“B-bad,” Cozy admitted, staring at Paradise’s creamy white forelegs.

“If it’s any consolation,” Paradise said sounding very apologetic, in a way that wasn’t really apologetic, “Now that you know that I know, it won’t make things any worse to tell me what you think of Cloudsdale. I’m curious. How’s it feel to see Cloudsdale for the very first time?”

Cozy Glow gazed out over the gorgeous cityscape spreading before her, so high above the ground. “Good,” she admitted, still feeling a little monosyllabic at... her troubling state of mind.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Paradise said wistfully, staring along with her.

“It’s the most beautiful—” Cozy Glow said, starting to choke up. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tore her eyes away, scrunching them shut and shaking her head as hard as she could. It wasn’t disorienting enough, as Paradise asked,

“Cozy, what are you—” so Cozy interrupted, eyes still squeezed shut, saying,

“What did the... cloud say to... the ground?”

“What?” Paradise asked, lost. And now Cozy had to think of a punchline! Why did she think this was a good idea?!

Cozy thought over the relationship with clouds and the ground, and how they floated over it, except for fog, and how one could possibly make a pun off of ground, rain, or fall. She didn’t think dirt would work, but maybe soil, or earth, or rock, or solid.

“What did the cloud say to the ground?” Cozy asked stubbornly, trying to think of places where she heard any of those words out of context. Why would a cloud even talk to the ground? Just to say hello? Wait, rock, doc. just like that one character from those old dailies Headmare Twilight liked to read to amuse herself. Would that work?? Cozy didn’t even know if Paradise read those things!

“I don’t know, what did the cloud say to the ground?” Paradise asked. Moment of truth.

“What’s up, rock?”

Cozy Glow peeked her eyes open, and looked up at Paradise with a grimace that might’ve come across as a smile. Paradise’s look of surprise dawned in realization, as a snort of laughter escaped her, and the mare said, “Oh you mean those old...”

“Iiiit’s a bad joke,” Cozy said with an apologetic wince, “They don’t have to be good though. Just distracting.”

“Why do they need to be distracting?” Paradise asked curiously, and Cozy raised an eyebrow at that. Starlight had told her, hadn’t she?

“You know I can’t cry, right?” Cozy asked Paradise skeptically. But the mare just blinked innocently, asking,

“Why not?”

“Because I’d never stop.”

Criss Mess Milieu

Cozy emerged from her room for breakfast one day, to find herself staring in bemusement at the asylum’s shared cafeteria. The walls were all decorated up in needly green wreaths and colorful garlands. Bright, twinkling lights wrapped around a little pine tree in the corner, with actual presents under it.

Cozy Glow had forgotten about the whole celebrating the middle of winter thing that ponies did around here! She didn’t really get it, but it looked pretty at least. It was... interesting how they seemed to think the tree was so important. Cozy would have just made a pile of presents herself. And was that music she could hear playing from somewhere?

“Look Cozy, happy Hearth’s Warming!” Nurse Tenderheart said gleefully on spying Cozy Glow’s reaction to the decorations, when the nurse escorted her down to breakfast.

“I didn’t think you would have that here!” Cozy said, standing half within the threshold of the doorway, “This isn’t even a school or anyplace really.”

“Well there’s nothing stopping us from decorating the place up a little bit,” Nurse Tenderheart said with a sassy giggle, “Lemme guess. You wanna know if you got any presents?”

Cozy stiffened imperceptibly at that. She knew full well that she didn’t get any presents. Presents came from friends and family, neither of which Cozy Glow had. She didn’t think she needed to get presents, though some of them looked really fun. The last time ponies did this, she had to swallow her jealousy, smiling the whole time, being so happy for ponies getting just what they wanted. Or at least saying that they did. Last time, she just kept her head low, and made sure not to draw attention to the fact that she was... alone.

What should she do this year, then? Last year had been like the opposite of a birthday, where everypony was giving everypony else gifts and food, except nopony was giving anything to Cozy Glow. She took some food back then, hoping that’s what you were supposed to do, and nopony objected to it. But other than that, she didn’t really enjoy herself at all.

She supposed in the end that it wouldn’t be too much different. She just had to keep her head down, and not draw attention to the fact that she wasn’t getting any presents. Ponies suspected a lot, but if they never put two and two together, then they wouldn’t start giving Cozy a hard time for being alone like this, and that meant they wouldn’t try to find out what her Hearth’s Warmings had been like before she came here.

But despite her concerns, Hearth’s Warming at the asylum was a merry holiday. Most of the asylum’s outpatient population were home with their families today, but the place wasn’t empty, as inpatients had brought their families along to join in the festivities. Cozy noticed that weird green unicorn was here with her earth pony friend. Intern’s father was here, a silver stallion to Intern’s uniform brown, looking pained whenever Intern struggled to be here as well, in both mind and body.

Crackpot had some relatives, parents probably, who were getting pretty old, but he was so proud of showing them his screwy friend, who had decided to imitate a rag doll today. He was quite willing to cart around a giant ragdoll in his one good wing. And Sea Swirl had no family, at least none who ever visited, but she did have a blue green pegasus mare who seemed to be a friend, or at least was willing to sit there wincing while Sea Swirl regaled her with tales of greatness. That one awful pony named Cage had family ironically enough, though they didn’t look like they were very proud of it.

Cozy Glow wasn’t the only one who was alone for Hearth’s Warming though. There was Morning Glory, who Cozy ate breakfast with. There was that one orange haired green pony whose name Cozy hadn’t managed to get, an angry mare who just sat by herself, staring at her food in disgust. There was Pinkie Pie, who probably needed to be chased out of the asylum again, and... there was one other patient who was alone, but Cozy didn’t find out about her until lunchtime.

They had some special treats for breakfast, like those weird candy canes that Cozy couldn’t really seem to appreciate, or the hot chocolate that she certainly could appreciate. Mostly she just ate her alfalfa, barley and spinach, and didn’t worry too much about special treats today. Whatever she ate around here, it was going to be better than mushrooms. Unless it was mushrooms. Which were still better, for some reason.

The exercise yard in winter sounded like a lot of fun at first, but it turns out snow is a lot less fun to jump around in after the first few days. Plus the nurses wouldn’t believe Cozy when she said she was cold. She was supposed to be some kind of super pegasus who could handle freezing weather practically naked if not totally naked.

Cozy was fine with summer. It only got uncomfortably warm in the summers here, but the frozen winters, Cozy was much less a fan of. It wasn’t fun living in a refrigerator! At least she managed to convince them to get her a coat, but it gave her little solace when she slipped and her hindquarters sank butt first into the newly fallen snow.

Lunch came around on Hearth’s Warming, because in Cozy’s life, meals were the highlight of her day since there wasn’t much else to do other than eat and study. She’d almost cracked Algebra she was pretty sure, once she figured out that variables were just like numbers except only the same variable could be combined. Beyond that little personal achievement, Cozy wasn’t especially impressed with her room/prison cell as of late. It was still much, much better than a rusty old cage. Cozy was so tired of cages.

So she was glad to get out of her room, enough that lunch was a bright light in her dim dreary day, just because it wasn’t in that room. Plus she got to return to that curiously festive cafeteria. It was... kind of pretty, actually! So Cozy was pretty pleased as she strutted into the lunch line.

Not everypony was pleased though, namely one very mopey dopey looking filly who Cozy hadn’t quite gotten wrapped around her little hoof yet. Approaching the green filly with the raven hair, Cozy put her food tray up next to Green Arrow’s, sitting on the bench beside the other filly and saying, “Oh, hello there, Green Arrow!”

Giving her a baleful glance, the filly said, “Merry criss mess, Crazy Glue.”

“Golly gee, insulting me in the first sentence, I see,” Cozy said a little less cheerfully, “And just why am I a criss mess?”

“You’re not a criss mess,” Green Arrow said, frowning, “It is criss mess.”

“What is?” Cozy queried in confusion.

“This whole holiday!” Green Arrow griped, swinging a forehoof around at the lit up pine garland along the wall, “It’s a fucking criss mess ripoff, and I hate criss mess.”

“What kind of mess is criss, exactly?” Cozy asked cautiously, “Do you mean criss, like, criss-cross?”

Blushing in offense, the filly said, “No, it means—”

Green Arrow’s mouth remained hung open a moment, before she closed it and put that forehoof under her chin, looking down and murmuring to herself, “Huh. I guess it kind of does.”

“Well I don’t get why you hate it,” Cozy said grumpily, “It’s just ponies giving each other a bunch of presents because it’s cold or something.”

“Just wait until you turn 18,” the filly replied unsympathetically, “Watch them stop giving you presents and start expecting you to get a job.”

“I can’t get a job because I’m a criminal, not because I’m younger than 18!” Cozy remarked in confusion, “Who would give me presents, anyway?”

At Green Arrow’s sympathetic look, Cozy blushed and added, “I mean I’m fine not getting presents. It’s just this weird combined birthday party that ponies do in the winter. They can do what they want. All I want is uhm...”

“...to rule over all of Equestria,” Green Arrow prompted in amusement.

“They’re not doing anything right on their own!” Cozy protested, “Who else do you think should be empress? You?”

“I don’t think anyone should be empress,” Green Arrow shot back, “And I don’t fucking care if ponies are doing anything right or not.”

“Well you would if...” Cozy almost shot back.

“...what?” Green Arrow asked uncertainly.

“Never mind,” Cozy said shortly, “It still doesn’t explain why you don’t like the holiday.”

“Because it’s all a lie!” Green Arrow said in an angry whine. Then she paused and considered her own furry green chest before adding, “Maybe not here actually, but even in ponyland it’s a stupid holiday for giving presents to little kids and doesn’t give a fuck about anyone else.”

“You’re upset because you’re not getting any presents, aren’t you?” Cozy Glow realized with growing confidence, “It’s okay, only the stupid little kids need presents.”

“It’s not the presents it’s... I don’t have any... any family, okay?” Green Arrow replied bitterly, “Everyone else has family who loves them and mine are all... gone forever, if they even existed in the first place.”

“What do you mean, if they even existed?” Cozy asked, ignoring Green Arrows incredibly insulting oversight of herself, because it was kind of unsettling that the green filly would ever seem like she was shaky in her convictions about her past.

“I don’t know if my—my memory is getting fucked up or what,” Green Arrow explained, staring at her food, “I was in my apartment when... something happened to the T.V. and when I looked up, Twilight was there in the window, but I can’t remember what else was outside. And then she was gone. It was all just black outside the window. Like not just dark but this solid black darkness and it was just... I didn’t even think that was odd. I thought it was odd that she was there just for a second. And... I–I can’t remember my parent’s names. I can remember names, like human names like Christopher and Agatha but... it’s just... the therapists keep pointing stuff out I remember, that doesn’t seem like it could be real. So maybe I am just some fucking stupid delusional girl, who doesn’t have any family, but I–I miss my family this time of year, and I don’t even know who they are!”

“You never said who your family was to me,” Cozy Glow said apologetically, “Otherwise I could tell you if your memory was getting worse.”

“Okay, so I—I was a yewman,” the black haired filly said urgently to Cozy, with an anxious glimmer behind her cool green eyes, “Two arms, two legs, no fucking fur. I was a guy, and I lived in this crummy 1 bedroom apartment in... somewhere. I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, or... was it San Diego? And I uh I watched this cartoon on my T.V. that was like you guys, like my little ponies, but a cartoon. And I had a jacket I’d wear when I... went to the door and... I don’t remember ever going out, but I had Chinese takeout in the fridge so I must have gone out at some point. My favorite food was bacon. My mom used to cook bacon and pancakes and... all I remember is bacon pancakes. Don’t ask what bacon is.”

“I know what bacon is,” Cozy replied, “It’s meat, just like steak and chicken, except chicken is also what you say when they’re still alive.”

“Have you ever eaten meat?” Green Arrow asked, giving Cozy an appraising look.

“I’m not gonna... talk about that,” Cozy said with difficulty, briefly turning away, “But no I have only... seen some... creatures who were eating meat. It always smelled really bad. You can like it though. But why are you telling me?”

“I mean I’ve tried writing this shit down,” Green Arrow replied in a haunted tone, “But I can’t write worth shit, and if they’re trying to make me forget, they’d just destroy anything I wrote. So I’m telling you so if I start forgetting any of that, anything more, you can let me know they’re d-doing something to me and I’m not just crazy.”

“Golly,” Cozy said in a small voice. She honestly hadn’t considered anything like that. Would they do that to this filly, just because she thought she was thirty nine? Could they do that? Would they really?

“If it helps,” Cozy offered to the filly, “I still remember setting up those artifacts last year, to make the unicorn magic go away. If they had a way to make you forget stuff, then they’d use it on me for sure. So, there’s that.”

“So because you’re way more evil than me, I can use you as a canary,” Green Arrow said rubbing her chin with a forehoof as she appraised the pink and blue filly, “I like it!”

“A canary?!” Cozy replied, fluffing her wings in outrage despite herself.

“You know? They take them down into mines, see if they pass out first?” the filly said looking surprised at Cozy’s outrage, “It just means they can’t be doing anything to me, as long as you’re not brainwashed or anything.”

“Oh, I thought you were making fun of...” Cozy said, consciously folding her wings, “I thought it was a word to make fun of pegasi.”

“C’mon Crazy Glue, you’re not even yellow,” Green Arrow chided her.

“Canaries are yellow?” Cozy asked curiously.

Blinking, the other filly says, “You don’t know what a canary is?”

“I–I know they’re birds,” Cozy replied with a blush, “And I didn’t know what color they were.”

“Only animal I know that’s your color is salmon,” Green Arrow said frankly, “I guess you could be a salmon, if your wings are little fish fins.”

“My—!” Cozy blushed again, as the other filly teased,

“Those feathers are each like little scales, right? Couple of fishy little fish fins.”

“Oh yeah? Well you’re... two olives!” Cozy retorted, trying not to think of her wings as fish fins and of course failing.

“Two olives?” Green Arrow asked, looking confused.

“Yes, you are black... and green,” Cozy said carefully, “So that makes you two olives.”

Blinking, Green Arrow looked down at her forest green foreleg, but shrugged and said, “Fair enough.”

“And my name’s not Crazy Glue,” Cozy also specified, “It’s Cozy Glow.”

“Sure thing, Crazy Glue,” the other filly said, going back to eating before Cozy could protest further.

Cozy was polite enough not to interrupt a filly when she was eating, even if she wanted to shove Green Arrow’s face into her food for calling her Crazy Glue. Unfortunately, Cozy Glow was the most polite pony currently present, and it wasn’t just her and Green Arrow who were at this table anymore.

“So... criss mess, huh?” a crazy mare asked quietly where she stood on the other side of Green Arrow, making the filly stiffen anxiously. Oh Grogar no, when did she creep up on the two of them? “That wouldn’t be a... human holiday, would it?”

“No, it—” the filly protested fruitlessly as the mare hushed her,

“Shsh-ssh!” the mare shushed the filly, getting up close and lowering her voice. Cozy wouldn’t have heard her, if she wasn’t right next to Green Arrow getting completely ignored, as she said, “You don’t have to tell me the truth. I already know that...

“Hearth’s Warming is a coverup, ” the mare whispered.

Green Arrow groaned, and thudded her forehead in her plate as the mare declared in one breath, “The humans, they have the real holidays. It’s on a different day on a completely different frequency from our own! I’m telling you, they’re trying to lull us into believing they don’t control all aspects of government. Why do you think they created this asylum? You and I, we both know this isn’t real. This is just an illusion, making us think that we’re being taken care of, when secretly the whole hospital is an evil demon, bent on breaking our spirits and crushing our will, until we do as the humans command. It all adds up. I know it does. I can’t tell you more, this is top secret, but Princess Celestia has been in communication with me. She’s telling me that we need to be on the east side of the compound at—”

“Oh!” Cozy said dramatically, making the mare stiffen. “Hello Bon Bon,” Cozy said slowly and deliberately, giving the older mare a very calm smile, and a wide-eyed knowing look, “We couldn’t help but hear that you had some... crazy ideas that this wasn’t reality?”

“Y-you have to fight it Cozy!” the pink and blue haired mare stated in terror, “G-g-g-get out of her body!”

“I don’t know what you’re saying, Bon Bon,” Cozy replied in calm portent, unblinking, “You have always been a patient of the asylum. You were never a secret agent, were you? Princess Celestia doesn’t even know you exist. You’re just an insane little mare, who thinks she’s something she’s not. But even a crazy mare like you should know better than to snoop around on the east side of the compound.”

The mare was utterly paralyzed in narrow irised fear. That should be enough.

“This has been your only warning, Bon Bon,” Cozy stated with an unfriendly smile, “Sleep well tonight, and don’t let the yewmans bite.”

Then Cozy Glow collapsed alongside her plate.

“Oh... what happened?” Cozy Glow said dully, dazedly lifting her head, and looking to her left. “Agent Drops?” she asked, eyes widening in surprise on seeing the mare, “It didn’t... it didn’t do it again, did it?”

“Meet me—meet—meet me on the east side,” the aptly named earth pony squeaked in urgent excitement, “East side of the compound right now. Hurry! We have to go!”

“Right,” Cozy said, firming her jaw, “You go first, to make them think you’re alone, and we’ll be right behind you as soon as nopony is watching.”

“Don’t let them touch you with their fingers,” Bon Bon hissed. Then with an excited little squeal, the creamy furred mare charged on out of the cafeteria like a pack of timber wolves was after her. Or, in her case, more like she was after a pack of timber wolves. Shortly thereafter a few nurse ponies went galloping on after the mare, followed by a green unicorn shouting,

“Oh for the love of Pete!!”

Green Arrow meanwhile had to physically hold her mouth shut, she was trying so hard not to laugh.

“I had to get her off our backs somehow!” Cozy protested with a half tilt to her ear.

“How the fuck do you come up with that stuff?” the other filly asked in giggling amusement.

“Ehunno,” Cozy said with an amused shrug, knowing full well how she’d been teasing the crazy mare for a while now, with mysterious evil forces possessing her. And so the two fillies ate their Hearths Warming cafeteria food with relish (or at least with cranberry sauce), and Special Agent Sweetie Drops was carefully monitored for a good while thereafter, to make sure she wasn’t skipping her medication again.

Cozy Glow’s friendship with Green Arrow was all well and good. At least Green Arrow wasn’t too annoying today. But Cozy Glow’s therapy appointment after lunch was pretty harrowing. It was the ice cream incident all over again.

The sessions with Paradise had been getting pretty routine as time went by, not really making any progress, but just a way to check up on Cozy Glow and see how she’s doing. This time, progress was made, for better or worse. Once Cozy waltzed in and flumped on her bean bag as usual, Dr. Paradise pushed something Cozy’s way with a big smile on her face. It was a box wrapped up in colorful paper with ribbon.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming!” the redheaded pegasus mare said cheerfully to Cozy Glow.

“That’s...” Cozy said from her bean bag perch, eyeing the package, “...for me?”

“Yes, I just thought I’d get you a little something,” Paradise said with a gleeful smile, “Go on, open it!”

“Do you get all your patients a little something?” Cozy asked, giving Paradise a warily appraising look.

Blushing, Paradise admitted, “Well, no, not usually. But I had a good idea for a present for you, and I didn’t think you were getting presents from anypony else. Not to emphasize that or anything. I just thought you might appreciate it.”

Cozy climbed off the bean bag, and walked up to the present Paradise had scuffed across the floor. Was this really okay? “So I just... open it?” Cozy asked with a lifted hoof before the package.

“Yes!” Paradise responded happily, “And don’t worry about the mess. I’ll clean it up. But really, I want to see what you think of it!”

Intrigued, Cozy sat on her haunches and placed her forehooves on either side of the package, lifting up... and the whole package lifted up, not just the lid. It was kind of heavy actually. There was definitely something inside. But the ribbon went all the way around, without any breaks in it where a box lid would open. Putting it down again, Cozy squinted at the package in confusion.

“Something wrong?” Paradise asked innocently.

Looking up at her suspiciously, Cozy pointed at the package and said, “The ribbons go all the way around.”

Absolutely clueless, Paradise said, “So?”

“So how am I supposed to open it!” Cozy retorted in aggravation, “Is this a joke? You give me a present that’s tied up with ribbons, and I’m supposed to laugh at that?”

“No, no joke,” Paradise said, her face falling with concern, “Pull the bow and the ribbon should come off. It’s a pretty neat trick for wrapping packages. See where the end is sticking out there?”

Cozy did, and when she bit down on that end, she found that the whole bow was a slip knot. Pulling it out made the ribbon and bow just fall loosely off the package.

“Oh,” Cozy said sheepishly, clearing the ribbons away, “That is pretty clever.”

“Isn’t it?” Paradise replied happily again, “I’ll teach you how to do it after this, but you still have the wrapping paper to go!”

Cozy looked at the box again, and carefully turned it on its side. There was no lid, no more ribbon to undo. The delicate edge to the paper on the bottom was completely taped shut, along with both sides, and the rest of it was nothing but seamless, unbroken paper. Cozy wanted to cry.

“I... I don’t know how to open it,” Cozy said unhappily.

“What do you mean?” Paradise said in total confusion, “You just take off the wrapping paper, right?”

Cozy tried fiddling with the tape, but the colorful paper was so fragile it started tearing under her hoof, so trying not to scream in frustration she said, “I don’t know how! It keeps tearing!”

“...so?” Paradise asked, still cluelessly.

“So I can’t open it,” Cozy told Paradise, as if to a total simpleton, pushing the present firmly away with a hoof. “There’s no lid, no seams. It doesn’t pull apart. You just wrapped paper all around it, and the paper is taped shut so I can’t open it, without tearing it!”

Why was Paradise staring at Cozy in horror?!

“Y-you are supposed to tear the paper,” Paradise said weakly, gesturing towards the package, “We—we buy new paper every year. It’s just a... a temporary decoration.”

“Well that’s dumb,” Cozy said defensively, folding her forelegs and frowning with disapproval, trying to act like her reaction was normal, “The paper is so pretty! And you just throw it away?”

“You can... try to save it if you want,” Paradise said uneasily, “If you take a pinion and—”

“I don’t want to save it,” Cozy fussed, “I thought you did!”

“Look, that... paper is very pretty,” Paradise admitted cautiously, “But it’s made very thin so it can be torn easily, and that means there isn’t much of it on there. Less than the cost of a single apple, I bet. They have these big rolls of the stuff for around ten bits, and I only used a little piece of it. Don’t you enjoy destroying things? Just go all out!”

