A Different Kind of Ending

by 5u0myn0n4

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tirek, Thriller, Drama, Spike, Queen Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad
Length: 10009

In this alternate take on The Ending of the End, Cozy decides looks into the future, and sees her demise before it happens. With this knowledge in tow, she is faced with the seemingly impossible task of defying destiny.

If you could peer into the future, and see the exact cause, and time of your demise, how would that change your life? What if you saw the future and learned that that day was today? That's the dilemma Cozy Glow is faced with in this alternative version of the Ending of the End. In a dark twist, she uses Discord's chaos magic to take a peek into the future, and catches an early glimpse of her devastating defeat. Is there a way to prevent this horrible future from coming to fruition? Or is Cozy destined to an eternity of suffering? What does it take to make the change?

My second entry for the Cozy Glow Short Story Contest

Prompt: Cozy’s got a secret! Whether or not it’s hers is for her to know and you to find out.

Published 2020-08-27 03:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-08-27 03:10:00 UTC

Chapter 1

If you could see into the future, and saw exactly when and where you would die, how would that change your daily life? What if you found out that day, was today? That would definitely trigger some sort of internal crisis. No less it'd be stressful.

Would you try to prevent it? Could you prevent it? That's the dilemma Cozy Glow is faced with in this story.

Chaos magic is a breeze to control for somepony as mischievous as Cozy Glow. With the power to control the cosmos, and alter space and time itself, what better of an idea than to peer into the future and get a glimpse of your inevitable victory?

Having just tricked her teammates into giving her all of Discord's magic, Chaos Cozy used the chaos magic to peer into the future, and what she saw is beyond description. She saw the exact moment they were defeated, and the exact moment they are turned to stone. Just for good measure, she gazed further into the future, to see if Discord really meant together forever. And she found that they would spend a very long time in stone. How long? Longer than most ponies alive today will live for.

Cozy Glow had tricked her contemporaries into giving her all of Discord's chaos magic. Those fools, right? With complete control of chaos magic, Cozy's first course of action was to use her cosmic abilities to take a peek into the future, and catch a glimpse of her obvious upcoming victory. No one likes spoilers, but in this case, Cozy made an exception.

But what she saw, was not momentous at all.

"Is that... us?" she wondered.

Instead of crossing her legs on the throne and commanding a kingdom, there she was, frozen in time, and in sediments, along with Tirek and Chrysalis.

"...That's it?" she wondered. "Golly, Headmare Twilight wouldn't leave me in stone forever, would she?"

Cozy dialed time forward and watched the years pass by. Surely this was temporary. Twilight would eventually release at least one of them, but Cozy peered deep in the future. Turns out Discord was true to his word for once. Together forever.

"Is this... how it ends? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening?" Cozy wondered.

From the outside looking in, Tirek and Chrysalis were wondering about Cozy, as the chaos magic seemed to distort her mind. She started blankly and hardly moved.

"Is she okay?" TIrek asked.

"I think Discord's magic melted her mind." Chrysalis replied.

Cozy suddenly sprung to life, and shook her head. She had a very worried expression on her face. With just some gestures, she ordered the two to relieve her of the chaos magic.

*ring*

The two rang the bell, taking all the chaos magic from Cozy. She returned to normal size, but still an alicorn.

*pant* "I never want to experience that again..." Cozy said, exhausted.

"HA HA! You couldn't control the chaos magic!" Chrysalis teased.

"Uh, yeah. Heh. Nope. No way sirree. Discord's magic is way out of my league." Cozy lied.

Cozy Glow didn't just look tired from using the chaos magic, she also looked scared.

"You look like you saw a ghost." Tirek said.

"I did, sort of..." Cozy said.

I can't tell them. If I back down now, they'll think I'm weak. I may use this cursed knowledge to my advantage, but I have to keep it a secret from them. So now that makes two secrets I have to keep from them.

"Cozy!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

"Huh, what?" she asked, waking up from her thoughts.

"Pay attention! Now that we're invincible, what is the plan?" Chrysalis asked.

"Hmm, the plan? Me?" Cozy asked.

"You are the mastermind at schemes." Tirek said.

Me, their mastermind? Shucks. she thought.

Cozy thought about the future, and how they would lose. Or at least, given the circumstances of their old plan they would lose. But they were practically invincible right now, so surely there had to be a way for them to win. Perhaps she could craft an infallible plan after all.

"Alright, I'll take the bell, and tackle Twilight head on! Tirek, secure the perimeter. Chrysalis, say hi to Starlight Glimmer for me." Cozy grinned.

So Cozy's new plan... wasn't that different from the old plan. According to the future, the first half of their siege was pretty successful. Why fix what wasn't broken? They were so close to victory, surely they just needed some slight fixes to guarantee Twilight's demise.

"One more thing, don't let Twilight get away when we attack her this time." Cozy said.

"This time?" Tirek asked.

"This'll be our first siege as a team. What are you talking about?" Chrysalis asked.

"Uh... you know what I mean. But more importantly even than Twilight, if you see Discord, do not let him get away again! Whether or not we beat Twilight, Discord must be eliminated!"

No Discord, means no stone sentence. she thought.

Their reign of terror from then on out was about what was expected actually. Cozy laid siege to the Canterlot throne room directly, Tirek once again decimated the pillars, and Chrysalis wrapped Starlight in a nice warm moist cocoon.

The three united in the throne room, and took Twilight Sparkle captive. They were so close to victory, that Cozy forgot why their plan didn't work, that was until it hit them like a rock. Literally. Sure, Twilight escaped, but who is the princess of friendship without her friends?

Today felt too similar to Cozy's vision of the future. Despite her extra warnings of Discord's deception in the catacombs, Tirek was still tricked into shooting a blast that freed Twilight's friends, and allowed them to escape as expected.

Discord was locked up extra tight, but even upon taking extra precaution to make sure he was out of their way, there was that sinking feeling nothing they did would be enough.

In the ruined throne room, the legion may have had control of the land, but chill of the Windigos persisted.

Cozy Glow was cold, and she wrapped herself in a yellow blanket, while Tirek and Chrysalis argued about what to do about the Windigos. Cozy meanwhile let her mind wander.

So far, today's events played out almost exactly as she saw when she gazed into the future. She couldn't even stop Rarity from throwing that boulder, or stop Tirek from accidentally freeing Twilight's friends.

Even though it seemed like they already won, the land would be so much nicer if it wasn't for these darn Windigoes!

But now Cozy began to ask why.

Why are there Windigos? Is this really the worst friendship problem in Equestria since the three tribes? Have these ponies never had an election? Is Windogo magic constantly omnipresent and just waiting for discord and arguments to arise from ponies? What kind of sense does that make? she wondered.

Cozy looked to the vista, and there they were! Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

Twilight Sparkle! she exclaimed internally.

Now it came down to the wire. It was do or die. The final battle she knew would result in their end was coming up. If there was anything she could do to change the future, she had to do it now.

