Somepony Saved My Life Tonight
History had taught Sunset Shimmer that there was a correlation between ponies and their human counterparts. While she’d never met her own double, a fact that troubled her periodically, she had a fairly decent sample size. So when there was trouble on one side of the portal, news was quickly spread to the other, so the troublemaker’s counterpart could be observed.
The latest Equestrian criminal was a filly named Cozy Glow. She was now serving time in Canterlot Castle’s statue garden, with an expected parole date of ‘never’. Sunset hadn’t been there, and she had no point of reference for Cozy Glow, but she did know Twilight pretty well, and figured that once things had settled down, the princess would reevaluate that. If Discord could be more or less reformed, redeeming a filly should be a breeze in comparison.
That mattered little to Sunset. What did cause her concern was that somewhere in her own world, there was another Cozy Glow. She knew for a fact the girl didn’t attend Canterlot High, so she started investigating other schools. She wasn’t particularly surprised to find Cozy Glow at Crystal Prep.
While Sunset didn’t attend Crystal Prep, she had friends who did. Twilight had once been a student there, and between the two of them they had excuses to visit their rival school periodically. Keeping an eye on the girl wasn’t difficult. Cozy Glow didn’t hide. To the contrary, she seemed to relish being the center of attention. That certainly aligned with her pony counterpart, and while neither Sunset nor Twilight had observed anything suspicious, there was still something unsettling about the girl. ‘Fake’ was the word that immediately jumped to mind, but insincerity and dishonesty were hardly uncommon in high schoolers. There was no evidence she was leading a militia to overthrow the government. Part of Sunset was relieved by that. The rest of her was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Perhaps Cozy Glow was biding her time, waiting for the right time to strike. Or perhaps she was innocent; a completely normal, but shallow, teenage girl. Of course, that still meant that Cozy was just one errant bit of Equestrian magic away from going crazy. Just like everyone else.
Sunset sighed. Sometimes life was complicated.
Thankfully, Cozy Glow was connected on social media – it wasn’t challenging to find her on the internet. They had a few friends in common, and Cozy accepted Sunset’s friend request immediately. That made it immensely easier to keep tabs on her, and Sunset could do so from the comfort of her own home. As could the other four hundred and eighty-seven people the young girl was ‘friends’ with.
SunsetAndTheRainbooms: Heard ur good @ chess. Would <3 to play u sometime.
CozyGlow4President: Challenge accepted.
Cozy Glow sent Sunset a link, which she clicked to find an online chess site. Cozy had already chosen black, leaving Sunset with white, and the opening move. Sunset wasn’t horrible at chess, but Cozy quickly demonstrated her superiority at the game, winning the game in less than twenty moves. Cozy then spent the next five minutes gloating over her win.
As Sunset perused the girl’s social media accounts, the first thing she noticed was that Cozy had a cat named Snuffles. It was apparent that she was particularly fond of her pet, if the number of kitty selfies was anything to go by. The rest of her feed tended to be cute and cuddly things that any self-respecting teenager would cringe at and then mock mercilessly.
Considering her counterpart’s favorite manipulation tactics involved being adorable, it was another reason to watch the girl. Sunset spent half an hour digging through Cozy’s profile, discovering she was captain of Crystal Prep’s chess team, and freshman class vice president. It was enough that Sunset made a mental note to check Cozy’s feed every time she logged onto the site from then on out.
So it went for months. The extent of her interactions with Cozy were periodic games of chess, and the younger girl defeated her soundly every time. For the most part, Cozy seemed like a typical teenager, but more intelligent and mature than most of her peers… even if her taste was a bit childish. But there were no signs of scheming, and so Sunset let her be. Her task was to observe, not harass.
One day without content from Cozy wasn’t abnormal, and Sunset didn’t even notice. After the third day with no update, Sunset decided to investigate further. Most likely, she and her family had gone on vacation, and Cozy was smart enough not to broadcast to the whole world that she’d be gone for a period of time. Criminals loved social media, as people often shared more information than they should.
From Cozy’s page, Sunset found her mother’s page. She’d updated several times over the past few days… from the hospital. Cozy’s kidneys had failed. Now her mother was currently under the knife, donating a kidney to try and save her daughter’s life.
Sunset continued watching for updates, and was relieved to discover that the operation was a success. Cozy’s life went back to normal, and Sunset didn’t even give it another thought; she just went back to passively monitoring Cozy’s activities. She also made a note of the girl’s mother’s name. Equestrian authorities had never located the filly’s parents; maybe this would be the lead they needed to track them down.
A month later Cozy’s feed abruptly stopped again. This time, Sunset zipped over to the girl’s mother’s page as soon as she noticed. It was as she’d feared: Cozy’s body had rejected her mother’s kidney. Her mother’s post was begging for another volunteer to come forward, because the waiting list was too long. Cozy had been put into an induced coma and wasn’t expected to live long enough to get a donor organ. Sunset sighed. There was a way…
Sunset drove to the hospital and requested to see Cozy Glow. She was directed to the room, and found the girl’s ‘mother’ weeping in the corner. Heartlight introduced herself as the director of the city’s orphanage, and revealed that Cozy was her charge, not her daughter. Cozy had taken to calling her ‘mom’ and Heartlight had never discouraged her from doing so. Even if she wasn’t Cozy’s biological mother, the woman’s tears were real – she cared for the girl, more than just duty would dictate. Sunset’s heart went out to her.
Sunset quickly introduced herself as one of Cozy’s friends, and moved a chair over to the bed, next to the hemodialysis machine. She sat down and grasped the comatose girl’s wrist. The moment of truth – had this Cozy also been plotting to take over the world?