Cozy might have enjoyed it, if she wasn’t totally sure that this was just another test, to see if she was reformed or not. So Cozy didn’t just destroy it. She carefully nibbled off a strip of paper all around. Then gripping the corner in her mouth, while gripping the unwrapped side of the box in her hind leg, she could slide the rest of the present out from its fragile papery sheath without any more tearing.

“There, all un...presented,” Cozy said firmly, getting to her hooves again to glare defiantly at Paradise.

“Unwrapped,” Paradise corrected faintly, “S-so do you like it?”

Oh, right! There was a present in there! Cozy turned to look at it curiously, and on the box there was the drawing of a wine bottle full of clouds, with some happy ponies waving at it, labeled “Cloud in a Bottle Kit.”

Whatever ‘kit’ meant.

“See, it’s nothing incredible,” Paradise said sheepishly, “You just showed some interest in how they were made, when we went window shopping in Cloudsdale, and it’s actually something a lot of pegasi enjoy doing as a hobby, so I got you a kit, so you can make your own cloud in a bottle, and see how it works.”

So that was what ‘kit’ meant. Paradise had remembered...

Cozy gazed distantly at her present, and said, “It’s really mmmmMMMM”

Whatever Cozy was going to say ended right then and there. She just suddenly started melting down in the middle of her sentence; she went from okay to bawling like an idiot just instantly! Paradise tackled her and pushed the present away with a wing before Cozy could do anything to destroy it. Cozy hated her!

Holding the struggling Cozy and staring her nose to nose, Paradise declared, “It’s okay, Cozy. Just focus on me. Focus on where you are. You don’t have to get angry and you don’t have to cry. Just stay with me, Cozy.”

Cozy couldn’t! She tried to say something, but Paradise spared her even more humiliation by interrupting saying desperately, “No, don’t talk! Just sit here, thinking about this room. Don’t do anything, or say anything, just sit here thinking about how boring this place is. Stare at the wall Cozy, take a deep breath, and just breathe slowly.”

Not letting her go, Paradise held Cozy to her chest, the both of them facing the wall. Cozy tried to breathe but her breath was shaky because it was trying to force her to cry again, and she didn’t want to cry! But every time it welled up in her, Paradise said something stupid, like “That wall sure looks boring, huh?” And eventually Cozy just couldn’t... keep crying. They did a whole lot of nothing, until the urge just... died away, and she was just sitting there in shock.

“Do you think there’s any paint under the wallpaper?” Paradise remarked casually, “I always wonder if they paint under there or not.” Cozy didn’t know either. She never put up wallpaper before, though she probably could have found out how. And she was sitting there in a daze half surrounded by Paradise, as the older pegasus told her, “Okay just let yourself relax now. You’re here right now, and there is nothing happening. You don’t need to do anything. We’re just sitting here, not doing anything.”

Eventually Cozy moved to sitting on her own, on her favorite bean bag again, and she felt normal. “It’s so weird how the research said I’m in an altered state of mind right now,” Cozy said neutrally, “All that heightened sensitivity stuff for hours, even after the emotion’s gone in minutes. I don’t feel like I’d get upset easily.”

“Let’s go on a fly, for the rest of the session,” Paradise suggested, the redheaded pegasus still on the floor where Cozy had retreated from her, “That should help get you back to normal, hormonally at least. And it’s okay if you do get upset. Just uh... try to get yourself out of the situation, and find a nurse.”

“So they can sedate me?” Cozy said resentfully.

“We’re really trying not to do that more than once a week,” Paradise said with a wince.

Cozy Glow didn’t get any presents for Hearth’s Warming, but she did get a note left on her shelf that said, “Keeping it safe until you’re ready for it.” And that was about as good as she could have expected.

Winter Wrapup concluded on time, Spring was on the cusp of awakening, and Rarity was in a pleasant mood. The white unicorn had made her way effortlessly to Starlight’s asylum, where she and the filly had had the most delightful conversation. Relatively, at least. Cozy Glow still watched Rarity in constant suspicion, though she tried not to show it. And for all Rarity’s proud advancement in her magical ability, it was frustratingly difficult to hold back from sharing it with the filly, who truly did seem to despise magic itself.

Rarity’s talents lay far outside that of the arcane though, so she was gratified when fixing up the filly’s lusciously curly mane. Then, the little miss Cozy Glow had a tad too politely asked,

“Why do you think beauty is on the inside, Miss Rarity?”

“Oh well,” Rarity said somewhat taken aback as she paused in her hoof-brushing of Cozy’s mane, “What I mean by that is you can be the prettiest pony in Equestria, and ponies will still despise you if you don’t treat them with dignity and respect.”

“That’s not true though,” Cozy Glow said a little accusingly, “Lots of ponies don’t treat anypony with dignity and respect, and everypony still loves them.”

“They’ll reap what they’ve sown in the end,” Rarity said confidently, going back to brushing Cozy’s mane.

“Are you sure?” Cozy asked, “Because I was reading in a magazine about how the Flim Flam Amusement Resort were adding a new pool slide, and I thought they were—”

“And they funded it completely legitimately,” Rarity replied tersely, “I’ve made sure of that. Cozy, they may not be the most... pleasant ponies...”

“But everypony loves them,” Cozy insisted, “The article said they have the biggest resort in Las Pegasus now, and how could they get that if everypony hated them?”

“It’s... complicated,” Rarity stated through clenched teeth, “Ponies trying to do bad things don’t immediately or always fail, but they are held in check by a very powerful force of good in Equestria.”

“What power is that?” Cozy asked hopefully.

“Friendship, darling,” Rarity replied with a smile, “Good friends can band together and suss out any wrongdoing. If the brothers try any funny business, they can’t fool all of the ponies all of the time, and it only takes one pony to tell a friend, who tells a friend, for any deception to be exposed.”

“But couldn’t friends band together to make wrongdoing happen?” Cozy countered, “They just lie to their friends, who lie to their friends, and everypony ends up loving them. I know that’s wrong and I would never do anything like that, but... could a bad pony do so?”

Rarity had to think on that, until she was smoothing out Cozy’s turquoise tail, whereupon she said, “Would you want to be friends with a pony who lied to their friends?”

“Well, maybe, if I knew they would do it,” Cozy said conservatively, “Then I don’t see what harm it would do to me.”

“Could you catch them at every turn?” Rarity persisted, “Every scheme of theirs you foiled, followed by another scheme against you? Would you never make a mistake, and having made it, get fooled? Even if you could, wouldn’t it be exhausting to do so, to know that your friends will betray you the moment you let down your guard?”

Cozy’s wings almost opened at that, curiously enough. And in response, the filly said,

“How do you know when somepony won’t betray you like that?”

Pondering the question, Rarity ended up replying, “When betraying you is more trouble than its worth, darling. Friends help each other, open up to each other, expose their worries, fears and desires to each other! I’m not saying there is a scoreboard that tells you how much you would lose from betraying a friend, but that’s part of what friendship is: being willing to open up to others, and tell them how you feel, so that betraying them becomes... harder, and hurts more.”

“It sure seems silly to let ponies have power over you just so you can be friends,” Cozy said with a calculated giggle.

“That may be,” Rarity said cautiously, “But if you have power over each other, mutually, then you can rely on each other, and accomplish more than you would alone. I certainly don’t befriend every pony who walks into my boutique, but the friendships I cultivate are more precious to me than anything, because I would lose so much if they were destroyed, and because I gain so much from their presence. If you can find friends like that, Cozy. Real friends who open their hearts to you, and make you a part of their life, then no enemy of friendship will be able to stop you.”

Finishing fastening Cozy’s white flower ribbon, Rarity added with some self satisfaction, “Not even if they own a whole Amusement Resort.”

“Not even if they own a whole city?” Cozy asked.

“Not even if they own a whole city,” Rarity said confidently, “Do be careful of their friendships though. If you become their enemy, then you become the enemy of their friends, and all it takes for you to lose everything is one of them. Like say, perhaps a light green colt, who happened to have spotted a certain filly leaving her office...”

“And he warns all his friends and...” Cozy trailed off into silence.

“Friendship isn’t always Rainbow Lasers, Cozy,” Rarity said, considering whether to work a ribbon into her tail, “Sometimes the greatest magic in Equestria is the power of ponies to trust each other, to warn each other, to band together and succeed where nopony could have done it alone.”

Cozy had little to say to deny that.

Rarity was indeed pleased with the effect that little talk had on the filly, who clearly had a lot to think about. She hadn’t even shouted at Rarity or implied horrible things about Rarity’s parents this time. It really did seem like Cozy Glow was becoming more... pleasant, at least. Only Starlight Glimmer knew how much the filly was really getting better though. Or whoever that new therapist of Cozy’s was. Rarity couldn’t recall her name.

With a practiced ease, Rarity winked out, travelling all across Ponyville in the blink of an instant, without getting a hair out of place. Winking in before her boutique, she reflected on how it was so much easier to be where she wanted to be quickly, now that she’d figured out Twilight’s little teleportation trick. Twilight was so modest about admitting her role in their ground breaking design, but between the princess setting a good example, and those teleportation stations of hers, that it seemed more ponies were learning to teleport themselves every day.

Rarity honestly wondered how it was possible. Twilight had been so convinced that teleporting was a rare, and difficult to accomplish feat, but to Rarity it was a spell that practically cast itself. She suspected Twilight may have been referring to a more primitive form of the spell, because for all of Twilight’s praise, Rarity knew she wasn’t the most powerful among unicorns. She pondered this in her inspiration room, contemplating how to incorporate the ease of winking into some form of clothing design. Something about vanishing in one place, and unvanishing in another. Unvanishing? De-teleporting? What in Equestria would you call the process of winking in?

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in excitement, appearing before her sister in a puff of logic. “Guess what?!”

“Did you just wink??” Rarity exclaimed, staring at her candy white sister in astonishment.

“I just winked!” Sweetie Belle said proudly, the little unicorn holding a beaming smile on her face. “It was easy as pie!”

“But dear, don’t you still have trouble levitating things which are not brooms?” Rarity asked dazedly.

“Y-yeah,” Sweetie said, ears going down a little. They popped right back up though, as she said, “But I’m way better at winking. Watch!”

Sweetie’s horn crudely flickered into a glow, then with a slight flash, she vanished. Rarity could faintly hear her muffled voice outside squeaking, “Come to the window, Rarity!”

After Sweetie Belle had consumed enough praise to leave Rarity a moment to herself again, Rarity’s pleasant mood had faded. She glared at her poorly placed scraps of fabric, saying, “I am going to have a word with Twilight for praising me, if winking is easier than simple levitation.”

As it turned out though, no, Rarity was not.

“Twilight?” Rarity asked with worry, pushing open the door and looking around as she strode into Friendship Castle. “Hello, Twilight?” she asked, her voice echoing through the quiet corridors.

Though she would never admit it to Twilight, Rarity found this castle simply dreadful at times. It had dozens of empty rooms, long hallways devoid of any warmth or grace, and it simply was not the place for a single pony to live. They had tried to accomodate the castle’s strange appearance, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it was quite challenging.

Some of the rooms were in use by various town organizations, such as the Ponyville PD, but a small farming town had little need for a castle. At the heart of Equestria, they were the last place that would be laid siege. It had tastefully included a library when it... er... grew, but again it was a library for a dozen librarians, for a big glamorous city where thousands of ponies came to the library to learn. Twilight and Spike were very good at keeping it organized, but there was still so much to do.

“Yoo hoo! Twilight?” Rarity called out into the crystal halls, “I’m afraid you may have missed our little rendezvous for dinner this evening! I didn’t see you at the restaurant! Is everything okay?”

Poking her head in the central meeting room, Rarity said, “Twilight?” but there was nopony there, not in any of their cutie mark themed seats, nor performing scholarly feats upon the table that held the cutie map. Thinking more smartly, Rarity headed for the library instead, a library that so few townsponies frequented because who would think to walk into a huge imposing crystal castle just to check out a few books?

“Hello? Twilight?” Rarity asked, her voice echoing less once she was surrounded by the comforting presence of books in crystal and wooden bookshelves.

“Rarity!” a young voice answered from deeper within, and Rarity’s ears perked happily at it.

“Spike!” Rarity declared, hurrying back to where the little dragonling was trotting up to her in that odd sort of two-legged gait he used.

“Boy, am I glad to see you Rarity,” Spike said with a relieved smile, giving her a warmly affectionate hug. “Twilight’s been gone all day.”

“All day?” Rarity asked in surprise, “Where has she gone?”

“She teleported to Canterlot!” Spike replied with a crossing of his arms that Rarity was fairly sure was intended to mean he was feeling upset with Twilight right now. “She said she’d be right back but she had to speak with the princesses about something. And you know how she can be.”

With a subtle lash of her tail, Rarity declared flatly, “So her hour in Canterlot became all day, once she’d buried her nose in whatever book she ran across over there.”

“I sent Princess Celestia a message, asking what the holdup was,” Spike said smartly, “But they haven’t replied yet. So I guess it’s pretty important, whatever they’re doing over there.”

“Strange though,” Rarity said thoughtfully, “She didn’t inform me she was cancelling our dinner rendezvous at the Daisy and Daffodil. Was she in a terrible hurry when she left?”

“Didn’t seem like it to me,” Spike replied, scratching his head with a claw, which meant he was confused, Rarity fairly sure. “She was working on her research into that whole Grogar thing, and there was something she needed that wasn’t in any of the books she had. She seemed kind of grumpy about it, honestly, having to go to Canterlot to find out whatever it was. I really didn’t think she was going to be gone long, since she can, y’know, teleport all the way from Canterlot super fast, so I didn’t ask for any details... sorry.”

“No need to apologize, Spike,” Rarity said graciously, laying a hoof on the front of the little dragon’s barrel, though it seemed more like his chest than his shoulders, “It was very rude of her to leave on such short notice, and not pop back in to at least let you know of her unavailability. When she gets back, I will have a word with her in more than one way.”

Taking her hoof back to stand on again, Rarity concluded, “Now when did she leave, and how long have you been waiting?”

Spike’s catlike pupils widened expressively, as he said, “That’s just it, Rarity. She left right after breakfast. She’s been gone all day! I’m really starting to get worried about her!”

Looking at Spike seriously, Rarity said, “You don’t think something happened to her in Canterlot, do you?”

“I don’t know!” he retorted in distress, “I’ve been waiting for her, but... I don’t know what else to do!”

“Well I don’t know what to do either,” Rarity said in a disaffected frustration, “I can barely teleport across town, much less all the way to Canterlot! If Twilight is truly... shall we say, ‘missing’ then perhaps we need to gather the Elements. I’m sure Applejack will have some idea of what to do.”

“What about Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie?” Spike asked in momentary confusion, before his eyes dawned in realization, “...oh yeah.”

The particular dynamics of their group aside, Rarity was fairly sure they’d be able to figure something out among the five of them. At the very least, it would make Twilight feel that much guiltier when she realized what a scare she gave all of her friends.

Wouldn’t you know it had to be the case that Applejack was off in her home living a completely stress free life, no worries about classes or fancy magical shenanigans or weird claw hooved griffonlike creatures. Of course she was settled down with her normal, average, everyday earth pony family, having a down-home home-cooked meal that she and Granny had prepared herself. Of course they were all getting ready to chow down on the delectable apple scented goodies, when Rainbow Dash started hammering on the door.

“Applejack!” the pale blue pegasus could be heard faintly calling through the door of sturdy oak.

Sounds like Friendship business,” Applejack grumbled, tipping back her hat and tossing in the apple pastry, the bowl of apple dumplings, the apple and the potato. Apple Bloom looked at her big sis with them doe eyes, even though the filly was just as concerned as the other two at the table, which is to say not much concerned. Big sister always came back better than ever, and Applejack intended to keep it that way.

With her meal safely Stowed, Applejack tipped her hat at them with an easy smile, saying, “Sorry to run. Ah’ll be back in two shakes of a jiffy.”

“Just go to yer friend!” Granny chided her, “Else Rainbow Dash is gonna hurt her hoof with all that knocking!”

Applejack opened the door to see her friend there in the early evening light. “This better be important, Rainbow Dash!” she fussed at the rainbow pegasus, “Ah was just settin down to eat supper!”

Twilight’s gone missing!” Rainbow Dash declared at Applejack in alarm, the rainbow pegasus wide-eyed and flustered, hovering anxiously with a long late-afternoon shadow.

“You serious?” Applejack asked in stark surprise, “Where’d you see her last?”

“Spike saw her this morning,” Dash said, “She teleported to Canterlot for some reason!”

“That hardly sounds unusual,” Applejack said a little enviously, “She winks halfway across Equestria to get herself a new book.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Rainbow Dash said uncertainly, “She and Rarity were supposed to meet for dinner though, and Twilight’s been gone all day. The princesses don’t know where she is either, at least, they haven’t written back yet, using Spike’s freaky weird dragon fire mailing thing.”

“Let’s just get down there,” Applejack said in resignation, “Might have to beat some sense into everypony before we all start panickin’ over nothing.”

That’s what I was coming here for,” Rainbow Dash remarked looking pleased with herself, “We’re all meeting at her castle to try and find out where she went.”

“Ah’m sure she left a note,” Applejack said with conviction, “It probably just fell off behind something or another.”

“Well, c’mon,” Dash said impatiently, “Sooner we find her, the sooner we can all eat our dinner.”

“She disappeared!” a little dragon said in alarm to Applejack and the others. They gathered in the center room with all the hard chairs, somewhere for everypony to sit, and one dragon, but of course Twilight’s throne was empty.

“Twilight disappears every day,” Applejack countered stolidly, “She once winked in and out like five times in as many minutes talkin’ to me, though she said that one was more of a blink than a wink whatever that means. Mah question is why hasn’t she come back?”

“Spike has sent several letters to Canterlot, asking where she might have gone,” Rarity said, looking pale with worry. Or just pale. “Nopony has replied!”

“Do you think something has happened in Canterlot?” Fluttershy asked fearfully.

“I don’t see what’s not clear here,” Rainbow Dash said testily, “We go to Canterlot. Canterlot’s in trouble. We save the day!”

“I’m still hoping that this is all a misunderstanding,” Rarity said glumly, “It’s not like Twilight to be this... irregular. Perhaps she’s held up by... something that isn’t an emergency.”

“Let’s wait’ll tomorrow,” Applejack suggested, “If she’s not back by then, then we can start makin’ plans to take a little train ride up to Canterlot.”

“Oh oh we should use those new teleportation stations!” Pinkie declared excitedly, “I bet even Rarity could use one of those!”

“What do you mean even Rarity?” Rarity asked dangerously.

“With all due respect, Pinkie, have you ever actually used one of them teleportation stations?” Applejack asked with a queasy wince.

“Uh huh,” Pinkie said easily, “It’s super fun. It turns everything inside out and backwards and you can’t feel the earth anymore or even yourself and then suddenly bam you’re exploding into place where you want to be except you’re super confused because you still feel like you’re where you used to be, and then the weight returns to your legs and head and stomach flip flops like a party inside you and then you...”

Pinkie trailed off, eyeing Applejack worriedly as Applejack was glad she hadn’t had dinner yet. “Maaaaybe we should take the train,” Pinkie cautiously, “I think winking’s an acquired taste.”

“It’s more natural for unicorns, I feel,” Rarity said amiably, “I haven’t the slightest idea what it feels like to ‘feel like you are somewhere.’ Where else would you be, other than where you are?”

“Well I haven’t tried teleport stations, but I don’t really need to,” Rainbow Dash said proudly, “I can fly to Canterlot in two shakes of a tail!”

“Pegasi have always been the ones travelling the most, until this new teleportation that has been happening,” Fluttershy said, looking at her wings, “I think I would rather... fly anywhere, if it’s somewhere I needed to go. But most of all,” she looked at Applejack fondly, “I’d want to travel together with my friends.”

“Sorry to be holdin you back,” Applejack said, ducking her hat to cover the blush, “Maybe y’all cain go and ah’ll just pull up the rear.”

“Oh that’d end well,” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes, “Let’s split up and all go to this totally dangerous thing that’s happening in Canterlot. And as soon as I get there, the bad guys jump me, and boy I sure wish the rest of my friends were here!”

Applejack peeked out from under her hat at Rainbow Dash, saying unappreciatively, “We ain’t the Elements of Harmony without Twilight here y’know.”

“We’re still friends,” Rainbow Dash insisted, “We can help each other out. I’m totally taking the train, because I don’t want that... inside out... thing that Pinkie said, and it’ll only take a few extra hours.”

“We’ve already waited all day, with Twilight missing,” Fluttershy pointed out, “And we’d be waiting longer until the morning. I thought we still weren’t sure that anything was wrong?”

“Well alrighty then,” Applejack shrugged, “Anypony opposed to taking a train to Canterlot first thing in the morning?”

“After sunrise,” Pinkie specified, with an uneasy look Rainbow Dash’s way.

“Right, right after sunrise,” Applejack clarified, “Ah didn’t mean at the stroke o’ midnight. How’s an hour past dawn sound?”

There were mutters of agreement all around.

“Then it’s settled!” Applejack said in relief, “Now cain we all please get off to eatin’ our respective dinners already?”

“I’m afraid not, Applejack,” Rarity said in utmost sadness. At Applejack’s look of alarm, Rarity opened one eye and added in amusement, “My dinner date with Twilight was canceled. The rest of you can return to your respective dinners, but alas I shall be dinnerless!”

“You... wanna eat Twilight’s dinner?” Spike asked in sheepish hope, “I started putting something together in case she came back, but she didn’t.”

“That’s very generous of you, Spike!” Rarity said with a smile, “And I hardly think Twilight would object, considering this is her responsibility in the first place.”

“Great!” the little dragon said, brightening with exuberance, “I’ll go start warming things up!”

The five ponies and a dragon dispersed then, heading to their respective dinners. The night proceeded as normal, and all was well the next day for them to take the train. So to Canterlot they went, hoping for the best, and fearing the worst.

“What?” Starlight Glimmer said in disbelief.

“I just wanted to know...” Sea Swirl said uncertainly, so sure that this was a stupid idea, but what did she have to lose? “If you... liked... flying kites.”

“Who told you that?” Starlight asked with an odd interest.

“Oh, n-nopony special, you know, just...” Sea Swirl said, her mind racing trying to figure out how to keep the doctor from knowing,

“It was Cozy Glow, wasn’t it,” Starlight said flatly.

