"I want a bigger statue," the Empress said with an unnervingly wide smile.
"I'm...sorry," Raven Inkwell said, struggling to hide her fear and exasperation under a mask of professionalism.
"I want an even bigger statue to commemorate the anniversary of my liberation of Equestria from the hooves of the Meanie Princesses and their Meanie Army."
"It's been only three weeks since-," Raven began, only for Cozy to narrow her eyes. "And what a glorious three weeks it has been," Raven said hastily, "I shall see it done."
"You shall see it done, what?" The Empress said, her smile similar to that of a sadistic colt that like to squish flies for fun.
"I shall see it done, Empress of Cozyland for All Eternity, Ruler of Everything and Everypony, Bestest Friend of All Creatures, Defender of the Whole Entire Universe," Raven said.
"And?!"
"And A Mare 1000 Times Prettier Than Celestia Will Ever Be," Raven finished.
"Good," the Empress said with enormous satisfaction. "Now begone," the pink-skinned alicorn said with an indifferent wave of her hoof. Raven ushered herself out, struggling not to gallop away. With a happy sigh, Cozy looked all around her. The castle was being repainted her favorite color of pink, servants catered to her whim, and pictures of her face were being plastered on the walls. The Empress flew up to the window, and looked with pride as hundreds of enslaved ponies worked hard building monuments to her greatness.
"Finally, after all these years, things have started to go my way," The Empress said in an almost wistful tone. She lowered herself back into her throne for another well deserved period of rest.
"Empress," a voice said, breaking Cozy out of her stupor. The Empress saw a gaunt male earth pony approaching her while clad in a butler's uniform.
"What business have you, servant?!" The Empress bellowed.
"There is a mare who is...quite eager to meet you," the servant said nervously.
"Tell her to come back later," The Empress said petulantly.
"But Empress," the servant said, a tinge of fear in his voice, "this mare seems very-,"
"WILL YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!" The Empress yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "I am very busy," she said, holding a Power Ponies comic in her magical grip. Before the servant could reply, a voice that was both proud and mighty echoed through the throne room.
"COZY GLOW!" The Empress dropped her comic book in shock.
"Empress," the servant said with confusion, noticing the usually domineering alicorn began looking anxious, "what is it that troubles you?" Other ponies in the throne room, mainly slaves working on The Empress' endless renovations, looked toward the entrance with horror at the being that spooked their empress.
A brown Earth pony mare had entered the throne room. Whereas most ponies entered the throne with fear and panic, this mare approached the throne with a chilly anger that would frighten even the most hardened soldier. The other ponies noticed that the Empress' panic grew more and more as the mare got closer.
"Hey, mom," Cozy said, looking like she had been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar, "how's it-,"
"Don't 'how's it going with me'," Sweet Roll said with fire in her scarlet eyes. "You betrayed your fellow ponies, betrayed your allies, imprisoned them in Tartarus, and conquered all of Equestria." The mare's muzzle curled into an even more furious scowl.
"I-,"
"And you don't invite me to your coronation!" the brown mare said with an incredulous shriek. "I diapered your bottom, let you eat my food, and bought you presents every Hearth's Warming," the mare said, breaking down into tears, "but you don't invite me to your coronation." Cozy felt a tinge of guilt.
"I'm sorry mom," Cozy said regretfully, rising from her chair, "I guess I was so busy enslaving and torturing everypony I forgot-,"
"Even when I was busy," Sweet Roll said "I always made sure to be there for you. You were my whole world. Now that you're an Empress, are you suddenly too good for your mommy?"
"No mom," Cozy Glow said tearfully, pulling her mother into a hug using her large bat wings, "I love you."
"Really?"
"Yes," Cozy said. "In fact...you can live in the palace with me."
"Really?" Sweet Roll said, her tears drying up as a note of hope entered her voice.
"Really."
"That's great," Sweet Roll said, breaking from the hug with a big smile, "because this place needs some remodeling."
"What?" Cozy Glow said in confusion as Sweet Roll trotted to the laborers. They bore heavy expressions on their faces, and large scars on their backs after countless whippings.
"I want you to remove the pictures of my little filly from the walls," Sweet Roll said to the laborers. Cozy cocked her head in confusion, "they just don't fit the aesthetic."
"Mom," Cozy said with frustration, "I think the pictures look cool."
"What would you like me to replace them with?" one of the laborer ponies said, as if oblivious to Cozy's existence.
"I think pictures of hearts and bells to reflect the values of our society," Sweet Roll said, "but it has to match the pink and be able to fit in both dim and bright light."
"I'm the Empress," Cozy yelled in anger, "you should be asking me what I want!" To her growing anger her mom and the laborers kept ignoring her.
"Well don't worry ma'am," one of the laborers said humbly, "we have all kinds of colors you can select."