…She had. Her plans were still in their early stages, nowhere near as developed as her Equestrian counterpart’s. That Cozy had had Tirek’s experience to draw from to expedite the process. This one had not. Like her pony self, this Cozy was also not a very good person, scheming and manipulating her way through life. With Cozy Glow’s most private thoughts laid bare, Sunset could see how the girl’s world view had warped slowly over time. Her adorable persona was her shtick for trying to find a home. Prospective parents wanted cute kids, and with each passing year she found herself at a disadvantage to the younger, cuter children available to adopt. People were more likely to adopt babies, and she was currently eleven. Eleven and a freshman in high school. That denoted the girl had skipped two, or possibly three, grades along the way.
Cozy had come to view the adoption process as a competition. A competition she was determined to win, no matter the cost. So she acted younger and made herself look cuter. But every time prospective parents passed her by, she took the rejection personally. It made her bitter as she watched other children get adopted, but no one wanted to be stuck with her. Cozy didn’t like being a loser.
As bad as Sunset felt after discovering Cozy’s past, none of that excused her actions. Cozy was a highly intelligent girl – she knew better than to do things like this. Cozy had no remorse for her actions in the least. As much as she hated thinking about her own past, Sunset reminded herself that she’d also felt no remorse until she was zapped by a rainbow laser beam. It was simultaneously a horrible feeling as she regretted everything she’d ever done wrong, and an amazing, overwhelming feeling of acceptance and forgiveness. Such was the taste of the rainbow known as the Elements of Harmony.
Yet… Cozy’s life was on the line. Could she just leave the girl to die? Would Twilight Sparkle? No, she’d just turn the poor kid to stone and be done with it… Kick the can down the road and deal with it in the future, or better yet, never. Sunset reminded herself that wasn’t an option. She weighed the options in her mind. The easiest course was to do nothing. The girl would die, and there’d be one less problem to deal with in the future. No one would ever know that there could have been a way to save her.
No one except Sunset Shimmer would know, anyway. Could she live with the guilt if she turned a blind eye to a fellow human being? The thought weighed heavily on her mind, and instead of returning home, she detoured to the orphanage.
After introducing herself to Heartlight’s husband, Sunset was given the tour. Cozy Glow shared a room with another girl, Rose Dust. Rose had a nasty shiner, and Sunset immediately reached out a hand to greet the girl. Instead of shaking her hand though, she gripped her wrist to see just what had blackened her eye. She’d been hit by one of the boys in the orphanage. Sunset had a sinking suspicion what she’d discover if she read his memories, and confirmed it a few minutes later upon meeting him. Cozy had bribed him with a week’s worth of desserts to hit Rose.
Sunset glanced back at Rose – she was a few years younger than Cozy, and definitely adorable. Cozy considered Rose her biggest rival and had acted accordingly. Sunset sighed. It wasn’t quite the same thing as trying to drain all the magic from Equestria, but there was no denying this Cozy also had questionable morals.
But there was something else she’d seen when scanning Cozy’s memories that she wanted to find. “Does Cozy have any belongings?”
Rose pointed to a beat-up chest at the foot of Cozy’s bed, and Sunset opened it.
“Cozy dun like people going through her stuff, lady.”
“It’s okay, Rose. If I’m going to adopt her, I want to know her.”
“Does that mean she’s gonna be okay?”
“I like to think optimistically.” Sunset smiled at the girl.
“Good. Cozy Glow is amazing. She oughtta be President.”
Even without finding the item she was looking for, that made Sunset pause. “You think Cozy would be a good President?”
Rose nodded. “She’s so smart, and she’s always nice to everybody. An’ she wants to be President. She’d be really good at it.”
Sunset pulled a plush horse out of the chest of Cozy’s belongings. Pink with curly blue hair, it had a rook prominently featured on it’s flank. Sunset hadn’t seen any pictures of Cozy Glow’s pony counterpart, but she wouldn’t be surprised if she looked identical to the stuffed animal in her hands.
There was a string on the pony’s back and Sunset pulled it. “Golly, Cozy Glow sure would make a swell President.”
Rose nodded. “See! Even her little pony thinks she’d be a good President.”
“So I see…” Sunset tucked the plush toy under her arm and continued rummaging in Cozy’s toy chest. A battered chess set was the only other thing of interest, but she left it behind.
Sunset said her goodbyes, then started walking. The orphanage was only a few blocks from the city park, and Sunset sat on one of the benches to help clear her mind. She idly pulled the string on the pony toy. “Hi! I’m Cozy Glow!”
Cozy had spent years looking as cute as possible, competing against the other orphans. Years of taking each and every rejection to heart, and becoming more and more bitter with each passing year. No one wanted her. It made her wonder what was wrong with her. Eventually, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. If there’d ever been a point in the girl’s past when she was normal, it had long since passed. There was definitely something wrong with her now.
“Wanna be friends?” Sunset pulled the cord again. “Friendship is power!”
“Yeah, I see where you’re going with this, kiddo. You’re a very naughty little pony.” She booped the plush toy’s nose. “All right, let’s go see your namesake.”
She returned to the hospital once again to check on Cozy. There’d been no change in her status, and she continued clinging to life. The constant beeping of the machines monitoring Cozy was Sunset’s only companionship as she sat there by the girl’s bed, holding her wrist and reviewing her memories once more. With the added input of what she’d observed at the orphanage, the complete picture of just what this girl had done and had been planning to do was clear.
Having all the pieces to the puzzle didn’t sway her in the least. Sunset had made her decision, and it felt right. She’d been forgiven for her own transgressions. Should she not extend the same courtesy to someone who hadn’t even had the chance to set her plans in motion? Someone she could possibly help nudge in a better direction before she crossed the point of no return?
Sunset patted Cozy’s hand and stood up. Heartlight was pacing up and down the hallway and Sunset stopped her. “I… I’m going to make some inquiries. I make no promises except this one: I’ll do everything in my power to help her. If she makes it, I’d like to adopt her. I know I’m still rather young myself, but I think I might be able to relate to her better than most. She’s a very smart young lady.”