“Maybe!” Sea Swirl said resentfully, “Maybe I just thought of it on my own, because I can totally do that. I think about other ponies all the time!”

“No, it’s great that you do!” Starlight assured her, “I was just really surprised, and well... Cozy Glow has been a busy little beaver around here, hasn’t she?”

“She uh... I guess,” Sea Swirl said dismissively, “I was talking about what I think of other ponies, not her. So do you fly kites? I’m... uh... really... curious. I guess.”

Sea Swirl wished she could put more heart into it, but she was hurting so much, and Starlight never even understood one smidgen of what Sea Swirl had gone through. This famous equestrian hero standing here mocking her with her mere existence, and she thought Sea Swirl had any obligation to care about her?

“Yes, I do like flying kites,” Starlight replied judiciously, and then she said, “Thank you for thinking of me.”

For some reason Sea Swirl wanted to cry at that. “I didn’t...” she said in disgust, “I didn’t really... I was just saying it because I wanted you to think I was... I mean it’s just something to say, right?”

“Sure it is something to say,” Starlight said cautiously, “But you had to think of me to say it, didn’t you? You had to remember that I liked kites all this time. You don’t have to care about me, but you did think of me.”

“I... yes, technically, I guess,” Sea Swirl said in great dissatisfaction.

“Well thank you for thinking of me,” Starlight concluded insistently, with a warm smile, “You did a good job.”

“No I... I just... I didn’t,” Sea Swirl wiped at her eyes with a foreleg, wishing she could feel that box of tissues right over there, even though she couldn’t because everything was terrible. “I was just saying it so...” How could she be just spilling the secret to the head honcho of this awful asylum? Sea Swirl couldn’t tell her what she and Cozy were planning! In desperate bitterness, Sea Swirl tried to explain without explaining saying, “I didn’t, and I failed, and they wouldn’t even look at me and—”

There was a tissue floating in front of her face.

“I miss my magic,” Sea Swirl told it, tears brimming in her eyes.

The tissue responded by allowing her to blow her nose on it.

“If we took off your horn limiter, do you think you would hurt yourself again?” Starlight asked with understandable concern.

“No, I...” Sea Swirl took the next offered tissue in her foreleg, to at least control that, “...m-maybe.”

“We’ll take it off when you’re ready,” Starlight’s calm voice insisted, “I just need you to think about the good job you did, because you asked me about something I like.”

Sea Swirl just wiped at her eyes trying not to just start blubbering again like an idiot in front of her counselor. She... felt a... resentment towards Starlight, as she glared at the pony so unmoved by her, yet so impressed by stupid, insignificant things.

“It’s just a kite!” Sea Swirl griped at her, “Nopony gets famous over just a stupid kite.”

“It might not be much,” Starlight replied with a sympathetic grimace, “But it doesn’t really have to be. You can make everypony love you later. For now, just... think of me, and... think of your friend, Cozy Glow. Do you think she would appreciate it if you thanked her for coming up with this silly little conversation we’ve had about kites?”

Sea Swirl started to say yes, but then frowned, thinking of the filly and her... strange moodiness. “I don’t know,” Sea Swirl said thoughtfully, probably more thoughtfully about anypony than she ever had before.

Author's Note

Oh, no! Plot development!

Sure is amusing to have random red herrings in my story that seem plot relevant but are actually just the ravings of a crazy pony. (Or are they???)

The Glass Filly

The day dawned bright and early, and with still no sign of Twilight Sparkle, five ponies and a dragon were on the first train to Canterlot. It was a somber journey, with even the fun one not making a lot of hoot and holler about it. Unfortunately, Cozy Glow didn’t know any of this. She was far away from what was going down in Canterlot, in a nice, safe room with a door that didn’t open from the inside.

All she knew was that Nurse Coldheart came to her window, at a time when Cozy was expecting somepony else, saying, “Hey there. You ready to come out to the exercise yard?”

“Where’s Rarity?” Cozy Glow asked cautiously, looking up at the nurse through the window.

“She had some of that Elements business,” the yellow furred nurse replied nonchalantly, “They all took a train to Canterlot today.”

“What for?” Cozy asked, squinting at the nurse.

“I dunno. They don’t tell me anything!” Nurse Coldheart said with a wry grin. With a clack, Cozy Glow’s door was swinging open. “Come on then filly, let’s get you to go out and play!” she said with a lot more enthusiasm than Cozy Glow felt. Elements business? What could that possibly mean? What could—

“Come on,” the nurse prompted her, and Cozy looked up stuttering,

“O-oh right yes. Coming!”

Cozy Glow also didn’t know that Princess Celestia was having a nice, uneventful Tuesday morning. The usual petitioners were coming in, in a nice orderly file, and one thing she appreciated from a thousand years of this was when she could attend to each and every of her little ponies without having to rush. There was a minor labor conflict with the sheep, but that was hardly an unusual occurrence, and would be dealt with magnanimously, in due time. The princess sipped at her tea, tactfully ignoring the detestable flavor as she discussed one particular mare’s earnest entreaties to increase funding for the Equestrian knitting league.

Princess Celestia knew immediately that her governmental paradise was not to last, when a royal guard came hurrying up alongside the line. Equestria had been in a progressive movement in past decades, so the guard was one of the new female guards on staff. Celestia sincerely hoped that she wouldn’t have to wait until this mare retired to have her stallion guards back. Still, the mare who approached was as good at her job as any other, and the princess paid her heed as she approached, stopping her petitioner’s diatribe with some choice words, “One moment please, Ms. Turnip. This looks important.”

“The Element Bearers are here, your highness!” the mare said with a curt salute, “They wish for a private audience!”

As Princess Celestia was about to reply, the guard added, “Lady Rarity said to add that it is important but not immi... immini... not dire your highness, so you do not need to cancel your morning petitions!”

Celestia had to smile at that. There was a reason Rarity was her favorite.

She had the Bearers escorted to her private chambers, and completed her business before going to them, but she couldn’t resist rushing everything now, because for them to come to her was... well, when Discord, the mad spirit of chaos escaped, Princess Celestia had to summon them herself, before they would come to Canterlot. As important as they were to Equestria, these were Ponyville ponies through and through, and even Twilight felt drawn to Ponyville and away from Princess Celestia, because of course that’s where her friends were!

Thus for them to leave their home and come to her of their own volition, without so much as sending her a letter in advance... Princess Celestia knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

The six, no, five bowed gracefully, or at least sincerely once Celestia walked into her private chambers to meet them. That’s why she liked it when she could be the one who enters the room, because it was just so awkward for ponies to walk into the room, stop, bow, then resume walking into the room. The princess sincerely liked to think this way was more expedient.

“We’re terribly sorry to worry you, Princess,” Rarity spoke, rising first, “We’ve already checked Moondancer’s tower and every library. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong at all in Canterlot, so... what has Twilight Sparkle been doing here?”

Blinking, Princess Celestia said, “Twilight Sparkle was here? She didn’t approach me, with whatever she was doing here.”

“She went to Canterlot!” Spike said in worrying alarm, “She said she had to speak with you!”

The pieces were starting to come together, as Princess Celestia said in growing horror, “I haven’t seen Twilight Sparkle since her school was shut down last Winter. What do you mean, she had to speak with me?”

“She was trying to figure out some... some ancient history stuff, and since you’re... uh...” Spike blanched.

“1,349 years old,” Celestia replied evenly, “Yes she can come ask me about ancient history, though I remember very little myself, more than a few centuries back. She can also use the Canterlot libraries, even the restricted wings, to—”

“Already checked those,” Rainbow Dash said informatively, “We aren’t allowed in, but the guards hadn’t seen her either, so unless she snuck in somehow, she’s not in there.”

“But where could she have gone, then?” Rarity asked in heated confusion. “Why would she lie to Spike about teleporting to Canterlot?”

“What if she didn’t make it to Canterlot?” a horrified Spike said, “What if she winked out, then never winked back in again!”

“Can you do that?” Fluttershy asked in horror, “Can you wink out, without winking back in again?”

“Certainly not!” Rarity declared confidently, adding less than confidently, “I mean... I am fairly sure, at least. Twilight is the expert on winking more than myself. I was just going to talk to her about that, in fact!”

“What were you going to say?” Fluttershy asked.

“I was going to talk with her about how little trouble winking is,” Rarity said grumpily, “It’s become so popular these days, even Sweetie Belle knows how to do it!”

“You taught her how to wink?” Rainbow Dash asked giving Rarity a critical look.

“I certainly did not!” Rarity replied snidely, “I don’t even know how she picked it up, just that she said it was very easy to do, and if Twilight thinks my accomplishments are anything to write home about, then Sweetie Belle’s a more magical unicorn than I thought!”

As her tone turned towards a more angry resentment, Rarity paused, then added meekly, “That is to say I’m sure my dear sister has a lot of potential, but she hasn’t... shown much magical ability, so when I saw her go winking about, it just made me... wonder.”

“She getting any better at other kinds of magic?” Applejack asked, “Or is it just winking?”

“No, it’s... just winking,” Rarity admitted with concern, “But I really do say that winking is the easiest thing in the world, once you get the hang of it. So it’s perfectly fine if Sweetie Belle managed to figure out the trick! Well admittedly she is teleporting into my room without much regard for a mare’s privacy, but other than that, I don’t see what the problem is here. I honestly think it’s a good thing, overall!”

“Sure have been a lot of ponies winking all over the place lately!” Pinkie Pie said in puzzled skepticism. “Maybe it’s getting easier?”

“Twilight Sparkle has made very impressive advancements in the magic of winking,” Princess Celestia suggested, “More than any pony in history. It would make sense that ponies adopting her techniques would have an easier time doing it. There’s just something about all this that doesn’t seem right. Have you searched through any notes that Twilight left, to see where she might have been going?”

The five plus one looked a little awkward until Rarity remarked, “Not as such. That would probably be a good thing to follow up on.”

“I’ve never in all my years heard of anypony winking out without winking back in again,” Princess Celestia said with a meaningful look at the relieved dragonling, “It’s much more likely that Twilight’s gone on some urgent business, and possibly run into trouble.”

“She hasn’t been gone long, so there ain’t no reason to worry just yet,” Applejack pointed out, “We really do need to find where she’s gone though, and give ‘er a whack on the head for not tellin’ us beforehand.”

“I hope it’s not anything bad,” Pinkie added, “It could just be she’s trying to surprise us, for something good, like a birthday! But none of our birthdays are coming up until mine next month. And she knows I don’t... do so well with surprise parties.”

“Let’s just get back to Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently, “There’s nothing wrong here in Canterlot, and that’s why we came, in case Twilight was trapped here and needed our help.”

“Please let me know if you don’t find her soon,” Princess Celestia said urgently, “I don’t want to start a panic over this, but I fear Equestria may be in grave danger if something can keep Twilight Sparkle away from her friends.”

“Will do, princess,” Applejack said firmly, tipping her hat, then turning to leave, “C’mon, let’s go everypony! We got a princess to hunt down!”

The rest cleared out in Applejack’s wake, with the polite Fluttershy lagging behind to curtsey one more time before the princess. And left to her own devices, Princess Celestia made ready to check on some things herself. First and foremost, Knuckerbocker’s Shell and Clover’s Cloak, which should be under the strongest security Canterlot had to offer, but the princess went to check anyway, because she had a bad feeling about all this.

Instead of all those things which she had absolutely no idea that were occurring, Cozy Glow stared in disbelief at the cute little plush sheep. It had to be custom made. He even had big old horns, though not nearly as magnificent as the real thing. Double stitched, and very squeezable. Dyed in shades of dark blue. Cozy hadn’t specified that he always kept himself shorn like some kind of freak, so the doll had puffy, huggable, snuggly wool all around it. She wondered what he’d think of it.

“Thank you—” Cozy said dumbly, looking at the plush sheep, but then she caught herself, and managed to add a note of insincerity looking up at Paradise and saying, “so much for your generosity.”

No way any other pony would ever pick up on Cozy’s insincerity, but it made her feel better at least. “I’m ever so grateful you would go through all this trouble, as a way of earning my trust,” she added smarmily.

“Are you?” Paradise asked, not quite suspiciously, but certainly not hopefully.

“Y-yes, of course I am,” Cozy recovered quickly, saying, “I think we’re really making some progress here!” Did Paradise somehow pick up on Cozy’s insincerity?

“Oh, that’s good,” Paradise admitted with a relieved smile. Guess not. “Have you finished reading about the emotional stress experiment?”

“Yeah,” Cozy said, clutching the plush cautiously to her chest, “I don’t see how they could tell if somepony stopped being sad or not. And it’s weird that it’s 2 minutes on average, because I know I’ve been upset for longer.”

“Fair enough,” Paradise admitted with a shaky laugh, “Thanks for looking at it at any rate. I’m glad you can understand that stuff enough to criticize it. You’re really smart for a pony who’s only been around for... wait, how old were you again?”

“Oh, I’m 14,” Cozy said off-hoovedly.

Paradise tilted her head. “Really?” she asked incredulously and shoot. Why did Cozy’s therapist ask incredulously ? Ponies usually didn’t question that!

“P-pretty sure I’m 14!” Cozy Glow declared confidently, “I would know if I wasn’t!”

“You look pretty young for being 14,” Paradise pointed out, “Plus your file has your application to the School of Friendship in it.”

Cozy blanched. She hadn’t... she couldn’t have possibly forgotten about that. What age did she put in there? It wasn’t 14 it was... older than her real age, but...

“And if you were telling the truth on that application, then that would make you twelve, by now, at most,” Paradise continued insistently, “But not 14!”

“I didn’t... tell the truth on my application, duh,” Cozy said, rolling her eyes, “I didn’t even use real names for anypony!”

“Oh, so your name isn’t really Cozy Glow?” Paradise asked surprised, and how was this happening???

“Why don’t you just back off, and leave me alone?!” Cozy growled at her, “Am I a prisoner? Is this a big interrogation now? You think you can fool me, but I know what you want—”

“I’m not trying to fool you!” Paradise uttered hastily as Cozy panicked trying to think of how to respond to that without actually telling the truth, “I just don’t want you to play games with me. You can look at your application I have if you want. You just... said that you were 14 because... you want ponies to think you’re older?”

Cozy... did, but somehow, she expected Paradise to say it more angrily and accusingly. And now that Cozy thought about it, why would a pony like Paradise ever say it that way? There wasn’t anything wrong with protecting yourself. What was Cozy even... trying to protect?

Cozy hugged the plush closer. She wanted to hide behind it, and she hated herself for that. She hated being so exposed though, with nowhere to hide. “It’s just... easier this way,” Cozy fussed darkly, “Ponies think I’m just a normal, ordinary... filly then, and don’t ask questions.”

Looking worryingly her way, Paradise said, “Well, I apologize, but I already think you’re a very special filly, and all I do is ask questions, so you don’t have to pretend around me. You don’t have to tell me your age either, but if you do, I won’t tell anypony else. Mostly I’m just curious.”

“I’m... eleven, I think,” Cozy admitted reluctantly, looking away from Paradise, “I–I mean, not really, I’m probably ten, but maybe eleven.”

With a worried nicker, Paradise said, “Cozy, you don’t know how old you are?”

“What does it matter?” Cozy Glow asked bitterly, “I already know I’m a freak. I have to teach myself how to... to read, and all sorts of things normal foals can’t do.”

“I’m sure there are ten year olds who can read,” Paradise contested, but Cozy shook her head, saying irritably,

“No, I–I could read a long time ago. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for other foals. You just remember the words, right?”

“Yes, but... not every time,” Paradise contested.

“That’s why we have dictionaries,” Cozy Glow said unsympathetically, “But yes, I... I know that other um, foals aren’t... that I’m about maybe reading as good as a 14 year old, or... more, but...”

“It’s not my job to judge you, Cozy,” Paradise replied diplomatically, “But you are a very smart pony. I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. You have so much—”

“Potential,” Cozy interrupted mockingly, “Oh Cozy you’re so lucky you’ve been recognized, you’re such a smart little filly you get to do big important things that aren’t painful and horrible and you’re nothing like your mother Cozy, you—!”

She stopped talking once she noticed she’d started screaming somewhere in the middle of that. “It’s just easier when ponies don’t think I’m special,” she calmly told a wide-eyed Paradise, hugging that plushie with a death grip, “So what if I’m a little... precautious?”

Blinking, still wide-eyed, Paradise suggested, “I think the word is ‘precocious.’”

“Well great,” Cozy groaned, sinking back into the beanbag, “Now I’ll never ever forget it, and other ponies will, and that’s why they get to stay and I get to...”

This was starting to stray into dangerous places, so Cozy reiterated, “Y-you promised I didn’t have to say anything about m-my past. You said you weren’t playing games so I’m done talking about that. Let’s talk about something else”

“Well, I brought something we could talk about, today,” Paradise said, standing up from where she was sitting on the floor beside Cozy on her bean bag, and rearing up onto her desk. The tome she dropped in between them was titled “Rational Emotive Behavor: the ABC model” by one particular “Allbeard Trellis.” Cozy had never seen the word “Emotive” before but she figured it was just a fancy word for emotions, and the only other mysterious part of the cover was the “ABC” part.

“I bookmarked some spots we could go over,” Paradise said hopefully, nosing open the book to the first bookmark, a chapter that began with the title “Activating Events.”

It was something to read at least. Still Cozy didn’t quite understand what the point of this ABC technique was. Reading through the book, she just couldn’t see how you could ever change what you believed in.

Sometime later, the comb caught in Cozy’s hair as a distracted unicorn yanked it a little too hard, not with her magic, but with her pale white foreleg in the brush’s strap.

“Are you okay, Rarity?” Cozy asked cautiously, shutting her book she was using to distract herself from any potential magical glow.

“Why wouldn’t I be, dear?” Rarity said with only a slight nervous twitch in her whole body.

“I’m not a therapist,” Cozy said, wincing as the brush caught again and Rarity accidentally yanked her tangled mane, “But you seem kind of—ouch—stressed out.”

“Oh, it’s surely nothing at all to do with you certainly, just some issues in my personal life,” Rarity said with a nervous giggle, “Very personal, and private, thank you very much.”

The white unicorn’s horn flickered with blue, as if Rarity momentarily forgot, and thought to use her magic. It was... really hard to be afraid of Rarity’s magic, when the unicorn mare was so genuine about it. Cozy was starting to feel like it was more of an extra leg for Rarity, something that was just... a part of her, instead of being something she was appointed, or something she used.

Cozy didn’t feel all that comfortable about it though.

That probably should have served as a warning, but Cozy was still caught off-guard when Starlight Glimmer called Cozy Glow into her office. Like actually escorted her there. Not that ponies didn’t usually escort her, but when Starlight came to get her, she didn’t even say what it was about, just, “Cozy, we need to talk. Come with me.”

The atmosphere wasn’t exactly somber in Starlight’s office, but something was definitely going on. “Been a while since we talked, heh,” Starlight said in the fake amusement that Cozy had come to know so well.

“What’s this about?” Cozy asked, standing there looking cautiously up at Starlight Glimmer, not sitting anywhere. “If this is about Green Arrow then I just want you to know I had nothing to do with the—”

“No, no it’s not your friend,” Starlight said hastily, holding up a hoof, “I just... wanted to ask a few questions.”

Cozy sat on her haunches, ready to lie her head off.

“Did you think we wouldn’t find where Twilight Sparkle was being held?” Starlight asked Cozy cooly, giving her an appraising look.

“Why would I... think that?” Cozy said trying to process the knowledge that Twilight Sparkle had gotten foalnapped and it was apparently her fault. Should she pretend to be innocent, or what? Cozy Glow literally was innocent! She wasn’t used to being innocent. Did that mean they had a new enemy? Was it safe for Cozy to ask?

“You shouldn’t hide stuff like that, Cozy,” Starlight said dangerously, “Your little scheme to take out the Princess of Friendship hasn’t gone unnoticed. I can’t protect you if you keep trying to get revenge, or putting Equestria at peril for your own gain. You won’t win at this, Cozy. We’re holding all the cards here. Cozy, I... I know about your mother.”

Cozy stiffened.

“I’m not your enemy, Cozy,” Starlight lied obviously, “If you tell us how you trapped Twilight Sparkle in the Well of Shade, then we can be one step closer to waking her up, and solving this problem.”

“I... I don’t know anything about that!” Cozy Glow protested, “What happened to Twilight Sparkle? She’s in a magical sleep?”

“You were seen leading her off in a trance,” Starlight said, “By several ponies in town. I’m surprised you didn’t cover your tracks better. Did you think nopony would be up at 2am?”

“I’m locked in my room at 2am! How would I—?”

“Or you could keep lying,” Starlight interrupted angrily, “And I’ll be forced to tell the princesses everything about your past, about your mother, how she died, and about where you came from. Do you really want that, Cozy?”

“No!” Cozy said in an absolute panic, “You can’t tell them! How do you know? I–I didn’t do anything to Twilight Sparkle I swear! Please I don’t know anything. I-it was a changeling! Maybe a changeling was pretending to be me! I—I can’t—”

Cozy had to push away the tears with her hooves as she said in horror, “I don’t have anything to tell you. You’re going to tell them, and they’ll send me back. Please I–I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t know anything about Twilight Sparkle, and I can’t even prove it to you at all, so you’re gonna kill me and...”

Cozy fought with her tears; she hated being helpless like this. How had Starlight found out? How could she do that? Cozy had trusted —well technically Cozy had never trusted her, but... how?!

“You think you’re so good, for what you’re doing,” Cozy said bitterly, her young voice twisted with a tormented hate as she glared at the evil unicorn, “You don’t have the guts to kill me yourself, so you’re just gonna banish me and they’ll kill me, a-and you won’t even have to see it. I hope they find you and kill you all, because you can’t do... you can’t do this. You’re supposed to be good, not bad!”

Starlight wasn’t looking down at Cozy with nearly as much disdain and sinister intent as expected though.

“Okay, I give up,” Starlight said, facehooving. “Cozy,” she continued in a tired tone, “I’ve been lying to you this whole time.”

“...what” Cozy uttered dazedly.

“It was the only way I could think of to protect you,” Starlight explained, giving Cozy a beseeching look, “You’re so good at lying yourself, I had to say some things that upset you, to make sure you were too... upset to be insincere. But I said she’d been trapped in the Well of Share, then that we couldn’t wake her up, because neither of those things were true. If you had any idea what was really going on, then you’d know I was lying, and there’d be no way you would get this upset. So... you win. I don’t think you had anything to do with the disappearance of Twilight Sparkle. But just in case... Applejack, what do you think?”

