It was all going according to plan. Her plan.
The other two had done their jobs just perfectly. Tirek had succeeded in defeating the pillars, and Chrysalis finally captured Starlight Glimmer. Although she had done that herself before when she was still going solo.
She also did her work, draining both of those stupid princess sisters of their magic, relatively easy, in her opinion. It was effortless to bait them into firing at her. No wonder they had all been so close to succeeding in the past.
But it wasn't those two that had always stopped them. It wasn't even the draconequus with seemingly unlimited chaotic power.
No, it was that dumb group of friends she despised so much. The so-called Elements of Harmony. They were the real threat. Once they were gone, nothing could stand in their way.
So she kept them stalled at the castle before they could do anything to prepare to stop them. And soon enough, Tirek and Chrysalis had returned to her side to finally bring them down once and for all, just like she promised. After all, it was a team effort, and it was only fair they all got a bite out of this delicious cake. Those two wanted that victory as much as she had.
Now, in the throne room of the most powerful city in the land, those ponies were right where they wanted them.
She was enjoying it all. She now had two fantastic frie- no, allies who could participate in her monologuing, laugh beside her, and most importantly, work together to achieve their goals. And it was about to happen right here, right now.
With the three of them together, they were unstoppable, and to show it off, they fired a large hole in the roof of the grand castle to demonstrate their power.
Then, Chrysalis broke Twilight's shield with no struggle, showing off their difference in magical prowess.
With no shield and no pony to help them, it would only be moments before Twilight and her friends were finally defeated.
She began monologuing again to them, speaking about how they turned pony against pony. And she laughed as their faces went pale. They completely failed, or rather, she completely out-smarted them. Equestria was in chaos, and they didn't use a single drop of magic to make it so. They had won.
Now, all that was left was to drain everypony else of their magic, but even that wouldn't suffice for Twilight Sparkle. They would have to do a lot more to stop her from finding a way to victory. Perhaps banishing her or imprisonment, or even worse.
Cozy could admit she wasn't entirely evil. She wasn't a murderer. But this time, she may have had a good reason to. There was no way back from the dead after all.
She fluttered forward, ready with her adversaries to finally finish the job, but then she noticed she started to feel a little light. A little weaker.
She had noticed something else as well. Something that made her stomach drop and her heart beat against her chest.
Her grasp of magic around Grogar's bell was no longer holding anything.
She was forced into a shocked and realizing expression, and the ponies, dragon, and draconequus shared it with her.
She slowly turned around, and her two partners had the bell, which drained her magic until the last of it was gone.
Feeling dizzy, she dropped to the ground, her wings flat against the castle floor and her now useless horn dimming out.
With weak eyes, she looked at the two as they passed her, on their way to complete their mission.
"W…" she tried to say. She felt so weak, never knowing it was possible to feel this fatigued.
"Why?" she finally croaked out.
Chrysalis was the one to turn to her with a nasty smirk, while Tirek didn't bother. In the background, she could barely make out the group of good guys looking in her direction, but her vision was too blurry to tell.
"You're a pony yourself, aren't you?" Chrysalis said, that smirk piercing through Cozy's blurred vision. Her eyes glowed brightly in that changeling green color. "You're a loose end I'm not letting go unchecked. I've had enough bad experiences with your kind. Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight, Starlight Glimmer. I'd be damned if you were the next one to bring my downfall, pony."
Cozy looked over to the other monstrosity in the room. "T-Tirek?"
She wasn't as close to Chrysalis as the centaur, both physically in the room and relationship-wise. She found out how to send letters to him, and to her surprise, he wrote back. He taught her some of the secrets to magic, and she was able to accomplish so much with the knowledge gained. Then, after that was all done, they were roommates in Tartarus. That must have counted for something, right?
Tirek didn't look over to her, as if he was too scared to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry, Cozy, but Chrysalis is right. Besides, if I betrayed Discord, what made you think I wouldn't do the same to you?"
Chrysalis laughed. "I know exactly what. You really thought we were warming up to you, weren't you? Did you seriously think that we could be friends? Did you really learn something from Twilight's pathetic school?" She cackled, her sounds echoing through the silent throne room. "Just as I said before. You are a pony."
"There are creatures, such as Tirek and I that are meant to be ruling over inferior life forms. You don't belong with us!"
Chrysalis turned back to Twilight and the others, licking her lips. "But don't you worry my sweet little filly. You get the front row seats to watch their downfall."
Cozy could only gaze with blurred vision as both Tirek and Chrysalis walked toward Twilight and the others. However, that wasn't registering in her brain. Instead, her mind was swarming with thoughts.
She loved a good backstabbing. It was dramatic, intense, and sadistic. The cherry on top was that it was much too fun! But this?
All her time with them, and they just threw everything away just like that. The dreams of conquest, the hard work, the fruition.
All of that for nothing. Just to be thrown away like trash.
If she was thinking sensibly, she should have seen this coming. Chrysalis was speaking logically, and it all made total sense for her to do this.
She could have planned for this moons ago. Chrysalis and Tirek were dumb enough for her to handle, but she stopped thinking rationally at some point with them. She was so caught up in the moment that she didn't even notice them slip the bell out of her magic grasp. That was probably their plan from the beginning. To give her the bell so that she would be comfortable and they could strike when she was looking away.
She was comfortable with more than just the bell, however. Did she genuinely think it was real? Did she really believe it wasn't all fake?
That they were… perhaps… friends?
It didn't matter now. All it did was make her feel… horrible inside.
She felt sick as she tried to stand up on her hooves. The inside of her throat burned as tears started to appear below her eyelids. She couldn't cry. She hated showing that weakness.
She started to cry. It was such soft weeping that no pony else in the room had heard nor noticed. The villains were too focused on Twilight, and the Equestrian group was too focused on the monsters.
Her heart started to beat faster. This was it. This is how her relevancy ends. Betrayed and tossed away.
Looking up briefly, she saw that the two were closing in on the others. She didn't even register the others. All of her attention was on those two.
Her eyes were burning in tears as she lowered her head again, her forehead bracing against the crystal floor as she forced herself up with all her might and gritted teeth.
Shakily standing, she didn't even notice how heavy her breaths were. Tilting her head up, so her frazzled mane wasn't blocking her view, she glared at the two with utter hatred through her watery eyes.
Her wings started to shrink to their standard, unboosted size, and she didn’t realize it, but her horn was moments away from disappearing. She clenched her jaw so tight one would swear her teeth cracked. Then, she yelled to the ceiling.
"YOU TRAITORS!"
Her voice echoed through the room, hitting everypony's ears.
Tirek sighed, sounding reluctant. "Cozy, I-" He was cut off as he felt his magic disappearing. No, this was different. His magic wasn't evaporating in thin air. It was being taken from him!
Chrysalis screamed out, "NO! What's happening?!" She stared at her hoofs as her body started to shift.
The group of Equestrians watched on in shock as they witnessed Cozy rise up using her wings.
Tirek began shrinking down ever so slowly. He turned and grew wide-eyed at the sight of Cozy Glow floating in the air with tearful, angry, glowing eyes of rage, staring directly at his soul.
He could only stand still as his body morphed back into that hideous scrawny form that he despised so much. Even Chrysalis was far from okay, reverting to her plain changeling form before they used the bell.
The magic they had was flowing to the bell, but before it even entered the ancient object, it jumped to Cozy Glow. The filly's body flashed bright as she absorbed all of the overwhelming power.
"That's impossible…" Tirek thought, "Cozy shouldn't have any strength left. How can she still use the bell?"
Now in their lowly forms, they dropped to the ground as Cozy previously did, weakened to the core.
Tirek reached an arm out towards her and gasped. "Cozy, please I-"
He was cut off once Cozy grabbed him and Chrysalis in her potent magic and brought them up to her level, where she could give them her moist death glare face to face.
Cozy Glow was overflowing with intense magic. Her entire body glowed bright red, her pupils shone as well, and her mane flowed like Celestia's and Luna's.
They could say nothing to her glare. Even Chrysalis, who was proud to say she would never give in to fear, visibly dipped her head as the filly's eyes stabbed into her and Tirek.
Gritting her teeth tight once again, she raised her head and yelled to the ceiling, charging loads of magic through her horn.
Twilight gasped and picked herself up. She outstretched a hoof towards the young filly. "Cozy, wait!"
But her tearful ex-student didn't hear her. With a loud but quick spark of magic, the trio of villains teleported out of the room, not a trace left behind.
Tirek and Chrysalis awoke on some grassy plains.
Groaning, the centaur rubbed his head and looked up, looking shocked and looking around. He saw nothing but grass plains and some trees in the distance. Not a town or city in sight.
"Where are we?" He asked no pony in particular.
"Far," Cozy simply said with a small and quiet sniff. She sat on a nearby rock, her wings tucked in and a hoof wiping the edge of her eye.