Cozy’s caretaker thanked her and Sunset went on her way. Instead of going to her apartment, she texted her friends, then headed for the school. She was going home. Again. Not that Equestria really felt like home to her anymore. She’d made a new life for herself on Earth, but that didn’t stop the occasional pangs of homesickness. She missed having magic at her command 24/7, not just when she was ‘ponied up’. She missed daffodil and daisy sandwiches and the taste of dew-covered clover on a summer morning. Not to mention she missed her family and pony friends. On the flipside, she couldn’t really imagine giving up the life she’d built for herself on Earth. Human technology might not be magic, but was amazing in its own way. Not to mention she’d made more friends on Earth than she’d ever had in Equestria.
But there would be no time for pleasantries this time around – not with a life hanging in the balance. She barely had enough time to notify Princess Twilight she was coming before she crossed through the portal to Equestria. Starlight was waiting for her when she arrived, and had already made travel arrangements for her.
Once in Canterlot, Sunset waited in the statue garden until Twilight had a break in her schedule. It was Sunset Shimmer’s first time seeing the statue, and she couldn’t help but cringe at it. She trusted Twilight, or else she wouldn’t have come to her, but a look at the terrified expression on Cozy’s face made her doubt that this was the best possible solution to dealing with the villainous trio in front of her.
Twilight eventually joined her, and the two ponies sat in the grass looking at the statue. “I’m really uncomfortable with your request to free Cozy Glow.”
Sunset looked at Twilight, then returned her gaze to the petrified villains in front of them. “And I’m really uncomfortable with this.” She motioned to the statue. “That could just as easily be me. It could be Starlight. It could be your human counterpart, after the whole Midnight Sparkle debacle. This isn’t right, Twilight. We need to fix this.”
Twilight sighed. “I’m open to suggestions. They’re not exactly repentant for their crimes.”
“How many of us were, at first, really? Maybe she doesn’t give a rat’s tail about her fellow ponies. But her human self needs her help. If she has any compassion in her, at all, she’ll help. If she can’t find it in her heart to help ‘herself’, then perhaps she really is a lost cause. But if she decides to help her counterpart, then she proves that there’s something in her worth saving. As for the other two… there has to be something they care about other than power. Find it. Use it. Save them from themselves. I don’t know either of them. I never found their human counterparts, if they even exist on Earth at all. I’ll help you any way I can, because this? This can’t stand – it goes against everything you ever taught me, Twilight.”
Twilight hung her head in shame. She hadn’t been the one to make the decision, but she hadn’t lifted a hoof in protest. Her mentor had made the call, and Twilight couldn’t fathom going against anything Celestia had decreed. But maybe that had been the older mare’s point – to do something so despicable in her final act as princess that Twilight would have no choice but to defy it. One last lesson she needed to learn, and it was a doozy: stick to her convictions and be her own mare. It was certainly easier for her to believe that than the alternatives: that either Celestia was vindictive, or the calm and collected former ruler of Equestria had been blinded by rage at the time. Twilight berated herself for needing an outsider’s perspective to open her eyes to the reality of the situation.
But Twilight wasn’t stupid. “I agree that we need to do this. But not here. Not in Equestria. Ponies remember their misdeeds. Furthermore, this one can absorb magic…” She pointed to Tirek, then she pointed to Chrysalis. “…And this one can shapeshift into any other creature she chooses. Any redemption for them needs to be away from here, in a place where their natural abilities can’t be used against the rest of us.”
“Someplace with limited magic. Like Earth.”
Twilight nodded. “Exactly. But that’s a challenge for another day – maybe Cozy can help you with it when the time comes. For now, let’s just free her and then get both of you back to Earth. But keep this in mind – Cozy Glow is your responsibility from now on. Are you still sure you want to do this?”
Sunset nodded. “It’s the right thing to do, and deep down inside you know it too.”
Freeing Cozy without releasing the other two prisoners required help from Starlight as well, so Twilight teleported the statue, Sunset, and herself back to Ponyville.
“We’re really doing this?”
“Yes, Starlight. You gave Stygian a chance when the rest of us were blinded to his despair. You tried to get Chrysalis to join the rest of the changelings in changing.”
“Which she rejected.” Starlight tapped a hoof on her chin, contemplating. “Divide and conquer, then. Starting with the least dangerous, and the one who already knows friendship.”
Twilight huffed. “I taught her everything she knows, but she completely missed the point.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. It wasn’t the time for dramatics or sarcasm. “She’s about to get a practical application in the point soon enough. So how do we do this?”
Twilight’s purple aura glowed over the statue, analyzing the spell that had petrified the trio. “We just need to reverse the work of two alicorns and Chaos incarnate.”
“Piece of cake.” Starlight grinned. “We only need to let one of them out, so if we focus all our magic on Cozy, we don’t have to unravel the spell at all. We just need to open a filly-sized gap in it. It’ll be more challenging if you decide you want to reform the others one at a time, because freeing either Tirek or Chrysalis individually won’t be nearly as easy as this will be.” Starlight unleashed a blast of magic directly at Cozy, and Twilight and Sunset quickly joined her.
Crack.
Sunset opened an eye to see if it was working. It wouldn’t do the other world’s Cozy Glow any good if they inadvertently killed the only one guaranteed to be able to save her. The stone flaked off the nefarious filly, and she turned her head as more of her body was released from confinement. Confusion turned to hope, then quickly turned to fear as she saw just who was releasing her. As her wings were freed, she started flapping them to little effect, since her tail was still connected to Tirek.
Starlight grasped her in her aura and pulled, yanking some of the filly’s tail hairs free in the process. Cozy shrieked in pain as she was pulled free from the statue, which immediately started sealing the tiny hole that remained in her absence.
Starlight kept Cozy levitating in front of them. Cozy looked from them to her still petrified coconspirators. Either Twilight was planning to redeem them one at a time… or she was the first in line for a more permanent execution. She did what she did best – she tried to read the room. Their faces were determined, not angry. That gave her some hope, it meant they probably weren’t there for vengeance.