"That sounds wonderful," Sweet Roll said with a polite smile, "we can discuss it over some freshly baked rolls."
"Pay attention to me," Cozy yelled, "not her!"
"Aw shucks ma'am," one of the larger ponies said with a polite smile, ignoring the fuming pink alicorn in the background, "you don't have to do that."
"You've worked so hard," Sweet Roll said sympathetically, "after all the whippings and chains, you all deserve a nice treat."
"I AM THE EMPRESS!" Cozy bellowed to the other ponies in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing the castle to shake. "IT IS BY MY WILL THAT YOU WORMS HAVE THE PRIVELEGE OF REMAINING IS EXISTENCE!"
"Young filly," Sweet Roll said in a scolding voice, "it is not polite to yell, or interrupt adults when they are talking."
"Yes ma'am," Cozy said.
"If you can't be polite and wait," Sweet Roll said gently but firmly, "then you have to leave the room."
"Yes ma'am," Cozy said with resignation, trotting out of the room while her mom and the laborers talked about their plans.
The Empress slept in the royal bedroom, frustrated that her mom had upstaged her. She was the Empress, everypony had to listen to her. Her mom was being so uncool.
But she wasn't worried. She realized it was pointless to get into fights with her mom about the color of the walls. Who cared. As long as she got her beauty sleep, everything was good. She pushed her feelings aside, instead enjoying her long rest.
RING! RING! RING!
Cozy jumped up from her bed, only to see her mom in her room, holding up a bell.
"Mom, what is it?" Cozy said.
"Time to get up," Sweet Roll said with a toothy grin.
"But its 9 o'clock," Cozy complained.
"Exactly, you're going to be late for your staff meeting with the military chiefs," Sweet Roll admonished.
"No, I want to sleep," Cozy Glow said complained.
"Good little empresses show up at their staff meetings on time," Sweet Roll admonished in a motherly tone. "You also have the meeting with the trade minister, health minister, and finance minister today, a state dinner at 12:30 PM-"
"But I had them all imprisoned for denying my unimaginable power," Cozy Glow complained.
"Don't worry," Sweet Roll said with a wave of her hoof, "I had them let out of Tartarus, and told them it was all a misunderstanding."
"I'm the Empress," Cozy Glow said. "If I want to sleep, I'll sleep."
"Young mare," Sweet Roll said with an annoyed frown. With an angry grunt, Cozy Glow got off the comfy bed and stormed into the bathroom.
"And make sure to scrub your wings extra hard-,"
"I know how to scrub my wings!" Cozy Glow yelled in annoyance as she slammed the door.
"Just trying to make sure you look super-duper clean," Sweet Roll said in a sing-song voice.
After hours of boring, tedious work, Cozy Glow retired to bedroom. It was now 2PM. Cozy sighed as she lost half a day to do boring work instead of doing nothing like she wanted. But at least she still had the rest of her day to sit in her room and sleep. She opened the door and saw her mom in her room, with a ton of papers on her desk.
"Mom," Cozy asked with a forced smile, "what is all that?"
"Paperwork, silly filly-I mean, silly mare," Sweet Roll said. Cozy felt a hint of anger at her mother's slip of the tongue, but kept it under wraps. "You still have mountains of paperwork to do."
"Can't you have Raven do it?" Cozy uttered.
"Ms. Inkwell it taking the week off," Sweet Roll said.
"What? She can't a week off," Cozy said, almost gritting her teeth, "she's a slave who is bound to my will like everypony else."
"Not anymore," Sweet Roll said. "I reinstitute wage and labor laws, and restored paid vacation." Sweet Roll let out another cheerful smile, while Cozy felt her face turn red. "Which means, paperwork!"
"But-,"
"That paperwork isn't going to fill itself out." Cozy tried to argue, but let out an angry grown, and reluctantly began doing the paperwork, levitating the quill with her magic.
"It is so great seeing my little Empress work so hard," Sweet Roll said. Cozy let out another annoyed sigh.
Cozy Glow finally finished the last of the building permits, putting the quill down with a tried grunt. She looked at the clock and saw it was 5. At least she had a few more hours to-.
Her mom burst into the room again.
"Time for your posture lesson," Sweet Roll said.
"Posture lesson?"
"Yes," Sweet Roll said. "The way you trot around makes you look like a poor vagrant, not the mightiest Empress of Equestria."
"I don't need a posture lesson!"
"Of course you don't," Sweet Roll said condescendingly. "Let's go, before we're late." Cozy Glow felt like she was about to have a stroke.
"Six hours," Cozy Glow muttered with disgust as she returned to her room. "Six hours just to learn how to trot across one room!" She felt to her bed in a heap, hoping she could finally rest.
"Cozy," a voice she began to fear like the monster under her bed said. She forced another smile as her mom came into her room.
