A Lone GlowView OnlineA Cozy RedemptionA Lone GlowTirek and Cozy were in Tartarus, Tirek looking away from the filly at the moment. "Hey! Hey tirek! I made friendship figures! look!" Cozy said, her tail wagging. Tirek just groaned and rolled his eyes as he turned to look. Cozy pointed down at the figures, a proud gleam in her eyes. He just continued to groan before they were suddenly whisked away in magic. Tirek's Figure fell over after they were gone. Chrysalis was walking around, ranting angrily to a purple log. "One day, you'll see! I will defeat Twilight Sparkle and her friends! And they will pay for stealing my kingdom!" she cackled. The log did exactly what a log would do in that situation. Sit there. Chrysalis looked like she was about to go even more insane but was whisked away by dark magic, the same way Cozy and Tirek did. Cozy and Tirek appeared in a dark dank cave, Chrysalis following suit. "Golly. What just happened? Tirek, do you know?" Tirek sighed and facepalmed. "It's lord Tirek, and we were just teleported!" Tirek growled. "I got that, Tirek, I'm not stupid. WHY were we teleported!?" Cozy deadpanned. Chrysalis took noticed of them she gasped in shock when she spotted the centaur. "Lord Tirek!?" "A changeling?" Tirek asked, before gesturing to her. "See, she gets it." Cozy just giggled and buzzed in place. "Golly! She sure is a changeling! an old one at that! Did you summon us here, Chrysalis~?" She asked, flying around the room. Cozy felt great being able to stretch and fly around after being cramped up in that little cell for a month. Chrysalis watched her fly with an annoyed growl. "Enough! Why did you summon me!?" She demanded from both of them. "Golly, do you have ears? I just asked if you summoned us! Why would I ask that if we were the ones who summoned you?" Cozy pointed out with a giggle. Chrysalis glared at her with fury. She opened her mouth to say something but just then, another creature walked in from the shadows. It was none other than King Sombra. "So it was this guy that summoned us?" Cozy said with a head tilt. "Tirek who is he?" She asked her centaur buddy. "He is not the one who summoned you!" A fourth voice said from deep within the cave. The sounds of hoofsteps were heard as the new creature began coming closer until he was in full view. He was tall and blue and looked like a goat. "I am!" He shouted. "You may call me....Grogar." He said as he surveyed each and every one of them with his eyes. "The Grogar!?" Chrysalis shouted in shock, awe, and a little terror. "I thought that you were a legend!" Tirek exclaimed. "I've heard of you." Sombra said in his stupid voice. "....Who?" Cozy asked with a head tilt. "I assure you, I am very real. And you have all been brought here as part of my plan to rid Equestria of Twilight Sparkle and her friends once and for all" Grogar said with a laugh. "I am so sorry, but the name "grofar" isn't ringing any bells." Cozy said with a shrug. "Grogar!" the goat shouted. "I have been away too long if my name no longer strikes fear into the heart of one so tiny. Perhaps a demonstration of power is in order?" He growled. Tirek was transformed back to his standard body. He grinned and kissed his new muscles. "Grogar is ancient and extremely powerful. The land that would become Equestria was a mere collection of farms and pastures until he declared himself emperor of all he saw. I remember hearing tales of his tyranny when I was young." He told Cozy. "I have also heard of the first Emperor of Equestria. The "Father of Monsters" You've been called." Sombra said. "I gave life to the foulest of creatures and allowed them to run wild, taking what they wanted and destroying the rest. My reign was a glorious, fear-soaked epoch of darkness in Equestria." Grogar bragged. "Ha! Until Gusty the great rose up and banished you!" Chrysalis pointed out. "That fool believed taking my bell would defeat me! But she only weakened me temporarily." Grogar said. "Um, Tirek is like, really old – no offense, you look great – but if he knew about you when he was young, we have super different ideas about what "temporarily" means." Cozy said with a shrug. As Cozy said that, Tirek just stared at her offended. "Silence!" Grogar yelled in her face. "I've spent millennia gathering power, biding my time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to seize control of Equestria! And watching all of you. I've seen each of your humiliating defeats at the hooves of six puny ponies. And do you know why they've always bested you?" Grogar