Cozy had learned some valuable life lessons the hard way – she’d learned not to swear revenge after her failed bid to take over the School of Friendship. Something she wished desperately that Chrysalis had learned previous to their combined defeat… however long ago it had been. She had no allies, no artifacts, and no alicorn magic. She didn’t even have information, so her best asset, her mind, was in the dark about everything. In chess terms, she was down to just her king, facing an opponent who had yet to lose so much as a pawn.
If she had to guess, Cozy figured she’d been sealed in stone less than five years – Twilight hadn’t gotten much bigger, and Starlight hadn’t noticeably aged. The silence was awkward. Were they waiting for her to say something? Was there anything she could say? What was the word ponies used when they wished to express remorse for their actions? Regret was a concept Cozy Glow didn’t believe in, but saps like Twilight Sparkle just ate it up. She finally remembered the word she was looking for – a word she’d last used when she was caught with her hoof in the cookie jar as a foal. “I’m sorry.” She stared at the ground and folded her ears for maximum effectiveness.
Sunset placed her hoof on Cozy’s and quickly saw through the insincere apology. “You’re not sorry in the least.”
“What?!? How dare you accuse me of lying! If I say I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“I can read your memories.”
Cozy laughed, but it was a bitter, resigned laugh. “Fine. Like anypony needs a living lie detector to know that. Just tell me what I have to do to not end up back there.” She pointed to the statue and shuddered.
“You come with me and help save a young girl’s life. I think you’ll find you have a lot in common with her.”
Cozy blinked in surprise. “Me? Save a life? How?”
“I’ll explain what you need to do after we introduce you to her.”
Sunset led the way through the portal, followed by Cozy Glow, with Twilight and Starlight bringing up the rear to make sure the filly didn’t try to bolt.
Three of them had gone through the transformation process before and had an idea of what to expect. The fourth had not, and once she landed back on solid earth she screamed for two full minutes about the changes to her body, especially the loss of her wings. Cozy was also decidedly less enthusiastic about seeing the human versions of Twilight’s friends… including another Twilight Sparkle.
Cozy was herded into a car, and found herself sitting between Rainbow Dash and Applejack for her first ever car ride. She had many questions, but didn’t trust anyone around her enough to ask them. Once they got to the hospital, Twilight’s friends distracted human Cozy’s caretaker, and Sunset ushered Cozy in to meet her comatose counterpart.
“Golly.” Once she’d seen there were two Twilight Sparkles, she’d quickly surmised that she was on her way to meet her own duplicate. “What’s wrong with her? What can I do to help her?”
“Her kidneys have failed, and her body already rejected the one that was donated to her. As you can probably guess, you’re an exact match. Her body won’t reject your kidney. If you don’t do this, she’ll be dead by the end of the month.”
Cozy gulped. “They’d have to…to…cut me open to do that. Don’t I need my kidneys?”
“Just one of them. You’d keep one, and she’d have the other.”
As much as Cozy was attached to her internal organs, her mind was already putting together an exit strategy. She could swap places with the girl, and let her go back to Equestria to be sealed back in a statue, go through friendship reeducation, or whatever else they were planning for her. But she couldn’t do that if her counterpart died. Likewise, the thought of collaborating with herself was appealing. If she could figure out some way to be alone with her duplicate, the two could be twice as effective as either of them could ever hope to be solo. “I… I’ll do it.”
Sunset smiled. “I’ll go make the arrangements. In the meantime, since it’s going to come up eventually, you’re her twin sister. The two of you were separated at birth and have never met each other. I’ll let you come up with your own name.”
Sunset left the room and Cozy climbed into the bed with her counterpart. As a rule, she abhorred physical contact with other ponies, or worse yet, other creatures. But this was herself, the only pony she’d ever loved. She snuggled against her, wrapping an arm around her.
Which is how Twilight found her a minute later. “Cozy.”
She looked up. “Yes?”
“We need to talk. You’ve done a lot of very bad things in your short life.”
Cozy smiled. “Golly, Twilight, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
Twilight groaned. “The cutesy act isn’t fooling anypony ever again. You’re a criminal, and as the ruler of Equestria, I’ve chosen your punishment.”
“Let me guess, I have to go back and take all the classes in your stupid friendship school over again, on account of failing out the first time?”
“No. Cozy Glow, from this day forward, you’re banished from Equestria.”
Cozy gulped. “What? But… but… where am I going to live?” Her words were only an act. Internally, she was jumping for joy at the prospect of being left here with her clone/twin/counterpart/duplicate/whatever she was.
“Sunset has agreed to take care of you. She’s been living here for years, and she’ll help you get set up too. Maybe at some point in the future, if Sunset thinks you’ve made enough progress to completely leave your old ways behind for good, I’ll reconsider your banishment.”
“I used to be a villain too.” Sunset had reentered the room without Cozy having seen her. “I can help you. That is if you want to be helped. I can’t force you to do anything. But I can offer you my friendship, and from what I’ve heard, I might be the only one from Equestria willing to give you that chance.”
Cozy hated to admit that Sunset had a point. She’d sacrificed a lot of pawns, and there’d be no army of ponies backing her up if she made another power play. That ship had sailed and sank. Without an incredibly powerful magical artifact of some sort, she didn’t have much going for her. Grogar’s Bell was by far the most powerful artifact she’d ever gotten her hooves on, and it hadn’t been enough. Despite having been confronted with the proof that it was naught but a fool’s errand, Cozy still desired power. That brief taste of having been an alicorn only whetted her appetite for more.
But she wasn’t welcome in Equestria anymore, anyway, so now the pieces had been reset and it was an entirely new game. There would be time for scheming later. Right now though, she couldn’t bear to look at her other self in such a distressed condition. She motioned to her counterpart. “When do we do this?”