Tirek couldn't tell what she looked like since she was facing away from him, although he did notice magic overflowing within her. Sparks of powerful energy appeared every other second, and he could practically taste it in the air.
"Cozy Glow, please, I…" He trailed off, not knowing what to say. He didn't even fully realize how he felt.
Somepony else, however, felt very livid.
"You insolent, little BRAT!" Chrysalis yelled, standing up on shaky hooves. She hissed at Cozy and sprang forward.
Cozy rolled her red, puffy eyes and blasted her away with a small magic beam. The queen flew into a tree.
"We're really far!" Cozy yelled, fluttering up so Chrysalis could hear. "Not even Discord can find you over here."
"Why did you bring us here?" Tirek asked calmly. "Are you going to…"
Cozy knew what he was insinuating, and she shook her head. "I'm not doing anything. I'm done with you two," she said as she fluttered high above him, her voice sounding calm and timid, trying to hide the pain deep inside.
"Here you can choose what you want to do," she continued. "You can plot against Twilight again, or do whatever you want. I don't care anymore."
Chrysalis stood up, not even bothering to dust herself off, and slowly walked towards Cozy with hatred in her eyes.
Cozy returned it with a bored and tired look.
"And what do you intend to do? Just leave us while you have all of Grogar's magic and the bell? I'm not going to let you do that."
"Don't be a fool, Chrysalis," Tirek said, sounding stern and irritated. "What power do you have left?"
Chrysalis snarled but ultimately knew he was right.
Tirek turned back to Cozy as she held the bell up to the sky with her magic.
She rang the bell once, its chime traveling across the plains. At the chime's end, magic of all colors blasted into the sky and escaped into the air.
Tirek watched all of that magic go across the atmosphere and chose not to comment on that.
"So… you're just leaving us here? You could have left us at Canterlot," he said.
Cozy sighed out in frustration. "No creature deserves to be locked up in a cage." She then turned to him with a slightly angered expression. "But if you want to go back there and have that happen to you, be my guest!"
She said nothing else and flew off with the bell in her magic grasp.
"Get back here you moronic rotten filly!" Chrysalis yelled. "We can still defeat them!"
But it fell on deaf ears. Cozy flew as fast she could away from those two, scared for her life lest they convince her to work with them again.
She didn't want to be evil anymore, but she didn't want to be good either. She didn't want anything. Not even to go and try and ruin Equestria again.
The only thing she wanted right now—was to be left alone.
Cozy Glow awoke from her slumber. On her small but decent bed, she rose and stretched. Looking over to her bedroom window with tired lidded eyes, she saw it was early morning.
She sighed. It was time to get up, she supposed.
Getting out of bed, she stepped down on her dark wooden floor. Then, she went over and reached into a wardrobe, pulling out a black cloak.
Draping it over herself, she looked back at her wings to see they were hidden. After getting ready in the bathroom, she headed downstairs.
She also grabbed one more thing on the way out, an empty basket just a little bigger than her head.
It was chilly as always outside her home, and the snow beneath her hooves was cold, but she didn't mind.
On a tall mountain, her lonely wooden cabin sat. Surrounded by nothing but rocky edges and sharp drops, almost mirroring the place which once held Grogar's bell. The snow up here was also severe, but the view of the landscape below was nice. She could see so much from up here; it was one of her favorite pastimes.
The air up here was thin and difficult to breathe at first. But slowly, after many moons passed, she got used to it. In some way, it made her even stronger.
Cozy looked off to the horizon for a moment, taking in the fantastic view of the lands stretching across the horizon. She charged some magic in her horn after some time passed and teleported away using her magic.
The next second, she reappeared at the edge of a small village, if she could even call it that. It was more an assortment of buildings that creatures occasionally inhabit before skipping town.
Unlike around her cabin, it was far enough that there wasn't a single instance of snow here. Instead, it was a barren wasteland of dirt and dust. And the buildings were all cracked and scary looking.
She cast a spell through her horn, changing her mane and fur color to white. Her hair also changed styles to a flat mane, much like Twilight's, and she made it so that it wasn't flowing like Celestia and Luna’s. She knew that would attract too much attention, which was just annoying.
Over here, far from Equestria, were many creatures that were not ponies lurking around. This village was, in fact, pretty dangerous. Although she didn't have to worry about that too much.
Robberies, street fights, and reckless drunks were pretty standard here. Any wrong turn, and you'd be in a deep hole you couldn't dig out of.
She passed by some buildings, and some shady minotaurs looked her way inside of an alleyway. Some dragons across them were also looking at her walk down the dirt road.
"You don't want to mess with her," one of the black minotaurs said.
"Who is she?" another asked.
"I've heard the name, 'Blank Slate.' She comes and goes as she pleases, but isn't one to mess with." He looked at the other minotaur with a stern look. "Don't judge a book by its cover boys. Come on." They left down an alleyway.
"She's trouble, that one," a dark blue dragon with a scratch over his eye said. "A magic user. I heard Duster tried to get a sneaky one on her." He shook his head. "Didn't stand a chance."
Cozy Glow continued, ignoring them. She only came to this dangerous village for one reason: supplies. She was grumpy on an empty stomach.
Lucky for her, she had met an elderly griffon that ran a shop. Some jerk minotaur interrupted the filly making an order for food with the small number of bits she had, so she kicked him out of the shop herself. The old lady was so thankful that she gave Cozy the food at no charge. Apparently, that rude minotaur tried ransacking her place one time before.
In the past, Cozy may have used this to her advantage. And manipulated her way into getting free food whenever she wanted. But now, things are different. Now, she had a set deal with the griffon.
It was the first and only thing in the village that she had claimed to be her turf. For an entire day, she announced it to any customer that arrived. Many fought her, to no pony's surprise, but she beat up all of them with little to no effort.
After that day, the shop was under her name, and no pony messed with it. No pony tried to rob it or break in. If they had, Cozy would be on their trail. Magic was quite the luxury. One time somepony had broken in and taken some expensive stuff, but because of the spell she cast on the shop, there was a magic tracker on the thief. As long as she protected it, she would be offered food and supplies in return. That was the deal.
She arrived at the shop. When she first visited three moons ago, it was nothing but a small tent. But now, it was a full-fledged standing building.
She walked inside and lowered her hood.
"Ah, Little Miss." A young-looking male griffon waved at her from the counter. She would never get used to being called that.
She didn't return the greeting and walked up to the front counter, dropping her basket.
She spoke a list of things she wished to take, and the griffon went off immediately to grab them.
The old lady griffon, who owned the store, Tally, came out from a room in the back behind the front counter. She was frail as the old usually were, with soft blue feathers and squinted eyes. "Little Miss! Back so soon?" she asked, trying to make small talk.
"Just picking up some things and being on my way." Cozy replied, stopping at that.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and a charcoal teenage dragon entered. He was alone.
He walked up to the front counter and slammed his claw on it. "You guys have a nice store here. Have any gems?" He asked.
"We don't, sorry young man," Tally answered.
"Well that's too bad, isn't it? Guess this worthless place is only worth burning down."
Cozy sighed. It was one of these guys again who talked big, using their intimidation to try and scare everypony. It was rare for them to intrude in the store while she was here to witness it.
"Can you just back off!?" She yelled at him.
The dragon snapped his head in her direction. "Who was that?" He looked around a few before looking down and spotting her. "Oh, look. A wittle pony." He mocked before reeling his foot back and trying to kick her.
Cozy simply grabbed his ankle in her magic and tripped him, making him yelp. Then she tossed him out through the front door.
"Thank you, Little Miss," Tally said with a smile.
"I'm not doing this to be nice," Cozy said as if she was reminding her. "I keep your store standing, you give me stuff."
That's right. This wasn't friendship. She expected something in return.
Tally gave her a sad look but nodded in understanding. She hadn't known this filly for long, but she quickly realized she wasn't an ordinary one for sure.
The young griffon had returned with Cozy's goods all in her basket. Today she only needed some food. As such, an assortment of fruits and vegetables was stuffed inside the basket on top of a white cloth. She took the basket back without a word and left the store.
Walking out into the sunlight, she stared at the dragon, which she dropped on the dirt road in front of the store.
She raised the dragon high in the air with her magic as some creatures looked their way, the cold-blooded creature yelling out in fear. The small filly gave them one look with uninterested eyes. It seemed they got the message to tell newcomers not to mess with the store as they looked uneasy at her. She was sure they would also spread the message to other common villagers. Something she had done countless times before and started to become tired of doing.
She dropped him on the side of the road and said, "Get lost."
The dragon picked himself up and scurried off with a scream. Once he was out of her sight, she began to make her way out of the village with her basket of goods.