M-maybe they won't even notice them coming. Cozy thought. Maybe there's time to sneak away and-

But no, the other two were about to notice too.

"Twilight Sparkle!?" Tirek cried out.

"There she is!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

"Heh. She's a fool for returning to us." Tirek said.

"We'll make sure she screams in agony!" Chrysalis exclaimed. "Right Cozy?"

"Cozy?" Tirek asked.

No matter what we do, their friendship is just going to prevail! Unless... Cozy thought. She had something on her mind, so ultimately, she spat it out.

"...On second thought, let's not attack Twilight." Cozy said.

"WHAT?!" they both exclaimed.

To their astonishment, Cozy's plan, was a non plan!

"Well, if we do not approach, she's on her way here. What do we do about her?" Chrysalis asked.

"I d-don't know..." Cozy said.

The future she saw was so far coming true. Any alternative ideas she had to change the outcome were unproven, and was risky. This was reality, and she only got one shot to change the future.

"Uh... Discord!" Cozy shouted.

"What about him?" Chrysalis asked.

"He's already taken care of!" Tirek said.

"No he isn't! We need to actually eliminate him." Cozy said. Even if we don't win, Discord can't turn us to stone if he isn't around. Surely whatever Celestia and Luna will have in mind can't be as bad right?

"Forget him! Twilight is down there right now! Let's get her!" Chrysalis demanded.

"NO!" Cozy shouted back.

"Why are you misleading us, Cozy Glow?!" Chrysalis asked.

"I can't tell you! It's bad enough that I know!" Cozy replied.

"Know what? What kind of secrets are you keeping from us?!" Chrysalis asked.

"Several. But trust me, none of them would be to your interest." Cozy said.

"Come on, no secrets between us." Tirek said. "No hiding anything that could lead to treachery between us."

"I said, NO!" Cozy exclaimed.

*HISS* Chrysalis hissed at her.

"Fine! I'll say it!" she gave in.

Cozy stood on the throne, and spoke to the two of them below her.

"We can't attack Twilight Sparkle because if we do, we're going to lose!" Cozy exclaimed, flapping her wings excessively.

The news created awkward silence in the roofless throne room.

"Our failure rate is 100% guaranteed." Cozy saddened. "It doesn't matter what we do! If we fight Twilight Sparkle, the magic of friendship will prevail, and we'll lose, and we'll suffer a terrible fate!"

Despite Cozy's passionate warning, not everyone was convinced.

"I'm not convinced. You likely just had a bad dream." Chrysalis said.

Cozy was starting to get impatient with them. But not everyone was convinced regardless.

"It wasn't! I swear, it felt so real!" Cozy cried out.

"I've had enough of this superstition!" Chrysalis snarled.

"It's not a superstition! It's warning! Think about it, how many times has Twilight saved the day? HOW IS THIS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT!?"

"Because we're..." Tirek said.

But the two thought about it, they realized she had a point. Twilight Sparkle never truly loses. What made them so special that they had any chance of winning?

"I saw the future... the three of us, we lose to Twilight Sparkle!" Cozy said again.

"With that attitude, you will." Tirek said.

Chrysalis thought hard about how to best assure their victory. And being the ruthless queen she is, she came up with an unsavory idea.

"Maybe the reason we lose in your vision... is because we've spread our magic reservoir too thin." Chrysalis said, glaring at the filly.

"What are you getting at?" Cozy asked.

"If you're not going to help us, then you're against us!" Chrysalis said.

"You wouldn't dare!" Cozy exclaimed.

Chrysalis held the bell, aimed at Cozy, but Cozy *smack* flipped over and kicked the bell out of her grasp, and to the corner of the throne room.

Chrysalis quickly snarled and dashed for the bell, and Cozy

They both grabbed the bell and tugged on it.

"Gimmie!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

"NO!" Cozy exclaimed.

Cozy and Chrysalis kicked, and fought for the bell.

"STOP IT! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT TREACHERY?!" Tirek exclaimed.

But they continued to fight. Chrysalis used some magic on Cozy's head, but she lit up her horn and flicked it away.

"STOP IT!" Cozy cried.

*ZAP*

Chrysalis... zapped Cozy. She was too shocked to retaliate.

Chrysalis swiped the bell and pointed it at Cozy. Her lit lit up, and without hesitation, she activated the bell.

*RING*

Chrysalis rang the bell, and it zapped Cozy Glow, and started to drain her of her magic. The massive beam latched onto Cozy, and sucked all the magic from her.

*thud*

Cozy fell to the ground, weak, and powerless. Horn gone, and wings downsized.

"Dividing Grogar's magic into three was never going to work. But once I possess two thirds of Grogar's power, Twilight Sparkle won't stand a chance!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

"You should split it evenly!" Tirek said. "Each of should get half of Grogar's power."

"As if!" Chrysalis snarled. "With her gone, there's no debate over who's the best!"

"No more arguing! The only reason I'm not about to rip you to shreds, for what you just did, is because killing each other isn't going to make us win" Tirek said.

*ugh* "Fine! Let's clean up Twilight and her friends before they have a chance." Chrysalis said.

Chrysalis and Tirek were ready for battle, and were about to leave Cozy alone.

"Don't go!" Cozy pleaded. *cough* "When Twilight wins... Discord's gonna put us all in stone! We'll be subject to an eternity of suspended animation. We'll have nothing!" she cried.

Chrysalis put her face against the crying filly, and showed no sympathy for her.

"You'll have nothing regardless." Chrysalis said.

"Please, even if I escape, I have nowhere to go now..." Cozy said.

"Then you should have picked a side." Chrysalis said. "What could you possibly have had to gain by lying to us?" she asked.

"I don't have anything to gain! I'm just taking precaution! I... *sob* I just don't want to lose you guys..." Cozy wept.

"Well, I'm willing to take the chance." Chrysalis said, cold, and stern.

Tirek put his hand to Chrysalis. Cozy's sad eyes were impossible to ignore.

"If you're so concerned about losing, we'll let you sit this out, and come back for you. But my point still stands, we're handling this ourselves." Chrysalis said.

"You're missing the whole point. What if you don't come back?" Cozy asked.

"Let's see Twilight Sparkle handle THIS!" Chrysalis pointed the bell at herself, with the intent to absorb the portion of Grogar magic she stole from Cozy.

*ring*

But what resulted was nothing short of...

"Chrysalis you're..." Tirek said.

"I'm cosmically proportioned!" Chaos Chrysalis exclaimed. "And now I shall squish Twilight myself!"

*ZAP*

But even the queen of changelings, was unable properly utilize Discord's chaos magic.

Streamers and balloons appeared from her magic shots.

"NOOOOO!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

*ring*

Tirek used the bell to turn Chrysalis back into her normal Ultimate Chrysalis form.

"Why did that happen again?" she asked.