questioned them. "Because they cheat!" Chrysalis shouted. "Because they're annoyingly lucky." Tirek growled. "I'm just a kid, so..." Cozy said quietly with a shrug. "It is because they work together. Where one is weak, another is strong, and thus unified, they are a formidable force! But we shall use their own strategy to defeat them." Grogar shouted at them all. "What are you suggesting." Chrysalis hissed. "I suggest nothing. I demand that you join me, and together, Equestria will be ours!" Grogar growled. "Can I have Fillydelphea?" Cozy asks, buzzing around him like a fly. "...what?" Grogar asked coldly. "I wanna have Fillydelphea when we take over! I've always wanted to live in that big tower, up above everypony!" Cozy said, clapping her hooves happily. "When we take over, nopony is going to be above anypony! It'll be ruled by us as a group!" Grogar shouted at cozy. Cozy gave him a blank stare. "I meant physically, idiot, not in terms of power!" She giggled. "Are you taking this seriously?" Grogar growled. "Uh, of course I am?" Cozy said with a head tilt. "Clearly not," Grogar said, rolling his eyes. "You're being way too energetic about this." "I'm just a kid. So..." Cozy said again with a shrug. This time, unlike before, Grogar heard her. "Wait...you're not just a tiny adult?" Grogar asked. "Uh....no...?...Aren't you supposed to know that? You're this big baddie aren't you?" Cozy said with a confused expression. "I'm powerful, not omniscient." Grogar growled. "Get out." "Huh!? Why!?" Cozy yelled with one of her iconic angry faces. "Because a child isn't worthy of ruling Equestria!" Grogar yelled right back at her. "Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I'm not capable! Tirek and I had the whole work together plan before you! We came closer than anyone else to winning! Tell him, Tirek!" Cozy said, holding Tirek's arm. Tirek just growled and shook the filly off of his arm. Cozy looked up at him with confusion. "...T-Tirek?" Tirek glared at Cozy heatedly. "Working with you, was by far the most tasking and horrible thing I have ever done. You are the most annoying piece of shit I ever had the displeasure of meeting. There are very few things I hate more than I hate you." Cozy stared at him with tears stinging her eyes. "....I....I thought you said you understood me.....you said you'd be my friend!!!" Cozy screamed. Tirek stared at her for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. "Heheh....heh...you...you seriously didn't put it together that I was using you!? Hah! That's rich! I would have gotten out and taken all the magic for myself if you hadn't failed!" Cozy's ears fell at those words and she could no longer hold back her tears. "T-Tirek?....why...." She cried. "Because you we're gullible. You felt like no one understood you, and I was that shining light that you needed. It went so well up until you fucked it up!" Tirek growled, seemingly forgetting that he was the one who helped Twilight and her friends escape Tartarus. Cozy just began to sob more and more. "f-Fine! I'll leave! And I hope Twilight kills all of you!!" Cozy said before flying away, crying her eyes out. The last thing Cozy heard before she was too far away was Sombra exclaiming he was going to attack the Crystal Empire by himself. Cozy had been flying for hours, she had never moved this fast and she had never flown for this long. She had no idea where she was going, she just, flew. Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends were attending a random party that Pinkie threw. It was Gummy's thirty third day after his birthday day. And of course Pinkie just had to throw a party. "Pinkie, you always throw the most random parties." Dash said as she flew around, definitely not stealing everypony's food. "Heh, I know," Pinkie giggled, bouncing about and giving them more food. Twilight and Starlight were under the table making out. They had bean bags around them so they wouldn't be found out. Starlight pulled away from the kiss. "That was so good." she whispered. Twilight held her close and kissed her again. "I'm glad I met you." She purred seductively. "So am I," Starlight responded, nuzzling her. They made out some more while everyone else continued to party. "Okay everyone! Pin the tail on the villain!!" Pinkie shouted, putting a blindfold on the creature closest to her, which happened to be StonedBar, I mean, Sandbar! Sandbar stumbled forward before pinning the tail on the picture on the wall. The tail was on Sombra's left hoof. Sandbar just shrugged as he walked back to