“As soon as the doctor is ready. Considering this is an emergency, it won’t be much longer.”
Cozy nodded, but never relinquished her grip on her duplicate. The longer she stayed in this new body, the more she came to appreciate her new limbs. Cozy Glow was adaptable. She’d long ago learned that plans were prone to change on the fly.
A nurse entered the room. “I need the patients for surgery.” She looked at the two Cozy Glows laying in the bed in shock.
“She’s my long-lost twin. I’m the donor. I should be a perfect match so her body won’t reject it.”
The formerly equine Cozy Glow woke up hours later. Her part in the procedure was over, and they’d left her in a room to recover. Thankfully, they’d also provided her with painkillers, so she didn’t really feel like part of her was now missing.
“Hey kiddo.”
Cozy didn’t have the strength to groan. Her new adoptive ‘mother’ who wasn’t even close to being old enough to be her mom was in the room with her. Of course they wouldn’t leave her unguarded. So much for slipping away while their attention was elsewhere.
“How you holding up?”
“Peachy-keen, jellybean!”
“That’s the morphine. You did good today. I’m curious if that’s the first time in your life you did something nice for someone other than yourself… even if this was technically for yourself. Or at least, if that’s the first time you did something for someone else without getting or expecting something else back in return.”
Cozy shrugged. “Who said I didn’t get something out of this. I’m not locked in stone anymore, and I guess I’ve got a new ‘mother’ now too. Though I get the feeling you don’t want me calling you that any more than I want to.”
Sunset chuckled. “Very astute of you. How about we call me your older sister from another mister.”
The morphine was really good, because Cozy didn’t even feel an urge to mock that. “Sister, got it. How’s the other Cozy doing?”
“She’s doing well. The surgery was a success. As of the last update she’s still sleeping. Considering you just woke up, and your surgery was over sooner, that’s to be expected.”
“Can I see her?”
Sunset shook her head. “You need to stay here and recover your strength just as much as she does.”
Rainbow Dash entered the room quickly. “Cozy’s still asleep and… Oh! Your Cozy’s awake. Awesome!” She zipped over to the bed in a rainbow blur. At first Cozy thought it was her imagination, but a second glance confirmed the girl somehow had pony ears and a tail like her equine counterpart. “How’re you doing? Does it hurt?”
Rainbow fired off questions so quickly that Cozy’s brain couldn’t keep up. There was no sign of animosity from the rainbow-haired woman, which confirmed Cozy’s suspicions that the rest of Twilight’s friends in the human world were all natives. It made sense, and dashed Cozy’s plans of a team-up with her human counterpart. Two Cozy Glows could conceivably take over any world they set their mind to conquering. But if all the heroes had duplicates too, they’d be right back at square one.
“That was a brave thing you did.” Rainbow’s hand was patting Cozy’s knee. “Oh! I need to go tell everyone else the good news that you’re awake!” She zipped out of the hospital room as quickly as she’d entered it.
“They don’t know what I did, do they?”
Sunset shook her head. “They know you did something bad, but with our group that’s not exactly a deal breaker. You’ll get to start here with a fresh slate – how you proceed is up to you. Feel like making some friends for real?”
“I want to make friends with this Cozy Glow. I felt a connection with her I’ve never felt in another pony before.”
“There’s just one little problem with that. You know there are two Cozy Glows, but she doesn’t. We’re not telling her that just yet. I’m adopting you, but officially I’m adopting her. You’re assuming her identity here on Earth. Believe me, you’re getting off easy. You don’t want to know what a pain it was to create a new identity from scratch here. This world’s Cozy, however, is being adopted by Twilight Sparkle, and returning to Equestria with her. There, she’ll have to deal with the tarnished public image you left in your wake. Perhaps seeing the mess you left behind will prevent her from moving forward on schemes of her own.”
“What if she doesn’t want to go?”
“She doesn’t have much choice in the matter, I’m afraid. She also has schemes. Fortunately for you, she never had a chance to set any of them in motion. Besides, she’s an eleven-year-old girl. She’s going to be absolutely giddy at the thought of living with pastel colored ponies, especially when she finds out she gets to be an adorable little pegasus. Imagine if you suddenly had the opportunity to live in a world of amazingly cute kitties or bunnies. Would you take that opportunity?”
Cozy nodded.
“So will she. You grew up as a pony. Humans find us as adorable as we find kittens cute. Your counterpart made this.” Sunset placed a plush toy on Cozy’s hospital bed.
The filly-turned-girl gasped as she got a good look at it. It was a near perfect copy of pony form. “That’s me!” The stuffed pony was impeccably stitched together. The quality was on par with that of the best toymakers in Equestria. “I thought you said she doesn’t know about me?”
“She doesn’t. But the two of you must be on the same wavelength. It’s not all that surprising.”
Cozy found herself idly petting the plush pony. “Are you on the same wavelength as your counterpart?”
Sunset shrugged. “Dunno, I’ve never met her.”
“Oh.” Cozy’s finger accidently snagged a loop. “What’s this?”
She pulled the string, and the pony plush talked to her. “Wanna be friends?”
“Uh, sure.” Cozy picked up the stuffed animal, inspecting it from every angle. It seemed like a simple children’s toy. Perhaps there was an enchantment on it that made it talk. She pulled the string again.
“Golly! It sure is swell to be your friend!” Not only did the toy look like her, it even sounded just like her. She pulled the string again. “With Cozy Glow by your side, anything is possible!”
“Can I keep this?”
Sunset nodded. “There’s no telling what might happen to it if it went through the portal. I’m sure she’d want you to keep it for her. For safekeeping.” She neglected to tell Cozy that her counterpart had been planning on manufacturing them in bulk in an attempt to brainwash people. What Cozy held in her hands was the prototype.
Cozy pulled the string yet again. “Don’t worry about a thing, Cozy will take good care of you!”
“I wonder how many different things it says.”