"We can't absorb the magic, remember? Discord's chaos magic-" Tirek replied.

"But, I just put Cozy's portion of Grogar's magic into here! Now we can't use it?! Or any of the alicorn magic?!" Chrysalis asked, agitated.

"Yes. It would appear to be that way." Tirek answered.

"AAAAAAHH!" Chrysalis screamed

*RING*

Chrysalis was fed up with these arbitrary constraints, so pointed the bell upward, and a massive plume of magic expelled upwards. When it was done, the bell stopped glowing.

"What did you just do?" Tirek asked.

"I ejected that Dipcord's chaos magic! No more bottle necks! No more blockades! All the magic in this bell is now mine!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

"And mine too, right?" Tirek asked.

"Keep telling yourself that." Chrysalis replied. "Well, Twilight Sparkle isn't dying any faster than any pony else. Let's go down there and fix that."

Chrysalis was about to head down, but Tirek looked at Ultimate Chrysalis, and the weak Cozy Glow, panting on the ground, then at his muscles. Is all the strength in the world worth it?

"Fine, I'll revitalize her." Chrysalis said.

Chrysalis tried to ring the bell again, but its magic luster seemed to have come and gone.

"Uh oh..." Chrysalis said.

"Now what?" Tirek asked.

"It appears I ejected all of our magic..." Chrysalis said.

"Including the alicorn magic?" Tirek said.

"I just said, ALL THE MAGIC!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

"Well, why'd you do that?!" Tirek argued.

"Because I was TRYING to actually use the stupid magic we've acquired!" Chrysalis exclaimed, frustrated.

"Well great! Thanks to your reckless handling of the bell, we're no stronger than we were before, and we're out one of our own!" Tirek scolded.

"AAHHH!" Chrysalis screamed in frustration. "We just gave away all the magic we worked so hard to collect!"

"YOU just gave away all the magic we worked so hard to collect!" Tirek corrected her.

"Shut up!" Chrysalis yelled.

"No, you shut up!" Tirek argued.

Little weak Cozy Glow watched as they argued with each other. She pressed her hooves against her face to suppress the tears. All she wanted to do was save her friends (and you know, defeat Twilight of course), but even with the warning of their terrible fate, and extra precautionary measures to prevent it, all she did was tear a rift in their group. So much for that improved plan. Perhaps ignorance was bliss all along. Could things get any worse?

*poof*

Suddenly Discord appeared in the throne room.

"Uh oh..." Tirek and Chrysalis said simultaneously.

"I must thank you guys dearly for returning my magic to me." Discord said. "I take it you never came to grips with the power of chaos magic."

"We had to eject it! Having your stupid chaos magic made any other magic we collected impossible to use for ourselves!" Tirek said.

"Hmm. Say, Tirek. Did you ever think to lend my chaos magic to another creature, and then use your natural magic sucking ability to absorb said chaos magic? You already proved you could do that with no issues."

"Oh shoot, he's right. Why didn't we think of that?" Tirek said.

"Before, I wanted Twilight to defeat you and have a satisfying end, but this has gone way out of hand, so I'm just going to clean up my own mess." Discord said. "Your little antics end right here."

Tirek and Chrysalis gritted their teeth, and struck poses, about to throw down and fight Discord. Cozy panicked, thinking their demise would come even quicker!

"No! Stop! Don't turn them into stone!" Cozy pleaded.

"Turn them into stone? Great idea!" Discord exclaimed.

"NO!" Cozy exclaimed.

Cozy Glow flew up and whacked Discord's face.

*oof*

"Get out of my face, you brat!" Discord exclaimed.

"Leave us alone you snake!" Cozy exclaimed.

Cozy Glow tried to fight against Discord, but without any magic, it was an uneven fight.

Discord took his bear paw and pinned Cozy against the wall, clenching her body in his talons. His talon was frizzling with lightning, as his spell activated.

"STOP! I'm just a..." Cozy tried to say.

"You're a lying and conniving villain whose actions have brought great disaster to the land." Discord said.

"It takes one, to know one..." Cozy said, muffled, right as the rest of her turned to stone.

But in spite of the sarcastic nature of such a comment, it made Discord realize, that he basically described himself. Not to mention, Discord had only just noticed now that her horn and neck piece were gone. Instead of throwing down with a powerful alicorn, he'd actually just stoned a filly with his bare claws, suddenly triggering an existential crisis.

"W-who's the villain?" Discord asked to himself.

Suddenly, he started feeling lightheaded, and faint. Behind him, Tirek was absorbing his magic through his mouth.

"Like you said, Discord. Absorb the magic from the source." Tirek said.

*SAP*

Tirek ate Discord's chaos magic, and left him drained.

"Please, have mercy!" Discord pleaded. "We're all on the same boat. Wanna call a villains truce?"

"I don't think you have any place pretending to hand out trust." Tirek said.

"You've lied countless times, and broken even more bonds. Now it's time to break you." Chrysalis said.

"It's not too late! I can show you the ropes of redemption! I-" Discord said.

"Yeah, because you've really proven yourself to be a great friend!" Tirek exclaimed.

Tirek picked up Discord and clenched him in his hands. Tirek reeled back, and chucked the draconequus out the window. Tirek strategically aimed and blasted Discord from out of the air.

*BOOM*

Discord was finally out of their way, but his damage was done.

"Cozy Glow..." Tirek said.

Cozy Glow had been turned to stone by Discord. In a cruel twist of irony, by trying to save them all from being turned to stone, she was the only one in stone, and much earlier than expected.

Tirek took the yellow blanket Cozy had used to keep herself warm, and laid it over Cozy's stone body.

*sniff*

But it wasn't over yet. Twilight and her friends could still be seen out on the vista.

"They're still coming." Chrysalis said.

"If we run, then Cozy's loss is for nothing." Tirek said.

"Then let's fight to the end. Perhaps to win, we'll have to fight a little dirtier. If you get close enough to Twilight, go for the neck." Chrysalis said.

The Mane 6 and Spike were walking through the chilly baron fields of Ponyville, as they headed to the ruined Canterlot.

"Canterlot... What a mess..." Twilight said.

"Don't you think they would have seen us by now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"What's takin' 'em so long?" Applejack asked.

"Conquest is just a big game of dibs. You sit on the throne and call dibs, then you basically win. That's what Sombra did with the Crystal Empire." Pinkie said. "They already won, why would they come down here?"

But no sooner than now, suddenly, a portal opened.

Tirek and Chrysalis walked through. Tirek was carrying something wrapped in a yellow blanket around it.

*plunk* Tirek dropped the blanketed object onto the ground, and it made a loud sound.

"Uh... what is that?" Twilight asked.

"Just a little good luck charm, to help us through the fight." Tirek replied.

"You and your so called friendship regime comes to an end right now, Twilight Sparkle." Chrysalis said.