"Yes, mom," Cozy Glow said. She looked with horror as two Earth ponies brought in an even bigger pile of paperwork in two wagons and dumped them on her desk. Cozy Glow looked with horror at the pile.
"But I thought I did all the paperwork today," Cozy said with dismay and a tremor in her voice.
"Why yes," Sweet Roll said, "but as it turns out, you left a whole other pile of work lying around for the past three weeks." Sweet Roll made a "tsk, tsk, tsk," noise. "Oh well, better late than ever I suppose."
"But-," Cozy whimpered.
"Don't worry," Sweet Roll said in a reassuring tone, "I'm sure if you work through the night for the next two weeks, you'll get everything done, and have just enough time to also do your staff meetings and your posture lessons." She began trotting out of the room, only to double back and remember something. "Oh yeah, we also need to get you signed up for an economics course, a law course, and an international relations course. Can't have an empress without an education."
"That's not-,"
"Have fun," Sweet Roll said as she trotted out of the room. Cozy Glow began hyperventilating, and feeling her eye twitch uncontrollably. After a few moments of shaking, Cozy Glow let out an angry shriek.
"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Cozy yelled, while flying out of the castle. "IT'S A MADHOUSE. A MADHOUSE!" Cozy, in desperation, flew up to a cloud.
"She can't find me up here," Cozy said happily, resting on the white fluffy cloud.
"Cozy," her mom's voice said. With bloodshot eyes, Cozy looked up and saw her mom in a balloon shaped like a cinnamon bun.
"You can't fill out the paperwork while your up here," Sweet Roll said in a teasing voice.
"Leave me alone," Cozy Glow said fearfully, "you monster!"
"I'm just trying to make you the best Empress ever," Sweet Roll said in a sweet voice that sounded like a horrified scream in Cozy's ears, "because I'm your mother, and I want what's-,"
Cozy Glow let out another horrified scream and flew away again.
Celestia did what she always did nowadays from her stony cell in Tartarus: counted the number of crevices in her stone cell, watched water drip from the ceiling, and teased Tirek.
"Chrysalis said she likes you," Celestia said with a fake whisper, as if discussing some awful secret.
"Shut up!" Tirek said.
"She wants to be your marefriend," Celestia said, "and she wanted me to let you know."
"Cease your nonsense!"
"She tells me how she gets all w-,"
"BE QUIET!" Tirek said with a blush on his face.
"OK, fine," Celestia said in a teasing voice. "You know she-," a pink blur crashed through the cave walls, interrupting her friendly chat. Celestia saw an exhausted and terrified Cozy Glow looking at her with desperation.
"Please be Princess again," Cozy said with desperation, throwing her crown in front of the white mare, "I can't take this anymore!"
"Why would I do that?" Celestia said with a teasing smile.
"B-because," Cozy Glow stammered, "you like doing it."
"You think I like being Princess," Celestia said, before letting out a fake laugh. "You think I enjoy doing all that paperwork, negotiating with those ministers, and taking all those boring courses,"
"Well-," Cozy began, before Celestia turned over onto her back into a relaxing pose.
"I love it here! Sure its cold, damp, and hard but I've had more peace in the last few weeks alone than in the previous 1,000 or so years of rule.
"Cozy," a voice echoed. Cozy began stammering in terror.
"Please take the job back," Cozy said desperately, "before she finds me."
"Really?" Celestia, her grin becoming toothy. "You want me to give all this up?"
"Paperwork," the same voice echoed.
"Yes, please," Cozy said.
"Are you sure?" Celestia said.
"You have to do it," the female voice said as it got closer.
"I beg you," Cozy said, sounding a tormented rat pushed to the breaking point.
"Well, if you insist," Celestia said casually, sticking her hoof out of her stone cage, "just shake my hoof, and all the magic you stole from me, Luna, Cadance, Twilight, and Discord will be returned to them."
"Deal," Cozy said, touching Celestia's hoof with her own. In a flash of light, all the magic Cozy had collected flew out of her in a beam of light. One beam flew into Celestia. Her static mane began flowing once again, while Cozy shrunk from her adult alicorn size back to being the size of a filly just as Sweet Roll burst in.
"Cozy, I-," Sweet Roll paused as she saw her filly returned to her normal size. "Cozy what did you-,"
"I didn't want to be Empress anymore," Cozy said, tears in her eyes, "too much work! Too much responsibility! Too much-," her voice trailed off as Celestia and her mom began laughing uncontrollably.
"Sweet Roll, you've outdone yourself this time," Celestia said.
"What?" Cozy said.
"Well," the baker mare said, "you know me. I do have a talent, aside from my baking, of making anything seem less fun."
"You did all that on purpose?" Cozy Glow asked with a whimper to her mom.
"Why yes," Sweet Roll said in a teasing voice. "If my filly was going to rule Equestria, it would fall to me to show her responsibility."