Once on the edge and out of sight from villagers, she teleported back home. She was instantly hit with the cold of the snowy rocky mountains. Nevertheless, she took off her "Blank Slate" disguise and the cloak, fully embracing the cold air.
The rest of the day for her would be like every other. She would make her food and mind to herself. The filly could always fend for her own, even without magic.
Being alone out here so far from any civilization was always boring. But for once in her life, she didn't mind it.
Being bored. That was what drove her to do the things she did. The reasons she was being hunted all around Equestria and considered one of the most dangerous beings on the planet.
She only did it to have fun. She started learning about magic from Tirek, then tried to take over Twilight's school and nearly succeeded in removing all magic. Then she would have become the Empress of Friendship and be politically influential. But after she lost that day, it became more than that.
Revenge was like a drug. Even as she patiently waited in Tartarus, she knew that the moment she was free, she would have the time of her life.
Then she got freed and had some new allies to enjoy getting revenge alongside her. Or so she thought.
She shook her thoughts, not wanting to relive those pointless days in her head. It was different now. She was entirely okay with being bored and alone.
She took her basket inside and went over to her small kitchen. On the plus side of building her own house, she made it so that everything was at her level. Although in hindsight, her wings would have proved helpful in that aspect.
She tossed her cloak on a couch in the other room, deciding to store it later. The items in the basket were stored away, and Cozy surmised that it would feed her for a week straight before she would have to return. She would have grabbed more, but that lady needed to stay in business if she wanted to keep supplying.
Her belly rumbled, and she took an apple out of her cupboard.
Stepping outside, she went over to a rock she carved flat long ago and sat down on it.
It was chilly today, but it was one of the few days it wasn't snowing or blowing a lot of wind.
She stared at the horizon and moved her eyes over the lands, eating her apple.
Many other smaller mountains surrounded hers, but there was a point where the snow stopped, and grass replaced it. Then further on, forests and more hills blocked everything else.
Being so high meant that she had the luxury of being above clouds. As a pegasus, she was naturally accustomed to having them as something to relax with. After all, her couch, bed, and pillows were made of the stuff. However, the view of the clouds moving past and around the mountains was beautiful, something Cozy adored.
Occasionally, birds of many kinds would pass over her. Although they never noticed her, Cozy secretly wished they did. She wouldn't mind having a pet to keep her company, as long as it wasn't secretly a changeling she knew all too well.
It had started to get windy again, and Cozy was surprised it hadn't earlier. Getting off her rock, she walked back into her cabin and stayed there for the rest of the day.
It was snowing out. Again. Like most of the year.
But she didn't mind. In her cabin, it was nice and warm. Some could say it was cozy.
Out the window, a dangerous snowstorm threatened to enter. Even though it was bright outside, it wasn't safe for any fragile creature in those conditions.
She was perfectly content in her little living room with her fireplace, covers, and warm cloud couch.
In her hooves was a small steaming cup of hot cocoa, self-made. Taking a whiff, she sighed with a slight smile on her face. She could have used her magic to hold the cup, but the warmth against her hooves was soothing to her.
Snuggling in her covers, she watched as the fire cracked under the chimney. She imagined the outside of her small cabin and how nice it must've looked, surrounded by snow with smoke escaping the chimney.
She had to admit, she was proud of herself. Even with magic, it was hard work making her own living space. But hey, it still held up nicely nine moons later.
She kicked her hind legs back and forth and took a nice sip of her drink. The fresh hot fluids would have typically burned the inside of her throat, but she was long away from being a normal filly.
She turned her eyes away from the fireplace and to a window, where the storm was still raging. It was looking like the Crystal Heart wasn't activated out there.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It sounded urgent.
This wasn't entirely out of the ordinary. Multiple creatures would be caught in the raging snowstorms that happened here, nearly all of them were flyers, but there were a couple of rare walkers here and there. They would notice Cozy's cabin and would rush to get some shelter. She would always let them in, not minding the temporary company. The many faces she let in didn't bother her, nor were they rude. They were always thankful for her help.
Sitting on her couch, she dropped to the floor and ensured her wings were hidden with her covers. Alicorns were still a rare sight, even outside of Equestria.
Putting her cup of hot cocoa on a small table, she walked to the door and opened it with her magic.
"Come in, hurry!" she yelled while the harsh winds and snow hit her face.
With the snowstorm blowing her face, she couldn't see who it was. But once she saw them sprint past her to come inside, she slammed it shut with her magic.
"Phew…" she sighed and looked around her cabin. Not too much snow entered and scattered. Thankfully, she didn't need to do anything about it but wait for it all to melt.
She sighed and rubbed the side of her head.
Turning to the creatures she let in, she asked, "Would you like some hot co-"
She stopped and stared at the two alicorns with wide, shocked eyes.
They stared back, equally as shocked as her.
"...Cozy Glow?" Celestia eventually gasped out.
She stepped back as she eyed the two sisters, fear taking over her mind. The fear quickly vanished, however, once she realized she could easily take these two on in a fight.
But before doing anything rash, she paused and asked, "What are you two doing here?"
Celestial and Luna stared at her for a moment before looking at each other.
"Are you here to try and capture me?" she continued. It was a question rid of sarcasm. She genuinely wanted to know.
Luna was the one who answered her. "Celestia and I are retired as princesses," she told her, pointing to herself. "Twilight is now the Princess of Canterlot and ruler of Equestria. We're here on vacation traveling the lands."
"We got caught by that storm outside." Celestia added, "That was when we came across this cabin."
"So… you weren't looking for me?" Cozy took off her covers, revealing and outstretching her wings. "So then what's going to happen now that you know it's me? Are you going to try and take me back?"
Celestia and Luna looked at each other once more before the elder sister closed her eyes and said, "After you teleported away with Tirek and Chrysalis all those moons ago, Tirek returned to Equestria not too long after."
Cozy looked into Celestia's eyes and saw no signs of dishonesty. Though, she would be lying to herself if she thought the sun princess was capable of such a thing.
The filly turned and went over to her couch to sit down. She grabbed her cup of hot cocoa and took a sip. "And I'm guessing Twilight and her friends dealt with him?" It was more of a statement than a question.
Celestia shook her head. "He didn't come for our magic, but to atone for his actions."
Cozy nearly dropped her drink. She snapped her head at the ex-princess. "What?!" She went to her thoughts, trying to think of a scenario that felt impossible in her mind. "No! Not him!" She yelled.
Celestia looked at her sister. They sort of expected this reaction from the young alicorn filly.
Cozy jumped off her couch, putting her cup back on the small table with her magic. "You're a liar!" she accused Celestia. "Tirek would never do something like that! All he ever wanted was to become stronger than anyone!"
"That's what we thought too," Luna said. "Of course, in the beginning, we were all wary of him. It was only a few days after you had left with him and Chrysalis. He appeared in Ponyville, and demanded to speak with Twilight Sparkle."
"She brought him to Canterlot," Celestia continued. "Where we negotiated with him. He was offering his surrender and peace for one thing only." She paused there as if it was a puzzle for Cozy to complete.
Cozy stared at her before something calculated within her brain. Something she never thought would have been the answer. And it haunted her genius mind.
"Me…"
Celestia nodded.
Cozy looked to the ground, various thoughts swarming her head. She wasn't a fool. She noticed how Tirek looked like he felt sorry, but she never believed her own eyes. All the thoughts made her feel dizzy, and she nearly fell to the floor.
But to her surprise, Luna caught her in her hooves and gave her a sympathetic look. "That's what my sister and I call—alicorn anxiety sickness."
Minutes later, Cozy and the two sisters sat on the couch together, continuing their conversation.
"You guys really had him on lockdown like that?" They had just told her Tirek was permitted to roam around Canterlot, but he was forced to wear magic dampeners and had Discord watching his every move. "I don't blame you."
"It was a necessary caution," Celestia said, "We all know how dangerous he can be."
"He gave the argument that Discord, Starlight, and others were also redeemed. That he should have the same chance," Luna put in.
"It was really hard to argue with." Celestia leaned back against the couch. "Besides, Twilight would have argued with us if we declined his offer."
Cozy forced a sad smile out, looking down at her wooden flooring. "Sounds just like her." She remembered all of the times that mare preached about friendship during school. It used to drive the filly mad. She always used to find it annoying and stupid. In hindsight, maybe she wasn't giving Twilight enough credit, though she still thought the young princess should tone it down a tad.
Looking back up to the princesses, she asked, "So… Tirek… where is he now?"
"In Ponyville," Celestia answered. "He's been staying there for a while now with Discord and Fluttershy."
Luna chuckled. "The poor thing was so frightened at first."
A scene of Tirek sitting with a scared Fluttershy while they drank tea together appeared in Cozy's mind. She still couldn't fathom it.
"I heard from Twilight that he behaved better than Discord first did," Celestia said.
Cozy looked down at her legs, contemplating to herself. "So he really wanted me back?"