Cozy blinked as Starlight looked away from her, following the mare’s gaze to where the orange cowpony teacher was walking out from behind the couch. “She ain’t seemin’ the slightest bit dishonest to me,” Applejack said giving Starlight an uneasy look, “But she pulled one over on me too, do recall.”

“I... avoided you,” Cozy said desperately. Applejack glanced her way. “W-when I was... t-trying to take over Equestria,” Cozy told the orange pony, “I figured you’d find out if I tried to fool you, so I just didn’t ever talk to you ever. So I’m not magic or–or anything, not like you are. So I can’t have been lying s-so you can’t do any of that stuff to me.”

The farm pony continued to give her an appraising look, but instead of answering, she turned to Starlight, saying, “Ah agreed to this on account of we’re runnin out of options. But you didn’t tell me that the filly lost her mom.”

Starlight stiffened.

“That... um...” Starlight Glimmer forced out uneasily, shifting on her hooves, “That is something I wanted to bring up in a much less... adversarial way. I didn’t mean to refer to that specifically, but it just sort of... came out!”

Turning to Cozy Glow, Starlight said, “Cozy, I only said all of that to... fool you into thinking I knew more than I knew. And I’d really like to talk you about it in private, after this. It’s um... it’s not something I have any right to tell.”

“You better, is all ah cain say,” Applejack told Starlight disapprovingly, and then she too regarded Cozy Glow with her verdant green gaze. Cozy Glow felt like she was the butt end of a joke here, being made a fool of in all the ways that she had been struggling with ever since everything started to go so horribly wrong. She braced for whatever Applejack was going to tell her, as the cowpony looked her way for way too long.

“Ah think Starlight was right about you,” Applejack told her, tipping her hat and smiling, “Keep at it, Cozy Glow.”

Then she just walked out of the room without another word.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cozy asked Starlight Glimmer, since she was lost for words before the apple farmer left the room.

“Applejack means exactly what she says,” Starlight said, looking after the door closed behind Applejack with somewhere between gratitude and uneasiness, “No more and no less. Anyway... I suppose I owe you an explanation.”

“For what?” Cozy asked, following her ear to look at Starlight Glimmer.

Starlight winced, but said, “I... know you didn’t tell anypony about your secrets. The way I found out was kind of well intentioned, but sneaky. You talk to your... when you talk to your skull, at night I’ve been able to...”

“You have some sort of monitoring spell on our rooms when we go to bed, right?” Cozy asked in a reflective tone, “Makes sense, considering we’re all supposed to be a bunch of crazy ponies.”

Starlight looked like a mouse who caught a snake, saying, “You know about it?”

“Well I know now ,” Cozy said, rolling her eyes and looking away, “It’s pretty obvious though. You once said it was very good of me to want to help Crackpot, but asking about his accident was probably a bad idea.”

A pause, and Starlight asked, “And...?”

Glancing at Starlight, Cozy sighed and said, “I only said to my skull that I was gonna do that. And I also only told my skull about how much I hate the cafeteria’s pudding, then you started asking me about it. Then they started serving chocolate. It was so obvious you could hear me somehow.”

“But... but the colts...” Starlight said weakly, “And you thinking about capturing them, and... and doing things to them...?”

Cozy didn’t even bother holding back a grin, saying, “You like that, huh, Starlight? How naughty of you, to have such thoughts about cute little innocent colts!”

“They were your thoughts!” Starlight protested.

“I can’t believe you didn’t figure it out,” Cozy griped, losing her smile, “Do you really think I want to do all that stuff I said about peanut butter and baby oil? I haven’t even had an estrus before!”

Starlight fishmouthed, so Cozy groaned, “I thought this was gonna be a lot funnier, but it was just getting old.”

“How do you even know what to do with peanut butter and baby oil?” Starlight retorted, aghast.

“Not telling,” Cozy said with a fussy frown at the mare.

“And how have you not had estrus yet?” Starlight added, “Didn’t you say you were over 14?”

...

Blushing, Cozy Glow looked away stating, “I also said I was 11 on my school application. Why wouldn’t I lie twice?”

“Oh that’s... that’s right!” Starlight said, her bluish eyes widening, “I can’t believe I didn’t realize that! I just thought the whole application was made up.”

“Didn’t Paradise tell you?” Cozy asked with an uneasy wince, “She told you about my... my age, right?”

“Paradise hasn’t told me anything about your age,” Starlight replied honestly, “Did you tell her in session? Those are confidential, you know!”

“Yeah, confidential except for you, because you run the place,” Cozy said, unconvinced, “Don’t think I don’t know Dr. Paradise isn’t telling you every single thing I say to her.”

“That’s why we decided to make it confidential,” Starlight contested, “Because Dr. Paradise needed you to trust her. She’ll tell me if it’s... if it’s nothing private, or an immediate danger, but I swear she can keep you safe from...”

Starlight glanced away after trailing off, murmuring, “...from me.”

“You’re spying on me, in my room, in my bed,” Cozy said incredulously, “And you expect me to trust that you’re not—”

“Trust Paradise, not me,” Starlight asserted, “That’s why I made her your counselor. Because she’s right, you do need somepony to trust, and I know I’m not it. I don’t trust myself! But... and I’m sorry I... listened to you speaking with your mother while you were in bed.”

And there went Cozy Glow’s anxiety right back through the roof. Eye twitching, she asked, “W-w-what do you mean my mother? That skull’s not my mother, it’s just my skull! I don’t even know who it is!”

With a very confused look, Starlight asked Cozy, “Then why were you calling it ‘momma?’”

“I was not!” Cozy shot back furiously, “I never call her momma, because it’s not momma it’s just my skull. It’s just mine, not her. Are you trying to break me? I don’t want to talk to you anymore!”

“Cozy, wait!” Starlight said, even though Cozy knew the door wouldn’t open if the magical unicorn in the room didn’t want it to. Cozy stomped over to the door, out of some... vain hope of a symbolic gesture that would end this conversation right here and now.

“Cozy, I’m not trying to break you!” Starlight assured her, “It’s okay if she’s your... I–I just didn’t think that you never... y-you made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Cozy glared at Starlight, “Let me out right now!”

“Cozy, you... you made a mistake, a few times,” Starlight said in apologetic sympathy, “You must not have... noticed you were calling her your momma. M-more than once. You were pretty emotional when you... sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t know I didn’t know.”

Cozy was trying not to panic, saying, “You must have misheard. I just called her a uh a malla, which is a... a a creature that...”

“Cozy, you can keep your skull,” Starlight assured her anxiously, “I won’t ask you to tell me about your mother. I won’t ever tell anypony what I heard. Y-you don’t have to believe me, but you have to believe me! Unless it threatens Equestria, your secret is safe. A-and I won’t listen to your conversations anymore. Cozy please, what can I do to make things okay?”

“Things will never be okay!” Cozy retorted with an unavoidable tremble in her voice.

“Cozy, I...” Starlight looked at her with a bleakness of somepony at the end of their rope, who sees somepony trapped on a ledge even further down, “I’m so sorry.”

Cozy bit her lip. She couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t stop it. “You should say a joke,” she said through a tight throat, too quietly. Too quietly?

“What—” Starlight started before Cozy screamed at her,

“You should say a joke! ” and Cozy tried to open the door even as her desperate scream resounded through the room, and the door wouldn’t open because of her.

“I’ll kill you!” Cozy shrieked, leaping for that stupid, horrible, glowing horn, fighting its magic, failing to fight the collossal strength of a steel vice holding her in place, as Starlight said,

“Hold on! I’ll just get the nurse—”

“Shut up shut up shut up! ” Cozy shouted, wings straining against the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria.

Cozy was... waking up in her room later, with a sore spot in her bottom, and no real idea of how she got there. Not an unusual occurrence these days. She shifted, and her... arm was even draped over her skull in bed this time. When Cozy roused herself, a note laid against the skull crinkled to her movements. Cozy flipped it out from between her and the skull with a wing, laying it before her on the bed to read.

What did the one humped camel say to the lazy two humped camel?
Back two, work!

Cozy Glow snorted, despite herself, grumbling, “That... that’s terrible. ” Oddly enough though, somehow it made her feel better than anything else Starlight Glimmer could have done.

Starlight did keep to her word though, somehow, impossibly, never asking Cozy Glow about her mother again. Cozy couldn’t believe how close that was. She couldn’t believe they weren’t taking it away, to analyze it more and to steal it away from her. It was... it was all she had left. Cozy hugged her skull anxiously, fearing for what ponies would do if they found out who she really was.

Cozy Glow’s breakthrough came far too slowly, and never in the most expected way. Her friendship with Green Arrow was... not going well. Trying to hold back the tears, Cozy told the therapist in the corner of her eye, “I told her to stop talking about my mother. And she just wouldn’t! I didn’t mean to spill her milk. I just got so angry and I know I’m supposed to do breathing exercises but she just... wouldn’t stop... ugh!”

“Green Arrow has more... sociopathic tendancies than you, Cozy Glow,” Paradise told her, not that Cozy hadn’t already been told that. But what the therapist said after was interesting, Paradise continuing on to say, “She’s trying to provoke you because it’s interesting to her. No, fascinating. She’s not doing that to hurt you. She’s doing it because she’s curious what will happen, how you’ll react. You know Starlight’s her therapist, right?”

“Oh yeah, of course she gets to have Starlight as a therapist,” Cozy grumbled, curling up more in the bean bag.

“Well... Starlight talks to me about her sometimes,” Paradise said, “And she says that Green Arrow is... upset too, that she keeps provoking you.”

“Then why does she do it?!” Cozy shouted angrily from her curled up poise.

“Why do you get angry?” Paradise countered, “It’s the same answer. Green Arrow has very little self control. She sees a button, and she pushes it, even if she knows she’ll regret it. And you have a lot of very tempting buttons to push.”

“I don’t have any buttons!” Cozy protested, “And... what am I supposed to do about it?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Cozy,” Paradise said sympathetically, “If you’re not ready to talk about what’s behind all this anger, about what’s really bothering you, there’s not much advice i can give. I’m not—” the redheaded pegasus sighed in hot frustration, “I’m not trying to force you to talk about it. I’m just so frustrated how helpless I am. As soon as you start to talk about it, you clam up, and... and I know you have your reasons. But all I can say is you should try to empathize with your friend, and if you can understand why she’s doing what she’s doing, you won’t get as angry at her for doing it. So she says... what? What did she say about your mother?”

“She just... said it really smarmily,” Cozy replied, “Like she was... like my mom was an idiot. I told her that and I told her to stop, and she said she didn’t have to stop if it was true. Then she said that I said it, and I did, but I meant that she said it! S-she was so nice. I mean... we were laughing because... because the cafeteria served beans and I don’t really want to talk about it. But then she just starts... attacking me out of nowhere. Like she secretly hates me.”

“Can you see how your... anger might make you miss some other possibilities?” Paradise suggested, “It could be a total accident, and she secretly loves being around you.”

“It was not an accident,” Cozy insisted.

“Maybe she’s afraid to like you, because she’s afraid of friendship,” Paradise continued, “So she attacks you to protect herself, because she thinks you secretly hate her.”

“I don’t, though!” Cozy protested, “I don’t hate her at all! I mean, not... more than other ponies at least.”

“What if she’s saying the exact same thing to her counselor right now, Cozy?” Paradise asked earnesly, “What if she just doesn’t know what went wrong, and she thought she was just playing with you?”

“She was not playing,” Cozy retorted grumpily, “I know what she said!”

Giving her a look, Paradise asked her, “But do you know what she meant?”

Cozy wasn’t sure she wanted to take that bait.

Sighing again, Paradise said, “I want you to tell me exactly what Green Arrow said, and say it in her voice too, all um... smarmily.”

“Shitting like your mom, Cozy!” Cozy Glow said in a really stupid whiny voice, “Shitting all over the place, because she’s full of shit. And they found you in the poop, didn’t they Cozy? You’re a poop baby, aren’t you Cozy?”

A pause, and Cozy glanced at the shocked therapist. “And I told her to stop acting like my mom was an idiot, and she just said no, you are the one saying she’s an idiot, and I told her to shut up, and she said she didn’t have to if it was true, so I... knocked her milk off the table. I-i-i-it was even chocolate and I just...”

“I can fully understand why you were upset, Cozy,” Paradise assured her in disgust, “But, the reason I was asking you to say it word for word, because think about it: you just said those exact words. You were only repeating what she said, but you still said the same thing. Why did you say you’re a poop baby, Cozy Glow?”

“I didn’t!” Cozy shouted back, “I just said—”

“Because I asked you to!” Paradise interrupted, “That’s why you said it. You didn’t say it because you think it’s true. You didn’t say it because you were... born like that. You just said it, to let me know what she said. That’s the only reason you said it. I’d be stupid to assume you actually thought it was true.”

“Well, you would,” Cozy pointed out, “But you know why I said it.”

“Do you know why Green Arrow said it?” Paradise asked innocently.

“Because she really does think my mom is a—”

“Didn’t you just say it’d be stupid to assume that?” Paradise cut in again, “What if it turns out I told her to say that? What if she thought that it would make you laugh? How do you know she really does think it’s true?”

“I just... do,” Cozy insisted uncomfortably, “You don’t know her. She really does mean it when she says...”

“Maybe she did mean it,” Paradise said as Cozy trailed off to an unconfident silence, “Maybe she secretly does hate you. What I want you to realize is how you didn’t think of any reasons other than that, because you were angry. That’s how anger works. You stop asking questions and start fighting back. You look for who’s attacking you, and it doesn’t matter if they are or not, your mind will make it look like an attack. I’ve shown you the research on this!”

“I know, I just... it’s just too hard to...” Cozy fussed.

“You need to empathize with her,” Paradise said confidently, “Ask yourself what else could she be trying to do? Think of all the maybes, where your friend is actually a very nice pony, and just has a really, really...”

Paradise paused.

“...Really bad sense of humor. Then it should be easier not to get angry at her, because you’re not letting yourself think in an angry way. You’re not focusing on one thing and getting more and more steamed up about it. You’re thinking about other possibilities, and that lets the pressure out, so your anger doesn’t build up and explode.”

“I guess I could try that,” Cozy said reluctantly, “She’s... actually pretty smart, in a weird way. Did you know she thinks she’s thirty-nine years old?”

“Yes, she has shouted that at the top of her lungs on multiple occasions,” Paradise drawled unhappily, “Even if it was true, what are we supposed to do about it? Cast an age spell?”

“You’d also have to turn a mare into a stallion,” Cozy admitted with a little giggle, “I think she just doesn’t want ponies to think she’s too young, or girly, so she pretends not to be. If she came from another world, how would we know if she wasn’t always a little filly?”

“Her origins are just about as mysterious as yours, Cozy,” Paradise said, making Cozy tense up right away, “So it’s good that you can make friends with somepony you share so much in common with. You just have to accept that sometimes she’s going to try to... push your buttons.”

Cozy relaxed as it didn’t appear Paradise was going to push her buttons, if Paradise even noticed how close she came to asking about Cozy’s past. “I bet if it really came down to it,” Cozy drawled, “I bet she’d chicken out. If you had a magic spell to make her a big old stallion, she’d be like ‘Oh, what’s that “fucking” thing over there?’ and run away. It’s funny I think she really likes being a filly. If she’d just let herself be one.”

In particular, there was one time Green Arrow came swaying into the exercise yard from the main building looking a little frazzled, with a silly smile on her face. “Green Arrow!” Cozy called over to the filly.

Making a beeline for her, the other filly said, “Hey, Cozy!” with an indulgent giggle, “Did you know one of the nurse ponies has a colt for a kid, who came by to visit her today?”

“I think I saw a colt around a few weeks ago,” Cozy said unsurely, “Which nurse?”

“Nurse Coldheart,” Green Arrow said easily, “His name’s Tender. You’d like him, heh.”

“You like him, huh?” Cozy asked, with a suggestive smirk.

“Yeah,” the green filly said, smiling at the thought without a single snide remark, rocking on her hooves happily as she added, “I might have to rethink the whole ‘girl’ thing...”

“Really?” Cozy asked in surprise, “So you want to be a girl now?”

“Now,” the filly agreed with a cautious emphasis, “I dunno about ten minutes from now, and I know I shouldn’t, but you wouldn’t believe what colts’ll do when you’re a pretty little filly.”

“Wow, what’d do say that made you feel that good about it?” Cozy asked, impressed.

Green Arrow focused on Cozy Glow, blushing a little as she said, “Well it isn’t something I can talk about in public here. Maybe we can get him to show you sometime. N-not that we were doing anything, but if we were, and you were too, then I could uh... I’ll shut up now.”

Glancing at the caretaker in the yard, watching the two of them like a hawk, Cozy laughed in understanding, saying, “Oh yes, you weren’t doing anything at all. We can get together sometime, and talk all about what we weren’t doing, and if nopony’s around to watch, well what a shame.”

“Eh heh heh heh...” Green Arrow giggled self-consciously, “You’re pretty cool, Cozy Glow, you know that?”

“Yeah,” Cozy said smugly, “I know.”

A few days later, with the minders misled to think that Cozy Glow and Green Arrow were the only ones taking a shower, Cozy couldn’t believe the incredible satisfaction at having it slide inside her. “So... good...!” she moaned, rocking there in place, flexing eagerly around the vigorous effort of a very handsome, helpful and incredible colt. The showers should be drowning out any noise they made, so it was okay for her to indulge her clenching insides, but if she was too loud then they’d hear, and they’d make her stop!

“Wow, she’s really feeling it,” Green Arrow remarked watching Cozy and Tender move together in an impressed amusement. Cozy couldn’t acknowledge that. Cozy couldn’t even describe what was happening to her. In the back of her mind, she knew that if they didn’t stop, she was going to have to deal with the embarassment and risk of a growing belly, but she didn’t care. She wanted that to happen to her.

“I need it inside me so bad,” Cozy groaned, squirming around it as a hunger rose in her like no other. Taking the colt by the hoof, staring into his eyes, she panted, “Please... more... keep going! Oh, why is it so good?”

Pulling his hoof free of hers, and planting it firmly beside her, the colt known as Tender pressed hard against her, leaned close to her ear, and said, “It’s my grandmother’s secret recipe.” The reason he was pressed hard against her was of course to push his butt up back against the wall, so that the box of chocolate chip cookies didn’t get wet from the shower at all. “Grandma House makes the best cookies,” he said passionately.

“Cozy hasn’t had any for months,” Green Arrow said smugly as Tender hoofed the hungry salmon pink filly another cookie tingly with sweetness broken by the thick dark chocolate chunks embedded in it, “Not since Starlight stopped bribing her with them. It’s the only sweet she likes, so she hasn’t had anything else. I think she’s going through sugar withdrawal.”

Cozy didn’t contest that as she stuffed her mouth full of deadly dark chocolate cookies, too caught up in her passionate need to even get a word in edgewise.

Sore tummies aside, it was definitely the case that Cozy Glow liked Green Arrow and her antics. It wasn’t always otherworldly good cookies. Sometimes it was just her wry sense of humor, and the fact that she was a smart little filly too, so Cozy had a lot in common with her. If only Cozy’s friend would stop being so... frustrating.

Cozy tried to “empathize” with Green Arrow, and tried to tell herself that her friend didn’t mean it, but it was just so hard when it kept bringing Cozy Glow dangerously close to feeling things she couldn’t let herself feel.

Cozy’s friend got angry at her too, because Cozy got mad at her, and Green Arrow didn’t think Cozy should get mad at her. But instead of doing what Cozy wanted, and leaving Cozy’s problems alone, Green Arrow started trying to make them worse! Cozy was just talking with her one day, and everything just...

Just...

And Green Arrow said, “Have you tried just not getting mad?”

Rolling her eyes, Cozy replied, “Yes, I have tried just not getting mad. What do you think I’m doing right now?”

“Isn’t it working?” Green Arrow asked nudging Cozy in the side, “You’re not angry right now, huh?”

“It doesn’t work that way!” Cozy said irritably, “Ponies just keep doing stupid things to make me angry and why do you even care? You have anger... ish problems, too!”

“I know I’m fucked up, but you could just walk out of here!” the raven haired filly protested, “Just stop defining yourself by other people and think ‘fuck you I don’t have to get mad at you!’”

“I can’t just ‘walk out of here,’” Cozy said acidly, “Ponies think I tried to destroy Equestria! You know I’m an actual, literal prisoner, right?”

“Could have fooled me,” the green filly replied resentfully, “You can just fly away from here with your OP wings. I can’t even climb the walls, without one of those faggot nurses tackling me.”

“Golly, Green. You should know this,” Cozy chided her, “I’ve got to get them to think I’m reformed. Otherwise where would I go? Griffonstone? I can’t do anything with them hunting me down!”

“I’m just saying!” Green Arrow protested, “You convince them you’re reformed, and if you’re ever getting angry, just you know, take a deep breath and calm down.”

“I am doing that,” Cozy growled.

“That’s what you say about everything,” Green Arrow contested, “Maybe you should actually try it some time instead of just saying you are.”

“You think I’m not trying?!” Cozy asked in outrage.

“So what if I do?” the other filly retorted hotly, “I’m not trying either. Why should I? They’re never gonna turn me back. Fuck ‘em! But you still have your whole fucking life ahead of you, and you can’t even do fucking breathing exercises?”

“I do breathing exercises,” Cozy corrected snidely, “And mindful stuff, and roleplaying, and it’s all the stupidest things, as if it would help anything at all.”

“It would, if you’d actually try it,” Green Arrow insisted.

“It doesn’t work,” Cozy spelled it out for her, “I do try it. Why should I try it if it doesn’t work?”

“Well sorry if I was just trying to help!” Green Arrow drawled, turning away from Cozy in a huff.

“Oh wow, you think you can help?” Cozy asked in disbelief, “You don’t know anything about my problems!”

“I would if you’d tell me about them!” Green Arrow shot back, turning to glare at Cozy, “You’re so fucking annoying with your dark, tragic past that you can never speak of because you’re just such a special snowflake.”

“Why would I tell you anything?” Cozy demanded with a smirk, “You’re just one of those stupid ponies , just like everypony else!”

The green filly’s brow darkened, and she said, “Your mom.”

“Don’t talk about my mother,” Cozy Glow warned the filly through gritted teeth.

“Why not? ‘cause you sure fucking don’t,” the filly replied, stalking up to face off with Cozy Glow, “Or wait, it’s too terrible a secret, so you can’t tell me why I can’t talk about her either, right?”