the others. The party went on for hours, and they decided to keep it going when it began to storm. At some point during the party, someone knocked on the castle's front door. "I'll get it!" Ocellus said happily, trotting over to the door. She opened the door and found something that shocked her to her core. Before her stood Cozy Glow. He wings were bleeding heavily and she looked like she had been up for days. The rain had soaked her mane and matted her fur along with the dirt, blood, and grime. "Golly. You look surprised to see little old me." She said with a dark grin. "Did everypony miss me? Admit it. You missed me." Cozy said, grinning wider. Before Ocellus could respond, the peach filly fell over, knocked out cold. Author's Note And with that, a new story begins! I hope everyone enjoys it. Leave a comment, I love reading and responding to any comments I get. Constructive Criticism is welcome
HospitalizedView OnlineA Cozy RedemptionHospitalized"I don't know! She just, showed up like this!" Ocellus said as she rushed with Twilight to the E.R. "Did she say anything before she lost consciousness?!" Twilight demanded, carefully holding Cozy Glow in her magic, not wanting to worsen the pegasus filly's already dire condition. "No! She didn't say anything important! I don't even know why she's here!" Ocellus said. Twilight would have to question the pegasus filly when she awoke. "If she was able to get out of Tartarus there might be serious breach, and that could spell out all kinds of danger for not just Equestria but the entire world!" Twilight said as they came up to the hospital. Nurse Redheart immediately ran over when Twilight burst into the room holding a very injured filly in her magic. "This way!" She said, leading her to an open E.R. "Get her stable, Redheart!" Twilight said as she placed her on the bed. "That's my job!" Redheart said as she hooked Cozy Glow up to all the machines necessary. She eventually pushed Twilight and Ocellus out of the room. "Go wait somewhere else! I need to concentrate to do this right!" She said before closing the door on them. Twilight and Ocellus walked to the entrance of the Hospital, where all of their friends have gathered. They were all talking among themselves, wondering what had happened. This was when Twilight and Ocellus came out. Starlight immediately trotted over to them, extremely worried. "What happened!? Why did you to run off to the hospital out of nowhere?" Twilight waited for all of her friends to gather around. She looked at all of them before sighing. "....Cozy Glow is back." She revealed. Everyone present gasped in shock. "Evil Pegasus back!?!" Yona shouted. "How is that possible!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "We don't know. But the fact of the matter is that she is back, and she is very badly hurt." Twilight said to all of them. "I don't know how she got out of Tartarus, and I don't know why she came to my castle or even why she is so hurt. But I can't just let her suffer. She needs medical attention." Smolder huffed angrily, smoke blowing out of her nostrils. "If ya ask me, I think we should just let her rot! She betrayed us all!" She shouted. Ocellus walked up to Smolder and held her, trying to calm her down. Everyone was very conflicted on the matter of Cozy Glow, not knowing what to do. "I think we should hear what she has to say. She came all this way to talk to you, Twilight. Maybe she's sorry? Everyone deserves a second chance, right? Isn't that what you taught me?" Starlight said, putting a tender hoof on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight smiled down and her best friend and kissed her forehead. "You're right as always, Star." She said before looking at everyone. She cleared her throat and spread her wings, giving out an official announcement. "Once her condition is stable, she will be placed under strict supervision. I will devise a rotation schedule, we will all need to do our part." Twilight announced. "Let's try to keep this quiet from the public. Last thing we need is ponies who are still upset with Cozy to come in and try to hurt her while she's recovering. She could have extremely important information regarding how she got out of Tartarus, and that is something we need to know!" Twilight said regally. Everybody nodded and prepared to do there part. "We'll all pitch it. Right guys?" Sandbar asked his friends. Ocellus nodded with a small smile. Silverstream bounced up and down, nodding furiously. "It right thing to do." Yona said with her own smile. Smolder and