"Discord was sent to search for you when others watched over Tirek," Celestia explained. "Even with both him and many others searching, we never found you."
"I can see why now," Luna said, looking out the window. "You're so far from Equestria in such an isolated place."
"Yeah." Cozy rubbed her mane. "I didn't exactly want to be found."
She sighed softly. The thoughts about Tirek painted another question in her mind.
"Anything on Chrysalis?" She asked, giving the two a cautious look.
"Nowhere to be found," Celestia answered. "The three of you were still considered threats to Equestria when you left. But Twilight had a very good feeling that you wouldn't be. Especially after all of our magic was given back to us."
Luna smiled. "We are thankful, by the way."
Cozy looked at them for a few seconds before she hopped off the couch and went off somewhere.
The two sisters, confused, listened as they heard some rummaging in another room. Moments later, Cozy returned with the bell in her magic. She looked a little sheepish.
"So this is Grogar's bell," Celestia said, staring at the object in amazement as if it was a huge prize.
Cozy found it odd that the old alicorn was so calm after what happened the last time she encountered the bell. Had Celestia really trusted her this much? Or perhaps the sympathy for her eased her worries.
The filly moved the bell closer to them as the tall alicorns stood up from the couch. She took it in her own golden magic and inspected it.
"You've kept it this entire time," Luna concluded.
"I wasn't going to hide it, in case somepony bad found it," Cozy replied. "Besides, it was insurance for me."
"So you could defend yourself," Celestia said, looking at her.
The filly shrugged. "I didn't know what was out here. So far, nothing too dangerous."
"I see…" Celestia inspected it further before she passed it back to Cozy, much to the filly's surprise.
With a raised brow, she asked, "You really trust me that much?"
Celestia gave a sad smile. "You would have tried to use it earlier when you had the chance. Besides, you didn't have any plans on attacking us for the past nine moons."
"Yet."
She gave her younger sister a stern look, who gave a look back which essentially said, "What? You know I'm right!"
"As I was saying, I'm willing to trust you now, Cozy Glow. So will you accept it?" She offered a hoof to her.
Cozy stared at the outstretched hoof for a good couple of seconds, unsure of many things.
"You've been hurting." She continued with an expression full of concern. "Living out here all alone in the cold. But I can help you fix that. If I can't, then we know who can."
Cozy stared at the hoof with furrowed brows. "Why do you want to help me?"
"Do you not trust us?" Luna asked.
The filly looked at her. "You know the things I've done. I've hurt creatures, I threatened the world, and I enjoyed it!"
Luna nodded. "And so have I."
Cozy stopped and realized she was right.
"...You're different." She eventually said. "You felt bad for your actions."
"And you haven't?"
"Honestly… I don't know." Cozy shook her head. "I can't even remember half the reasons I started doing those things."
"So what are you right now?" Celestia asked, causing the young alicorn to look up at her.
Cozy knew what she meant. If she was good or evil. Light or dark. What side was she truly standing on?
"I'm not bad or good." She answered after a deep breath. "And I don't want to be either of those things."
"And what do you want?"
Cozy's eye twitched. The sun princess kept asking question after question. And the worst part—it was actually working on her.
"To be… happy, I guess?"
Celestia stared at her for a moment before putting on a small smile. "You're an outcast. Alone, in the cold, far from any welcoming civilization, with nothing to do. I'm sure you know the problem."
Cozy snapped her head at her, giving her the most brutal glare she could muster. "I don't. Need. Friends!" She yelled. "All that ever did was hurt me! And I don't need that to happen again! I'm fine being here alone if it means I can't be hurt ever again!"
Celestia sighed softly. "Well, if you insist I certainly can't force you."
The pink filly was a little surprised she convinced Celestia so quickly, but she was glad it was done.
"Luna, let's head out."
Luna sighed. "If we must."
The two turned to the door and opened it for a moment.
After a gush of wind and snow hit them, Cozy slammed it shut with her magic.
"You can stay the night, gosh!" she said with a roll of her eyes. "Just sleep in the living room."
She trotted off, leaving the two ex-princesses in the living room.
The rest of that day was quiet in the house. Cozy didn't bother the sisters, and neither did they.
The two adults sat in the living room together as they started to hear pots and pans in the kitchen. They were curious but didn't intrude on Cozy Glow.
After some time, the filly peaked her head into the living room.
"Uh, do you two eat?"
"Of course we do," Luna answered.
Cozy rubbed her mane, looking away for a second. "Are you hungry? Would you like some dinner?"
"Sure, why not?" Celestia said with a smile.
It only took Cozy a few minutes to finish cooking. She returned to the living room with three steaming bowls of vegetable soup.
Luna and Celestia thanked her before digging in.
Celestia hummed. "This is actually quite good!"
"Agreed sister." Luna nodded with some still in her mouth.
Cozy deadpanned. "Your expectations were pretty low, huh?"
"To be fair, you are a filly," Celestia argued.
"Well, it's certainly better than…" She trailed off. "Never mind."
Luna raised a brow. "How curious." She swallowed. "That almost sounded like an insult."
"It was going to be an insult," Cozy said. "But it's all in the past now."
"What were you going to say?" Celestia asked, taking a spoonful of the soup.
"That this is infinitely better than the garbage you served in Tartarus. If you want to know."
The sisters went quiet after that sentence.
"But as I said, it's in the past. Who cares."
"No, I do," Celestia said. "Perhaps we were too hasty to send you there. We were just afraid since you nearly did more damage to Equestria than Tirek or anyone else ever did."
"It's fine. I get it."
Celestia narrowed her brows. "And you are just a young filly, a genius in a matter of fact. We could have had Twilight take you in, and maybe dealt with you another way."
"I'm not a genius…" Cozy said, looking down at her food and kicking her legs.
"I've seen no other pony than Starswirl be that knowledgeable about magic."
"Tirek is the culprit there."
"Even so, you understood it. It's not just fascinating because of your age, but also due to the fact that you are a pegasus. Even Twilight would struggle to learn about ancient spells like you have, and she's been training as a unicorn since fillyhood."
Cozy raised a brow and gave her a side glance. "How would you know that? Twilight may be a dork but she's still smart."
"Because I studied what you were doing with her. The two of us together barely managed to understand it."
"Huh." Cozy looked down.
"You are a smart one Cozy," Luna spoke up. "I must admit, there aren't a lot of creatures in the world who can threaten all of Equestria. Let alone a filly with no magic."
Cozy chuckled a bit. "Or maybe all of you were too dumb for me."
Celestia laughed as well, while Luna smiled.
"Maybe you're right," Celestia said, putting a hoof to her chin. "What was it again? 'We're so reliant on all of our special powers, we forget to use our brains?'"
Cozy looked away.
"You know she's kind of right with that one," Luna said, taking another spoonful. "We are a bit over-reliant on our magic."
They ate in silence for a while. It was only until Cozy spoke her mind that the air broke again.
"Are you going to tell Twilight about me?"
The two glanced down at her, then looked at each other.
Eventually, Celestia sighed. "I suppose we don't have to. You're not an enemy anymore."
"But Tirek does wish to see you," Luna reminded.
"I don't know if I want to see him." She glared at her food as if it turned into the mighty centaur. "He had his chance multiple times, and he blew it."
"To be your friend?" Celestia asked.
"Friend, ally, partner, who cares!" She nearly dashed her food. "He should just give up on me."
"You have to remember, he was a villain just as you were," Luna said. "If he's able to go to such lengths to find you again and ask for forgiveness, is he really that bad?"
Cozy chuckled. "He betrayed me once, he can do it again."
"And if he did, what of it?" Celestia asked, confusing her. "There are countless ponies and other creatures out there, including those you know. Most of them are willing to become friends with you."
"And they are prepared to forgive you," Luna added, "Don't forget that you also deceived creatures that were once your friends."
The filly sat there with her jaw slightly open in shock. She was being some sort of twisted hypocrite, wasn't she?
"You can take it from Luna and me. He really did feel remorse for what he did to you." Celestia outstretched a hoof that day for a second time, then asked, "Why don't you come with us to pay him a visit?"
Cozy looked away from the hoof with her eyes shut tight. "I-it's not that bad here," She started to say.
But then she thought of Tirek again. Maybe she could see him again if what they said was true. And they could finally work to become… friends.
She still remembered it like it was yesterday. When he replied to her letters, the joy she felt was unrivaled. She actually got his interest, and the letters kept being sent back and forth until she had what she needed. Even then, she still wanted to write to him, just to talk without business involved.
Then she got caught, and they became cellmates for a while. She knew that it was obvious Tirek couldn't stand her there, but it seemed that perhaps they were both wrong in thinking that, looking at it now. Then they got transported to "Grogar," where they truly started to bond. Scheming together did wonders.