“You don’t get to talk about her, because you’re a jerk!” Cozy pointed out angrily.

“Yeah, well your mom!” the filly replied in a way that made Cozy’s brain hurt to try to understand. Green Arrow made enough sense though, when she asked, “Was she some kind of pony criminal? Stole too many lollipops and now she’s on the run from the royal police carriage?”

“I’m not going to talk about her, or anything about my past,” Cozy told the filly, plain and simple.

“I’m just speculating!” the filly said with a terrible giggle, “Maybe she was a big ugly troll, and that’s why you keep talking as if you’re not a pony, because you’re a big, fatassed—”

“I am not a troll!” Cozy retorted, beside herself with frustration. “You don’t know anything about me, you don’t know anything about my mom, so don’t fucking talk about it!”

“I know enough to know that she’s dead,” Green Arrow shot back, her words hitting Cozy in the gut, “You made that baldly fucking obvious more than once. Why else wouldn’t she ever come visit you? Either she’s a troll, a criminal, or she’s dead. Heck, you’re some kind of psycho filly, right? So maybe she got in the way of your plans to take over Equestria.”

“What,” Cozy asked flatly. She didn’t even know how to answer that. How could her mother possibly get in the way of her plans to take over Equestria?

“Yeah, I bet that’s what happened,” Green Arrow said smugly, “You don’t want ponies talking about her so they don’t learn the truth. Your mom is dead, ‘cause one day she got in your way, so you killed her yourself. Gotta say that’s cold even for—”

Cozy Glow sat in her room, staring dully at the wall. Sitting on her bed, afraid to touch her skull because she might get blood on it. Oh, Cozy Glow had already gotten all patched up by the nurse ponies. She had a bandage across her chest, around one of her ears, and an ice pack she kept pressed against her other eye, to keep it from swelling too much. Green Arrow had tried to fight back at first. She wasn’t so good at being a pony though, and Cozy Glow was a pony through and through, even if she wished she wasn’t. It wasn’t Cozy’s own blood she was concerned about.

It had just happened so fast. Her friend was lying there, and... and bleeding, and it was the most amazing thing, since it meant Cozy could keep going without any resistence. The nurse ponies had pulled her away before... Cozy hoped they pulled her away before any permanent damage was done. Cozy didn’t mean to do it, but she had wanted to so bad. It was so easy to be bad, and evil, and make them hate her, while they dragged her away so they stuck her with a sedative. She had come out of it to find them bandaging her up, in her room, where she was given an ice pack, and told to take care of herself before they hurried out, because there was somepony hurt a lot worse than she was.

So Cozy sat there, nursing the minor wounds inflicted on her before the other filly lost consciousness, afraid to touch her skull on the shelf, because she was kind of afraid of herself right now. It was so hard to even think about why she... why she did it. Cozy Glow didn’t want to think about anything anymore. She just wanted to sit here, and be a stupid pony, and not think about the things that she couldn’t think about.

She... got most of the blood cleaned off on her own, and she eventually just went to sleep. And they only made her skip one meal before she got to go to the cafeteria again. Now though, there was a nurse pony standing right beside her at all times. Cozy wasn’t... sad, she was just empty, and not really inclined to protest what was probably pretty sensible considering the all and everything.

She was feeling more bored than sad actually, sitting in her room all day, not wanting to go out to the exercise yard where bad things had happened. She read the book on dialectical behavioral therapy again, and it just seemed so impossible that any of it would ever help. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know if anypony knew what to do. Cozy Glow just wanted to be cute and loveable, and it just... never....

“Can I—” Cozy cut off with a conflicted sigh, looking away.

In the warmly decorated office, Cozy looked back at the red headed Paradise, who looked at Cozy with hopeful sympathy, and said to her, “Oh, no, no. Go ahead. What did you want to do in our session today?”

“Can I practice being... sad?”

Rescue from Tartarus

“Time to go see how well she’s doing,” Twilight Sparkle said with some satisfaction, trotting cheerfully up the steps and back through the grand front doors of her School of Friendship. Twilight’s magic was restored, and her spirits too. Cozy Glow’s plot had been foiled, and it was sure to be a bright new chapter in Equestrian history now, at least until the next world threatening villain.

Twilight found Starlight Glimmer sitting at her desk. The purple haired lavender unicorn’s horn was still splinted, and it looked like she still had a monster headache from the strain that came with being immersed in an incredibly concentrated amount of Equestria’s magic. Twilight waited for the student Starlight was speaking with to hurry out, then walked in unannounced, saying, “Starlight, good to see you’re up again! How are you doing?”

“Pretty good, all things considered,” Starlight said with a weary smile, “I’m out of the hospital, at least. I suppose you came to check on me, once you heard the news?”

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright coming back to work?” Twilight asked worriedly, looking at the uneven fur growing in where Starlight had even attained the impossible: thaumatic burns.

“May as well be here, as in a hospital bed,” Starlight said wryly, “I haven’t been doing much though. I can’t exactly horn paperwork at the moment, and well, my helper kind of...”

Wincing, Twilight said, “You had no way to know Cozy would be so evil. She had us all fooled. Remember she was my assistant too.”

“Heh, yeah, it’s a good thing she was evil,” Starlight said with a chuckle, “Otherwise we might’ve made her ruler of Equestria, since we thought she was such a good friend.”

“I wish I could understand what went wrong with that filly,” Twilight said, shaking her head sadly, “I suppose we’ll never know.”

“What? Why?” Starlight asked, tilting her head at the princess’s words in confusion. “Aren’t they questioning her, or something?”

“As if we could believe anything she said now,” Twilight offered wryly.

With a grimace, Starlight admitted, “Good point.”

She slept, she woke, it didn’t seem to matter around here. There was no day or night, just an unending gloom filled with the unhappy growls of the worst monsters in Equestria. They would have filled her with fear, just like any weak little filly her age, but she was a monster too now, so she didn’t care about some dumb scary noises.

Her roommate and soon to be best friend absolutely hated her. It was wonderful looking into his dark eyes and knowing that she was going to defeat him with something as simple as friendship. It was inevitable, really. He was powerless to attack her, she could talk to him all she wanted, and as the best student of Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship, Cozy Glow had learned exactly what to say to take power over him. Her improvised pebble sculpture of him was sure to work this time.

Sometimes she made noises too, like any other monster in Tartarus. She just ignored them at first, but once she awoke scared in the dark, and her rage boiled over as those stupid creatures with their stupid noises had actually almost gotten to her. “Shut up!” she shouted through the bars of her cage, as loud as she could. It didn’t matter. There was nopony to stop her, or hear her. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!”

“They won’t listen to you, you know,” her roommate said in dread amusement. He was evil, but at least he wasn’t bad as these stupid ponies. At least his advice had almost actually worked.

She still didn’t show weakness though. “I know,” the salmon pink, blue haired filly said acidly to the thankfully not growly neighbor of hers, “I just wanted to let them know they’re not the only monsters here.”

“Ooh, very impressive,” he said, as Cozy inwardly felt the warm glow of triumph. She was getting to him! Finally.

“Just glad there’s another monster here with me,” Cozy said coyly to the withered centaur, “So we can be the best of friends.”

A silence, and Tirek replied, “You are so pitiful, Cozy Glow.”

She screamed at him then and yelled at him and no matter what she said, he just laughed and laughed.

So Cozy shouldn’t have been upset when they came to take Tirek away. All Tirek said was “Oh great, what now,” all calmly and cooly, but something in Cozy just snapped as the guards started to lift his cage and carry it away.

“Where do you think you are taking him?” Cozy demanded from within her cage, “He’s mine! Come back, you stupid ponies! I demand you stop and bring him back right now! He’s my only—!”

Her voice caught in her throat and terror rose up in Cozy Glow as something happened to her that she could never allow, and it just hit her and she couldn’t speak or she’d feel it.

“Don’t let the terrible monsters scare you now, little filly,” Tirek called back as his cage was trucked down the stairs and away from her. His words felt like they punched her in the gut, and she just curled up in a little ball in her cage, shivering, staring forward desperately, trying not to let it happen, biting her lip so hard she started tasting blood. That made Cozy remember, and that made her angry, and that was okay.

“Shut up...” she growled quietly in the dim gloom, all alone.

Starlight healed slowly but surely, and Pinkie Pie had another excuse for a horn-themed party when Doctor Mending gave Starlight the green light to use her magic again. The school year ended, and a bunch of youthful creatures from beyond Equestria all graduated with flying colors, never to be mentioned again. And Starlight was hanging out by Twilight’s pool again, chillaxing like a pro in the summer heat.

“We can talk while we’re chillaxing, right?” Starlight said around her enormous sunglasses.

“Yeah, a little,” Rainbow Dash said, adjusting the sun reflector on her chest, “Short and sweet.”

Rarity had tilted down the brim of her giant hat, to appreciate the sun without it glaring in her eyes. Applejack was off fetching some more chilled drinks. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were playing very gently in the pool. And Spike was chillaxing on Twilight’s belly, while the princess vaguely hugged behind him and let the dragonling relax against her fur and soak in the sun.

“Equestria’s a pretty nice place,” Starlight said wryly, “When it’s not getting attacked, that is.”

“Tuesday’s tomorrow,” Rainbow Dash replied vaguely waving a foreleg, “Nothing to worry about today.”

“Huh, Cozy Glow did go completely insane on a Tuesday,” Starlight said in an intrigued tone, “Weird.”

“Less worrying, more chillaxing,” Rainbow Dash advised.

“Heh, I’m just glad I’m here,” Starlight murmured happily, “I’d hate to be Cozy Glow right now, wherever she is.”

“You said it,” Rainbow agreed smugly.

“Say, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Starlight remarked, “Does anypony know what they ended up doing with Cozy Glow?”

“Oh, she’s banished to Tartarus,” Twilight replied easily, “We put her in a cage right next to Tirek.”

The ensuing silence seemed disquieted by Starlight Glimmer’s expression falling to shock, and then pure, unadultrated horror, violating the chillax code by bolting straight up in her lawnchair and shouting at Twilight at the top of her lungs,

“Are you insane?!”

Cozy Glow was so hungry she was chewing on the bars, not that she cared, because they brought her food every day, and today she just threw it at them, like an idiot, and even the guards ran away as she screamed at them. It made her feel powerful, secure, grownup, and... hungry. Cozy had to find a way to refuse to eat that wouldn’t mean she actually had to refuse to eat. Then she’d show them.

The gates of Tartarus... opened, then, and Cozy scrambled over to that side of her cage. There was daylight streaming in this time, so she knew it was at least daytime, if she escaped. The three headed dog wasn’t the only level of security in this place though. And try as she might, Cozy could not squeeze her fat little butt between these jagged, magic dead bars. She supposed she could go without food long enough to fit through. Yeah, they’d never see that coming.

Something fluttered in her chest, as she stared at the door longing to escape, but the door closed with a thud of finality, the light was cut off, and Cozy never looked away when it did. If she looked away, she’d have to admit she didn’t want to be here. If she cried, she’d have to admit that... bad things were bad. And there was no leaving Tartarus, so Cozy was going to be here forever and ever, and would never see anything else ever ag—she refused to have that thought. She wouldn’t let these stupid ponies break her. Oh they’d love to see her whining and crying, just like... wait a sec.

There were hoofsteps coming up the stairwell to her prison area, but Cozy was so very alone, that the only reason anypony ever came up here was to try to feed her. She knew the guards wouldn’t be here to feed her. She just threw away her food, just a little while ago. It hadn’t been that long, had it?

An aquamarine light illuminated the unicorn who ascended the stairs, a mare Cozy Glow recognized instantly, one who she’d been working on all year before this. It was Starlight Glimmer who approached, as she and Cozy Glow appraised each other between the bars of the cage.

Princess Celestia was surprised to see her morning entourage enveloped in a giant aura of turquoise magic and roughly shoved aside en-masse. The sounds of “Nononono” in the passage beyond gave the princess some idea what was going on, and she glanced at the calendar on the wall of the throne room. Yep, it was Tuesday.

“Princess Celestia, I’m so sorry, she wouldn’t listen to reason I tried to explain to her,” Twilight Sparkle said in one breath as she swooped up behind a viciously angry looking unicorn whom Celestia vaguely knew as Twilight’s new protege, but hadn’t had much chance for direct interaction. The last time she had, Princess Celestia had ended up stripped of her powers and thrust into her sister’s role for a day.

Starlight Glimmer did not look like she was back to 100%. Her horn was sparking dangerously as she stomped up the long path to the throne, while pinning Princess Celestia’s petitioners against the wall. Considering there were several dozen petitioners, Princess Celestia was rather glad that Starlight Glimmer was not back to 100%, but it was very clear that she was agitated enough to push her magic to its limit.

“There is no reason in all of Equestria!” Starlight shouted after Twilight, “There is no sense, no sensibility, no chance of survival. We’re as doomed as Platinum. There is no single redeeming quality to...”

Starlight seemed to notice that she’d reached the foot of the throne then, and actually looked somewhat intimidated as she faced the princess. Yes, Princess Celestia could eventually envelop the entire castle in everlasting flames that would consume all unlucky enough to be caught within, but she’d barely get a spark off if this unicorn chose to take Celestia out with a precisely aimed magic bolt through the heart. Celestia had no doubt that Starlight was capable of such a feat. It was... thrilling...

“Is something the matter, my little pony?” Princess Celestia asked innocently, as Starlight released the entire line of petitioners to fall to the ground with a collective “Oof!”

“Yes, something is the matter,” Starlight said anxiously and furiously, “Something is very much the matter. Twilight Sparkle was just telling me yesterday that you may have by royal decree completely doomed all of Equestria to annihilation, but I wasn’t sure if she misspoke while she tried to get me to stop the entire train ride here. Could you just clarify for one second what has been done with the filly known as Cozy Glow?

Okay, that was unexpected. “Cozy hurt you worse than anypony else,” Celestia said in surprise, “And you’re upset that my sister and I decided to send her to Tartarus?”

“I don’t care if she killed me!” the little unicorn shouted up at the princess, “You sent her to Tartarus. Her. After what she did. You imprisoned her in Tartarus right next to Tirek.”

“She tried to destroy the magic of Equestria,” Celestia countered in bewilderment, “How could you be defending this villain?”

“Okay... okay... okay.” Starlight smacked her horn with a hoof to see if it would stop sparking. “But you put her next to Tirek.”

“It seemed a fitting punishment,” Princess Luna offered, “Tirek was the one who led her to almost destroy Equestria after all.”

“And you want her to interact with him more??” Starlight declared in absolute frustration.

“Starlight, nopony has ever... I mean, Tartarus is a high security facility,” Princess Celestia said diplomatically, “Just what do you think Cozy Glow is going to do from in there?”

“Okay, let me just pose a hypothetical situation,” Starlight said testily, “Two ponies who are masters of deception manage somehow to escape from Tartarus. One of whom is a... whatever Tirek is.”

“He’s a centaur,” Twilight offered.

“Tirek and Cozy escape from Tartarus,” Starlight continued, “And now thanks to Cozy Glow, we can’t find oh... I dunno... Pinkie Pie, because Cozy took care of her somehow. Tirek is free. Equestria is doomed.”

“That seems highly unlikely,” Princess Luna protested, as the other petitioners continued to cower at the border of the room before the lavender unicorn’s fury.

“Now let me describe a second scenario,” Starlight said calmly with a wavering voice, “Cozy Glow is locked up in the Ponyville Penitentiary. Tirek is in Tartarus. They cannot work together. They cannot plan together. Tirek breaks free, he’s defeated. Cozy breaks free, she’s defeated. Equestria is saved.”

“We’re not going to let somepony out of Tartarus who almost destroyed all magic in Equestria,” Princess Celestia said in mild irritation.

“Why not?” Starlight begged, “She’s a pegasus! She doesn’t even have magic! Tartarus is for threats who can’t be contained in any other dungeon. It stops Cozy’s magic, which she does not have. Without magic, Tartarus is no better a prison for ponies than any other. Do you think the Amulet of Aurora is just lying around in a cell in the Ponyville Pentientiary? But no, you had to put her in Tartarus, right next to the one pony—the one creature, who gave Cozy the power to destroy the world just by talking to her, and now he can talk to her all the fluffing time!”

...

“We believe we... may have been in... error after all,” Princess Luna said, blushing red.

Princess Celestia just hung her head, saying, “Oh dear.”

“Are you seriously proposing putting her in the Ponyville Penitentiary?” Twilight asked skeptically, “You know that place doesn’t even have overnight facilities?”

“Oh, no actually,” Starlight said with hopeful surprise, “I have an even better idea.”

“One would hope so,” Luna grumbled under her breath.

“Well,” Starlight said to the caged filly with a nervously relieved smile, “At least you’re still here. That’s a good sign.”

“What are you doing here?” Cozy demanded furiously, “Come to gloat? You gonna try to reform me, just like they did when you used to hurt ponies?”

“...hoo boy,” Starlight said, shaking her head, “Yeah I didn’t think this would be easy.” She looked at Cozy again, saying, “Okay, no. I am not here to gloat, and I’m not here to reform you.”

“Did they decide to put you in a cell next to me?” Cozy asked in heartfelt, sorrowful hope, “Because you were so bad, and I could really use a new neighbor!”

“No they... they did not come to lock me in Tartarus,” Starlight said curtly, “I’m reformed, and a hero on top of that, and the amount of stupidity it would take for me to royally screw that up is pretty ridiculous.”

“Sounds like it’s very likely, then!” Cozy replied in shocked worry, “You ponies are so very stupid after all!”

Starlight just looked at Cozy in... pity.

“Don’t pity me!!” Cozy raged, trying to stomp Starlight’s stupid eyes out, but she ran hard into the cage on the way.

As Cozy stumbled back holding her head and hissing in pain, Starlight took a step back herself, even though Cozy totally wouldn’t have really done something bad to Starlight like that. She just really wanted to.

Then... Starlight said, “You’re right. Ponies are stupid.”

Cozy stopped growling at her through the cage bars and looked at the unicorn suspiciously, as Starlight continued, glaring off to the side herself, saying, “We ponies are all a bunch of stupid pea-brained morons with blinders on, who can’t even see how badly we screwed up. If you were empress it’d probably be an improvement over the leadership we have today and you’re a bucking monster.”

Cozy didn’t... understand. Starlight thought it was bad that Cozy was a monster, didn’t she? That’s why she was scared of Cozy... wasn’t she? “...thank you?” Cozy replied very uncertainly, “Why are you admitting it? Are you trying to... butter me up or something?”

“No, I’m just ranting,” Starlight said, kicking at the stone floor. “I am genuinely infuriated by this turn of events. But I don’t care how stupid we ponies have been. I’m gonna set this right one way or the other. I can’t believe I’m the one who has to do this, when you almost broke my bucking horn throwing me in that vortex of doom.”

“To be fair, I did not know it would break your horn,” Cozy Glow said warily.

“And when it sucked me into that hole, along with the rest of Equestria’s magic,” Starlight countered, “Do you know what would have happened to me?”

“Uh... mmmaybe?” Cozy smiled sheepishly.

Starlight stared at her in astonishment.

“How else was I supposed to get to be Empress of Friendship, with princesses using their magic to defeat me?!” Cozy shouted in frustration, “I don’t have to know every little detail of everything I did to win! And I should have won!”

“Oh, no it’s just... I’ve been reading some books that... sorry, Cozy, you’re right,” Starlight said, blinking herself out of astonishment, “You uh... did what you had to do, and I guess I was just an unimportant casualty. Doesn’t... matter if I’m in eternal torment, as long as you get what you want, right?”

Now it was Cozy’s turn to blink. She squinted at Starlight though and sneered, “Oh I get it. You’re trying to make me feel bad. Well I’m glad I almost eternal tormented you or whatever. And I’d do it again, just to see the look on your face when you thought I was your friend.”

“You’re a pretty clever filly, Cozy Glow,” Starlight granted her, “But I’m clever enough to know: if you really wanted to do that to me, you wouldn’t be telling me about it. Honestly, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”

Wait, but... no! Cozy was going to do that to Starlight! So why did she tell her, then? It was because Starlight Glimmer wasn’t scared. Cozy had to tell her, because otherwise Cozy Glow was just some weak little helpless victim in a cage who couldn’t hurt anypony, so Starlight could say whatever she wanted, and pretend to be cleverer.

“Didn’t you say you were a pea-brained moron?” Cozy shot back.

Starlight couldn’t hold back a surprised laugh at that, which made Cozy’s ears dip. She wasn’t supposed to laugh!

“Okay, touche,” the unicorn said casually.

“Why are you here?” Cozy repeated testily, “And what did you do with my best friend Tirek?”

“Tirek is not your friend,” Starlight replied assertively, “And I think I’ll be able to prove it to you someday. But for now, what I’m here to do is rectify the royal messup that Princess Celestia caused by thinking with her butt. You should never have been locked up in here, Cozy Glow. It was a huge mistake. And I’m gonna get you outta here.”

Cozy stared at Starlight in utter befuddlement. Then the filly took an uneasy look around Starlight Glimmer at the several ponies who were gathered behind her. “Uhm... I know you’re a pea-brained moron,” Cozy said tentatively, “But... you are aware the guards are right behind you, aren’t you?”

“Yup!” Starlight said happily, “They’re here to help!”

“...what”

“First, we’re going to get your cage out of the unescapable zone,” Starlight explained, “Then we’re going to remove you from the enervation exclusion. Then, we’re going to put your cage on the unlockable podium. Don’t worry Cerebrus has already been ehm... mollified. We’re going to make sure he knows your scent is not on his list of prisoners. And finally...”

With a bright smile, Starlight levitated before Cozy a slim looking leash and...

“No,” Cozy said, staring at it, “I’m staying here. Go away.”

“You don’t exactly have a choice, filly,” Starlight said irritably, waving for demonstration the collar and—

“I am not wearing that!” Cozy shouted, “No, never, not ever ever!”

“It’s literally the least restraint I can offer,” Starlight said flatly, “I think you’ll manage.”

Of course she did. And Cozy tried to be brave, and not let it get to her. They really did do all that stuff with the cage and the zones, and the hope of freedom and revenge was rising in her, but then Cozy just lost it, becoming a total shrieking mess as Starlight opened the collar and levitated it toward Cozy’s neck. She couldn’t do it! She bit at the collar, and backed up to the corner of her cage and she screamed and she sobbed and it locked around her neck, and she was hitting the bars trying to escape, and her head just smacked against them, and she was dizzy so she fell down and... she sank in a defeated heap because it was too late. The collar was around her neck.

