Cozy Glow learns a lesson

Cozy had waited until the loud, obnoxious snores on the other side of the hall doubled before making her play. Five pawns, five nails, out of the window they had been plucked by her hammer. As she took flight into the three am skies, not a single pony who wasn't in a dead state from waking up so early for work or going from a night shift saw her. It would be easy now, just a trot to the train station where she would hitch a ride as a stowaway and she could end up anywhere in Equestria and start again, like she had done so many times before, like what her parents had done to her. Just board the train, adopt a new name and mane style and she could start again.

She sat there in the grass, watching the smoke from a train now arriving at the station as she thought about it. This had been what she wanted, what she had waited so many nights for, waiting for Cake to fall asleep, for Twilight to leave, and for Spike to be occupied for her to steal the hammer and make her way out. But now she was truly lost, she could not move a hoof without feeling like she had made a mistake- that she had made a terrible mistake.

Until she saw the sun begin to rise on the horizon, a silent fear of how she once had it all and lost. It was now or never, and she had made her decision. Quickly running as fast as she could and dodging sight lines, flying on top of roofs and under unaware ponies until she made it to the platform. Right ahead was her ticket, an open door with nopony around to stop her from getting on and hiding somewhere aboard, just a few more hoofsteps and she’d-

A cold feeling swepped over her as she felt it again, regret. But this time her fear was the one fighting it, desperately trying to pull her limbs to no avail until a voice, like one she had heard screaming at her so many times before came into her ears.

“That's far enough, Cozy Glow,” Cake said in a low tone.

It wasn't her fears holding her back, it was a restraint spell. She couldn't so much as move her throat to cough, let alone barely breathe in. Her eyes would have released more tears had they been able to.

“She went to the train station again?” asked Twilight, sleepily.

“She always comes here, she's not very original.” Cake shrugged. “Tell Celestia I failed to redeem her, and to send some ponies to move her to a cell in Tartarus,” she added.

“This is awful… I was so sure anypony, even her, could be redeemed…” Twilight said as she pulled out a scroll and began to write.

“This is my fault, I should have noticed the signs sooner… stopped her from ever writing those letters to Tirek… maybe if we just got to her sooner…” Cake said, rubbing Twilight’s shoulders with a hoof.

Cozy wanted to apologize to them, to explain herself and how weak they were to not see friendship as the power it was and the luxury they had been taking it for. In time they would understand, when Cozy Glow had more friends than the Princess of friendship they would both understand its power. And maybe, just maybe, she would spare them so they would always remember who was right all along. Or maybe she was just taking the fact they hadn't turned her to stone for nearly sucking all the magic out of Equestria for granite. To her it didn't matter what they did to her, or how long they did it. She would never change her mind, they were weak and she would always be stronger than them.