"But…" Cozy took a couple of hesitant steps forward. "It wouldn't hurt to go, right?"
"Of course it wouldn't," Celestia said with a warm smile.
Cozy had started to realize why ponies worshiped this mare. She truly felt like a mother to all. She could even say she began to feel… regret?
Cozy laid her tiny outstretched hoof on top of Celestia's, and it took a moment after she saw the enchanting eyes of the sun princess, but the filly smiled up at her.
Luna swooped in and brought them close into a group, claustrophobic hug.
"Let's go, Team Alicorn!"
Celestia stared at her for a moment before giggling, and Cozy wiggled a bit, feeling uncomfortable.
"So…" The filly started in the middle of them. "Are we heading back to Equestria?"
"Well, before we head anywhere," Celestia turned to the window, the hug ending. "We're going to have to wait out this storm."
"Or we can teleport away from it." Cozy suggested.
"Or we can have a sleepover!" Luna suggested.
"I wouldn't mind that!" Celestia said, sounding giddy. "A little rest would be nice as well."
"Orr we can have a sleepover," Cozy said with a nervous chuckle, though the princesses didn't pick up on that.
The two princesses went into their saddlebags, which Cozy now noticed they were wearing.
They pulled out pink and purple sleeping bags and laid them on the floor.
Cozy put the magic bell above the fireplace, which was in Celestia and Luna's eyesight. She didn't want them to think she was about to attempt something.
"I'll go make some more hot cocoa to warm you guys up," She said before she zipped to her kitchen.
That was odd. Usually, she would talk in such a cheery manner to cover her true, toxic self. She was scared that she may have turned back into that filly for a moment. But she took one deep breath and decided not to worry about that. This was her chance to change into somepony that would make her truly happy.
There was also one place she wanted to stop by first to make sure a certain old griffon was doing fine. For all she knew, it would be the last time she would be anywhere near the village her shop resided in. Perhaps she should warn her that she’s leaving and no pony would be there to protect her.
The next few weeks flew by surprisingly fast for Cozy.
With two companions at her side, they conserved their magic and began their flight back to Equestria.
They first stopped at the nameless village from which Cozy has been receiving her supplies, as per the filly’s request. She met with Tally, who was confused about who she was until she turned herself into Blank Slate. Cozy told Tally her real name and said to her that she was leaving and may not return. To her surprise, Tally was anything but saddened. She encouraged Cozy, knowing the young filly had a lifetime ahead of her, and she called her "Cozy Glow" for the first time. The filly also did something for the first time, thanking the old griffon for all she had done. Tally just remarked that it was only a deal they had not to worry about. She told the filly not to worry about her, as she was moving away somewhere much safer for someone as old as her. It relieved Cozy Glow, and the filly left with one last goodbye.
The rest of the way back was through flight.
They chose not to teleport for two other reasons. One, to take it slow and enjoy the journey, and two, so Cozy had a chance to get used to the two sisters. Though, that second reason was only known to her. The first was mentioned by her as a facade.
On the first night of their venture, they set up camp in the middle of a thin forest. Cozy noticed she didn't have any sort of sleeping bag, but that was fine. She was used to sleeping anywhere. All she had to do was find somewhere comfortable under a tree.
Unfortunately for her, both Celestia and Luna wouldn't have that. Luna convinced her that there was more than enough room in her sleeping bag for the two of them. At first, it was fine, with only their backs touching inside while they began to doze off. But then, in the middle of her slumber, Luna turned over and used Cozy as a pseudo-stuffed animal. The filly was a bit awkward, but she had to admit it felt nice and warm being wrapped in Luna's arms. That morning, when she woke up, the princess of the moon didn't even notice what she was doing the entire night.
These nights continued like this, with Cozy and Luna sharing a sleeping bag. Over time, the filly slowly got used to it. And by day seven, she looked forward to it. She would never admit that, though.
One night, she couldn't sleep. There was a large lake surrounded by trees nearby, so she chose to sit there and admire the scene. It was nice and peaceful, with the fireflies and crickets chirping.
She should have predicted Luna noticing her. Her mind was getting too weak, or perhaps she was too accustomed to them.
Luna quietly sat with her. The only words spoken between the two were the question of permission from the ex-princess.
The two sat side by side under the starry night until Cozy dozed off. She almost fell the wrong way, but Luna pulled her into a side hug to give her a soft place to rest.
On a different night, the same thing happened. Cozy couldn't sleep, and she stared down across a beautiful valley. Luna told her about her mischievous plan that night to invade Celestia's dream and prank her.
Cozy was amused by that, and the moon princess was shocked once the filly joined her that night in the dreamscape. It took her what felt like eons to get used to performing such an act when she was once a filly.
With her new dream partner, the two pranked Celestia in her dream as planned. The sun goddess woke up in a sweat, terrified about the global ban on all cakes made by Twilight Sparkle. She was bitter after that, for the absurd time of an hour, but didn't do much else. That was a fun night for Cozy and Luna both.
They flew through the mountain lands, over the forests, and across the seas. The sights were all glorious, and Cozy wondered how she missed all of them on her first flight. She began to appreciate the art of nature as the weeks went by.
Eventually, they finally came across where Cozy first teleported herself, Tirek, and Chrysalis all those moons ago. She still remembered the rock where she sobbed while Tirek and Chrysalis were knocked unconscious for a few minutes. It only felt like yesterday. Still, that was all in her past now.
It only took them one full day of flying after that to be close enough.
In a flash of white light, Discord appeared in front of them, taking a bath in a bathtub. He was using a long brush to scrub his back.
The three stopped and fluttered in the air in front of him.
"Discord." Celestia nodded to him in a greeting.
"Back so soon, princess? Your vacation only just began," he said with a tone filled with questioning. The brush was pointed to Cozy Glow. "And with a guest I see."
The princesses were about to speak, but Cozy fluttered in front of them.
"Hi, Discord," she said with a small nervous smile. "It's been a while."
He snapped the bathtub and brush away. "It has," he replied with a smirk. "You're quite the smart one aren't you? Making sure you were far enough away and then giving me back my magic."
The filly put her front hooves behind her back and chuckled a bit. Discord still intimidated her, it seemed.
"That was a compliment by the way," he added.
"Oh, uh, thanks?"
Celestia and Luna flew up beside Cozy.
"We're going to see Tirek," Celestia said. "He's still in Ponyville, I presume?"
"I'm afraid not," Discord said, a very large watch flashing onto his wrist. "He will be participating in the upcoming Harmony Gala in a few hours."
Luna raised a brow. "Is that wise?"
Discord shrugged, the watch flashing away. "It's not in the rules. Besides, Twilight deemed him trustworthy enough for it."
"I'm sure Twilight has it handled," Celestia said, "And if not, I'm sure Spike does."
"Sorry, what's the Harmony Gala?" Cozy asked with a raised hoof.
"It's a new celebration in Canterlot featuring all of Twilight's closest friends," Celestia explained, "Twilight nearly replaced the Grand Galloping Gala with it before I persuaded her not to. That would come with certain consequences I'm sure she wouldn't want."
Cozy rolled her eyes. "Politics."
Luna nodded her head, agreeing with Cozy Glow.
"It's necessary," Celestia said with a hard emphasis, giving Luna a look. "I'm glad Twilight can see the same."
"Well, if he's in Canterlot, I think I should just wait until he gets back to Ponyville," Cozy said.
"Since when were you the shy type?" Discord asked with a smirk, pointing a finger at her. "I remember how close you were to some of the most powerful and dangerous creatures in Equestria!"
"It's not that, Grogar." Cozy pushed the talon away from her. "How do you think everypony would react to seeing me?"
"To be fair, you wouldn't be the only surprise guest over there," He replied, stroking his chin beard.
"What do you mean by that?" Celestia asked.
"Ah, right. You didn't know." Discord chuckled while slapping his forehead.
"Chrysalis is there as well."
The three alicorns widened their eyes.
"When did she…" Even Celestia was speechless.
"Around a couple of moons ago," Discord began, blinking a long couch into existence and laying on it. "That Changeling king and Spike found her by chance, and long story short, she's warming up to her old hive once again."
"That sounds… good?" Luna said, but not believing her own words.
"Oh, she's still bitter towards every creature that's a pony," Discord said, crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. "But everypony has their eyes on her. It's not like there's much she can do anyhow. Unlike Tirek she has no dangerous abilities, and she's surrounded by quite literally everypony who's defeated her in the past."
"She's there too…" Cozy whispered to herself, some thoughts racking her brain.
"This is her first time interacting with ponies in a long while. Spike suggested to let her enter the party, and here we are." He shrugged.
"We left Canterlot for our vacation around six moons ago?" Celestia said, thinking to herself. "I had no idea."
"Twilight wanted it that way," Discord said. "She knows she shouldn't rely on you anymore."