Cozy saw an opportunity when the cage was finally unlocked. That horrible pony had that leash in her magic, but she couldn’t stop Cozy from coming closer to her, so as soon as the door opened, Cozy leaped forward and smacked Starlight Glimmer right in the horn. As Starlight went down like a sack of bricks, Cozy was already flying for the... place she could hide... somewhere, when magic grabbed her leash. Of course it did. It always did. It dragged her right out of the air, the magic of one of the guards, while the other grabbed her wriggling form and latched a cuff on one hoof, and then another. She shrieked in surprise as something gripped Cozy’s wings, then her feathers jerked strangely, then... felt oddly lighter.

They released Cozy Glow then, except for the leash of course. And Cozy tried to escape, and she didn’t know why they bothered chaining the forelegs of a pegasus, until she flew up into the air, her wings instantly struggled harder and harder and she could barely get an inch off the ground. “Wh–what did you do to my wings??” she demanded, looking at them and... they were... cut in half. Her wings were cut in half.

“What I was hoping to avoid,” Starlight said, having crawled back to her hooves, “Is bar cuffs and clipped wings.”

“I–I c-can’t fly,” Cozy said in paralytic shock.

“Nope, sorry,” Starlight said, massaging her own forehead, “You’ll have to wait a few months for new pinions to grow, but hopefully by then you’ll be a little less uggh... violent.”

Oh, oh it was just the feathers. Cozy stretched out a wing to look, and everything was fine except the bottom half of her flight feathers and the ends of some of her secondaries. Cozy didn’t recall when her last molting was. It could be months before she got new pinions, depending on how long she had been in Tartarus.

“So it’s... temporary, right?” Cozy asked skeptically.

“Wh—of course it’s temporary!” Starlight blurted out in outrage, “What did you think we were going to cripple you?”

Cozy rolled her eyes, saying, “Well, compared to forever in Tartarus, that wouldn’t be...”

...

Cozy wasn’t breathing fast because Starlight had just grabbed her leash in her magic. No. She was just breathing fast because she had to escape and she couldn’t she tried to fly and fell over and her legs were locked together and she couldn’t walk or fly and just crawled away to the edge of her leash trying not to sob and hating it.

“Oh... oh Celestia, you have a problem with leashes,” Starlight declared in exasperation.

“N-no I don’t...” Cozy said tremulously, glaring at Starlight as far away from her as the leash would allow.

“Well, you can’t run away, or fly away now,” Starlight said, “So I guess you don’t need the leash anymore—”

“Please take it off,” Cozy interrupted.

Starlight looked at her thoughtfully.

“Please,” Cozy repeated despondently. She didn’t know what to do, now that it was back. She thought she escaped. She’d fixed everything. There were no more leashes. And now... there was.

Cozy Glow did not know how to feel, when Starlight Glimmer’s magic enveloped her neck, and her heart started racing again as the unlatched collar floated away from it. Cozy just... felt... like she was falling, even though she was already laying on the ground.

“You good?” Starlight asked, pulling the leash and collar to herself. Frozen, Cozy stared at it floating there.

“Ugggh,” Starlight groaned, and her horn flared, then the leash just... burned away right there in front of her. She watched the dust falling from Starlight’s destructive magic as it flickered out. Cozy was... free. Of course the gates out of Tartarus hadn’t opened yet, and Cozy couldn’t really move her forelegs much, or fly. But she was free.

“Okay, no more leash,” Starlight declared, snapping the filly out of her daze, “Are you ready to come with me, now? I don’t want to wait around in this awful place forever.”

Cozy followed Starlight with difficulty, and the bigger mare waited for her to hobble along, but it was still humiliating beyond measure. Cozy was going to find out which of the guards cut her wings, and then cut his wings off permanently. But for now all she could do was hobble along, and bide her time, and... the doors to Tartarus were opening. How many times had she had to watch them open from such a great distance away in that horrible cage, and now they were opening right in front of her. How was this even possible? What was going on here?

The sunlight was blinding and gentle. Cozy squinted into it as they departed from Tartarus’s perpetual gloom. Cozy had never seen anything so beautiful as the wide blue sky that opened up as they left that dreary crag. She hated it, because it was making her feel feelings she didn’t want to have. She didn’t want to have any feelings at all. So instead, she said to Starlight sweetly, “Oh, thank you so very much for freeing me. Why, I feel like a better behaved little filly already! So why don’t we take these silly cuffs off of me, so that we can both walk tog—”

“You’re not going to escape,” Starlight cut her off, “And there’s no reason to pretend to act sweet and adorable. You already showed me what you’re really like.”

“That is not what I’m really like!” Cozy shouted in outrage, “I am cute and lovable!”

Starlight looked at her skeptically, and Cozy blushed, composing herself, and saying sweetly, “Why would you ever think I was a bad little pony, Starlight Glimmer?” But fluttering her eyes just made Starlight shudder, and look away, while still keeping Cozy locked in chains, and keeping her from hobbling off the mountain path among the sharp crags. “You freed me, didn’t you?” Cozy said testily, “So why won’t you even tell me where you’re taking me?”

“Because I don’t want any nosy fillies having another fit over nothing!” Starlight shot back in aggravation.

“Ohh, are you starting to get mad?” Cozy asked slyly.

Starlight just ignored her, and kept herding Cozy along. Cozy blushed hotly, because this pony would not be allowed to ignore her! Absolutely not! Cozy adopted a smile, and tried to giggle innocently as she approached the older mare, butting right up against her all affectionately, and then sank her teeth into Starlight Glimmer’s leg.

Starlight jerked in place, dragging Cozy with her by her teeth trying to pull her leg away, but Cozy refused to let go. “Holy bucking Tartarus, let go you—!” Starlight’s horn was ablaze, but Cozy didn’t find herself summarily smacked away. And...

Cozy was starting to feel really uncomfortable. Why was Starlight Glimmer just laying there, letting her bite her leg? Cozy bit harder, making Starlight whimper in pain from where she’d fallen to her side alongside the filly, but Starlight stared daggers at Cozy and said tensely,

“I’m—sorry, but biting me won’t make me submit to your will.”

Cozy wasn’t trying to—okay so maybe she was! But only because Starlight should submit to her will. Spitting out Starlight’s thigh in disgust, Cozy demanded in utmost exasperation, “What will, then?!”

“Being a better pony than me,” Starlight said without hesitation.

That threw Cozy for a few seconds, because how was she supposed to... and then she realized Starlight was just being stupid again. “I’m a better pony than you’ll ever be,” Cozy said smugly to the infuriating unicorn.

“Didn’t you say ponies were pea-brained morons?” Starlight asked in amusement.

“Yeah, well I’m not, because I’m better!” Cozy declared, tail sinking as she realized Starlight got her again.

Starlight’s only response though was to look dully at the teeth marks in her thigh, then just resume walking, slowly enough for Cozy Glow to hobble after her. A while passed, and Cozy stated, “You’re bleeding, you know.”

“I didn’t bring any bandages with me,” Starlight replied irritably, “I’ll fix it later. But for now, we have a balloon to catch.”

It took forever, with her legs shackled, but Cozy Glow was glad Starlight didn’t try picking her up or anything. Cozy didn’t want that nasty pony’s stupid teeth anywhere near her scruff, and she’d sooner be dead than ride on anypony’s back. She didn’t have to though, because Starlight let her walk slowly along, until they reached an open area amid these lonely crags, and there was a bright pink balloon waiting for them, along with its bright pink balloonist.

“How are you just breaking me out of Tartarus?” Cozy asked in confusion and disbelief as they approached the balloon out of here, “Did Princess Celestia tell you to bring me to her?”

“No, I was the one who told Princess Celestia to bring you to me, actually,” Starlight said amusedly, “We’re not even going to Canterlot anyway.”

“Then where are we going?!” Cozy declared in frustration.

“You won’t like it,” Starlight said with flat ears, “But it’s a lot better than Tartarus, that much I can tell you.”

“...Tirek has been moved.”

(Several weeks prior)

“Oh, thank goodness Twilight!” Starlight Glimmer said as Twilight Sparkle made her way into her guidance counselor office. “How is Cozy doing?”

The lilac princess didn’t look entirely well, when she said, “Apparently Cozy stopped eating... again. Which apparently is a regular thing for her.”

“Yeah, when you imprison a pony for a long time, they just... give up,” Starlight said, her ears wilting at some extremely unfortunate memories.

“No, I mean she’s attacking the guards by throwing her food at them,” Twilight countered.

“Really?” Starlight asked in surprise, “Wow, she’s still going, huh?”

“That filly is an infinite wellspring of anger,” Twilight replied uneasily, “I don’t know how you think you’re going to get through to her.”

“Anything burns forever if you keep shovelling coal into it,” Starlight said with a shrug, “I’m sure she’ll simmer down once she’s in a better environment.”

“How’s that going, by the way?” Twilight asked, with maybe a vague cautious interest.

“Slowly,” Starlight groaned, “You’re right in one thing. Equestria is not prepared for a pony like Cozy Glow.”

“So what do you—?” Twilight started, but Starlight interrupted, saying happily,

“So that’s why we’re training for it! It’s hard to prepare for a pony who’s more disturbed than any other pony I’ve ever met, including myself, but I’m gonna pull every trick up my horn to get ponies ready for her.”

Somewhere in a dimly lit room with featureless walls, an illusiory Cozy Glow stalked towards a stallion cowering in the corner, who was shrieking, “No! Stay back!”

“Your mother never loved you!” the evil Cozy Glow accused in dark triumph.

“My mother was a saahaahaaint!” the stallion sobbed.

(Still several weeks prior)

“I just wish I could get her out of there right now,” Starlight sighed as she and Twilight Sparkle now walked together through the sun shaded stalls of Ponyville’s open air market, “But as much as I hate to say it, a few more weeks in Tartarus isn’t going to make her any worse than she already is.”

“Starlight... why are you doing this?” Twilight asked uneasily, “I’ve never seen you this driven before.”

“What are you talking about?” Starlight asked in confusion, “You were there when I founded an entire village just to keep ponies from having cutie marks.”

“Well yes, but now you’re—”

“After refusing to make any friends for a decade, because I thought Sunburst abandoned me,” Starlight continued.

“I’m sure plenty of ponies would reach the same con—” Twilight started to contest, but Starlight continued,

“Giving me plenty of time to teach myself magic, without any formal education.”

“Okay yes, that was rather driven of—” Twilight admitted.

“Then there was the time I accidentally accidentally hexed the princesses of the sun and moon, so I could solve their friendship problem,” Starlight cut in.

“That was a good thing though! You—”

“And the time I got a little carried away and enchanted all your friends to be my obedient servants... yeah I was really working my magic hard back then.”

“What are you—”

“Oh, have you seen my kite collection? I have showed it to you haven’t I—”

“Several times,” Twilight groaned. “Okay, so you’re a very... driven pony. Fine. But why are you doing this all for her? She pitched you into a vortex of magical annihilation!”

“To be fair, her plans would have been ruined if she let me go free,” Starlight said swirling her hoof in demonstration of a vortex of magical annihilation, “But yeah that was a pretty rotten thing to do.”

“Then why are you so bent on helping her?!” Twilight declared in exasperation.

Starlight’s silence was telling. Of what it told, Twilight was not sure she wanted to know.

“Why aren’t you so bent on helping her?” Starlight asked uneasily, “You helped me turn a new leaf, after all I did. You could have punished me, and instead you just let me be your friend. You accepted Nightmare Moon after she—oh, actually wasn’t she separate from Princess Luna?”

“...yes,” Twilight said cautiously, “We saved Princess Luna by destroying the Nightmare.”

“What about the Pony of Shadows, Stygian right?” Starlight asked.

“No, Stygian was only in the clutches of the Pony of Shadows,” Twilight replied, “He gave into temptation and fear, but Stygian was always a good pony underneath, with only the best of intentions.”

“And the actual Pony of Shadows, you...” Starlight Glimmer trailed off, wincing in a way that somehow, Twilight Sparkle felt that she ought to be doing, too.

“...banished it to the Nameless Void,” Twilight concluded for her, “But to be fair, it was either that, or let it corrupt the world and throw it forever in shadow.”

“Actually, was the Pony of Shadows kind of like Nightmare Moon?” Starlight mused, “You know, possessing other ponies, bringing about eternal darkness, being evil, getting banished?”

“I see your point,” Twilight admitted, “But I don’t really see your point here.”

“And Sombra—” Starlight started, but Twilight cut in saying angrily,

“He was already dead. It doesn’t count as killing somepony if he is already dead!”

Blinking at Twilight in shock, Starlight offered, “...Discord?”

“Look, I’m not a very... forgiving pony, it’s true,” Twilight said with difficulty, her ears going back at admitting it, “I was... wrong about Discord, and it was right to try and reform him.

“And I already admitted this several times so he doesn’t need to manifest himself to rub it in again!” Twilight shouted into the air as Discord popped out of one of a nearby stall’s cuckoo clocks, immediately frowning and grumbling.

“Oh.”

“You’re.”

“No.”

“Fun.”

Wait, had it always been four in the afternoon?

“I think I understand...” Starlight said sympathetically, “You even had a hard time with Trixie, no offense. I just didn’t realize that I was an... exception.”

Sitting on her haunches, Twilight stared forward for a second, before asking, “When I... attacked you in the past, what if you couldn’t fight me to a standstill? What if I had defeated you?”

Starlight Glimmer really didn’t want to answer that question.

“It seemed perfectly sensible at the time,” Twilight said looking up to meet Starlight with forlorn violet eyes, “You’re threatening Equestria. Stop you, and no more threat to Equestria. You wouldn’t listen and... I almost failed you too.”

Standing, Twilight faced her friend and explained, “Starlight, when you forced me to confront your past, you saved me from... from defeating somepony who only wanted a friend. And I just can’t believe that Cozy Glow wants anything like that at all. She’s evil, Starlight! I know it! And... I’ve been wrong before. So that’s why I’m not fighting you on this. But I don’t think there is anything redeeming about that filly. She tried to do something unspeakably awful, and showed no remorse for it whatsoever!”

“Neither did I,” Starlight replied quietly.

“What? Yes you—” Twilight started, as Starlight clarified,

“You’re right. If you had defeated me I’d be the same... hateful, angry pony I came to be. I wasn’t remorseful. I thought you stole my village away from me. I thought you made them hate me forever. You took away everything I had worked so hard for, you told me what I was doing was wrong, and I had... no remorse, whatsover. If you had defeated me, would you have... just asked me about my foalhood, or would I be in a cage in Tartarus, too?”

Twilight couldn’t answer her.

“Your students defeated Cozy Glow,” Starlight explained solemnly, “But that was us they were saving. They returned our magic, and saved us from a grave danger. But they never saved Cozy Glow, and I think she really needs it. In all of Equestria today, I can’t think of anypony who needs to be saved more than Cozy Glow.

“Saved from what though?” Twilight mused, hating feeling like she was fighting in her blind spot.

“From herself, of course!” Starlight said brightly, “So here’s how we’re going to do it...”

The balloon ride was... not fun for Cozy Glow. They’d taken her here in a cage, but now she was in an even worse cage, a cage that had no bars, yet nothing but destruction if she passed the edge. It wasn’t a crackling force field. It wasn’t a wall of thorns. It was a... wicker basket, that Cozy Glow could easily have climbed out of, and fallen to her death, since they cut her feathers in half.

Cozy didn’t like heights anymore.

“Look, I’m sitting on the edge of the basket,” Starlight said, waving a hoof at how she was leaning against the basket’s thick side. “I’m telling you it’s more relaxing over here.”

“I’m fine.” Cozy declared through her teeth, sitting very stiffly on her haunches right at the absolute center of the balloon basket, where the pink pony piloting it had to step around her to operate the bellows.

Cozy Glow wasn’t fine, and it was all Starlight’s fault for letting them clip her wings, and the balloon pony wouldn’t stop stepping on Cozy’s tail, until Cozy blew up at her, and then the balloon pony treated Cozy like she was a hot coal, even though all Cozy was doing was glare at her.

The balloon ride ended, and Cozy almost fell over trying to get out of the balloon with her forelegs still cuffed. Her wrists were getting rubbed raw under the things, and she wanted this to be over with already, so she could get these manacles off, and start figuring out how to destroy Starlight Glimmer. Cozy Glow could not tolerate that pony, and her smug confidence that she could fix Cozy Glow and make her stop hating everything and everypony. Starlight Glimmer had to be stopped.

As Starlight stepped out the door in the balloon basket, Cozy climbed to her hooves after totally not falling over, looked around, and exclaimed in confusion, “Ponyville? Why are we in Ponyville? ”

It was uncanny how nothing had changed, even though Cozy had been alone in that dungeon forever and ever and ever. Same straw roofs. Same placid smiles. Same tasty flowers on bushes or in planters. Why would Starlight bring her here?

“Because for one thing, you announced your evil to half the town’s student population,” Starlight said practically, “So I wouldn’t be trying to butter up anypony around here if I were you, since they know what an eeeevil little filly you are.”

The way Starlight said ‘evil’ made Cozy angry. A lot of things did. “Why do you think I’m eeeevul?” Cozy mimicked mockingly, “Because you secretly think I’m good on the inside?”

“No, because ponies are stupid,” Starlight said matter-of-factly, “We’ve been over this. Ponies are stupid, so they’re going to see you as evil even when you’re not. So you might be evil. But to them, you’re eeeevil.”

Cozy, once again, had no idea how to react to that.

“Anyway, come on, walk this way,” Starlight said, sauntering off the balloon podium.

“I can’t,” Cozy grumbled after the older pony, “My hooves are chained together.” She followed along though. Because Starlight was right, and Cozy hated her for it. All those ponies staring at her, oh what they would do if they ever got their hooves on her. That awful unicorn mare was the only protection Cozy had in this town anymore, and Starlight Glimmer knew it.

Cozy had no choice but to cluster close to Starlight Glimmer and depend on her for protection, because everything was working out exactly as Starlight had planned. Well, Cozy was going to ruin those plans, one way or another. She just needed the right opportunity. So focused Cozy Glow was on that, she didn’t even remember to bite Starlight Glimmer through the bandages the unicorn had wrapped her leg in on the balloon.

The pony traffic around them thinned as they approached the edge of town, and it still took a stupidly long amount of time compared to if she could have flown, but Cozy Glow and Starlight started to pass by golden wheat farms, and rolling hills covered in luscious, sweet...

Cozy Glow sniffed the soft grasses on the side of the road, then just stopped, and started eating. It wasn’t even hunger. It was just a foregone conclusion. Her existence was eating grass, and there was no choice but to do it immediately. Starlight stopped, and walked back to Cozy, and Cozy Glow blushed, trying to bite off as big of a mouthful as she could before the older pony dragged her away to continue walking.

Starlight... didn’t. She just stood there like an idiot. Cozy glanced at her, then went back to eating. Glanced at her, went back to eating. Then Cozy just... ignored her and ate for a while. The grass tasted so good. Cozy hadn’t eaten all day, or... or maybe the day before? She couldn’t remember. But she needed this grass inside her. It wasn’t the stupid tasteless gruel they gave her in Tartarus, it was beautiful, fresh, tender living blades. Little by little, an aching void in Cozy Glow started to fill, and Starlight just stood there and... let Cozy graze, like a goat. No reprimand, no ridicule. Just what was this pony’s problem? Cozy had never—

She stopped eating when something wet started to hit the grass. “Stop staring!” Cozy growled, hobbling past Starlight Glimmer, and trying to discreetly wipe off her eyes with a hoof.

Starlight didn’t say a word about it, just, “Take a left here,” and on they went.

They travelled to a forest amid the fields, looking more like a windbreak than anything. There was a building there, big, white painted and rectangular. It looked kind of like a hospital? There was a big walled garden in the back though. Nestled up in the trees, it was... an incongruous place to put a building. Unless of course that building was a prison...

“And here I thought I was escaping from Tartarus,” Cozy sneered bitterly to the pony taking her to this fate, “But you just wanna lock me up somewhere else!”

Starlight inhaled, then exhaled.

“Yes, actually,” Starlight said, looking back to Cozy with a totally fake smile. “You’re a dangerous little monster of a filly, who might find a way to destroy Equestria if we just let you run away,” said the smiling Starlight, “So you’re not getting free just yet. You’ll like it here much better though, even if you don’t think so right now.”

“And why wouldn’t I think so right now?” Cozy asked suspiciously, not liking that smile at all.

Starlight Glimmer swung a hoof to point to the freshly painted sign mounted in the building’s front lawn, that said, “Ponyville Asylum for Troubled Ponies.”

“...I want to go back to Tartarus,” Cozy Glow said evenly.

“Too late!” Starlight declared happily, trotting up to the filly as Cozy took a step back shouting,

“No!”

Starlight’s horn lit up, but only to block Cozy’s escape with a force field as Starlight snaked her long neck down and scruffed her.

“Noooo!” Cozy howled in despair, as Starlight carried the foal, prancing the rest of the way into the building.

Author's Note

Here we go again.

The Revolt of Ponyville Asylum

The clouds were one with the breeze. It was perfectly quiet up here on a distant cloud. Cozy hadn’t meant to say that, when the cityscape of Cloudsdale floated serenely before them. It just slipped out. Paradise was going to kill her. Paradise was going to make her explain. Paradise was the most terrifying pony Cozy Glow had ever met in her entire life. Cozy soared away from the cloud again, zipping for the city in panic, as she heard Paradise flying up from behind saying, “Filly, what—”

“No!” Cozy shouted angrily, “No no no! No more words! Not one more word! Not going to say anything about it not now not ever, so shut up and stop trying to break me, you stupid... ” Cozy shuddered in rage, trying not to just start screaming again. Ponies could see them from here. They must never know. “I’m fine!” she shouted imperiously, “Let’s just go see your stupid cloud city and then maybe you can leave me alone!”

Paradise didn’t grab her, and Cozy didn’t wait for a reply. Cozy’s wings hurt, but she didn’t slow down until they dove into the heart of the city itself, with pegasi large as life all around, shielding Cozy from any cruel interrogations given under the false smiles and the guise of kindness: the worst, most evil Element of them all. Cozy landed, breathing hard, her wings stiff as she fought to fold them, and Paradise landed next to her. As they stood there on a path made out of clouds, Cozy’s panting breaths evened out, and then Cozy looked up at Paradise and said happily, “Oh I’m so excited we’re here! So, what are we gonna look at first?”