“Nine. I listened to them all earlier.” It had originally been more than that, but most of the lines had been removed due to subliminal messages. As funny as it would be to see one Cozy Glow fall victim to a different Cozy Glow’s schemes, it wasn’t worth the risk. Fortunately, the voice box was easily modified. Sure, the creator was a genius, but she was still a child. There was only so much she could do with the limited supplies available to her.
Instead of being the vessel of the enslavement of the human race, the little plush filly could instead comfort its creator’s pony doppelganger.
“Golly! It sure is swell to be your friend!” Cozy pulled the string again. “You’re my very best friend!”
“What’s going to happen to me now?”
“For now, you’re going to recover in the hospital until they clear you to go home. When that happens, I’ll take you to your new home. Which is of course my place. It’s not much, but I’m happy to have anything at all. At least you don’t have to start from scratch like I did when I crossed the portal years ago. From there it’s up to you. I’d like to show you a better path. If you truly turn over a new leaf, I’m sure that you’ll be welcomed back to Equestria with open arms. Uh, forelegs. Er, something like that.”
Author's Note
Story notes: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/958352/story-notes-somepony-saved-my-life-tonight
Cozy Glow sat on her bed. Not a day passed by that she didn’t wake up thinking she’d died on the operating table. She had wings now. Angels had wings. She also had hooves, though, and she’d never heard of angels looking like horses before.
She had almost everything she'd ever wanted. She’d been adopted by a princess. She lived in a castle. She was learning to fly – being instructed by a star athlete who could make rainbows in the sky just by flying fast. Most amazingly of all, she was somehow even more adorable than she’d been as a human. She looked in the mirror at the strange body she was slowly getting used to. “Who’s a cute little pony? I am!” She turned and pranced in a little circle, watching her curly tail bounce around every time one of her hooves struck the ground.
Not that life was perfect. Hooves were really inconvenient when you were used to hands. She still couldn’t do more than hover for a few minutes even after weeks of instruction. But those were minor problems compared to the elephant in the room: there’d been a pony named Cozy Glow that they’d exchanged for her. A pony that had been very impatient and had launched her first take-over-the-world scheme at the ripe old age of ten.
She was now wearing the body of the filly that was considered ponykind’s greatest villain. She was escorted by guards everywhere. At first, their constant presence irritated her. She slowly warmed up to them once she realized most ponies were terrified of her. She was a manipulator by nature; she knew fear was a strong motivator. Scared people did things they wouldn’t normally do. Normally she used that to her advantage, but now it was her biggest liability.
There was a knock on the door. “You have practice in ten minutes, Miss Glow.”
Cozy looked out the window. If she galloped flat out, she’d just barely make it. But if she glided down from the castle’s tower, she could be there in a few minutes. She gulped – she hadn’t mastered gliding just yet and the tower was high.
No risk, no reward. Pony Cozy hadn’t gotten as far as she did without taking risks. She unfurled her tiny wings and gazed upon the ground below. How the miniscule wings could keep her airborne, she couldn’t fathom. But she’d seen other ponies flying, including fillies younger than her, so she knew it was possible. The other ponies said it was magic, so she believed them.
It was time for a leap of faith. She jumped and the wind caught her. For the briefest of moments she was soaring through the air.
Then she was falling. Her screams caught in her throat as the ground rushed to meet her. She squeezed her eyes shut – there was no need to watch her final moments. Instead her life flashed before her as memories came unbidden in rapid succession.
She felt the impact. She was still alive. The wind in her hair let her know she was still moving. She opened her eyes to find herself in Rainbow Dash’s outstretched forelegs.
“Gutsy move, squirt. But you need a bit more practice before you go jumping out of any more windows.”
“Thank you.” Unlike her pony counterpart, human Cozy was willing to express gratitude.
Rainbow Dash flew back to Cozy’s room and landed inside. Once she put the filly down, she jumped onto the windowsill. “Watch.” Rainbow slowly moved her wings into the right position. “A lot of this is instinct.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve had wings your whole life.”
“Don’t overthink it. Your wings know what they want to do.” With that, Rainbow pushed off the windowsill and glided into the courtyard.
Cozy readied her wings as she watched her go. She leapt and glided a few dozen feet. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. She started thinking about it. Gravity did the rest.
Again she plummeted, and again Rainbow saved her from certain doom.
“Why do you keep saving me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Wouldn’t you enjoy seeing me splatter after all my counterpart put you through? Nopony would have to know. You were too far away. You weren’t fast enough. You were napping.”
“First of all, Rainbow Dash is always fast enough. Secondly, I wouldn’t enjoy watching you die. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What if it was my counterpart? The pony Cozy Glow. You wouldn’t do anything if she was falling, right?”
Dash shook her head. “Nope, I’d save her too. Even after all she’s done.”
“Why?”
Rainbow sighed. “One day I hope you can answer that question for yourself. Now drop and give me fifty wing-ups. We’ve got to build up your wing strength if you ever want to do more than glide.”
“I’d settle for gliding right now.”
“You’re getting better at it.”
Flight training with Rainbow Dash took up most of the morning. Dash was being generous when she complimented her on making progress. Cozy admitted to herself that she was, indeed, getting better. The problem was she was improving at a glacial pace. Cozy had always prided herself on being a quick study, so why was flying such a challenge?
Cozy had just enough time for a quick shower before her second appointment for the day. Fluttershy was waiting for her when she was done. Lunch was spread out on the table in front of her.
“Twilight told me that you skipped breakfast. Um, again.”
“Didn’t have time to eat.” It was a half-truth.
“You need to keep your energy up. Flying burns a lot of calories.” She pushed freshly baked muffins over to the filly.
Cozy ate in silence. Twilight Sparkle had insisted she meet her friends. Twilight’s friends had then …involved themselves… in her life. She barely had time to think, let alone scheme. There was always another pony vying for her time and attention.