Celestia nodded and turned to Cozy Glow. "So, Cozy. Shall we head there?"
Cozy snapped out of her thoughts and then looked towards Discord. "What if she's attempting to sway Tirek to her side again?" she asked.
"Who knows? Out of all of you three, I trust her the least." He winked at her.
The filly visibly pondered for a moment before urgently saying to Celestia and Luna, "Come on, let's go!"
"I can help with that." Discord snapped his talon without warning, and the four of them disappeared in a flash.
The next thing they knew, the three alicorns were in the middle of a large crowd of ponies, reformed changelings, griffons, dragons, and other species.
Cozy immediately widened her eyes and changed to “Blank Slate” with her magic. Luckily, no pony in the crowd noticed.
Celestia and Luna looked at their surroundings. They knew the high walls of this interior too well, having lived here for most of their lives.
"Discord couldn't have given us a heads up?" Luna snarked.
Celestia had also realized something else; they were now in beautiful dresses. Looking down at herself, she was relieved to see there wasn't any chaos added to it. Looking down, she noticed that Luna was next to her, but the filly they were with was nowhere to be found.
"Cozy Glow?" Celestia looked around for her frantically, Luna joining her once she realized the same.
"Is that Celestia?" a pony asked excitedly.
"And Luna!" another shouted.
"Did she just say, Cozy Glow?" one whispered.
Celestia widened her eyes and leaned to Luna's ear. "Let's not go against Cozy's wishes."
Luna nodded, and the two professionally changed their faces to warm smiles like they've been doing for thousands of years.
Walking through the crowd slowly and attempting not to be rude, they started their new goal of looking for Cozy Glow.
The filly in question was breathing heavily. Not due to her stamina, but instead anxiety. She was currently in one of the empty halls of Canterlot Castle. In a dark corner where she was sure she was hidden.
She cursed Discord in her mind and took deep breaths to relax. When she finished that, she noticed she was in a lovely pink dress, hiding her wings.
Sighing and thanking Discord in her mind, she trotted out of the corner. Not before making sure her magic disguise was proper.
The party could be heard going on in the distance. Cozy decided to walk down in the other direction. Tirek was somewhere here, and she knew the first place she would check: The throne room.
She started to make her way there, knowing the way by heart even now after all these moons.
Down the hallway and to the right, a staircase waited for her. Going up, she looked out the windows where the stairs turned one-eighty degrees. There was more partying outside, and she recognized a few creatures. Some were from the friendship school, but none from her class.
Going the rest of the way up, she turned to the right into the hallway and trotted down, making sure there weren't any guards who could spot her. She would have used an invisibility spell, but that was one of the few she didn't teach herself when first learning about magic. She never thought she'd get to use it as a pegasus.
There was a turn coming up. She looked behind herself and saw no pony. She was in the clear.
Turning the corner, she bumped into somepony.
"Oof." The other creature flopped on his butt while Cozy barely budged.
"Ow." The griffon she bumped into rubbed his behind and stood up.
Wait, she recognized this blue griffon. It was her ex-classmate, Gallus.
She widened her eyes in shock. As if she could ever forget the students who stopped her plans the first time.
Gallus looked at her and said, "Sorry about that." He chuckled sheepishly. "Didn't look where I was going."
"I-it's fine," Cozy said, reminding herself she had a disguise on.
"Where are you headed, little filly?" he asked, "The party's that way." He pointed a talon to the hallway she had just come from.
"I'm heading to the bathroom and got a little lost." It was an easy lie for her to come up with.
"Oh," Gallus said, dropping his talon. "In that case you are heading the right way. My bad." He laughed out nervously.
Cozy just wanted him to leave her already. She was wasting time here.
"Sorry, I'm a bit new here," He told her.
Cozy looked down and noticed the armor he was wearing. "Oh, you're a royal guard."
"Yeah, I'm a newbie." Gallus scratched his head. "Still learning the castle layout myself."
"A pretty useless role," Cozy thought, recalling when Canterlot was invaded or infiltrated by evil entities, including herself.
"Well, I'll let you get to it then. Enjoy the party!" The blue griffon finally walked off.
Cozy sighed out and continued.
She snuck past a few guards, who were either too distracted or looking the other way. Cozy guessed they were too at ease since anyone rarely infiltrated the castle ever since they did all those moons ago... She assumed anyway.
For what seemed longer than it was, Cozy finally arrived at the throne room door. There weren't any guards, which drew an eyebrow from her. Or maybe it was a trap, but she doubted that as well. She was an unexpected guest.
She went towards the large door, and a flashback memory of her on top of a literal pile of guards came to her. She couldn't help but smile at the memory. That was the last time she felt so joyous.
She creaked open the door and stuck her head inside, not seeing anypony in sight. She took slow steps and closed the door as softly as possible.
She eyed the room, twisting her head around and admiring everything. It was amazing; she could admit that. She looked left and right at the stained glass art as she walked down to the throne itself.
From Nightmare Moon to King Sombra's second defeat, she recognized and knew every one of these artworks, having researched the history of Twilight and her friends long ago.
But then she stopped and stared at one for some time with a slightly dropped jaw. It was one she hadn't seen before. It definitely wasn't here the last time she was inside this room, and she could tell what it was.
It was her, wings out while in the air with Chrysalis and Tirek below her in what seemed like despair, but her glass counterpart was no better.
There was also a second stained glass artwork she didn't recall seeing last time. The main focus was a small green dragon which she assumed was Spike, along with a reformed changeling known as the current king. Chrysalis was also there, with a pink heart surrounding her. Cozy looked at that one with a tilted head.
She was interrupted when she heard hoofsteps from the room beside the throne, but she had no time to hide.
"Oh!" The purple alicorn noticed her almost immediately. "And who are you, little one?" She asked, fluttering her wings and flying over to Cozy.
Cozy stared at Twilight Sparkle, who stood above her for a moment. The last time they met, she blasted her with a magic beam without remorse. She still found it amusing.
"Hi." She did a small wave, a body language trick she picked up long ago. "I'm Blank Slate," She said, finally answering her question.
"And what are you doing here, Blank Slate?" Twilight asked with a warm smile. "Lost your way?" Her smile turned into a knowing look.
"Actually…" Cozy kicked a hoof on the floor. "I was hoping I could ask you a very important friendship question?"
Hook line and center.
Twilight beamed and said, "Of course, you can! What is your question?"
Cozy sighed. This time, the gesture was honest. And so was her question.
"What would you do if one of your best friends betrayed you?"
Twilight didn't even notice the change of tone from an innocent filly to a seriously troubled pony. She looked down at her in slight shock, no doubt caught off guard by the question. Then her expression turned into empathy before she sighed and motioned with a hoof to the throne.
Cozy raised both brows and followed her to the throne, where the two took a seat on the steps below it.
"I knew a pony once," Twilight began, "She was sweet, treated everybody well. She was an amazing student and amazing friend."
The fur on Cozy's back stood up, and she didn't feel like looking into Twilight's eyes right now.
But she had to force out the question, "What happened to her?" Even though she knew the answer well.
She just hadn't expected this story. Out of all of Twilight's friends, why her?
"She turned out to be evil." Twilight continued. "And she tricked me and all of my close friends into trusting her. She nearly wanted to do terrible things."
Cozy didn't say anything to that. She only took a hoof and rubbed the side of her flat mane.
"A lot of things happened after that," Twilight said. "I also did some things I regret. And honestly… it was my fault for everything that happened."
Cozy went wide-eyed for a good moment there. Luckily, Twilight was too engrossed in her own memory that she hadn't noticed. The filly fixed her face before she did.
"It's been moons since I've seen her, but…" She turned to Blank Slate. "To answer your question. Not all friendships are strong enough to hold on forever. I realize it hurts to lose a friend, but if you work hard enough, it's possible to overcome any hardship in your way. And together your bond can grow beyond anything you've ever imagined. I can't promise you and your friend can come together again, but you shouldn't bring yourself down for it when it's not your fault."
Cozy took in those words before she chuckled to herself while playing with her dress, looking to the floor. "Where'd you get that from, an affirmations calendar?"
It was in such a light-hearted tone, so subtle that any average pony wouldn't have gotten that reference. But Twilight was nowhere close to normal.
Slack-jawed, the ruler of Equestria slowly turned to the filly that sat beside her named "Blank Slate" and was about to say something.
But before a word came out of her mouth, the doors to the throne room opened, and a small green dragon entered the room.
"Twilight!" Spike yelled out across the long room, "They're here! And we have surprise guests!"
Twilight looked to Blank Slate for a moment before trotting over to Spike. "Surprise guests?"
Right behind Spike, two more familiar creatures walked in. Queen Chrysalis in a green dress, and Tirek wearing a red tuxedo.
Behind those two, Celestia and Luna stepped in, both giving Twilight tender smiles.