Paradise visibly cringed at that, but fuck her. Everypony else thought Cozy was a perfectly normal filly. And with Rarity’s new hairstyle, they probably didn’t even realize she was Cozy Glow at all! “C’mon, Miss Paradise!” Cozy urged, rearing up against the mare, “You promised to show me the odds and ends store!”

“Well we...” Paradise said in a conflicted tone, looking around at the other ponies who might’ve been watching them warily, if Cozy could afford to look anything but brightly expectant at her redheaded therapist. “...better get going then,” Paradise said with a weak smile Cozy’s way, “C’mon, it’s about three districts away.”

That’d teach Paradise to try to not play games, Cozy thought smugly, as they trotted together thankfully not flying, heading through a bustling thoroughfare that would have been heart wrenchingly familiar to Cozy Glow, if everything in this city wasn’t made out of clouds somehow.

Cloudsdale was not as impressive up close. It was... a city. Ponies living there, buying and selling stuff. It had a good bazaar, Cozy was told, since the city itself travelled all over Equestria, but a majority of the industry was (natch) weather making. Cozy didn’t get the grand tour or anything, but she found herself poking around the shops in utter curiosity. It had been so long since Cozy had had anyone sane to talk with, Paradise had to drag her away from eagerly interrogating the one shopkeeper about how you shape the decorative clouds inside the bottles.

They stopped at one place called an “ice cream parlor” where they sold some sort of treat that Paradise seemed really keen on. Cozy didn’t exactly let Paradise know about her past, but she of course didn’t know what her favorite flavor was, so it wasn’t hard to tell. Plus when Paradise was the only one tall enough to even see what the tubs behind the counter contained, Cozy only saw them as odd cylinders. And Cozy may have asked what the pony behind the counter was going to be scooping. Paradise hustled her away from the counter then off to the side, and right in her face whispered to Cozy’s utter horror,

“You’ve never had ice cream before?!”

“Of course I...” Cozy said, cringing away, but there was no way Paradise was gonna believe her now.

“No games,” Paradise repeated humorlessly.

“So–so what if I haven’t?” Cozy replied resentfully, “I’ve never even been to Cloudsdale before. How would I know about their weird food?”

Paradise’s stunned silence was even more horrifying. “I-i-it’s not weird if I don’t—I don’t want to talk about it I—!” Cozy started to angrily panic, but thankfully Paradise cut her off then, saying quietly,

“You don’t have to tell me. Just don’t hide it from me. Ice cream is... frozen cream. They have flavors, in the tubs.”

“Oh,” Cozy said faintly, looking around Paradise where the cylinders resolved to be tubs of something. “Okay.”

Cozy still couldn’t choose though, because when she fluttered up she could see strawberry, and she liked strawberries, but why was it pink? And she liked chocolate, but she didn’t know what vanilla was, which ended up being another... unintended reveal. Of course every pony in all of Equestria would all know everything about all the ice cream flavors, even the weird ones like vanilla.

Paradise didn’t press her advantage though. She just... bought Cozy a scoop of frozen cream flavored with vanilla, sat down with Cozy at one of the little tables, and watched with shining eyes as Cozy leaned forward and took a bite. Cozy Glow felt almost guilty as she grimaced at the syruppy concoction it kind of weirdly melted into.

“It’s... sweet,” she admitted uncertainly.

“Do you like it?” Paradise asked excitedly.

“Well of course, why wouldn’t I like it?” Cozy asked defensively.

“No games,” Paradise answered curtly.

“How do you know I was playing a game!” Cozy shot back angrily.

“It’s okay if you don’t like it,” Paradise said with a roll of her eyes, “Just be honest with me, okay?”

How had Honesty ever helped Cozy get where she was today? Wait, Cozy hated where she was today.

“I... I don’t know,” she replied, “It tasted weird.” Cozy went for another more significant bite and this one seemed like it was even sweeter than the last one! She thought about eating the whole big scoop, just to spite Paradise, but felt remarkably unenthusiastic about it. What good would that do? “It’s too sweet,” Cozy said cautiously, “I don’t like this flavor.”

Cozy gave up after the next try, because even strawberry was sickly sweet. Strawberries were supposed to be sour! Cozy hated these ponies and their stupid super sweet foods that everypony loved and Cozy couldn’t handle, which made her look weird like a freak, or an outsider... or an alien.

The ice cream parlor was the biggest scare she had that day though. Paradise didn’t talk about Cozy’s problems. They didn’t buy anything to take with, because obviously they weren’t going to let Cozy take this stuff back to the asylum. Cozy Glow was so exhausted, she kind of fell asleep mid-flight on the way back, but Paradise caught her, and carried her, and... Cozy didn’t even have the energy to protest at that point. She held back her feelings, and only once they got near the asylum did Cozy push off the mare unappreciatively, flying on her own the rest of the way back.

Even then, it was just for show. Ponies would think she was okay with that sort of thing if they saw Cozy Glow actually riding on her therapist.

Earlier that day, Starlight Glimmer was abso-freaking-lutely freaking the freak out. “Did you see them? On the monitors?” Starlight asked desperately, “I don’t think they’re anywhere in the asylum!”

“Calm down, already,” the security mare told her testily, “I saw them right here, walking down the hallway and out the front doors a few hours ago.”

“They wouldn’t go on a walk for hours though!” Starlight declared, staring at the image of Cozy Glow and her new therapist just walking calmly right out of the asylum as if Cozy wasn’t escaping to formulate her evil plans, “She’s probably done something terrible to Paradise, and we have to find them before it’s too late!”

“That’s just a filly,” the security mare said uneasily, looking at the video feed again, “She can’t be that crazy, can she?”

“It’s...” Starlight said, pausing entirely too suspiciously, “...complicated. Hold the fort I need to go speak with somepony.”

Starlight Glimmer didn’t bother running the whole way, thanking her magic practice for once as she easily made the teleport herself, winking out mid-stride and reappearing on the steps of Twilight’s castle. Running through the double doors, she headed for the library, where the princess was no doubt moping about again. The events of the last few months had been so crazy, especially when Princess Celestia had to get involved.

Starlight kind of envied her patients for not having to know about all that sort of drama and political upheaval. Her intuition was right though, and there in the library was the lilac princess herself, gazing distantly at books floating in front of her, before rearranging them and shelving them again, then pulling more books out from the tall bookshelves which Twilight’s castle had... er... grown.

“Twilight!” Starlight declared in alarm, “I think Cozy Glow escaped!”

“Escaped where?” Twilight asked, looking to Starlight and almost dropping her books, before settling them in a neat stack on a table. “You said that she knew she had nowhere to go!”

“I don’t know!” Starlight declared, “All I know is she was last seen leaving the asylum with her new therapist, you know, that out of town pegasus? They could be anywhere by now!”

“But why would she run away with Cozy?” Twilight asked in horror, sinking her star-marked rear to the ground.

“I tried to warn her!” Starlight moaned in agitation, “I told Dr. Paradise what Cozy did to me, what happens when you trust her. Cozy was trying to... convince her I was lying somehow, and she must have succeeded. Paradise is probably trapped in a magical ball of doom even as we speak! Cozy must have stolen the artifacts somehow!”

In response, Twilight vanished, and Starlight followed suit. They both winked in at Twilight’s destination, the secret basement vault containing various dangerous and forbidden things. Twilight and Starlight both performed their half of the unlocking spell, the light from their horn sinking into the complex lines and channels etched in a very ominous looking door. It slid open with a grinding of stone on stone, revealing an array of three crystal glass cases, in which was the Amulet of Aurora, the Talisman of Mirage, and Grover’s Crown, set on pedestals as if on display in a museum.

This was certainly not a museum admissible by the general public.

“I–I don’t understand,” Starlight said in shock, staring at the three quiescent items, “How could she be doing it, if she didn’t have all six artifacts?”

“She must have found another way,” Twilight replied in a haunted tone, “Do you have a list of reading material she’s had access to?”

“Just the books in her own room, I promise,” Starlight said earnestly. “Let’s go double check what’s in there.”

They again wasted no time, and once the vault was sealed and locked again, the two winked from the secret basement to directly in front of the asylum. Starlight probably could have hit Cozy’s room directly, but she didn’t want to run into any traps the filly might have left there, if Cozy Glow truly was making her move. A few sounds of protest came from patients in some of the other rooms as the two mares noisily galloped down the hall, pushing the one way latch and pulling open the door to Cozy Glow’s room.

It was remarkably unremarkable. There were no traps Starlight could find, magical or otherwise. The bed was unmade, but the skull was on its shelf. Next to the skull, and above it were a small armful of books, no more than a dozen or two. Starlight and Twilight immediately started looking through the journals and diaries Cozy had requested, laying them out haphazardly on the floor, searching for any clues the filly might have used to recreate her plans of malicious design.

“Maybe Cozy figured out some way to take advantage of the Sapphire Statue,” Twilight said antihopefully, flipping through a Daring Do novel the filly had been reading.

“Twilight,” Starlight said uneasily to the agitated alicorn, “You know the Daring Do novels are fictional, right?”

“Actually they’re real for the most part,” Twilight said distractedly, going through the one about an immortality flower, “They’re only published as fictional to protect the identity of the adventurer.”

“What??” Starlight exclaimed in outrage, “That’s ridiculous! There isn’t anything after Ring of Destiny that’s even remotely possible!”

Twilight blinked, and paused, glancing at Starlight. Then her eyebrow raised. “A fan, I take it?” Twilight asked dryly.

“No,” Starlight said resentfully, looking away, “I’m just... familiar with the series. Okay?”

“The events after the Ring of Destiny were...” Twilight hissed through closed teeth, “Let’s just say that was when a certain friend of the author convinced her to try her quill at fiction. That’s why the... next book in the series sold so poorly. But everything from the Marked Thief of Marapore on was back to being based on historical events.”

“Based on?” Starlight asked cautiously.

“Well,” Twilight said fussing all fidgety, “Imagine if you were telling a story about something that actually happened to you. You wouldn’t get all the details right, would you?”

Starlight gasped in astonishment, “A.K. Yearling is telling stories about herself?!”

“OK! Why don’t we go look at the Journal of the Princesses again,” Twilight said loudly, tossing the Daring Do novel off behind her.

Narrowing her eyes, Starlight asked, “What do you know about Daring—?”

“Not up for discussion!” barked out the princess, “We are not here to talk about things that I may have been sworn to silence on. We need to focus on what happened to Cozy Glow.”

“You’re... you’re right, we have to focus on Cozy,” Starlight admitted grimly, planning a full investigation on A.K. Yearling once she got some spare time, “I’ll check the crystal caverns for any sign of forbidden magic.”

“I’ll go gather the girls,” Twilight said, “And if you’re not back here in an hour, we’ll come looking for you.”

“That sounds like as good a plan as any,” Starlight replied, lighting up her horn to wink out once again.

Several unproductive hours of searching later, including travelling to Canterlot and taking an armed contingent into the restricted section of the royal library, Starlight was ready to give up. On finding her. On saving Equestria. On life.

Starlight wearily winked in on the steps that evening, and walked back into her asylum. Her head hung low as she shambled through the halls, thinking maybe she could find another clue in Cozy’s room that she’d missed. There were a couple of nurse ponies about, but Starlight didn’t bother talking to them again about somepony whose identity was technically supposed to be a protected state secret, if that stupid news exposé hadn’t announced Cozy’s release from Tartarus to all of Equestria.

Starlight Glimmer passed Paradise on her way to Cozy’s room, and when the therapist said to her, “Oh, hello Starlight. I can—”

“Not now, Paradise,” Starlight cut her off with a sigh, walking on past her, “Kind of busy at the moment.”

“Oh, okay,” the redheaded pegasus said meekly, standing there as Starlight headed on down the hall to—

“Where is she??” Starlight hissed desperately, wide-eyed, nose-to-nose with the therapist.

“C-Cozy?” Paradise said nervously leaning back from the unicorn’s burning gaze, “I take full responsibility for—”

“Where. Is she.” Starlight repeated, in a way that made it abundantly clear she was not going settle for anything other than a straight answer.

“I just... let her in her room, just now,” Paradise squeaked, shrinking back from the furious unicorn in terror.

“What?!” Starlight blurted out in horror, snapping her head around to look down the hall.

“Who threw all my books on the floor?!” came the muffled shout of a little filly, from within Cozy Glow’s room.

The books had all been cleaned up, and Cozy had finished laughing at the ponies who thought she was going to take over Equestria from inside her cell. Her skull was okay, and everything was fine, so why was Starlight coming to bother her now?

“Hey there, Cozy!” Starlight declared from Cozy Glow’s door’s window.

“What?” Cozy asked suspiciously, looking up from where she was reading something about foalhood development, “I know I’m too dangerous to be allowed to leave the asylum.”

“Not too dangerous to come visit me in my office!” Starlight said, opening the door to Cozy’s room, “C’mon, I’d like a chance to explain and... apologize.”

“Can’t you do that here?” Cozy whined.

“My office is more private,” Starlight answered easily, “One of the nurse ponies might come to take one of the other patients on this floor to their appointments. You don’t want them to overhear.”

“Who else is on this floor, anyway?” Cozy asked curiously.

Starlight said, “Oh, um... Shutterbug, Green Arrow...” and two other names Cozy didn’t recognize.

“Which one is Green Arrow’s?” Cozy asked curiously as she fluttered along after Starlight down the hall.

“I’m not gonna let you go taunt her from her window, if that’s what you’re asking,” Starlight replied dryly.

“No,” Cozy said, folding her forelegs and glancing away, “I was not.”

Starlight’s office was as pleasant as ever. Cozy landed on the bean bag and massaged it with her hooves, turning in a circle to settle down, saying, “So, you wanted to apologize for getting all upset over Dr. Paradise taking me to Cloudsdale?”

“Cozy, you have to admit that leaving unannounced was awfully suspicious,” Starlight said uneasily, “But I made a mistake. The fact is you were doing quite well, and the whole thing was Dr. Paradise’s idea.”

“Is that what she told you?” Cozy asked, “How do you know I didn’t manipulate her into having that idea?”

“I... don’t, but...” Starlight fussed, “She said you wanted to go to Hollow Shades, not Cloudsdale. So you know about the Well of Shade, huh?”

“Of course I know about it. It’s all anypony would talk about when I...um... joined the school,” Cozy said.

“Cozy, you can’t keep trying to take power over us,” Starlight said testily, “It wouldn’t go well for you.”

“Oh, because you were gonna stop me?” Cozy suggested smugly.

“No, because the shadow took over Stygian’s body, and trapped him inside an inky prison to sustain itself,” Starlight replied, “He tried to gain power... somehow via that place, and in the end he was begging us to save him!”

Cozy opened her mouth and closed it again. “But I wouldn’t—” she started to say.

“Wouldn’t you?” Starlight asked her, “You think you know more about that ancient place than Equestria’s foremost legends researcher over a thousand years ago, when the scar of the well was still fresh? You think he wasn’t prepared? It preyed on him, Cozy. It ate him alive, and what came out of that was more powerful, yes, but if Stygian hadn’t been able to give up his anger, forgive his friends, and beg the Elements of Harmony to save him... he’d be lost forever. Do you really think you could do that?”

“No, but I... I was going to research it,” Cozy said in frustration, “But how was I supposed to ask for books on it without revealing... I–I mean I’m not trying to take over Equestria anymore, or... or anything. I’m just trying to get better, so I can be... reformed and stuff.”

“The fact of the matter is that Paradise did not take you to Hollow Shades,” Starlight insisted, “She took you to Cloudsdale, and you wouldn’t have any reason to manipulate Paradise into taking you there. What were you going to do, shop Equestria into submission?”

“I–I would’ve...” Cozy stammered self-consciously.

“You did a good job, Cozy!” Starlight protested, “You displayed very good behavior the whole time. You went to Cloudsdale just because Paradise asked you to. You didn’t even know what it was and you still went there!”

“Oh, she told you that, huh,” Cozy said, glancing dully downward.

“Your sessions are confidential Cozy, but this is important information,” Starlight replied, fidgeting self-consciously with the bracelet on her hoof, “And Paradise specifically told you there was going to be no therapizing, no sessions, only poking around up there for odds and ends. Cozy, I won’t use my knowledge for anything you wouldn’t be comfortable with, knowing about you and Cloudsdale. I’m going to keep you safe. And everything’s going to be—”

The bracelet around Starlight’s foreleg started buzzing and glowing, then. “Whoops, looks like one of the nurses needs me to help with Screwball,” Starlight said, looking at it. Looking up at Cozy she said, “So I just want to say I’m sorry for thinking you were doing evil. You were doing a good job, and I’ll try to help you... function more outside of this asylum. That might not be the only time you get to—”

The bracelet buzzed again, and Starlight hastily concluded, “Okay, so let’s get you to your room then. I really have to get this.” Starlight teleported over to her office door, opening it and saying to the pony there, “Okay Nurse Tenderheart. I’m done talking with Cozy, and she needs to get back to her room.”

“Well, it’s actually about time for her to visit the exercise yard,” Tenderheart said, eyeing Starlight uncertainly.

“Great! Exercise yard it is,” Starlight said, “Now I have to go make sure one of our patients didn’t set anything on fire this time. Call me if you need me!”

Starlight’s horn glowed brightly then, and she winked out with a burst of sparkly blue magic.

“Sorry, filly, she’s really—” the nurse said sympathetically behind Cozy Glow.

“Busy, yeah, I know,” Cozy said darkly, “Not like I actually wanted to be around her or anything.”

“Let’s just go to the exercise yard,” Nurse Tenderheart said pleadingly, “I don’t know what to tell you about... Starlight.”

“At least it means Starlight Glimmer has to start being my therapist again,” Cozy said somewhat smugly to herself, trotting after the nurse to head in that direction, “There’s no way she’ll let Dr. Paradise keep counselling me, after that stunt she pulled.”

“You want me to keep seeing her?” Paradise asked in disbelief, “After I started an outright pony hunt?”

“It was technically illegal, but it was the right thing to do,” Starlight admitted guiltily, “I’ve been trying to think of how to get her out of the asylum without stepping on any royal commandments, and the fact that she had a relatively normal day with you really lends weight to my argument. And... I think you’re not going to be repeating that, without letting anypony know.”

“I certainly don’t plan on it,” Paradise said with a sheepish blush, “I had to show her I was sincere, and I was afraid you’d—”

“No, no you’re right. I would have said you can’t do it,” Starlight chided her gently, “I’d be in huge trouble if I said it was okay for you to just fly off with her like that. I think in this case it’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.”

“If you insist,” Paradise said, fidgeting shyly on her hooves.

“Plus you found more about her than I’ve found out in months,” Starlight said in amazement, “That she’s never had ice cream, or seen Cloudsdale, either she grew up in abject poverty, or she isn’t from around here.”

“I don’t think we should push her on that,” Paradise said uneasily, “Cozy isn’t ready to confront whatever happened to her, and she really values her privacy.”

“Yes, I... I know,” Starlight said unhappily, glancing away, “All too well.”

Before Paradise could ask, Starlight looked at her again, saying, “So, you understand her needs, and your... therapy methods seem to be getting her to open up a little bit. I’m not going to even worry about any trouble you put us through, because you’re right. Cozy can trust you. And she can’t trust me. So right now, I think you’re the best pony who could possibly counsel Cozy and I’d really just like to forget about that miscommunication we had. I’ll do what I can to make sure you can take Cozy places legitimately, and you’ll keep using the trust you’ve earned to uh...”

Paradise just gave Starlight an unapproving look at that, until the other mare said, “Right, i-it’s not like trust is something you use for your own gain, heh. I’m just trying to say I think you might be in a unique position to help her.” With a grateful smile, Starlight concluded, “So your punishment is going to be that you aren’t allowed to leave the asylum with Cozy until further notice. She can only go outside accompanied by me, or one of the nurse ponies who knows her well.”

Paradise blinked. “So, you’re punishing me out of gratitude?” she asked in total confusion.

“Oh! No, that’s just to show Cozy that you were willing to stick your neck out,” Starlight said with a genuine laugh, “Can you imagine if I just gave you a slap on the wrist? Cozy would never believe we hadn’t planned the whole thing together to trick her into making you look good!”

Paradise... did not understand that line of reasoning, but more in a sense of she simply could not comprehend it, than she thought it was wrong. “I suppose you’re right,” she said conservatively, “I can keep having sessions with her though, can’t I?”

“Yup! You don’t even have to change your schedule,” Starlight said cheerfully, “Though we might have another psychologist coming in next week so things will get all mixed up again. But until then, you’re free to talk all you want with Cozy Glow!”

Starlight’s smile thinned, as she added, “Just don’t go anywhere with her.”

Paradise sighed, saying, “That’s fair. Thank you for being so understanding, Starlight. I’ll look forward to my next session with her then, and continue seeing the other... less criminal patients too.”

Paradise as it turns out did look forward to it, and she wasn’t even disappointed! Routine settled back into the asylum, thick snow covered all the land, and Cozy continued to be frustrating, but not in a way Paradise couldn’t deal with. Paradise just wished she knew what to do to actually help Cozy Glow.

“They want you to keep seeing me?” Cozy Glow asked in disbelief.

“You don’t have to sound so shocked,” Paradise grumbled.

So therapy with Paradise resumed, they never repeated their Cloudsdale fiasco, and one day Cozy Glow was lazing about, reading about medicinal plants of Equestria, when she heard a bunch of hooves clipclopping up to her door. it was quiet then, followed by a stray hoof thudding against her door, and a filly crying out in protest. Then Cozy’s window opened, and oh Grogar, no. It was them.

“Hi!” Apple Bloom said with a smile, peeking in through the window in Cozy’s door.

Cozy shut her book, then just glared at Apple Bloom silently. She did not want these three to ruin all that she had worked for here. Because that’s what they did. Ruin everything.

Swaying in place as though she were standing on the back of another pony, Apple Bloom said, “On behalf of th’ Cutie Mark Crusaders, we wish to offer you a formal...” then she turned and whispered, “A formal what?

“A formal apology!” Apple Bloom declared to Cozy, “For thinkin’ you were evil, when you were atchally just misunderstood.”

Cozy Glow turned away, and gazed at the little window outside the wall of the asylum, hoping that showing them nothing but her butt would belay the inevitable. Tried to think of just what they were going to do wrong.

“And in that misunderstandin’ we would like ta extend our aid to aid in...” Apple Bloom paused and whispered aside again, then said, “To aid in your understandin’ of your role in Equestria.”