Gallus looked at each other, unsure if this was the right decision. They looked at their friends, who were looking at them expectantly. "Ugh. Fine. Go team." They said with small grins of their own. Twilight looked down at the ground. She was putting up a good enough act, but in reality, she was extremely worried. Something has gone terribly wrong, and she felt that Cozy Glow was the only one that could tell them what exactly they had to be on the look out for. But for now, all anyone could do was wait for her to regain consciousness, which could take Celestia knows how long. A few hours later, Redheart came out of the room and walked her way over to Twilight and her friends. Twilight immediately stood up when she saw Redheart, everyone else following suit. "How is she doc?" Rainbow asked. Redheart looked over everyone and sighed. "She was in pretty bad shape. She showed signs of extreme fatigue and starvation. Her cheeks were sunken in a little and her stomach was very very thin. But the worst part of it all was her wings. They were practically falling off! I had to use stitches on them! If you hadn't gotten her here as fast as you did, she would've lost her wings." Redheart revealed. This made everyone gasp in horror, the winged creatures present felt especially bad for Cozy now. "I have her hooked up to some IV and all the standard stuff, and her condition isn't dire, but I recommend that you let her rest and recover here until she looks like she did last year." Redheart said. "She may be a messed up little filly, but she's still just a kid, and I'm not going to let her die." Redheart said. Twilight nodded in response to Redheart's words. "I feel the same way, Doctor." Twilight told her. Everyone was still conflicted on Cozy Glow, but they could all shakily agree that they didn't want to see her suffer like this. "Anyways, I'm going to make that schedule now." Twilight said, teleporting a quill and scroll. "I'll volunteer for first shift!" Ocellus said, raising a hoof. Twilight smiled down at Ocellus and patted her head. "Alright, then. Is she able to go in right now, Doc?" Twilight asked as she began writing up a schedule for Cozy Glow's supervision. "Yes, her condition is stable." Redheart said with a nod. "Though she won't be waking up today." Twilight nodded and motioned for Ocellus to head inside. "Alright everybody, I recommend that everyone stays in my castle until further notice about the Cozy Glow matter, it'll make things a lot easier." Twilight said. Everyone gave their assent before heading off to do their own things for the time being. Twilight sighed as she filled out the scroll with everyone's names and cutie marks. She had hoped to see Cozy Glow again at some point in the future, but not so soon. And definitely not like this. Only time would tell how things would play out. For now though, she had a schedule to write. Author's Note This Story is very well received, much more than I thought it was going to be. I'm glad everybody seems to be enjoying this one so much It feels good to be writing again, and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter as much as the last chapter.
TerrifiedView OnlineA Cozy RedemptionTerrified"Can I have Fillydelphia?" Cozy found herself asking. "No you can't small mare." Grogar growls, turning back to face Chrysalis. "I'm not a mare, Goat Boy! I'm a kid!" Cozy shouted, feeling proud of herself that she was able to do what she did as just a child. The other villains stopped what they were doing and turned to face her, "You're a foal?" Grogar asks accusingly. "Yeah, dumbass! Aren't you supposed to be this all knowing being?" Cozy snarked. "Wait....this feels familiar..." Cozy said in sudden realization. "Little bitch!" Tirek swats her out of the air with his enormous hand, sending her flying into the wall, "You're one of Hers aren't you?!" He hissed at her. Cozy groaned after she hit the wall with a harsh impact. She peeled her small body off of it. "Tirek! What the fuck!?" Chrysalis walked over, and sucked some of the lingering love she felt for Twilight from the filly. "Oh yeah, she was definitely with her." "With who!? I'm one the bad guys! I came closer to succeeding than all of you!" Cozy screamed, her face red with rage. He grabs the filly, squeezing her harshly, "I knew it was a trap! I'll rip your wings off!" Tirek yelled in Cozy's face. "AAAGH!" Cozy screamed thrashing around. "Let me go!" She screamed. "Why are you doing this, Tirek!? I thought we were friends!" "You were a tool!" He yells, grabbing her wings