"Celestia! Luna!" Twilight rushed towards them with her wings, briefly forgetting the last minute. She nearly tackled them to the ground with her body, hugging them as if she were trying to crack their bones.
"It's so good to see you, Twilight," Luna said.
Celestia draped a wing over her. "How long has it been?"
"Six moons ago," Spike answered with a finger pointing up.
"It was rhetorical," Twilight said to him with lidded eyes before turning back to the two sisters.
Chrysalis scoffed while Tirek stood patiently on the side.
"I'm so glad you're here! I thought you said you weren't coming!" Twilight said as she dropped down to the floor in front of them.
"We weren't, but…" Celestia looked at Luna. "We had a change of plans."
Twilight smiled at them before turning to Tirek and Chrysalis, chuckling nervously. "So sorry about that. How are you two doing?"
"Peachy," Chrysalis spat.
"All is well," Tirek answered.
Spike interrupted them, pointing to the filly who stared up at the two former enemies of Equestria in a daze. "Who's she, Twilight?"
Twilight looked at Blank Slate for a moment before blurting out, "She's a…. friend! A friend of mine!"
Celestia and Luna both stared at the filly. They both noticed how she was gazing at Tirek and Chrysalis and not moving her eyes an inch. The filly didn't look fearful. Instead, there was a furrow in her brows and wonder in her eyes.
Twilight looked at her as well before a realization came. She fluttered up to Tirek and asked him, "How's everything at Fluttershy's cottage?"
Tirek crossed his arms, with one hand rubbing his chin. "Discord is annoying as always, but Fluttershy is still such a treat to live with. Though I am getting a tad too big for her cottage."
Cozy snapped out of her gaze and finally noticed how her two past allies now looked.
Tirek was a little buff but nowhere near his size after absorbing Grogar's magic. He was closer to the size he was when "Grogar" first gave him a sample of his magic, but still a little larger than that.
Chrysalis was the same size as always, but she physically looked healthier. As a non-reformed changeling, she always seemed a bit too skinny. Even now, still not reformed, she looked much better overall.
Twilight turned to Chrysalis and asked her, "And how's everything at the hive, Chrysalis?"
"I'm…" She breathed through her nose. "Content."
Twilight looked back at the white filly on the throne steps for a few seconds. The filly noticed and looked back at her.
Giving the young pony a small smile, she turned to Tirek and asked him, "Any luck on Cozy Glow?"
Cozy nearly gasped out but kept it inside. Of course, Twilight picked up on her after that sly remark.
Tirek looked over to the stained glass, where he and Chrysalis were under the mercy of Cozy Glow.
"There's no sign of her yet," he answered.
"Oh, I see." Twilight frowned, turning to the stained glass as well. "Do you want us to take it down?"
"No." Tirek shook his head. "It should be up there. It should be a reminder of what I've done. And Cozy Glow technically saved Equestria."
Twilight gave him a small smile. "Do you think she would have been boastful about it?"
Tirek chuckled lightly. "If she is herself, of course, she would."
That forced a small smile from Cozy Glow too.
"As soon as you are willing to let me roam free, I'm going to go search for her myself. She doesn't deserve to be out there alone," Tirek said. "I owe that to her."
"Well," Twilight started, "that time may be approaching soon, but…" She glanced at Blank Slate, who was smiling to herself and not paying much attention to their conversation. "What if she isn't happy to see you?"
Cozy raised her head slightly, waiting for the centaur's answer.
Tirek crossed his arms, closing his eyes. "Then I get what's coming for me."
Twilight frowned while Celestia closed her eyes, and Luna looked away.
"Ha!" Chrysalis laughed, "You're still being held here while I'm still able to roam free."
Tirek gritted his teeth at the remark and was about to retort when Spike cut in.
"Actually, it's only because Tirek can absorb magic. He's pretty dangerous, you know."
Tirek smirked. "See? He gets it!"
Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the drake. "Changeling abilities are just as dangerous as his, Spike."
"No, they're not!" Tirek said, sounding annoyed.
"They are!" She snapped her head at him. "The countless times I've infiltrated my enemies is unmatched. Don't forget how we turned the ponies against each other."
"Cozy had her part in that too!" he yelled back. "Besides, did your changeling abilities help with your fight against Starlight Glimmer?"
When Chrysalis didn't answer but grit her teeth, he finished, "I thought so!"
"We all wouldn't have been in that position if it wasn't for my help to snatch Grogar's bell! You and Cozy Glow were doomed to fail without me!"
"I'm not saying it's useless! It's just not as dangerous as my powers!"
"Aren't your powers just a copy of Grogar's bell?" she asked with a smirk.
"It is not!"
"I don't know. From my perspective, it seems to be."
As the two argued, the others in the room became uncomfortable. Twilight and Spike didn't know what to do, while Celestia and Luna were ready to make their exit but stopped when they realized they'd be leaving Cozy. Then, they looked at the filly, and what they saw shocked them.
Her cheeks were puffed up and red. She held her mouth with her hooves as if she had been holding her breath since the start of time. She looked at Chrysalis and Tirek argue, moving her eyes back and forth between them. Enough time passed when she couldn't hold it in anymore, and she spit out laughing hysterically.
Tirek and Chrysalis stopped arguing when they heard her and looked towards the filly in confusion. Twilight and Spike also looked her way, with the pony understanding what was going on and the dragon scratching his head.
"Why is she laughing?" Chrysalis asked the room, pointing to her.
Cozy held in her stomach as she couldn't stop laughing. Soon her throat started to hurt, and her eyes became a tad wet. Dropping to her side on the steps, she kicked her legs and said, "O-only Chrysalis would be so butthurt about not being a threat!"
Chrysalis opened her mouth, feeling a bit offended.
"A-and Tirek-" she laughed, "Tirek would get baited into an argument with her!"
"Who are you?" Tirek asked, crossing his arms.
Twilight, Celestia, and Luna smiled together.
Chrysalis's eyes flashed green for just a second, and she gasped.
"Oh!" Her laughs finally started to slow down as her breaths tried to keep up. "I forgot how fun you two could be. Golly, I've missed that," she said, wiping a tear from her eye.
Tirek uncrossed his arms. "Wait a minute…"
Chrysalis stared at the white filly in shock. "This whole time, you were…"
Finally able to breathe properly again, Cozy looked up at the two, though her smile slowly vanished. Taking a deep breath, she charged her horn. A wave of magic washed over her as she floated high in the air, changing her fur back to pink, her mane to its signature cyan, and revealing her wings again by making holes in the dress. Once it was finished, Cozy fluttered in the air, looking down at everypony.
Spike, Chrysalis, and Tirek all gazed at her with wide eyes.
"Cozy Glow…" Tirek whispered so silently that Cozy could only read his lips to understand what he said.
"Yeah, it's… it's me," she said with a small smile, fluttering down to the floor and landing on her hooves.
"What are you doing here?" the centaur asked her.
Celestia motioned Twilight and Spike to come to her. "Let's give these three their privacy."
Twilight and Spike began to make their way toward the two sisters to leave, but Cozy called out to the dragon.
"Hey! Um…"
Spike turned to her for a second.
"Thank you… for helping Chrysalis."
Spike smiled at her. "She has that motherly love a queen should have," he said. "Surprisingly enough."
Chrysalis said nothing to that as she stared at Cozy Glow's form the entire time. They weren't even sure if she heard Spike's remark.
Spike hurried along, and the four Equestrians left the throne room. "We'll be out here if you need us, Cozy!" Celestia yelled. The door was shut behind them with a loud click.
Cozy stared up at the two, not knowing what to say. Her small smile disappeared when the others left the room.
It seemed it was the same for them as well. Nobody in the history of time could ever say they knew a time when they were all this quiet together.
"So I…" Cozy kicked a hoof on the crystal floor. "I heard you guys are reformed now?"
"And we haven't heard a peep from you," Tirek responded, pointing to her.
Cozy chuckled for a second. "I made sure of that."
Tirek frowned. "Are you still mad at us?"
Cozy shook her head, looking at him through his piercing yellow eyes. "At first I was," she said, "then I was really sad. Then I felt… nothing? I was just too scared, I guess."
"I'm…" Tirek rubbed his shoulder through his tuxedo. "...sorry, Cozy Glow," he said, which raised her eyebrows. She had never thought she'd hear Tirek apologize to somepony, let alone her.
"I apologize too," Chrysalis said while looking away. "I was out of line back then. I know all too well what it's like to have someone you know turn their back on you."
"It's fine." She looked away from them.
"No, it wasn't." Tirek shook his head. "I didn't realize what I had until you left that day. You were my first and only protege. Someone who looked for my knowledge and skills. Someone who admired my talents. Someone who admired… me. It felt nice working with creatures for a change. I never would have thought I'd feel guilty for betraying you. I was a fool."