But the mane 6 and Spike were not deterred. It was seven against two,

They came charging against each other at full speed and-

One epic battle later:

*BLAST*

Tirek and Chrysalis were blasted by the united Rainbow power of everypony in Equestria.

Their powers were drained, and the bell seemed to be deactivated. But wait, Discord and his magic were nowhere to be seen. They were in the clear! No Discord, and no Elements of Harmony means no stone! Right?

"Isn't this what Cozy described?" Tirek asked.

"YOU THINK YOU'VE WON, TWILIGHT SPARKLE, BUT WE'LL BE BACK! WE'll-" Chrysalis ranted, when all of the sudden.

*PLOMP*

Like clockwork, a giant cupcake came falling down on the two. How you ask? This time it was the conjuring of Celestia.

"Excellent idea, Pinkie Pie." Celestia said.

"Thanks. I would'a done it myself if I somehow had the ability." Pinkie said.

Tirek and Chrysalis clumsily popped out of the cupcake. Celestia and Luna confronted the two.

"There isn't a punishment worthy enough for you!" Celestia said.

"Well, now that Discord's not here, maybe we won't be-" Tirek said.

"If you don't mind, Princess." Sandbar said.

"We have an idea." Gallus said.

Yona and Smolder whispered into their ears their totally original idea.

"Hmm, that does seem fitting." Luna said.

The student six all held the six items from Twilight's school. They handed them off to the princesses, and the items started to glow.

"Oh you have got to be kidding!" Chrysalis exclaimed.

The six items were similar enough to the elements of harmony that they similar abilities. Including the ability to, you know.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna wielded the six items, and zapped the two baddies.

*ZAP*

The cupcake exploded, and just like that other timeline, Tirek and Chrysalis turned to stone, in similar but not identical poses. It didn't seem to matter who or how, but fate had given them the same outcome they were warned of, and tried so hard to avoid.

"How long do you suppose we leave them in here, sister?" Luna asked.

"That won't be our call." Celestia said. "That'll be decided by Equestria's new ruler."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia." Twilight said, graciously.

So that's it, right? All three of them had been turned to stone, and the bell was drained of magic. In a cruel turn of events, Cozy was unsuccessful in changing the future, and preventing this unfortunate outcome. It still happened, slightly differently, but it happened regardless. But hey, that's fate for ya. Can't change the future...

.

.

.

...Right?

Quick headcount. Err... magic count. When Chrysalis ejected all that magic earlier, she ejected Discord's chaos magic, but also Celestia and Luna's magic. So where did that one third of Grogar's magic she snatched from Cozy Glow go? All the other magic went to their rightful owners. But there is no more Grogar, so that magic's rightful owner was...

"...Well, I'd call this a job well done!" Twilight said.

"But wait. Whatever happened to Cozy Glow?" Applejack asked.

"She also attacked us in the throne room, but she was strangely absent from this encounter." Rarity added.

"Isn't that a little suspect to any pony?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nah. She probably flew home to... wherever it is she's from." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, but then what is that?" Starlight asked.

Everypony turned their attention to that yellow blanket Tirek brought to the scene. Somehow it laid undisturbed through all of this, protecting whatever it was wrapped around.

Twilight slowly approached it, with max caution. Twilight delicately used her magic to touch the blanket, and slowly lifted, revealing underneath was...

"TWILIGHT LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Pinkie cried.

"Hmm?" Twilight turned around, and behind her was-

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Twilight screamed.

Author's Note

Discord is okay.

Chapter 2

"TWILIGHT LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Pinkie cried.

"Hmm?" Twilight turned around, and behind her was-

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Twilight screamed.

*WHACK*

The bewitching bell started glowing once again, and floated by itself. It had knocked itself against Twilight's face.

"OW!" she cried.

The bell rang, zipped around the scene, threatening every creature, as if it had a mind of its own!

"Runaway bell!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Every creature scattered in panic as the bell floated and pulsated with energy.

"The bell must still have Grogar's magic!" Twilight cried.

The creatures all chased the bell, but it was quick, and evaded their movements. The bell then hovered above yellow blanket, and glowed brightly. In fact, this whole time, a stream of magic permeated from underneath that yellow sun blanket.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked.

"Stand back." Celestia said.

"This could get dicey." Luna added.

The bell rang and glowed brightly, and brought heavy winds blew that through the valley. The wind blew away the yellow blanket, revealing underneath-

*gasp*

"Cozy Glow?!" Twilight exclaimed.

Wrapped in the blanket was the Cozy Glow statue, but with a fleshy horn protruding out, emanating magic that attached to the bell. The horn lit up and activated the bell.

*RING*

The bell rang above the Cozy Glow statue, and surrounded it with a bright magic aura. Cozy's horn was the only part of her not turned to stone. The horn glowed, and projected an orb of light.

The mane 6 looked at it, nervous, but battle ready. Spike stood right by Twilight's side.

"Stay strong. Be ready for anything." Twilight said, affirmative.

"Heh HA HA HA HA HA!" a voice echoed.

From the statue's horn, a stream of magic poured out, and created a form.

The protrusion of magic took the shape of an alicorn filly, with bright red eyes.

"Guess who." it said.

"Cozy Glow!" Spike exclaimed.

"Ha ha!! Yep! It's me! You didn't think your journey would end without one last battle against me, did'ja!?" Cozy said. "You know, it's true what Discord said. Being in stone really DOES mean you're consciously aware of your surroundings. You're just completely immobile and unable to save yourself from vandals. But because of that, it allows me to say hello to you all despite 99% of me being in stone."

"Cozy Glow, you're... you're..." Twilight could not even describe what she was seeing.

"She's using a projection spell! Her mind's in the stone, but she's somehow able to project her mind from that bit of her not frozen." Starlight explained.

"Thanks for the explanation, Counselor Starlight." Cozy Glow said. "It's amazing just how much the school taught me. Really prepared me for the real world!" Cozy said.

"That's Headmare Starlight to you!" Starlight exclaimed. "Once Twilight takes the throne, I shall takeover and Headmare of the School of Friendship.

"I see. What a fair deal! Twilight Sparkle gets supreme control of the entire land, leaving you with that lowly school, and leaving her friends with nothing." Cozy said.

Twilight listened to what Cozy said, and actually took note. Was it really fair to basically leave her friends in the dust once she moved to Canterlot? Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden outcry from every creature in Equestria.

"BOO!!!!!" every creature in Equestria yelled at Cozy.

Every creature in Equestria booed and hissed at the Cozy projection. Go away demon filly. The dragons blew fire, while the yaks and griffons threw rocks.

"Thank you! Thank you! I love the roaring crowd!" Cozy said, waving and smiling.

Every creature in Equestria stood their ground, and surrounded Cozy.

"Come on, Twilight!" Sandbar exclaimed.

"You're not gonna let this brat intimidate you, are you?" Smolder asked.