Fluttershy was quiet. Time spent with Fluttershy was the only time she could really let her mind run at full capacity. If the other Cozy Glow had nearly conquered Equestria, she was positive she could succeed. She was obviously smarter than her pony counterpart.
“How goes your plotting?”
“I’m not plotting.” For once, it was the truth. “I’m scheming.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Schemes are rough drafts. Most fizzle out long before the plotting starts.”
“How goes your scheming?”
“Meh. Not good. Too many unknown quantities.”
“I don’t see the appeal of plotting or scheming. Perhaps you can show me?” Fluttershy put a box on the table.
Cozy opened the box to find a chess set inside. “Do you know how to play?”
Fluttershy shook her head.
“I’m going to wipe the floor with you. I was captain of Crystal Prep’s chess team.”
“Teach me.”
So Cozy did. She explained the rules. She explained how the pieces moved. She explained the objective. But mostly, she talked strategy. Fluttershy did what she did best: listened. She listened to an excited filly talk about something she loved.
Once they started playing, Fluttershy was outmatched. Trounced. Decimated. Utterly humiliated. Game after game, Cozy beat her time and again. But Fluttershy kept resetting her pieces with a smile. She was improving. Cozy might take delight in winning, but she was a good teacher. She wanted a challenge, and a novice wasn’t going to cut it.
After half a dozen defeats, Fluttershy sadly put the pieces back into the box. “Thank you, Cozy. I must be going, but I enjoyed seeing you happy.”
“Huh?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I can tell chess is something you’re very passionate about. I can say that scheming and plotting are things I’ll never be good at. I would never be able to beat you if we played a million games. Would you like to play again tomorrow?”
“Why would you want to play a game you can’t win?”
“Because you enjoy it.”
Cozy sighed. “Would you be so nice to my counterpart?”
“I would. She needs a friend. A real friend. So do you.”
“I guess we can play again tomorrow. You’ll get better with practice.” Cozy wouldn’t go so far as to patronize the older mare by saying she might win. They both knew Cozy was the superior player.
Rarity was waiting for her when Fluttershy left. The two friends exchanged pleasantries as they trotted out of the castle, Cozy in tow.
Rarity led her to a rundown section of Canterlot. That a city that prided itself on status could allow such a lowly slum to exist took her by surprise. Rarity walked into a dilapidated building, the kind Cozy never would’ve believed the fashionista would willingly go into, let alone bring along a witness to the occasion.
“You’ve had a hard life, Cozy. Twilight told us that you grew up in an orphanage. I can’t imagine not having had a family growing up. Now you have an adoptive family. You may always consider me to be extended family, even if you someday leave Equestria and return to Earth. But there are those who aren’t as fortunate. There are those who would wish they could have what you had in the orphanage. Shelter, a warm shower, enough food to eat, and somepony who cares. Today we’re going to be the ponies that care.”
Having seen her fair share of sitcom holiday episodes, the human-turned-filly expected to be dragged into the kitchen to serve soup, but Rarity had something else in mind entirely. She pulled open her saddlebags and brought out fabric and her sewing supplies. Cozy assisted the unicorn as she tailored clothing to fit the ponies living in the shelter. She almost felt sympathy for a pegasus colt even younger than herself. But that would be inconceivable. Only the weak felt bad for others. The strong crushed the weak. That was the way of the world. To show emotion was to be vulnerable.
Cozy Glow had made a lot of assumptions about Rarity. The unicorn was indeed prissy, but she wasn’t afraid to get her hooves dirty. On the surface, Cozy would’ve labeled Rarity as selfish and greedy. That’s why she liked her the best out of Twilight’s friends – if any of them could truly understand her, it would be Rarity. But that illusion had shattered. Instead, it was almost as if the mare was the living embodiment of generosity. She stopped – wasn’t that one of the virtues Twilight kept droning on about? She started making a mental list: generosity, kindness, honesty, and some others. Power maybe?
The sun was setting by the time they were done, and Cozy was grateful for the Royal Guards that flanked them on their way back to the castle. For the first time in ages, she felt an emotion other than the rage that drove her on to bigger and better things. She felt… sad. Sadness and pity were vulnerabilities. She pretended to be a hard luck case to garner sympathy in others in order to get what she wanted. Now she was feeling it. All she wanted to do was go back to the castle, crawl into bed, and pull the covers up over herself where nopony would be able to see her so weak. Hours at the shelter had made her feel empathetic to pawns she wouldn’t have hesitated to sacrifice merely a day earlier.
Wouldn’t have hesitated, and would’ve laughed about it afterwards. What kind of person was she? She was rotten to the core. She knew it, and prided herself on it. She was emotionally strong, if not physically. She was smart, resourceful. She knew what she wanted and how to get it.
Once they had returned to the castle, Cozy excused herself to her room immediately, ignoring the dinner that was waiting for them. She needed to be alone with her thoughts more than she needed nourishment. The alien emotions needed to be purged from her body. If empathy and caring were things that came with being a pony, she wanted no part of it.
She pictured the colt she’d seen in her head. She was back in her human form, and the terrified colt was the only thing standing between her and complete world domination. All she had to do…
Smite him.
She looked at the colt. She hadn’t even asked him his name. A nameless peon. Unworthy to even breathe the same air as she.
Smite him. Do it. Do it!
She faced down the imaginary colt. She lost the battle of wills and broke down crying, unable to go through with it. She’d run the same scenario in her head hundreds of times. Hundreds of different people had been the last pocket of resistance and she’d never had any qualms striking any of them down where they stood. Why was the colt different than the President or any of the five hundred and twelve friends she’d made on social media? She hadn’t even spared Heartlight, the closest thing she had to a mother.
Failure. I’m a failure. I’m weak and I’ll never be strong. No guts, no glory. N-n-n-n-no guts…
Twilight knocked on her door. “Cozy?”