"It's all in the past now," Cozy said. "It's my fault, really. What did I expect?"
Tirek and Chrysalis said nothing to that but looked as if they agreed with her.
"I mean, you're a demi-god… I think. Chrysalis was once a queen of an entire hive, and then there's me, just an ordinary pegasus filly who is devious at most."
"Give yourself some credit, Cozy," Chrysalis began, "Even as a regular filly, you nearly toppled Equestria on your own. I still remember when my magic was fading on that day. I was shocked to find it was your doing. But when I did, I had some newfound respect for you."
"You went much beyond anything I expected out of you," Tirek said, "I was shocked to find Twilight and her friends entering Tartarus in the first place. I never thought you'd make it that far."
"It wasn't difficult," Cozy said, scratching the back of her mane.
"You managed to fool Twilight and her friends." Chrysalis thought back to her first attempt at taking over Canterlot. "Even when I perfectly infiltrated the wedding for Cadence and Shining Armor, Twilight was still on to me."
Cozy laughed a little. "I remember reading that in the newspaper."
"So can…" Tirek trailed off. "Can we get another chance at this… thing we have going here?"
Cozy stared at him with a deadpan. "Are we still avoiding that word?"
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Yes! All I have is bad memories with that wicked word!"
"So then what do we call it? We need a name." Cozy rubbed her chin. "How about siblings?"
"No!" they both answered simultaneously.
Cozy chuckled. "How about buddies, then?"
"Buddies?" Chrysalis raised a brow. "Really?"
"Got anything better?" The filly raised one back at her.
The changeling scoffed. "It's fine I suppose."
"I don't care." Tirek shrugged. "Does that mean we get another chance at being buddies?"
Cozy gave them a warm smile. "I wouldn't mind that," she said before frowning. "But you mess up again, and no more chances!"
Tirek smirked. "I'll take it."
The three stood awkwardly in the throne room, not knowing what to say.
Tirek cleared his throat and decided to ask, "So, what have you been up to this entire time?"
"Just hanging out." She shrugged. "And looking after this…" Reaching under her dress, she pulled out a very familiar item.
The two others gasped at the glowing bell, just as they saw it all those moons ago.
"So the bell is still intact," Tirek said as he stared at it.
"I contemplated destroying it. But I didn't for reasons—multiple of them." She stroked a hoof on it. "To remind me of the past. For self-defense."
"I would have thought you didn't care about defending yourself," said Chrysalis, looking down at her.
"I don't wanna die!" she responded, sounding offended. "I just… didn't know what to do with myself. I just made myself a small home and continued on, giving myself the job of keeping the bell for whatever reason I needed to." She knew it was stupid, but her mind was too close to cracking that day. She needed to avert herself, and if giving herself an "important job" did the trick, so be it.
"I see." Tirek said nothing else, just looking at the bell like it was a female he once wanted but grew to move past them.
"So do you still possess Grogar's magic?" Chrysalis said.
"Yeah." Cozy nodded. "It was hard to control it all at first, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly."
"How did you even manage to take it all back from us after your magic was drained?" Tirek asked.
Cozy shrugged. "I have no idea. All I remember was being so angry. My head started to hurt and all I could see was red."
"Magic does have a history with emotions," Tirek said. "Grogar was one of the evilest creatures to ever exist. His bell probably reacted to your anger. That's my theory anyway."
“If we could get Twilight to research on it, maybe we could uncover some secrets,” Cozy said.
Chrysalis scoffed a the mention of that name, but she couldn’t deny the idea.
“Starswirl could also do so,” Chrysalis said while Tirek took the bell in one of his hands and inspected it while scratching his chin. "Canterlot Castle still has that library holding much knowledge."
"Yeah…" Cozy trailed off.
"So… what now?" Chrysalis asked.
"I don't know," Tirek said almost instantly. Both Cozy and Chrysalis could tell he wasn't lying. "I was so focused on finding Cozy Glow that I never thought about it."
Cozy looked between them, asking, "Are we… good guys now?"
Chrysalis furrowed her brows. "Well, aren't you?"
"I mean I'm not doing anything bad… but I'm not good either." Cozy winked at them.
"The new princess of Equestria does seem a little too at ease with us," Chrysalis said with a smirk.
"You hold her down and I absorb her magic?" Tirek asked, the same nasty smirk appearing on his face.
The door to the throne room busted open, with all three alicorns charging magic into their horns, the Chaos Lord threatening to snap a finger, and the dragon ready to blow fire.
The three villains stared at each other, not fazed by the heroines one bit, before they all burst out laughing.
The laughs didn't sound twisted or wicked like theirs once did. Instead, it was more playful, filled with mischief and no hint of evil.
Cozy knew what Twilight was thinking, practically reading her mind. "Well, duh. I wouldn't trust us three either. Together, alone, right where Equestria wouldn't want us," the filly said with a roll of her eyes.
This put Celestia, Luna, and Discord all at ease, while Twilight and Spike breathed in relief.
Tirek tossed the bell at them with a soft throw, Twilight catching it in her magic.
"It was just a little prank. You can thank Luna for that one," Cozy said in that sweet voice that was once fake. For all Twilight knew, this was a mockery as well.
Luna nodded proudly at Cozy Glow.
"Besides," Chrysalis began, "I want to continue rekindling with the new hive." She had to force herself not to fake a gag or anything of the sort.
Cozy turned to Tirek, still wondering what their next move was. "Should I just come with you and live at Fluttershy's?"
"I was stuck there for nearly an entire year." Tirek crossed his arms. "No thank you."
Celestia stepped forward. "What of your brother, Tirek?" She asked.
"My brother…" The mention of him still made his heart ache, even if it was for different reasons now. Cozy knew it probably still hurt for his own blood to betray him, whether for a good cause or not.
"Oh! You should introduce us!" Cozy said excitedly, trying to push him forward.
"Or what about your home?" Chrysalis asked. "I wouldn't mind a little trip."
"I can finally meet your gram gram," Cozy said with a giggle while Tirek grumbled.
"That's a great idea!" Twilight shouted, "Spike! You could go with them and try to get acquainted with the Centaur Kingdom."
Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis all deadpanned towards Twilight. She really did have to make everything about friendship this and friendship that.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other, making sure the other thought the same thing.
"We wouldn't mind tagging along," Celestia said, raising a hoof. "It's been a while since we've had an adventure."
"Uh…" Cozy didn't mind it personally, but she was unsure of Tirek and Chrysalis's opinion on them.
"I could also come with," Discord said, floating above them. "Just to make sure you three stay out of trouble, and I believe Twilight is ready to run the kingdom alone without any of us as a safety net."
"Is that… good with you guys?" Cozy asked, looking at her two buddies.
Tirek sighed and shrugged. "Honestly I don't really care who comes. I'm just dreading meeting my dear old dad again."
Cozy took that as a yes.
"I'm fine with Spike. You other three better not be annoying." Chrysalis spat, turning away, looking irritated already.
Celestia and Luna chuckled to each other while Spike smiled at her.
"You guys don't have to leave just yet," Twilight said, gesturing to the open doors of the throne room. "Come and enjoy the party!"
Cozy looked unsure, nearly walking away from the doors. There were probably many creatures out there that weren't fond of her.
Tirek and Chrysalis looked at her for a moment, knowing she was uncomfortable.
"How about I go reintroduce you to Fluttershy," Tirek said. "I meant it when I said she's a sweetheart."
Chrysalis nodded. "And I could show you the current king of the changelings. As a start?"
Cozy looked at her two buddies trying their best for her, making a small smile appear on her face.
It was early morning.
The four former villains, two ex-princesses, and Equestria's most exemplary ambassador stood at the edge of a windy cliff, looking towards the rising sun over an endless biome of grassy fields.
Celestia was proud, just as her sister was moments ago when the moon fell. It was an incredible sunrise, expanding the landscape with orange and red vibrant colors. Something she was bitter she could not achieve when she was a filly.
Cozy looked behind, staring back at Canterlot City on the side of the mountain. Nine moons ago, she was going to destroy that place, but now she was glad she didn't get to. It looked pretty.
Turning her head back to the landscape in front of them, she knew it was time to forget that place for a while, starting now. Who knew what they were going to encounter? If it was going to be difficult obstacles or mild annoyances. She did have her life ahead of her. Looking back, she was glad she stopped Tirek and Chrysalis. They could have failed and wound up imprisoned for life or worse? Even if they had won, how long would it have satisfied them? In retrospect, she would have probably gotten bored sooner or later ruling her own little empire, but who knows?
Her new journey set on a different path was just about to begin.
Author's Note
This was something I had in mind for quite some time. If it weren't a one-shot, I would have added a few more touches, such as more interactions with other characters, a deeper story as Cozy lived alone, and even a big bad. But I hope this is enough for anyone reading! Thanks.