"Let's join forces again! Finish her for good this time!" Gallus exclaimed.

Cozy looked around her, and she was surrounded by hundreds of creatures.

"All of Equestria versus one little filly? That wouldn't really be fair now would it?!" Cozy asked rhetorically.

Cozy's horn lit up. "Let's even the playing field!" she said.

She used her magic and pounded the ground, pushing back every creature, except for Twilight.

"Hey!" Twilight exclaimed.

Cozy's horn glowed very bright, and cast a spell above them.

*MAGIC* *ZAP*

Cozy created a magic dome that encapsulated herself and Twilight Sparkle, and separated them from every creature outside. Inside, a pillar of magic beaming from the statue's horn blasted up, and was the source of the dome's power.

"Twilight!" her friends all exclaimed simultaneously.

"She's trapped inside this magic dome with Cozy Glow!" Smolder exclaimed.

"Come on every creature! We have to help Twilight!" Ember added.

"YEAH!" they all exclaimed.

All the creatures surrounded all 360 degrees of the magic dome.

"Ten-hut!!!" Gallus yelled.

"Charge!!!!" Yona exclaimed.

They all came charging in and-

*BAM*

-they pressed against the dome, attempting to break through.

Cozy showed minor signs of fatigue as she struggled to keep the dome intact. But she mostly kept it under wraps as she confronted Twilight.

"Leave them to struggle. This is between us two, Twilight Sparkle!" Cozy exclaimed.

"And me!" cried someone else who was also with them.

"What?!" Cozy exclaimed.

They both looked over and saw-

"Spike?!" Twilight cried out. "What are you doing in here?!"

"I'll always be by your side, Twilight." he replied.

"How cute. Her majesty's loyal dragon. I'll just have to crush both of you!" Cozy exclaimed. *RING*

The bell glowed, and it's magic flowed through to Cozy, and made her hologram glow brighter.

"You two are about to bear witness to the full undivided power of Grogar!" Cozy exclaimed.

*ZAP*

"AAAAAAHH!" Twilight screamed.

*BAM*

Cozy fired a huge continuous beam of magic at Twilight. The massive blast pressed her against the dome.

"AAHHH!" Twilight barely withstood the magic blast with her own magic to push against it.

"That's it, Twilight! I want you to SUFFER!" Cozy exclaimed.

"Stop it!" Spike exclaimed.

Spike flew up and breathed a large breath of fire. The fire was of little effect to the hologram, but it heated up the fleshy horn, and weakened Cozy enough for Twilight to escape from the beam.

"AH! Hot!!" Cozy exclaimed.

Spike rushed over to help Twilight. But as soon as she got up. They noticed Cozy was back at it and fired another beam. Twilight leaped up and retaliated with her own magic, and Cozy fired back.

*BOOM*

A powerful shock wave emanated from where their blasts collided. The intense battle between them raged on. Twilight fended off the Cozy projection, and Spike lunged forward and landed on top of the bell.

*oof* "I've got to get that bell!" Spike said.

"Oh, you want the bell, little Spike? YOU CAN HAVE IT!" Cozy exclaimed.

The bell started glowing bright. Too bright...

"Huh?" Spike wondered.

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed.

"AAAHHHH!!" Spike screamed.

*SHATTER*

Cozy Glow destroyed the bewitching bell, and shattered it into a hundred pieces. The shock wave blew Spike backwards, but Twilight caught him in her loving arms. They both looked in astonishment that Cozy had actually shattered Grogar's bell.

"That's right! No more transfer of magic! I'm staying this way!" Cozy exclaimed, with a nasty grin.

Twilight and Spike looked at one another, affirmative. Cozy had to be stopped.

"Your mischief has gone on too long Cozy Glow!" Twilight exclaimed.

"If you think I'm just another obstacle that needs to be defeated, then just try to stop me!!" Cozy exclaimed back.

Both their horns glowed, and the fight continued on between the princess of friendship, her dragon. and the crazy filly.

Twilight and Cozy fired powerful beams that scraped the edges of the magic dome, and sent magic sparks flying.

Spike protected Twilight with his life, and used his fire breath to deflect any of Cozy's blasts.

But after some more back and forth action, Cozy proved too strong.

Their beams intersected, but after one slip up, Cozy's magic scraped the side of Twilight.

"AAAHH!

"Twilight, NO!" Spike cried. Spike flew in front of Twilight, to try to absorb the impact.

*BOOM*

Cozy brought Twilight and Spike crashing to the ground. Twilight laid on on the ground, and Spike laid on top of her, also worn down.

"She's *huff*, she's too powerful." Twilight said, exhausted.

"Come on, when has that ever stopped you, Twilight?" Spike asked.

"It hasn't so far... but..." Twilight replied.

Spike thought of something that he thought would motivate Twilight to get her through the fight.

"Everyone looks up to you. You're the Princess of Friendship. Everyone's counting on you. But, more important than all of that, I look up to you." Spike said.

"S-spike, I..." Twilight tried to say.

"You've never given up on me. You were there for me when I needed you. You saved me from being alone, you fed me, sheltered me, you taught me everything I know. I owe my life to you, Twilight *sniff* and I'm not quitting on you."

Spike stood up, and faced Cozy Glow himself.

"Daww, baby dwagon's gonna stand up for his mommy?" Cozy teased.

"Yes, yes I am." Spike said.

*magic* A red magic aura appeared around Spike, and restrained his movement.

"I'm gonna hate doing this, Spike. You were always the one I hated the least." Cozy said.

Cozy's horn glowed, and was about to fire a beam at Spike. Spike stood in place,

Twilight Sparkle appeared in front of Spike, and deflected the blast.

Twilight won't get up and save herself, but she'll get up to save me. Mission accomplished. Spike said in his mind.

"You can push me around, but when you threaten my family, that's when you've gone too far!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Then what are you waiting for? Give me what I deserve!" Cozy exclaimed.

*ZAP*
*BOOM*

The battle continued on between the powerful magic wielders.

"Don't you just loathe me Twilight?!" Cozy asked.

"I'm starting to!" Twilight replied.

"Don't you just hate me, Twilight?" Cozy asked.

"Hate's a strong word, but-" she replied.

"So you do!" Cozy exclaimed.

"I-" Twilight tried to talk, but Cozy talked over her.

"I just love how much you hate me! I think it's absolutely delightful you don't even stop to think about the fact that you're fighting your favorite student." Cozy teased.

Twilight listened and read deep into her words. What was she trying to imply?

"I mean, not like I care! I'm just surprised to see you don't care as well." Cozy said. "Princess of friendship? I think you're shaping up to be a very compassionate princess, judging by how you're handling your final test of friendship!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I won't let you destroy the magic of friendship again!" Twilight said.

"Then try to stop me!" Cozy exclaimed.

Twilight and Spike's battle against Cozy raged on. Although by this point, it became abundantly clear that they were on a time constraint.

