Friendship and Power are not the same
A wave of spread itself towards every single corner of Equestria as every kind of creature got their magic back, as if nothing had happened. Lord Tirek, the centaur known for his ability to steal magic, had failed once again. He crossed his arms, annoyed, as he knew he would probably never escape from his cell in Tartarus.
Outside, every single creature was moving to the School of Friendship either by running, flying or teleporting. When Princess Twilight and her friends arrived there, they angrily stared in at Tirek's pen pal: Cozy Glow.
Ever since the first time Cozy had appeared, she had proven to be an excellent student at Twilight's school, thanks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their efforts to make her have no problem with the classes. With that and Cozy's attitude, who could have known she would attempt to help one of Equestria's greatest villains to finally win?
Cozy stared at the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony in horror, as she knew she had lost. She tried feigning admiration at their return but it was too late, as they already knew what was going on between Tirek and her.
Ironically, Cozy knew everything about Friendship. Well, not exactly everything, as she had tried to use it to manipulate the students in order to be, as she liked to say, the Empress of Friendship. Unfortunately for her, that was the complete opposite to what Twilight and her friends teached at the school; and now, she was there, about to face the consequences of her acts.
In an effort to keep being herself, Cozy attempted to fly away, but the students blocked the way, along with the Princesses Celestia and Luna, and also Chancellor Neighsay. So she could only stay there as the Royal Guards approached her.
However, as she landed on the ground waiting for them, some creature appeared right in front of her: it looked like an Alicorn, but it couldn't be, as the horn was curved, the slightly glowing wings looked semi-transparent and there was an odd-looking crown on top of its head.
Cozy was feeling surprised, although the rest of creatures already knew it: the filly was standing in front of the former Changeling Queen.
"Chrysalis! It's good to see you," Starlight Glimmer said, approaching them, "but why are you here?"
"I also had felt my magic failing, although I never asked anyone," Chrysalis answered, looking around. "When I saw that wave of magic from before, I knew something strange happened, so I decided to come here and see it by myself."
"Well, you arrived a bit late, but I can tell you if you want," Starlight replied.
Chrysalis nodded. "So, who caused problems here?"
"Lord Tirek and... well, this filly..." Starlight said, pointing behind Chrysalis.
The former villain looked at Cozy in surprise as she kept staring in awe: Chrysalis' style was something not many other creatures possessed.
"What did you exactly do?" Chrysalis asked. Apparently, that caused a reaction in Cozy, as her face changed while she thought about the question.
"Well, I... I..." Cozy took a deep breath before answering. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're not gonna change my mind about Friendship."
"That's the same thought I always had before getting reformed," Chrysalis said.
Cozy's eyes widened. "Wait... were you a... villain?"
Chrysalis nodded again. "Yes, I was. My hive and I have been living in Equestria for a long time, feeding on the love of every single one of the ponies around you. One night, however, this one right here, along with a few companions, managed to defeat me, change my minions and destroy my former home. I was there, debating between flying away or trying to confront them; but I knew the second option wouldn't help me more than the first. I could have escaped, but she insisted in helping me. And Discord..."
"What did he do?" Cozy asked, curious.
"It's a long story..." Chrysalis said, grunting. "Regardless, they made me see more than just the defeat I was seeing. So now, I ask you: don't you think the ponies and other creatures here are trying to do the same with you?"
Cozy looked all around. Twilight and her friends were still there, along with the Young Six, while the other students were distributed around the place, just in case Cozy made another attempt to escape; although it would be difficult because the Princesses and Neighsay were tracking every movement with their eyes. And then, there were the Royal Guards.
Cozy didn't want to be there, no matter if she was fighting or not. But, at the same time, she was thinking about what would the Princesses do with her. Punishing her? Sending her to Tartarus? Well, at least she would finally meet Tirek, but still...
"Now that I think about it," Starlight said, "where are your parents, Cozy?"
That question seemed to activate something inside Cozy's mind, as she stared at Starlight wide-eyed for a pair of seconds just before she started tearing up.
"My relationship with... my parents hasn't been exactly good. They are... better than me. One day, I moved away... because I couldn't stand that anymore," Cozy said.
"And how do you think they would feel after seeing you now?" Chrysalis asked.
"They would be so sad!" Cozy pouted, sobbing loudly and burying her head within her front hooves.
"You know, that is a good reason for you to look for a second chance," Chrysalis said.
Cozy wiped away the tears and raised her head as Chrysalis pointed at Twilight, who was walking towards them.
"Cozy, let us help you. Bad news is you'll have to be punished because you tried to help Tirek. Good news is that, if you accept Friendship, that punishment should be softer," she said.
"Whatever makes me forget about all of this..." Cozy said.
"How about cleaning the school?" Rainbow Dash asked, and her friends stared at her. "What?"
"I can handle that," Cozy said, smiling.
"Who knows? We may even help you reunite with your parents," Twilight said, getting a bit startled when Cozy hugged her. She relaxed and smiled, hugging the filly back.
Chrysalis moved closer to Starlight so she could whisper to her.
"And we may also be able to help Tirek turn good," she said.
"How could we do that?" Starlight asked.
"Well, there's someone out there who would love to see his brother once again," Chrysalis said, winking. Starlight smiled, having understood.
The End