At least they were as dumb as ever. “Golly, Apple Bloom. Why are you the one speaking?” Cozy remarked curiously, “And not you know... the orange one. Scootawho?”

“Scootaloo!” came Scootaloo’s voice calling out from beyond the window.

“As honorary president of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it is mah duty to—” Apple Bloom started to say, as Scootaloo interrupted and said,

“Hey! Who said you get to be the president?”

“Somepony gots to be the president!” Apple Bloom called down, “Why not meh?”

“Because you can’t speak clearly?” Cozy offered, looking over her shoulder their way with a note of sweet concern, “How is anypony supposed to understand you, if all they can hear is that cowpony accent?”

“Who says ah have a cowpony accent?” Apple Bloom retorted angrily, followed by Scootaloo calling out,

“She’s right! I’m the one who speaks better. I should be the one speaking!”

“You don’t speak better!” Apple Bloom called down, “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with no cowpony accent, so stop your hollerin’!”

“My hollering? You stop your hollering!”

“Ah’m only hollerin’ onna counta you—”

“On account of you’re president! I never voted for you!”

“It’s a honorary thang! Just let me do the talkin—”

“No, let me talk to her!” Scootaloo shouted, climbing up and pushing Apple Bloom away to get at the window.

“Get outta mah face!” Apple Bloom declared.

“You’re supposed to say my face, not mah face!” Scootaloo protested, “Are you talking about your mom’s face?”

“Girls!” squeaked a very strained unicorn filly’s voice, “You’re too heavy!”

Cozy Glow turned fully to face the window again. This was too good to miss.

“You get down Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom declared angrily, fighting with her, “Cain’t you see Sweetie cain’t hold us both up?”

“Why don’t you get down?” Scootaloo shot back, “As president of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who can’t even say can’t!”

At a sparkly bursting sound, they both gave a surprised squeal and dropped out from view of the window, hooves scrabbling against Cozy’s door as they went down, and one of them must have hit the release mechanism, because the door clicked, and fell open, as an orange sort-of pegasus and a yellow and red apple pony went down fighting with each other saying intelligent stuff like

“You!”

“No, you!”

“Oh no! She’s loose!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, standing behind the other two and looking in through Cozy’s open door in horror.

“Oh no!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom declared at the same time, struggling to separate and stand up, only to trip and fall as their hooves landed on a bunch of pieces of junk that had gotten scattered with a clatter when they started fighting. They made it up to standing though, and hurriedly pushed Cozy’s door shut, pulling out the junk that got caught in the doorjam, and then pulling it shut again.

Cozy Glow went back to reading her book.

“We gotta pick all this stuff up now!” came a muffled voice through the door.

“No, you pick it up!”

“Ah don’t care who picks it up! Help me get these in th’ box.”

...

Some time later, Scootaloo’s face came in the window. “Ahem,” she said clearly, “We are here to assist you in finding out what your cutie mark really means to you!”

Cozy Glow knew Rainbow Dash still hated Cozy, so there was no way Dash knew about this little intervention here, or she’d be dragging Scootaloo bodily away right about now. Applejack hadn’t even talked to Cozy, so there’s no way she would have let Apple Bloom do so. And Sweetie Belle... hm.

“What do you mean?” Cozy asked the ponies outside her room testily, “I already know what my cutie mark means to me.”

Sweetie Belle climbed up beside Scootaloo, declaring urgently, “Rarity said you don’t like to play chess!”

Oh. What?

When did Cozy tell that mare...? Cozy Glow couldn’t recall. They didn’t talk about anything really. Rarity just came every week or so, for some reason, and helped Cozy take care of her fur, and mane, and just... making her feel pampered in general. It was dumb and Cozy hadn’t understood why, but now she was guessing that Rarity’s regular visits were just a sneaky way to get information out of her. Cozy would definitely have to start feeding Rarity false information, if the dressmaker kept insisting on coming to try to poke her nose into somepony else’s business.

Cozy still wouldn’t mind having somepony around now and again to help brush the loose fur off her back, between her wings where she couldn’t reach.

Sweetie and Scootaloo didn’t fall, sensibly enough considering their new weight distribution. Scootaloo still pushed against Sweetie’s cheek fighting for the window, saying, “So we came here to help you learn what your (Sweetie, stop!) special talent really is!”

“And how are you going to do that?” Cozy asked with a bored expression on her face.

“We brought a chessboard!” Apple Bloom called out from below as Cozy’s face fell in revulsion, “We’re gonna play a whole buncha chess with you, to see why you have a chess cutie mark!”

Cozy needed to get out of this. She was not going to play chess just because these three wanted her to be good at it. She had an idea, but it would take some doing. So stepping down from her bed to the floor, she stood there asking them mockingly, “And how are you going to play chess with me, through a locked door?”

There was a pause for the three to whisper together, and Cozy let that go on a bit, before she deliberately sank her shoulders in defeat, saying,

“I guess you figured it out.”

At their curious looks, Cozy gazed downwards, admitting, “Starlight Glimmer put an enchantment on me, so that I can never leave the asylum without her permission. I might be able to play with you on the chess tables out back in the exercise yard, but I can’t go any farther than that. Glancing up, she added, “Starlight did give you permission to do this, right?”

With a blush, Scootaloo stated, “We’re official,”

Sweetie Belle butted in, adding, “Cutie Mark Consultants!”

“As official Cutie Mark Consultants,” Scootaloo said, pushing into the window again.

“We (enfh) have the authority to (hnfh)” Sweetie said, fighting with Scootaloo, who stuck her nose in and said, “Consult you about your cutie mark.”

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t leave the asylum at all, then,” Cozy said with an inward relief, “But you know... I think you might be right.”

Looking up at them hopefully, the blue and pink filly said, “I always thought I was bad at chess, but maybe if I really gave it a good try, I could find something about myself that I never knew! Do you really think I can do that?”

“You sure cain, Cozy!” Apple Bloom called out encouragingly from below, adding, “Now get offa me you two, aind stop fightin’. You keep steppin’ on mah ears!”

“Wait!” Scootaloo said, dangling from the window and fluttering her wings mightily. “How do we know we can trust you?” she called out vaguely in Cozy’s direction.

“You opened the door once, and I didn’t escape,” Cozy pointed out as Scootaloo fell heavily earthward outside, “Believe me, I tried to escape a million times. That mean old enchantment just doesn’t even let me think about leaving!”

A few whispers behind the door, and with a click, it opened again. “Awful sorry to hear that Cozy,” Apple Bloom said sympathetically, inching into the room enough to push the door wide open, “Ah wish you didn’t have to put up with that. Must be terrible frustratin’”

Cozy had to ignore a little bit of chest pain at that. Apple Bloom really didn’t know anything about Cozy Glow, if she could just care about her so easily. “It’s okay,” Cozy said in sincere sounding repentance, “I deserve it, for what I did. I only hope ponies can trust me again, someday.”

“Well, we can trust you,” Scootaloo said happily, poking her head around the open door, “So let’s go play some chess. You said there were chess tables outside?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Cozy agreed, “They’re right outside, back in the exercise yard, down on the first floor. I can show you, even!”

“Well what’re we waitin’ for?” Apple Bloom asked, leading Cozy out. As they headed first floorwards, the other foals were bouncily excited, even as the candy maned unicorn filly struggled to balance the box of (ugh) chess pieces on her rear. Cozy kept a sharp eye out, but she didn’t see any nurses as she descended the stairwell, picking the stairwell that came out closest to the door to the exercise yard on the first floor. It wasn’t right after a meal, so it didn’t look like there were many ponies out there at all. Good.

“The chess tables are right out here!” Cozy said, pointing at the glass doors leading out back, “Can you open the doors? I’m not allowed to.”

“Can do, Cozy!” Apple Bloom said amiably, pushing open the glass door enough for Cozy Glow to scurry out, and then take off into the air.

“You are all so pitiful!” she gloated down the foals crowding out the door, with utter blackness in her voice and a cruel expression on her face, “You really thought they could enchant me? You fools opened all the doors, breaking all the magical wards Starlight put in place on my imprisonment, and now at last, I’m free to conquer all of Equestria!”

“Oh no!” Sweetie Belle squeaked in horror as the box of chess pieces slid off her rump and clattered to the ground, spilling chess pieces everywhere again.

“Oh, yes!” Cozy declared in vehement triumph, “And there’s no way you’ll be able to stop the fire I set in the basement from burning the whole hospital down to ash!”

The three gasped at that, as Apple Bloom shouted, “How dare you! You evil little filly!”

“Those poor crazy ponies,” Cozy replied in a mocking tone, still hovering there out of reach, “All trapped in their rooms with no way out, and it’s all your fault, because I have a lot to do if I’m going to destroy all the magic, so I can’t be bothered to help you save them from their fiery doom. So long, suckers!”

Then Cozy Glow flew up into the air, hoping there wasn’t a nurse nearby to hear what she told the three in relatively level tones. Of course she wasn’t followed, because Apple Bloom couldn’t even fly.

Cozy flew behind a cloud, then circled around the building, fluttering down to land on the roof of the Asylum. There was roof access up here, but it really was locked most of the time, to keep patients with any funny ideas from coming up here. Cozy was pretty sure if she had to kill herself, it wouldn’t be from falling of a tall building. That just didn’t work in the heads of all but the craziest of pegasi, and the only one of those here couldn’t fly, so the roof was well and truly inaccessible to him.

Cozy Glow sat there alone, relaxing in the breeze as she started to hear screams of panic and loud crashes echoing below her. They found the fire alarm at one point, but they probably didn’t expect the automatic sprinklers in the hallways that came on when you hit it. Cozy watched from above as wet ponies came streaming out of the asylum, with nurse ponies trying to corral the crazy ponies, and the CMC running about on the front lawn like headless chickens. Starlight Glimmer teleported in front of them then, and they all screeched to a halt at her hooves.

Cozy didn’t look any longer, on the off chance that somepony would look upward and see her up here looking down. She just quickly flew down into the now emptied exercise yard, since everypony was gathering out front. She closed her eyes, and pushed her way into the building, where she found herself quickly soaked head to hoof from the sprinklers still going overhead. Running up the stairwell to her hall, Cozy found Nurse Coldheart standing there talking with Sea Swirl.

“What happened?” Cozy asked the nurse in alarm, running up to her, “Somepony opened my door and the fire alarm came on!”

“We need you both outside, hurry!” the nurse said, “Go see Nurse Tenderheart, and wait right beside her. I need to make sure everypony is out of the hospital!”

Then thankfully not exchanging a word in edgewise, Cozy Glow and Sea Swirl went hurrying down the stairs, galloping for the front entrance, currently unlocked, unbarred and wide open for the unannounced fire drill.

Once outside, Cozy Glow shook hard to try and get the water off her, right around the time the older mare beside her followed suit. Then the damp and scraggly pink filly trotted with Sea Swirl meekly over to Nurse Tenderheart, whereupon Sea Swirl started telling the tale of how she saved Cozy from the fire, but everypony knew that was Sea Swirl being Sea Swirl.

Cozy stood there by Nurse Tenderheart in a crowd of other crazy ponies, watching Nurse Sweetheart chasing around Crackpot and Screwball, who were both going like caffeinated chipmunks at this point. Then suddenly appearing before Nurse Tenderheart, the unicorn Starlight Glimmer declared tremulously, “I don’t mean to alarm you, but I think Cozy Glow may have...”

Starlight glanced down at Cozy Glow.

Cozy tilted her head, asking in confusion, “...what?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders never came to visit her again.

At last, the asylum was thoroughly dry, and Paradise was done with Morning Glory’s session for today, feeling relieved at the relative ease of that mare’s troubles as the redheaded psychologist chatted in the asylum’s staff lounge. Morning was getting better day by day, and Paradise didn’t want to say she was going to be 100% any time soon, but it seemed like the mare was past those dark hopeless days when she thought that nothing would ever be better again.

But of course, the conversation Paradise was currently in eventually turned towards Cozy Glow. Paradise was speaking with one of the other psychologists who had been hired this year. Doctor Moore was a handsome stallion who seemed so soft spoken, yet with such power in his carefully chosen words. Emotionally shielded in his own way, staying calm and using reason to ground himself in the here and now, that was pretty standard fare among professionals who had to deal with troubled ponies.

“Her past haunts her,” Paradise said in resigned frustration, “I know it does. If only she could talk about it.”

“Sometimes you have to approach things indirectly,” the stallion told her with his precise enunciation, “Perhaps Cozy Glow can approach a metaphor of what she doesn’t want to confront directly. Something she relates to, but doesn’t need to feel like she’s exposing herself to emotional harm.”

“Sure, I’ll just get her a doll, and ask her to point at where the stallion touched her,” Paradise said glumly without thinking, then blushed heavily, telling the doctor, “That is, I mean...”

“No offense taken, Dr. Skies,” Dr. Moore said politely, “That is one kind of abuse that somepony like her may have suffered. You may be on the right track, in fact! Didn’t you say that Cozy was fond of puppets at one time?”

“Only as a...” Paradise rubbed hoof under her chin, “As a metaphor for her domination over the Elements of Harmony. So you think a puppet of her... fears somehow, would allow her to share how she feels with me, without having to talk about any specific events?”

“That seems like a very reasonable idea,” the powder blue stallion replied happily, “It certainly is better than doing nothing.”

“How would I know what kind of a puppet would represent what happened to her in the past, if she doesn’t want to talk about it?” Paradise wondered morosely.

“Why don’t you ask her?” Dr. Moore suggested.

Ears perking up, Paradise said, “Yes, I certainly wouldn’t make the decision to go forward with that, without asking her. If I told her she could use a puppet to represent what the source of her sadness is, without telling me anything specific... Cozy likes to be in control, you see.”

“I wish you luck, Dr. Skies,” Dr. Moore said in his usual noncommital manner, “But I don’t think you’ll need it. You are a very competent mare in your field, and I believe you already know what’s best for her.”

“Oh please,” Paradise said, shyly looking aside, “Dr. Skies sounds so formal. You can just call me Paradise.”

“That’s fine, as long as it doesn’t extend both ways,” he said with a wry ear tilt, “I’m not sure how I would react if you started calling me by the name of ‘Pony.’”

“What about Dr. Pony?” Paradise asked thoughtfully.

“I feel like that’s... even worse,” the stallion said with a wince, “Best just stick to Dr. Moore for now.”

“Roger that,” Paradise replied easily, “Dr. Moore it is then.”

“Okay, Cozy,” Paradise said too cautiously for Cozy’s liking, “I’m going to try something a little different, so don’t feel like you can’t stop me if it’s going too far. I know you don’t want to talk about your past, even though it has been bothering you, and I want to ask if... it would be any easier to talk about a puppet, or a doll?”

“Why would I care about talking about a puppet or a doll?” Cozy asked skeptically.

“If I got you a doll that represented the source of your problems, you could use it to talk to me about them,” Paradise explained, “You wouldn’t have to talk about your past, just the doll.”

“So, what, I’m supposed to point at the doll to say where the stallion touched me?” Cozy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“If...” Paradise blushed, “...that is what happened to you, then yes, we can get a Cozy Glow doll, and you can talk about where the stallion touched you. I don’t think that’s your problem though.”

“No, it isn’t,” Cozy said, wilting a bit. She didn’t even get what the problem was with a stallion touching her like that, just because she hadn’t had estrus. Wouldn’t estrus make it worse to be touched there? It was probably just another thing these weak little ponies couldn’t put up with, like prostitution or beef.

“You don’t have to tell me what it is,” Paradise reassured her, “All I’m asking is if there were a doll to represent what caused all your problems, can you tell me what kind of doll you would choose? I’ll bring it in to the session, and you can even get angry at the doll, or ...physical with it, and I won’t ask why. I just want to know how you feel about the source of your pain.”

Cozy’s ears went back at that, but Paradise persisted saying, “I know you’re in pain, Cozy, and that’s alright. Something bad happened to you, and you don’t have to tell me about it. I just want to know what...kind of doll you’d want. You don’t even have to tell me if the doll has anything to do with your past.”

“...can you get a sheep?” Cozy asked, feeling like she was asking for her skull again. This would go horribly wrong she knew it, but nothing she was doing was working, and just the thought of stomping on... “A pretty sturdy one,” Cozy made sure to add, “And not a girl sheep either it has to be a ram.”

Paradise sounded surprised, as she said, “Yes, I can do that.”

“And...” Cozy asked, hesitating to say it, but how would the ponies possibly know about him? “Can you make it... dark blue?”

Paradise took down directions, and it was all well and good, and Cozy hoped this wasn’t some way to trick her into revealing her secrets. But how would they possibly know of that cursed blue ram? It was safe, she figured, revealing that much. Not like they would actually give her a doll like that at any rate. But it was okay, and Paradise didn’t even give Cozy too hard a time questioning her about her past that day.

Cozy liked it better when Paradise would spend their sessions just taking her flying. Under much stricter supervision and reporting to Starlight Glimmer of course. And of course flying risked revealing yet another one of those stupid secrets that Cozy couldn’t seem to keep. The kind where she would say too much and have to just stop talking, because there was nothing she could say that wouldn’t risk... the worst possible thing. But once Paradise understood that Cozy had never flown much higher than most buildings before, the therapist was really patient with Cozy Glow.

Cozy wasn’t exactly going to get flying lessons from some kind of wildly talented stunt pony, but Paradise knew enough about flying to teach her about the thinner air up above the clouds, and how to follow the warmer air currents upwards. Cozy was gliding along with Paradise up there on a pretty clear day, grumbling about how the warm air currents were still cold, when she noticed... everything below her.

An unimaginable distance down, yet still possible to ascend with practice and the wings to do so, was all of Equestria. It was madness to think individual ponies could be seen, but there was the golden city of Canterlot, over there on that mountain. They were at the height of Cloudsdale, but the cloud city was far in the distance, recognizable only by its rainbow showers. Down below them was Ponyville, only a little spot down there surrounded by farms and bare trees dotting a landscape covered with snow. All around as far as the eye could see were distant mountains, serene fields, and dense forests of evergreen pines.

Cozy Glow could just barely see the perpetually snowless deserts to the south, and the oceans were also out of sight. But it was all so breathtaking just how much land there was. It just went on forever, seemingly farther than a pegasus could fly, and all of it was brightly lit and safe. It was no wonder ponies were so stupid in a land like this, but Cozy Glow couldn’t deny the ache in her heart that rose at its beauty and magnitude. She wanted it all. She wanted it so bad. But until she took care of that old goat, it could all be taken away from her by nothing more than the stupidity of the ponies who lived here.

Later, Cozy was having a nice plain, uneventful dinner, sitting with Sea Swirl this time, and everything was going according to plan... sort of. Cozy was sure the older pony was starting to understand that her need to be superior was holding her back, but Sea Swirl wasn’t quite there yet. The other blue haired, pink furred pony, who happened to be a unicorn, wasn’t exactly the most popular here, not even among the crazy inmates. Sea Swirl didn’t seem satisfied with them either, which of course made her even more desperate for Cozy’s company.

“I’m going to write to the princesses,” Sea Swirl claimed smugly around eating her fescue salad, “I’ll tell them they can’t keep you locked up like this, and I’ll also write to the newspapers so if they try and stop me, everypony will know about the princesses’ lies.”

“Let’s table that one for now,” Cozy Glow said with a wince, still struggling to find out how this pony could possibly be helpful to her with Sea Swirl having such an inflated ego. Cozy knew Sea Swirl was just trying to cover up feeling useless and hopeless, but she wasn’t sure how to fix that useless and hopelessness. Doing so would hopefully stop Sea Swirl from trying to help Cozy so much that they sent Cozy Glow to Double Tartarus, but how to do it...

“So what’s your plan?” Sea Swirl asked in a conspiratorial tone of voice, “How are we going to get them to let us out of the asylum?”

That’s the other reason Cozy tolerated Sea Swirl more than the others, because as annoyingly self absorbed as she was, Sea Swirl had done... some dangerous things in her quest to become famous and may have hurt some ponies, so she had to wear a suppressor ring on her horn, and like Cozy Glow, wasn’t allowed to leave without supervision. Ponies like Morning Glory more pleasant to be around, but there was always that... divide between them and Cozy Glow. The door that didn’t open from the inside, which Sea Swirl could understand.

“I have a plan,” Cozy Glow murmured back to Sea Swirl’s delight. “But I’m going to need your help for it to work,” she added even more to Sea Swirl’s delight. “I need you to make Nurse Bonesaw like you.”

And just like that, Sea Swirl’s face fell to panicked despair. “Are you crazy?” she whispered to Cozy Glow, “You know I can’t do that! Nopony likes me!”

“And why do you think that is?” Cozy prompted slyly.

“Because they’re idiots,” Sea Swirl replied angrily, “I’ve tried so hard to get anyone to even so much as notice me. And what do they do? Put me in here, so they can forget about me!”

“Even idiots can like ponies though,” Cozy Glow persisted, “Even some grumpy puss like Nurse Bonesaw has ponies she likes a whole lot.”

“Yes, but those ponies aren’t me,” Sea Swirl growled, “Why can’t anypony like me for once? Just once!”

Cozy Glow judiciously decided not to tell Sea Swirl that there were ponies who liked her, already. This mare needed to feel like she was under attack from all sides. How else could she stop from blaming herself? Not that it was her fault, but Cozy was pretty sure a less crazy pony would start blaming themselves. Because ponies are stupid. “That’s what we’re going to figure out,” Cozy assured the older mare, “Why don’t ponies like you, and what do you really have to do to become famous?”

“Get lucky and have all music everywhere be your talent, and still just wasting it on stupid E.D.M.—” Sea Swirl started to rant, but Cozy said,

“Wait, wait hold on I’m being serious here. I think there’s a way for you to become famous, without getting lucky at all.”

Eyeing her in disbelief, the pink unicorn remarked, “And I thought I was the crazy one.”

“Okay, you might need to be a little lucky,” Cozy admitted with a wince, “But don’t you want to improve your chances? You wouldn’t want to miss your only chance to become famous, because you were doing something wrong?”

“No, no I wouldn’t!” Sea Swirl said in genuine alarm, “Why would you even say that? I don’t want to miss my only chance! I–I did miss my only chance! How am I supposed to change that?”

“Even if you only have one more chance to become famous, this’s what I think you need to do,” Cozy Glow said, leaning closer to whisper into Sea Swirl’s ear.

Perhaps some day, Sea Swirl would even come to follow this advice.

Author's Note

Oh no! Cozy has weaponized >implications!