"So what did you think Cozy," Celestia asked the young filly, "about walking around in my horseshoes for a day?"
"I," Cozy began with a small tremor, "thought it would be fun. I thought being a princess meant doing whatever you want, without anypony telling you what to do," Cozy paused as a small tear went down her eye. "But instead you do all this work."
"You think you're the only one who has tried to seize power from me?" Celestia asked with a sage voice, teleporting herself out of her cage and in front of the young filly, "Young Cozy, I've been imprisoned many times. Overthrown many times. Many are attracted to the power I wield, but few understand what it actually entails. Within a few weeks, many have come back here, begging me to take back the throne once they see that power is not a right, but a responsibility."
"And you take it back? Why?" Cozy asked with confusion. "It is like having a million chores."
"For the same reason I take care of you," Sweet Roll said with warmth in her voice.
"Because I love my kingdom and my subjects," Celestia said with a sincerity that moved Cozy. "This is why I've sacrificed so much of my time to rule. And why I've held on to the throne for so long. Not because of attention, but because I wasn't sure if anypony else could make the sacrifices I have to make keep this kingdom standing. That is why I choose Twilight Sparkle as my successor. Because she and her friends have sacrificed so much to protect this kingdom, I know she'll wield the throne properly." Cozy Glow looked down guiltily.
"I couldn't sacrifice," Cozy Glow said with a self-loathing tone. "I guess that makes me a bad filly." Her voice began breaking up, as tears fell down her eyes. .
"You're not a bad filly," Sweet Roll said, pulling her daughter into a hug.
"Yes I am," Cozy Glow said, tears falling down her eyes.
"No, Cozy Glow," Princess said, "you're not bad. You were merely blinded by desire. My sister, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer were also blinded by their desires. But like you, they overcame their greed and learned about sacrifice and responsibility. So did your mother." Cozy looked at her mom with surprise.
"You tried to take over Equestria too?" Cozy Glow asked her mother.
"Yes," Sweet Roll said with a sheepish smile. "I wasn't always your mommy. I was once an evil sorceress. A powerful one. I nearly held Celestia's power in my hoof too."
"You said those exact words as you prepared to smite me," Celestia said with a laugh, recalling some colorful memories.
"Where did you think you got your desire for world domination from?" Sweet Roll asked with a small laugh. "I grew up in a bad place full of mean ponies who didn't want to be my friend. Because of that, I had this big hole in my heart, and thought that only power could fill it, and get back at the ponies who were mean to me."
"She nearly had me too," Celestia said with a smile.
"Why didn't you finish her off?" Cozy asked her mother.
"I was going to," Sweet Roll said with a small frown. "But then Celestia asked me a question."
"What was it?"
"Are you finally happy?" Celestia said.
"I realized I wasn't," Sweet Roll said with a shrug, "I realized that having power wasn't going to help me. Being mean to ponies who were mean to me wouldn't make me happy. There was only one magic that could help me."
"What was it?"
"The Magic of Friendship." Celestia finished.
"This is so sweet, I feel I must wretch," Tirek said with frustration.
"If you wish to make your life complete," Princess Celestia said, putting her hoof on Cozy's shoulder, "you must live and share and strive to make others happy, just as your mother does for you, and I've done for my little ponies."
"OK," Cozy said. "I'm sorry for the whole overthrowing you and enslaving everypony under my hoof thing."
"These things happen," Celestia said with her own shrug.
"So, we cool?" Cozy Glow asked hopefully. Her mother and Celestia began laughing hysterically. Cozy Glow laughed along with them, happy she wasn't in trouble.
"So how long do I have to keep scrapping paint for?" Cozy Glow said, hovering in the air, and scrapping the tacky pink off the walls while Celestia, Raven, and Sweet Roll supervised. She'd been doing this for so long, she felt like her foreleg was about to fall off.
"Well, calculating the costs incurred by your lavish ceremony," Raven said, writing in a ledger and using an abacus, "the costs of your monument construction, the costs of demolishing your monuments, the economic damages caused by your imposition of forced labor, the medical bills incurred by all the ponies injured by the whipping, and your massive food bill: to pay off the damages, you'll have to work....one thousand years." Cozy Glow looked at Raven with horror.
"Sorry," Twilight said with a sheepish smile, "I misplaced the decimal point. You'll have to work...one weekend."
"That's not fair," Cozy Glow complained.
"Or perhaps you'd like to do paperwork instead," Sweet Roll said with a mischievous smile. Cozy Glow's mouthed opened in horror, and she began scrapping off the paint at a much faster rate.
"They just grow up so fast, don't they," Sweet Roll said with motherly love as Cozy Glow worked her hoof to the bone.
"They do," Celestia agreed, putting an affectionate wing on the baker.
