Komm, Süßer Schein

Cozy stared at the piles of books in front of her, and her eyes carried such hatred that they defied the notions of what was possible for a pony. No one would have guessed so much rage could fit into a stallion, much less in a small filly.

She'd been stuck there, studying. Curved over those books. Old and dusty tomes, sometimes written in ways too archaic to be understood right away. Imprisoned there, between ink and paper, waiting for her coronation.

There was a lot of hate inside the filly, more than anyone could have thought possible. And most surprisingly, perhaps surprising exactly because of just how much hatred she carried, it was not the only thing inside Cozy. In fact, it was not even the most present thing inside her.

Cozy was happy.

Cozy was more than happy. Happiness didn't begin to describe what she was feeling. It was something beyond happiness. Like happiness had kept building up until there was no more space left for it to go, the pressure growing more and more intense until the gaseous sensation had begun to aggregate, condensing and then being forced to crystallise into something greater, an ecstasy as pure and dense as diamonds that filled her mind and made her feel like she didn't even need her wings to soar.

The hate, if anything, was the leftover waste of the process. Her happiness had been purified, her mind oversaturated with it, and as it had formed into that sublime jewel of pure bliss it had expelled all its imperfections as an acid, liquid stream of hate.

And that was Cozy's mind in that moment. A crystal clear, see-through iceberg of pure joy, floating in a deadly sea of blood-red hatred, consuming every other thought that dared try to swim in it and confining them to distant shores in the outer reaches of her mind.

Only one thought reigned supreme in Cozy's mind, sitting upon its throne engraved in crystal and overlooking its kingdom of destruction: She had won. Nopony else knew it but her, but she'd won. The games had not even begun for the others, and already she'd beat them.

And staring up at the sky, at the ever-shifting canvas of her imagination, that thought saw visions and fantasies of her future. Deliciously beautiful, far greater than what her desires had once been. It would be hers, all of it.

Cozy stared at the books with hate. Infinite hate, for them, for the ponies who kept her there, and for everyone else, pony or otherwise. And she delighted in the way she knew she would punish them all for their actions. Make them crawl like the worms they were.

All her life they'd been mocking her, insulting her with their very existence. And she'd been forced to suffer through it. She should have been born a unicorn, and she knew that. Instead she'd been a pegasus, forever forbidden from rising through the ranks. Ponies like Twilight Sparkle had been picked to study under the Princess, and she'd been left with nothing but her wings.

But she'd fought back against fate. She'd found other ways to attain the power she deserved. Ponies could be manipulated. Ponies could be used. She'd still had a chance. And she'd been so close to winning. If she couldn't have magic, she'd just have to take it away from everyone else. And then she could rule.

But she'd been defeated. Humiliated, locked away. She'd tried to manipulate Tirek, sure, but the centaur had proved much more resistant to her usual techniques than ponies had been. But then hope. Freedom again.

She had to admit it, she'd had fun with Tirek and Chrysalis. They understood her. They were wrong in thinking they were the ones who deserved to rule, obviously, but she could appreciate their drive. Their shared disgust for how weak ponies were. And having someone else do the heavy lifting had always been her thing, it hadn't been too hard to work with them. Though she did wish she'd managed to get things on her terms.

Then had come the greatest revelation of her life.

Power. Real power. Flowing through her veins, setting her senses ablaze. Reality could bend to her will. She could finally put ponies below her where they belonged. If only she'd been able to control Discord's power, Equestria would have been hers.

Instead, defeat. The failures of the other two had brought them all to their downfall. For years, she'd been stuck in stone because of them. Stuck in stone along with them. She'd hated that.

And then, freedom had come for her. One last chance to get everything she deserved. She would not let go of it.

Cozy was happy. Cozy was hysterical. The only reason she wasn't laughing was her sore throat, after she'd done just that for hours.

She'd had all the time she'd needed to hatch her own plan there. All the time to study the relevant sections of the Codex. It was surprising how none of them seemed to have picked up on its underlying structure. It looked crystal clear to her, so easy to navigate and to decipher. There was only one thing left that could get in her way, but if things played out right he wouldn't come in until it was too late.

Cozy stared at the piles of books in front of her, and her heart swelled with triumphant joy.