“Leave me alone. I’m not feeling well.”
“That’s a lie, if ever I did hear one.”
Cozy groaned. Applejack was with Twilight.
“I hope it wasn’t something you ate.” Pinkie gasped. “I really hope it wasn’t the muffins I made you!”
“The muffins I brought with me? Oh… oh my. Cozy, I’m so sorry if the muffins I brought you made you sick!”
Cozy’s head hit the mattress in defeat. All of Twilight’s friends were with her. It was an intervention, and it was happening at the worst possible time. A time when it might actually work.
“We’re coming in, Cozy.” Twilight twisted the key in the lock and she and her friends entered.
Rarity sat on Cozy’s bed and patted the lump under the covers. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” It didn’t matter what she said. She knew that they were going to say their piece regardless.
“You sure about that? You really look like you could use some company.”
Cozy leapt out of the bed, taking flight in the room. Somehow Pinkie Pie had appeared under the covers with her.
“Ha! I knew you had it in you, kid.” Rainbow Dash hovered next to her. “You’re flying!”
“Wha… what?” Cozy crashed to the floor with a thud.
“It’s instinct. You were doing really well until you started thinking about it.”
“It’s the colt, isn’t it?”
Cozy turned to look at Rarity and nodded.
“I saw how you were looking at him. That’s compassion. Empathy.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Do you like your freedom? Do you like being alive? Your talent is manipulation. But while the rook is a valuable piece in chess, it’s not the most powerful. You’re a rook trying to be a queen. You’ve seen the results of your pony counterpart’s failed coups. Are you sure this is the path you wish to travel on? I don’t know how things are done on Earth, I’ve never been there. But I can’t imagine things are all that different. If you try to conquer your country, and fail, the consequences will be severe. You already know what will happen to you if you try to pull that stunt here.” Twilight pointed out the window toward the statue garden. “Your counterpart is lucky that you needed her or she’d still be there. Believe it or not, Sunset said she’s making progress over in your world.”
“But I haven’t done anything wrong. You said so yourself. You’re holding stuff my counterpart did against me.”
“Golly, Cozy Glow sure would make a swell President,” Twilight quoted the plush pony that had been found amongst Cozy’s possessions.
“Oh, you found my toy. I would make a great President! There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, is there?”
“Friendship is power!” Twilight once more quoted the toy.
“I have freedom of speech. I can say anything I want.”
“Sunset Shimmer can read your memories. We know about your plans for producing them into brainwashing an entire generation into voting for you.”
Cozy shrugged. “So what? I’m a kid. Where am I going to get a production facility to make them?”
“Your plan was to use your prototype to sell a major toy company on making them. Make excuses all you want; we know what you were planning on doing.”
“Good luck proving that in a court of law.”
Twilight grasped the belligerent filly in her magic and prevented her from moving. For a few horrifying seconds Cozy couldn’t even blink. “Being a statue isn’t fun. We’re just trying to show you a better way. We really do want the best for you, and don’t want to see you make the same mistakes your counterpart has already made. At one point, Cozy Glow manipulated an entire school into doing her bidding. That failed, and she was sent to the worst prison imaginable. She escaped, and in the end, she stood with two other villains she didn’t even like all that much, alone against everyone else in the world. I don’t think I need to tell you how that ended for her. Even when she had numbers on her side, she couldn’t win. Even with a powerful artifact. Unlike Sunset Shimmer, I can’t read your mind, but if I was to hazard a guess, I’d say you’re planning on doing something with human technology. Assuming, of course, that Equestria is your target, not your home world. Or maybe you’re greedy and want both. Those who crave power are never satisfied with what they have, they always desire more.”
“What would Strong Wind think if he could see you right now?”
“Who?” Cozy asked, knowing full well what Rarity’s reply was going to be. All she did was buy herself a few seconds more of denial.
Rarity just looked at Cozy Glow like she’d grown another head. “Who do you think? The colt you met today. Believe it or not, he has a name.”
“What makes you think I’d care what an icky colt thinks about me?”
“Call it a hunch. Cozy, darling, you’ve been adopted by a princess. You live in a castle and almost any whim you have is catered to. What more could you possibly want?”
“Golly, that’s super swell. For how long? Eventually Twilight will ship me back to Earth and I’ll be all alone again. Only I’ll be older and even less adoptable.”
“That’s really up to you, Cozy. I adopted you, not your pony counterpart. You’re my daughter, not her. Do you want to stay in Equestria permanently? That choice is yours to make. Do you want to throw everything away in a power play? Or would you like to stay in a loving home surrounded by all of us?”
“What about the other Cozy Glow? Won’t she eventually come back?”
Twilight shook her head. “Probably not. I banished her to Earth and she’s been adopted by Sunset Shimmer. If she convinces all of us that she’s reformed, I’d consider letting her return. Assuming she even wants to come back.”
“Equestria’s big enough for two Cozy Glows, you silly filly.” Pinkie booped the filly’s nose. “You’re teeny-tiny and don’t take up much space. We can make room for another you if it comes to that.”
“What about how everypony hates me because of what my counterpart did?”
“Equestria’s forgiven those who’ve done worse. The road to redemption is a long one. It isn’t fair that you have to pick up the pieces of her life, but that should be motivation to follow in her hoofprints. I have confidence you can reinvent yourself here.”
“Really, darling, I’ve seen pictures of your work. Do you think you could sew clothing? I could always use an apprentice at my boutique.”
“How am I supposed to sew anything with these?” Cozy held up her hooves.
“Other earth ponies and pegasi manage, and so can you. I’ll teach you, if you want.”
“I haven’t seen you soar through the air yet, so don’t think you’re getting out of our flying lessons.”
Cozy had nothing left to lose but some battle plans. She felt like an invisible weight that she hadn’t even realized was pinning her down had been lifted off her shoulders. She could give friendship a try. If that didn’t work out, she could always go back to the drawing board…