They were starting to feel a little claustrophobic since the battle began.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked.

"Was the dome always this small?" Spike said.

The magic dome that contained them was getting smaller. Either from the creatures outside, or Cozy's own doing, it was hard to tell.

"Wait a sec..." Twilight realized something.

The smaller the dome got, the more Cozy showed signs of fatigue.

"Cozy Glow? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"I'm perfectly fine!!!!!!" Cozy exclaimed.

*MAGIC*

Cozy shot a blast of magic at Twilight, but Twilight swiped away her magic blast away with a flick of her horn.

"Why won't you hold still!?" Cozy exclaimed.

Twilight fighting strategy changed from full on offensive, to more evasive.

*BOOM* The forces outside pounded against the doom even harder.

"AAHH!!!!" Cozy cried.

*heavy breathing* the Cozy projection laid on the ground, gasping for air.

"Cozy Glow? What's?" Twilight asked.

*Grr* What are you waiting for, Twilight? I'm vulnerable! Finish me so you can go ahead and put me in stone for generations!!" Cozy exclaimed.

"I wouldn't put you in stone." Twilight said. "Err... at least if I did, I wouldn't leave you there for that long."

"You say that now, but it's a shame that future you doesn't abide by your false sense of sympathy." Cozy said.

"What are you talking about?" Spike asked.

"Why don't I just show you two?!" Cozy said.

Cozy's horn glowed and beamed out a display of "future" events. (It was the future, I guess now the timeline has sort of diverged. Or maybe that ending never happened?) (or the entire dome turned into an illusion)

Cozy projected a view of the alternate timeline for Twilight to see. It was the timeline where she, Tirek, and Chrysalis are turned to stone by Discord.

"Together forever. I can't think of anything they'd want less." Discord said, flicking the statue.

"Hahahaha." everypony and every creature laughed at Cozy in the statue. A completely humiliating defeat.

Twilight and Spike looked at the future, confused.

"This is how the princess of friendship plans to begin her reign of tyranny. The only good thing about being sealed away, is I don't have to see just how wonderfully you run the kingdom." Cozy said.

"Okay... if Discord were here, and you fought side by side with the other two, maybe I could see this happening." Spike said.

"But, I'm sure I wouldn't leave you there for long." Twilight said.

The projection went into fast forward. The sun and move raced in the sky, as months, years passed by. But despite all the time that passed, the statue stood in place. They didn't even bother moving it to Canterlot or anything. They just left it in the middle of the field for years.

It was then that Twilight's eyes wandered, and she realized the severity of the punishment she would go on to bestow upon Cozy.

"It's funny how being a dictator warps your mind and perception." Cozy said. "Before, you were so determined to make friends with every sour soul who crossed your mind. But as leader of Equestria, you bring permadeath to your enemies!"

Twilight and Spike were in shock. Twilight couldn't see herself ending the conflict in such a way. But she also couldn't see herself ruling Equestria.

"This has to be some kind of mistake. Surely there's a happy ending eventually." Twilight said.

"You can keep going forward. I checked. There's no happy ending ahead for me." Cozy said.

The dome continued to shrink. Spike urged Twilight to do something, but she was too lost in thoughts to do anything.

"It's funny how you'll listen to Discord who came right off of lying to you and assembling all your worst enemies together." Cozy said.

"There, there's got to be more to this story." Twilight said.

"Nah. That timeline I looked at was pretty shallow in terms of storytelling, suspense, and pay off." Cozy commented.

"What if I...." Twilight used her own magic to manipulate the projection in a way Cozy hadn't anticipated.

"Wait. What are you doing?!" Cozy asked.

Twilight used magic to make the Cozy's projection of the past go backwards.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Cozy shouted louder. "STOP THIS!"

Cozy attempted to halt Twilight, but Spike blocked her with a wall of fire.

Twilight rewound so far back, that she found something of most interest.

"How was school, Cozy?" a mare's voice echoed.

"Fine..." past Cozy replied, shy.

"Did you make any new friends?" a colt asked.

"No... I told you, I don't have any friends, and I don't want any." past Cozy replied.

"But how are we ever going to form trade deals if our daughter is such an introvert?" he asked.

"If you don't come back from school tomorrow with at least one friend, we will heavily consider sending you off to learn about friendship elsewhere." she said.

"And tying them up and dragging them here doesn't count by the way!" he added.

"You want me to make friends? *giggle* "I'll make friends. I'll have more friends than any other pony in Equest-*DOOR SLAM*

The projection spell ceased, and Cozy was fuming hot with anger. She managed to push Spike aside. Twilight, now had a new insight into her "favorite student".

"Why didn't you just say so, Cozy?" Twilight asked.

"Simple. You never asked." Cozy replied. "And neither did you, Spike."

"Cozy, I-" Twilight tried to say.

"Forget it! You didn't care back then, and you definitely shouldn't care now!" Cozy exclaimed.

"But I-" Twilight tried to say, but Cozy kept talking.

"When you sent me to Tartarus, that basically told me that I could never do friendship! Putting me in stone double reaffirms my suspicion! So I fail to see why I should try!!!" Cozy exclaimed.

*ZAP*

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!" Twilight cried.

Cozy continued to attack Twilight in a fit of rage.

"Since you're gonna die, I may as well tell you a secret." Cozy said. "The truth is, is that it REALLY hurt when you sent me away to Tartarus so quickly after my first ever takeover attempt."

"Cozy, I didn't know..." Twilight said.

"You didn't realize that sending the filly to Tartarus would hurt her feelings? Some princess of friendship YOU TURNED OUT TO BE!" Cozy exclaimed.

*EEGHH*

As the pressure on the dome increased, and its size decreased, Cozy Glow was getting weaker, and the statue started to crack...

"YOU THOUGHT TARTARUS WAS AN APPROPRIATE PUNISHMENT FOR A FILLY!?" Cozy asked.

"A filly who attempted to destroy all the magic!" Twilight added.

"So is that a yes? Just because I tried to delete your oh so precious magic you rely on and cherish so much, that makes me worse than Nightmare Moon? The lord of chaos? The pony of shadows? A former war general? If you think I truly can't be redeemed, then again, I don't see why I should bother trying!" Cozy exclaimed.

*zap*

*oof*

"That's why when you locked me in that cage, I was grinning gleefully plotting out my revenge!" Cozy said. "If I couldn't be your friend, then I was more than glad to be your enemy!"

"You think it was an easy decision to lock my favorite student away in Tartarus!?" Twilight asked.

Her question echoed through Cozy.

"Based on everything I've seen from you, I'd say it was very easy! You've failed to demonstrate otherwise!" Cozy replied.

"I assure you, I felt utterly betrayed when you, someone I trusted so closely, would go ahead and do something so terrible." Twilight wept.

"Hmm. Is that so? Roll the tapes!!!" Cozy exclaimed.