to apparently make good on his threat to rip them off. Cozy screamed loudly as she felt her wings begin to stretch and pop. "Stop it!!! Let go of me!!" She screamed. "Please!!! I don't know what I did wrong!!" "Tirek... stop! I've got a better idea," Chrysalis said with a chuckle, walking over. Tirek stopped, looking at the changeling, "Better than ripping her to pieces?" "Yes. Why don't we use her for pleasure?" Chrysalis giggled. Cozy paled at those words and struggled even more than before. Her wings twisted and popped with every movement, but she would get free! "Let go of me! I've done nothing!!!" Cozy! ".....hehehe....hehehe!" Tirek started to cackle madly, throwing Cozy against the wall again, "I think you might be right for once, bug!" Cozy felt something in her wings break. Something important. She hit the wall and let out a silent scream of agony. She fell to the ground with a thud and tried to crawl away. Chrysalis pinned her with magic. "You're not going anywhere!" "Let go! Go away!" Cozy screamed, thrashing around under her hold, trying to power through. Cozy!! She could see both of their lengths hard and pulsing already. Chrysalis's was huge, but she could probably take it. Tirek's on the other hoof....it was gargantuan. Just the head was bigger than her. Cozy paled in terror at this. She began to breath heavily as her heartbeat skyrocketed and she tried to scramble away with all the energy she had, and even when she ran out of energy she still tried to run away. Cozy!!! Tirek grabbed her again, using his magic to cut away her tail and reveal her immature filly bits. Chrysalis licked her lips. "It's been so long since I've last had fun with a young one." Cozy began to sob as she desperately tried to use her wings to fly away. "no....no....get away.....get away!!" She felt searing pain in them as Tirek laughed, positioning her over his giant cock, "I can't wait to feel your tiny body dying around my cock~!" Tirek laughed evilly. "No....no...no....NO!!!" Cozy screamed as she inched closer and closer. He slammed her on his cock, and she felt unspeakable pain for half a second. Cozy let out a scream louder than she ever had before in her life as she sat up in the hospital bed. Her heartbeat spiked so hard in fast the machine could barely keep up. She thrashed around wildly, her movements beginning to open wounds. "GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" She bellowed, waking up anypony and everypony who was asleep in the entire hospital. Twilight was the current pony on watch for Cozy, and she had been witnessing very irregular movements from her for a few minutes. When she woke up screaming bloody murder, Twilight was understandably very shocked, confused, and concerned. She flew over to Cozy and tried to hold her still, attempting to keep her from hurting herself. Cozy screamed when she felt hooves touch her. "NO! NO! LET GO OF ME! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" She screamed, thrashing around in Twilight's grip. "Cozy! Cozy!! It's okay! You're okay!" Twilight said in the most soothing voice she could muster. She held Cozy to her body in a hug, keeping her secure and warm. Eventually, Cozy's thrashing died down and she began taking deep breaths. Once her vision became clear, she was staring directly at Twilight Sparkle. "H-Headmistress..." She breathed out. She blinked a few times before letting out another scream. She wiggled out of Twilight's grip and she backed away to the other side of the room, the cords connecting to her pulling everything around and making a mess. The terrified filly was shivering in a corner, staring at Twilight Sparkle, who might as well be the grim reaper. "S-Stay away!" Cozy hissed, completely terrified. Twilight slowly and gently approached the filly. "Easy....easy...I'm not going to hurt you." Twilight said, raising her hooves to show she meant no harm. Cozy whimpered in fear as Twilight closed the distance between them. She tried to spread her wings but was met with an intense pain. She hissed from the pain and stopped trying to move her wings. Twilight was soon directly in front of the small, scared little filly. "P-Please, just leave me alone." Cozy begged, not wanting to relive what she had just dreamed about. Twilight pulled her into a gentle hug. "Shhh...shhh....it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you..." Twilight said with that same soothing tone. The purple alicorn gently rubbed the filly's back, being careful to avoid any wounds on her wings. The hug eventually did get Cozy to calm down, at least enough to stop screaming and shaking. "Now, let's get you back into the bed, Cozy. You are very hurt, you need rest." Twilight said, using her magic to fix all the medical equipment and remade the bed. She gently placed Cozy down, making sure none of the cords hooked up to her were tangled. Cozy looked up at Twilight with worry, fear, and confusion. "W-What are you going to do to me?" She whimpered. Twilight shook her head softly. "Nothing. I was going to ask you a few questions, but you clearly need time. I'll be here for a few more hours. If you feel like talking to me about anything, I will be here." Twilight said, gently patting Cozy before walking back to the couch and sitting down. Cozy stared at Twilight as she began reading a book. The mare was giving off no hostile tendencies, so Cozy would take her chances with her. It definitely beat....Those ponies. Cozy grew a saddened look on her face as she recalled what had been said to her back in that cave. She should've known Tirek didn't truly believe in her. Who would? She will always be on her own. Nobody would ever understand her. Nobody. She sighed and leaned back into the bed, looking around the hospital room, trying to see if there was anything around that would tell her Twilight's plans for her. The only thing she found was a schedule up on the wall next to the entrance of the room, labeled Cozy's Healing Supervision. It looks like it had been five days since she came to Twilight's castle. The list consisted of everyone from the young six and everyone from Twilight's main group of friends. Cozy just sighed as she looked at the chart and leaned back into the bed once more. She closed her eyes as she thought of what to do. She went through the pros of cons of each decision she had to make right now, remembering many events. Including how Twilight and the others placed her in Tartarus, and how Tirek betrayed her at Grogar's cave. But what really got to her, was her dream. She let out a sigh before sitting up. "....Twilight?" She called. Twilight looked up and placed a bookmark in her book before putting it down. "Yes, Cozy?" She responded gently. Cozy took a deep breath as she made her decision. "I have something to tell you. Something really important." Author's Note And there is the third chapter! Hope everyone likes this one, I know this one was pretty dark, but I still think it turned out okay. Leave a like if you enjoyed and any comments that are made I will respond to! Constructive Criticism is welcome!
Dreams and MemoriesView OnlineA Cozy RedemptionDreams and MemoriesCozy was going to tell Twilight everything that had happened right then and there, but she just began coughing and hacking. Twilight grew concerned as it grew worse and worse. Twilight called for the doctors, they would be able to find out what was wrong. She was still very damaged inwardly, but she was getting better. The doctors insisted she go back to sleep, but she really didn't want to repeat what had happened. "Cozy please. You need to rest and recover. Anything you need to say can wait." Twilight said softly. "No....No no no! no more sleep! No more Nightmares!" Cozy shouted, going into another brief coughing fit. "If you're worried about nightmares, we can just talk to princess Luna." Twilight told her. Cozy took deep breaths and tried to calm her agitated throat. "....That could work..." She said, her voice very hoarse. Twilight's horn glowed briefly and a message was sent to Luna. A couple of minutes later, the Alicorn of The Night appeared in the hospital room with a midnight blue flash of light. Cozy shrunk into the hospital bed and tried to avoid Luna's gaze. "I will help you rest easy, but not out of concern for you." Luna said bluntly. Cozy's ears folded sadly but she nodded in understanding. She leaned back into her bed and closed her eyes. Luna walked over to the side of the bed and sat down. Her horn lit up as she closed her eyes. She proceeded to enter the filly's dreamscape. The moment Luna opened her eyes in Cozy's dreamscape, she knew she was in for it. Cozy had one of the most damaged psyches that the Alicorn had ever seen. "Hmph...I only need repair enough for her too sleep. There is too much trauma for one nights work." Luna looked around for the cause of the trauma. There was too much spanning from so far in her memories and mindscape for her to directly pinpoint the cause of it all right away. Her psyche had been terribly traumatized and damaged for years it seemed. "I'll just have to use a