The projection spell reappeared, and showcased Twilight Sparkle after the events of School Raze.

Throughout Season 9, Twilight was either happy, or stressed about preparing to rule Equestria, or monstrously out of character. Cozy barely crossed her mind.

"Yeah, you look REAL devastated about locking Cozy away!" Cozy exclaimed, sarcastically. "And even more upset at her stone sentencing!"

As Cozy kept reminding Twilight about her mistreatment of her, the stress was starting to accumulate in her mind.

I've been so stressed about thinking about how I'll lead Equestria, I've forgotten the reason why Celestia trusted me and selected me to be her successor. I have to help Cozy. And prove I have what it takes to spread the message of friendship! Twilight thought.

"It was wrong for me to lock you in Tartarus so hastily, fine, I'll admit. I just discarded you, and assumed you were pure evil, so I locked you away with the intent to forget about you, which is very out of my element." Twilight said.

"Nah... You don't say." Cozy replied.

"It's just, I was so shocked that somepony I trusted so much could betray me in such spectacular fashion, but I shouldn't have let my own feelings get in the way of what's right. I'm going to fix my past mistakes, and prevent my future self from making bigger mistakes!" Twilight said.

So, was Cozy still destined to an eternity of suffering? Well, Twilight wasn't going to let it end this way.

"Cozy Glow, I refuse to fight you any longer." Twilight said.

Twilight kneeled down and surrendered to Cozy Glow.

Cozy Glow's hologram stood, and stared blankly.

"Good." Cozy said. "It'll make finishing you a heck of a lot easier!" she exclaimed.

Cozy charged her magic, and was about to fire directly at Twilight. Spike slowly leapt in front of Twilight, to try to resist the blast. But right before Cozy could unleash her devastating attack, but all of the sudden.

*BAM*
*CRACK*

"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Cozy cried.

"Cozy!!" Twilight and Spike exclaimed.

Major damage was dealt to the dome outside, and like a ripple effect, it echoed down and damaged the Cozy statue, and interfered with the hologram. The creatures outside all still clung to the outside of the magic dome, and tried to break it open. The more damage done to the dome, the more damage was done to the Cozy statue.

Twilight and Spike rushed to the outer rim, and pleaded for everypony to stop.

"Stop attacking!" Twilight exclaimed.

"She's hurting!" Spike added.

But outside, their voices could not be interpreted.

"What's she saying?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Cozy Glow's torturing them!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"They're begging we save them!" Rarity exclaimed.

"We ain't turning down now! Come on every creature!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Is there any creature here who can read lips? I think we should-" Fluttershy said.

"YAK SMASH!" Yona exclaimed.

All the yaks came charging in from every angle, and slammed against the magic dome.

*BAM*

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Cozy yelled.

The dome also acted as a great echo chamber. So Cozy's screams of agony rang in the ears of Twilight and Spike, and only made the situation more eerie.

"If I think back to my time at your school, and I had to guess the ending, I would've guess that this would've turned out like most of your other ends. With the apologetic reformation of your adversary. I-I just couldn't believe you would let Discord do something so cruel to me, and just leave me there, forever." Cozy said.

"Neither could I... *sniff* Twilight said.

"Frankly, I was expecting you to come forward and try to reform me at some point... and truth be told, I was kind of looking forward to it." Cozy said.

"Cozy..." Twilight said softly.

"I thought, what have I got to lose? If my plan failed, you were just gonna talk sense into me, but you showed me that being bad has consequences, heh, what a concept..." Cozy said. "It's after you locked me in Tartarus, that's when my evil gears really started turning. I was looking forward to the epic battle, me bringing you to your knees. But, before you came to Tartarus for our next encounter, Discord came along with his phony plan to assemble your biggest baddies. He showed me how to obtain power, and I just followed his lead, and unleashed my revenge upon you, the pony who hurt me so deeply. And for some reason you punished me forever, and let him get roam free, experience life. Must feel good."

Was this Twilight ready to leave her enemies in stone forever?

"If that's how future me plans to begin her rule, then I don't want to rule Equestria." Twilight said.

"We can worry about that later, Twilight. We have to save Cozy!" Spike exclaimed.

"Well... *cough* secret's out, Twilight. I wanted you to reform me. But you didn't, and that only What are you going to do, Twilight?" Cozy asked.

"But Cozy, don't you know better?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know better. Nopony showed me a better way. If I won, I would've been Empress of Friendship. If I lost, I just assumed you would have talked sense into me, and accepted me anyway. But I was wrong, and you labeled me as your biggest enemy! I thought I had nothing to lose, but instead I lost everything!"

"I..." Twilight was hesitant. "I'm the Princess of Friendship. What does it say about me if my solution involves tormenting my adversaries? I won't allow myself to make that mistake." Twilight said.

*sniff* "Why do you insist on helping now?!" Cozy exclaimed.

"Because I was wrong before. Everypony deserves second chance!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I don't believe you!" Cozy exclaimed.

"I think the only pony you don't believe, is yourself." Twilight replied.

Twilight walked closer to Cozy.

*boom*
*crack*

The ground shook and knocked Twilight and Spike lost their balance. They watched the cracks on the statue grew more intense. And Cozy, seemed to just let it happen...

"Cozy!" Twilight and Spike cried.

"Forget it..." Cozy said.

"What?" Spike asked.

"You know... knowing now that being in stone means you're completely conscious but immobile, maybe this is a better outcome after all." Cozy said. "Shattering may be a godsend from the unbearable never ending tedium of stone. *huff* In fact, mortality in and of itself could be viewed as a super power from the perspective of those with immortality... It is the relief from eternal boredom, and the burden of bearing the death of everyone you care about... I'd rather this outcome than eternity in stone..."

Both Twilight and Spike stared blankly, shocked at what Cozy just said.

*crack*

*gasp* Twilight and Spike gasped with each new crack that appeared.

"When I saw that horrible ending ahead of me, I wanted to change it for the better, and I did......" Cozy said.

*bzzt*
*bzzt*

The Cozy Glow projection disappeared.

"COZY GLOW!!!" Twilight and Spike exclaimed.

The statue still emanated the large beam of magic that kept the dome in place, but it wouldn't hold for much longer. As the dome shrank, and showed wear, the Cozy statue cracked more and more. At this rate, if the dome burst, the Cozy statue might shatter.

Twilight and Spike looked outside the transparent dome. They witnessed all the angry creatures banging on the outside.

"So, the magic of friendship, huh?" Spike asked.

"They're doing this because of me. What have I done? I turned all of Equestria against a poor filly..." Twilight wept. "I didn't unify Equestria in arms, I created a legion of followers to carry out my bidding..."

"I failed as princess of Equestria, before I took the throne." Twilight started quivering in her hooves.

"Snap out of it, Twilight!" Spike exclaimed.

"I brought great dishonor to Cozy Glow by not even trying to change her! I know she's bad, and didn't deserve to go unpunished, but she didn't deserve this..." Twilight wept.