suppression charm, it should last long enough for a good night sleep. And if not I can teach Twilight to reapply the spell." Luna said to herself as she searched for the filly. She eventually found Cozy, or rather her consciousness, huddled in a ball surrounded by demonic looking shadows. "Go away..." The filly whimpered. "Begone!!" Luna commanded, her horn lighting up as she prepared to banish the shadows, "You will feed on her fear no longer!" The shadows hissed at Luna before they morphed together and flew off. Cozy looked up at the princess, wiping away her tears. "Th-Thank you." Luna grunted indifferently. "Your thanks are irrelevant. This ward will protect you for the night." A blue tinted shield was erected around the filly. Cozy looked around herself, taking in the sight of the blue dream shield. "Still, thank you...." The filly insisted. "I'm looking forward to finally being able to rest." Luna once again gave the pegasus and indifferent grunt. "...Hmph. I will teach Twilight this spell for future convenience." Luna said as she turned away. Cozy said nothing more as the Alicorn of The Night left her dream with a flash. She sighed as she curled up and laid there, letting her mind resume it's rest. Meanwhile, At the Dormitories: Ocellus walked towards the dorm of her dragoness friend. She hadn't come out in awhile, and she could probably guess why. Inside of the room, the lights were off and Smolder was buried in her pillow hoard, little puffs of smoke coming out of it. "Smolder, you're going to fall behind in our studies if you keep sleeping!" Ocellus warned from outside the dragoness's dorm. "How can you study at a time like this...?" Smolder groaned, still half asleep. Ocellus sighed to herself before leaning against the door. "Look, Smolder. You can't just sit in there forever. You need to come out and things with us, or you'll never feel better." The changeling insisted. Smolder glared at the door. "I'll come out when it's my turn to watch Cozy." She growled a little, but was too tired to do much else. "Fine, I'll leave, not without saying this: What happened to Cozy wasn't your fault." Ocellus said before she trotted away. ".....Yes it was...." Smolder assured to herself, thinking back to last year, "I should've turned her in...I knew she was doing something..." Smolder let out a rare show of intense emotion. A single tear trailed down her scaly cheek. If she had just told someone... She didn't want to believe, she'd denied all the evidence until it was too late. She'd heard the things Cozy said when she thought no one was around. The drawings she found, the things she said, the times she caught her crying to herself. Smolder should have intervened and have been the one Cozy latched onto. But, since she was hesitant, Tirek had gotten in her head. "....I won't let you down this time Cozy. I swear on the Empress." Smolder swore to herself. Cozy eventually woke up from her sleep, finally feeling a little more rested. She had no idea how much time had passed. She looked over to the chart to see that after Twilight it was Smolder's turn. She looked towards a clock and saw that it was just after midnight, which meant it was time for a change in schedule. With Twilight being as punctual as she was, she had already left and was most likely getting Smolder right now. Said dragon came in after a few minutes, holding a bouquet of spider lilies, "H-hi Cozy..." The dragoness said with a small wave. Cozy sat up, wincing when she agitated her wings. "H-Hey..." She greeted nervously. "....I got you these." Smolder sat next to the bed, holding out the flowers. Cozy took the bouquet and hugged it. "Thank you." She said with a small smile. She was....pleased, that Smolder remembered her favorite flower. "You're welcome..." Smolder blushed a little, but it wasn't very visible. Cozy's ear flicked when a thought struck her. She still had to tell everyone about what she learned. "Listen...Smolder? I have something important to say." Cozy said as she set the spider lilies in a vase. "Of course, go ahead." Smolder nodded, scooching closer. Cozy took a deep breath before looking Smolder dead in the eyes. "I wasn't the only one who had escaped Tartarus. Tirek is gone too. But that's not what's the pressing matter. Sombra is back, and I'm pretty sure he plans to invade any day now." "Sombra? But didn't he die? I thought Spike killed him or something." Smolder said as she scratched her head in confusion. "I don't understand it myself, but that's what I saw. There was this mean goat guy that summoned us. Me, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Sombra." Cozy explained. "I think his name was Gronar or something." "Gronar...? I think I should go get Twilight. She'll be able to make sense of all this." "Okay...I wanted to tell her yesterday but she insisted that I rested. And I didn't want to make her angry so I listened." Cozy said as Smolder stood up from the chair. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she listens this time." Smolder promised with a grin. "Thank you." Cozy said, fighting away her own smile. "Don't mention it!" Smolder said before she ran out if the hospital and flew towards the school. Cozy leaned back into her bed with a sigh. She turned her head and stared at the spider lilies on the bedside table. No one had ever remembered her favorite...anything, before. She couldn't help but smile. She ran her hoof along one of the petals for a second before she just laid there. After a few minutes Smolder returned, Twilight in tow, "I found her!" "Did you tell her?" Cozy asked the dragoness. "Yeah but she wants to hear it from you." Smolder stood off to the side while Twilight sat down. "Are you absolutely sure about what you saw Cozy?" Cozy looked at Twilight seriously and nodded. "Yes, I'm sure." "I need you to tell me everything you saw." The Alicorn insisted, looking back just as seriously. Cozy took a deep breath before she began to recount every thing about the incident. Twilight grew more and more concerned as this went on, a grave look on her face. "Well...that's everything." Cozy said. "What are you going to do with me now?" "Nothing. You're going to stay here and rest while I go talk to Celestia and Luna about this." Cozy sighed and slunk back into her bed. "Okay, fine." She grunted. She'd have to wait until this was all over for her sentence. "Thank you for telling me about this Cozy. " Twilight told her sincerely, standing up. "No problem. Just remember that I helped before you make any decisions." She grumbled as she pulled the blanket over head. "I will, I promise." Twilight left, Smolder sitting down quietly. Cozy didn't move or say anything. She just laid there, hoping she could fall asleep again. "...do you need anything?" Smolder asked quietly, sincerely. "...Sleep." Cozy responded gruffly, shifting in the bed. ".....I can't open up right now." "Okay. I'll just...read I guess." Smolder went quiet, looking around the room. After a few minutes of sheer silence, Cozy finally broke. "....I'm sorry." "Huh? Sorry for what?" Smolder asked, looking up at her. "....Everything." Cozy whimpered, poking her head above the sheets. "You were so nice to me....and I betrayed you. Like everyone else." "It's...it's okay. I understand that you weren't in the best place when you...you know." Smolder but a hand on her hoof. Cozy smiled at little and squeezed Smolder's hand with her hoof. Somehow. "I....appreciate that." She eventually pulled away again. "Thank you..." Smolder smiled happily, "No problem." She looked around the room. "...you wanna watch some tv or anything?" Cozy shook her head. "You go ahead if you want to. I really need to sleep." "I'll just be quiet then." The dragon sat back in her chair, looking at nothing. "....I....might be able to sleep better if....I was being held...." Cozy tried, not looking at Smolder so she couldn't see her blush. Smolder was blushing as well, not that she could see, "O-oh...well...I suppose I could if, if you really need it..." Cozy tried to fight the blush off. "Y-Yeah...I don't want to have another nightmare. Just....watch the wings." "Okay, I'll just..." Smolder carefully climbed onto the bed, being mindful of the tubes. Cozy smiled when she felt Smolder's scaly arms wrap around her. Smolder held her chest to chest, arms under wings, "Y-You comfortable?" "Yes." Cozy said as she gently snuggled into Smolder. "Thank you." "Yeah, no problem." Smolder was too paralyzed to do anything else, blushed deep orange. Cozy was finally able to get to sleep, and didn't have any nightmares. Smolder however, got no sleep. She was filled with embarrassment, not knowing what to do. Eventually, the warmth of the small pegasus in her arms lulled her to sleep. She vowed right then and there that she would see to it that things worked this time. Author's Note It's been so long since I've written for this story that I've forgotten all of my original plans. So instead, my partner and I are coming with all new things to work with. Thank you to The Lurker (my partner) for co-writing this chapter with me.