"Then the only way to restore honor is to try! You can still save Cozy Glow!" Spike exclaimed.

Spike wrapped his arms around Twilight.

"You can do this. There's still time to make things right." he said.

She shook her head and cleared her mind. There was one thing she had to take care of.

"You're right, Spike! I won't allow it to end this way! Or that other way!" Twilight exclaimed.

Twilight and Spike sprinted to the Cozy Glow statue's side.

"So, Twilight. If you know how to unfreeze her from the stone, now would be a great time to do that!" Spike said.

"I don't know how! The only things that can force and undo a stone spell are the Elements of Harmony, cockatrice magic, or I guess Discord's magic." Twilight said.

"If a stupid snake and chicken hybrid can undo a stone spell, then so can you!" Spike exclaimed.

"The closest I can achieve is the elements of harmony, but they've been gone for some time now..." Twilight said.

"I know the elements are gone, but your magic and your friendship is real! You can save Cozy!" Spike exclaimed.

"I can't. Not without my friends! And right now they're so close, but so far! This magic dome stands between me and them, but if it breaks, Cozy shatters... There's no way to fix this..." Twilight wept. "Cozy! I'm sorry..."

...

"Well, you are Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. But, does it have to be those friends specifically?" Spike asked.

"They are the other elements after all." Twilight replied.

"But they're not your only friends, right?" Spike said.

Twilight looked at Spike, and realized that the answer was right there the whole time.

*sniff* "You're right Spike." Twilight said. "You're just about my closest friend. We can do this, together."

Spike nodded. They were ready to help Cozy.

Twilight and Spike joined together. Twilight's horn lit up, and both their bodies started glowing.

They both embraced the Cozy statue, and Twilight put her horn to Cozy's horn.

"Hope this works!!!" Twilight exclaimed.

Inside some sort of cognitive realm.

"Where are we?" Spike asked.

"More importantly, where is she?" Twilight asked,

"There." Spike replied.

There she was. Cozy Glow. Her mind was suspended and frozen. And if they didn't do something quick, she was about to fade away.

Twilight and Spike floated over to Cozy's consciousness, and embraced Cozy as hard as they could.

"Say something, Twilight." Spike said.

Twilight thought about what to say, and thought of the perfect story.

"Cozy, when I was a filly and I hatched Spike, every pony told me that Spike was just some dragon. They said that Spike was a bad dragon, and didn't belong with me. But through all the hardships I was determined to prove them all wrong because I truly believed in my heart that Spike was my baby. And just like how every creature out there is angry, and wants you dead, I'm here to tell you that they're wrong, and that I can show you the magic of friendship after all!" Twilight said.

The warm words gave Spike energy as well, that he shared, as he tried to help Cozy.

From the outside looking in, Twilight Sparkle's eyes glowed a radiant white, and her horn fired a Rainbow beam at the Cozy statue. Spike clung to Twilight tightly to give her all his love and energy.

Cozy's body started to glow, and slowly, from the bottom to top, glowed so radiantly, it was hard to see.

Twilight used their magic to try to repair the damage done to the statue, and undo the spell altogether.

"Almost..." Spike said.

*BOOM* *CRACK*

The force outside kept banging, and the ground continued to shake.

Twilight's magic had reached the top of Cozy's body.

"There she is..." Twilight said.

"COZY!" Spike exclaimed.

*pop*

The dome popped, and suddenly, every creature that was piled on top and around the dome, fell inward and fell directly on top of Twilight, Spike, and Cozy. Every creature all piled upon each other. It was a giant pile of nearly every creature in Equestria.

...

"What happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Did we win?" Pinkie asked.

"Any more threats?" Autumn Blaze asked.

"Is it over?" Ember asked.

"Where's Twilight!?" Starlight asked.

*sob*

In the middle of the pile of creatures, a faint crying could be heard. But whose tears were these? In the middle of everyone, laid Twilight Sparkle. Wrapped tightly around her hooves, she held a little crying filly.

*sob*

"It's okay, Cozy Glow. I got you. You're safe now. Nothing bad is going to happen to you." Twilight said.

There she was. Cozy Glow had been freed, and turned back to normal. She shivered, and clung closely to Twilight. She was about to be shattered, but Twilight and Spike saved her at the last minute.

*sob* "Please don't tell any pony about this. *sniff* Please keep it a secret." Cozy said.

"Well..." Twilight looked around, she was surrounded by literally every creature in Equestria.

"Sorry, Cozy, but every creature already knows." Spike said.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike miraculously managed to undo the stone spell, and revitalize Cozy Glow. Twilight Sparkle held Cozy Glow in her arms, as she pressed her head against the princess, and cried her heart out. Spike also clung to Cozy for comfort.

"I'm not going to to discard you this time." Twilight said, while stroking Cozy's mane. "I'm not going to put my problems away, I'm going to solve the problems at the source, and make things right."

So it turns out that this ending was going to be different after all. What kind of Princess of Friendship would put a pony in need in stone forever? Not this Princess. Not this time that is.

Even if afterwards, Cozy somehow still tried to resent friendship, Twilight wasn't going to cast Cozy aside without giving an honest attempt to change her mind.

...and she definitely had plans to unfreeze Tirek and Chrysalis soon and talk to them too.

The End

Author's Note

Once again, Discord is okay. He survived, but he didn't serve much purpose story wise in the second half, so that's why you don't see him.

This story assumes that A) The stone sentencing is forever (which though not conclusive, is heavily implied)
And B) That they're completely conscious and aware while in stone.

So here's the thing. It's strange that a show that spent over 200 plus episodes teaching that friendship was magic, at the very end, decided to be different, and say fyay you to that message.
Logically it makes no sense that the princesses listened to Discord and immediately froze them in stone forever.

In this story, Cozy did not realize the consequences that would could from her actions. She had assumed that no matter how big a threat Twilight faced, she always tried to talk sense into them. She assumed that the events in School Raze would be no different. Foolish for her to assume? Apparently so, as Twilight decided that Tartarus was the best place for the filly who she used to call her favorite student.

In my mind, Twilight's promotion to princess of everything goes to her head. In any other instance, she never would have let Cozy, Chrysalis, and Tirek sit in stone forever. And in my opinion, Friendship is Magic is a bad ending, because that's exactly what happens, and there is no sign they were ever freed, or that Twilight regrets that decision.

So here, with the forewarning, only now is Twilight able to take a step back and see the ending from another perspective, and realizes that she was wrong all along. Or at least, she was about to make a big mistake and let the three suffer a long, tedious, permanent, punishment. Seeing the future and realizing the severity of her actions, Twilight decides to do things differently.

These are all ideas that I wanted to convey in the story. It's not my goal to change people's mind, I'm just here to express my opinion, and write a fun alternative story. Whether or not you think Cozy's transformation in this story is believable, well, I tried.