Empress Cozy Glowby Betty_StarlightChaptersChapter 1: The ReformationChapter 2: Equestria's New HeroChapter 4: The EscapeChapter 5: Who We Are to Each OtherChapter 6: Twilight SparkleChapter 7: Dream to NightmareChapter 8: FamilyChapter 3: ConfessionsChapter 1: The ReformationTwilight looks at me with the restraining ring on her horn, “Well, Tirek says he’s still extremely unhappy with your decision Cozy…” before widening her eyes. “I must admit that I am curious though… After all he’s done, why don’t you try to rescue him from Tartarus? I mean, you’re starting to act nice all of a suddenas of a few months ago, but you continue to ignore him?” I sigh, “We’ve been over this Twilight! There’s no way we can do that!” Twilight nods, “I see…” she frowns. “But you’ve already explicitly told me in our confidential conversations that you think about all he has done for you, and you were mentioning that you think that maybe you should be nicer? And I’ll admit Cozy, it seems strange to me because you put so much effort into restoring magick to Equestria, and yet, you’ve done absolutely nothing for him?” I gulp when I think that maybe she has a point? I furrow my brow and put on my evil filly face again, “Well, why would I? I don’t need him anymore! And I don’t wish to discuss this further!” She nods diligently, “As you wish!” I frown and look directly ahead in the throne room… It used to be Twilight’s throne room, but I had it converted for me… Everything is purple now… “Twilight? I uh…” Her eyes widen, “Yes Empress Cozy?” I look at her and suddenly say, “I don’t feel well! I need to retire to my chambers now! You handle my business for me and fetch me only if something super important comes up! You understand what I mean, right?” She nods again, “As you wish, my Empress!” <*****> I look at my diary as I sat at my ornate purple desk… I like the color purple and most things in the castle are violet colored… I look at what I wrote this morning: Well, it finally happened last night! I restored magick in Equestria and everypony celebrated! Golly, I didn’t think they’d be so happy? Twilight wanted to know why I did it and I logically explained to her that now that I have power, it’s fine for other ponies to have just a little bit, since I can easily overpower them with my alicorn magick and she agreed… It was strange, but she agreed to wear the restraining ring without any arguments? I was actually expecting more resistance… The truth is though, I kinda wanted ponies to like me again… They all do what I say, but I can tell that they don’t like it and they don’t like me… Oh Celestia, how lonely do I feel! Of course, I can’t tell any of them about this! The fact is I must remain in control! I am the sole alicorn leader of this great nation, after all! After finding the artifact and ascending, the magick contained within enveloped my body and for about four months, I was the only pony with magick… And I just changed that… I still don’t know why? I think about how my writing is all over the place here and suddenly wonder if I can discern anything from it? I soon decide to take the pen in my mouth and write, Update: I still can’t get my mind off Tirek! I kept him imprisoned from the start because well, I don’t really need him anymore! Twilight wanted to know why I hadn’t released him or even spoken to him after I started acting nice… The truth is, there’s no real reason, but I also think about all he did to make my ascension possible… Of course, that doesn’t matter at this stage now, does it? I look up and stare blankly at my wall with the pen in my mouth and think to myself… Twilight’s right! There’s more to this than just me wanting to be liked! I soon pen, I think I shall write him a letter? I get out a new sheet of paper and write: Dear, Tirek Hiya old buddy! Remember me? Sure has been awhile! Now, I know you’re very unhappy that I’ve kept you there over the past six months, but as I already explained to you, you’re a threat to me with your magick sucking abilities and I can’t allow that! Besides, there’s no way we can unlock that door a third time! I hope you understand? You know, I sure am glad there’s a mail slot and I just wanted to thank you for giving me another chance… I wanted to thank you for allowing me to ascend like this and get all this power… But now, I think things are going to be different? I recently restored magick in Equestria by reopening the vortex, and of course you’re aware that that means you’re even more potentially dangerous to me! As such, there will be no attempts to open the gate to Tartarus… Although uh, I was wondering… You originally wanted me to get rid of all magick in Equestria as revenge for how the ponies defeated you earlier or whatever? How does it feel to know that I’ve reversed that? I hope you’re not mad? Please write back! Sincerely, Cozy Glow I sigh before nodding and agreeing with myself that this is what I will mail the centaur… Although I really don’t think he’s gonna be too happy about it? <*****> The farmer pony looked up at me with startled green eyes underneath his straw hat as his yellow hoof kicked the floor in nervous apprehension and he cleared his throat, “Uh, Empress Cozy Glow! We need more water in the valley south of Ghastly Gorge and I was wondering if you could open up the water a bit more?” before smiling anxiously. I smile at him, “Certainly! I’ll send an expert right over to determine your water needs and we’ll be happy to adjust that for you!” His eyes widen, “Oh, oh really? Uh, th-thank you Empress Cozy Glow!” I shrug, “Hey, no problem! What are supreme empresses for, right? Uh, “I widen my eyes to him. “was there anything else you wanted?” He blinks and clears his throat again, “W-well there was my baby sister…” I adjust my gaze to him curiously, “What about your baby sister?” He gulps and stutters out, “W-well, she’s very sick, you see! And um, Dr. Hooves says she needs a new liver and well, I just can’t pay for that! And um, I was hoping…” I furrow my brow and put on my evil face again and angrily ask, “You what? You want me to pay for her operation? Is that it?” He blinks and stares at me wide-eyed, “Um, if you d-don’t mind empress? I uh…” I sigh and raise my eyes to the ceiling, “Fine! I’ll buy your sister’s stupid liver transplant!” before lowering them back to him. “Was there anything else?” His body shakes in astonishment as he looks at me with wider eyes than I thought he could make, “Uh, n-no Your Highness! Thank you s-so much!” before turning and trotting out of the throne room a lot faster than he entered! Twilight steps towards me from my right and turns her neck right to stare at me, “You just did it again, Cozy! You were benevolent!” I widen my eyes when I suddenly realize that she’s right and I turn my head to her and say to her blankly, “Twilight…” I gulp, “As you know, I’ve punished ponies for speaking up and about me in the past… But now, I want you to know that I won’t do that…” I look at her carefully with the straightest expression I can muster… “Twilight, what’s happening to me?” (To be continued…) Chapter 2: Equestria's New HeroTwilight stares at me with sincerity in her purple eyes and says, “Well, since you want me to answer truthfully, I’ll tell you that you’ve become more benevolent and uh, nice…” I nod, “Right! But why?” She frowns, “You think maybe you were never really evil to begin with?” I widen my eyes at this preposterous notion! “What? No! I’m the evil filly who took over Equestria, remember? That can’t be it!” I shake my head. “It just can’t be!” She lowers her gaze, “Well, let’s explore this mystery a bit, shall we, Your Highness? Tell me, when did you begin to notice a change?” I blink as I think back, “Well, to be honest, I thought I had been acting the same this whole time? Although uh, I haven’t really imprisoned anypony in months now, come to think of it? I still think of those that I locked up earlier sometimes as well, and uh, I was actually thinking about releasing them now?” Her muzzle raises, “So why don’t you do it?” I harden my gaze as I say ferociously, “What? And weaken my power? I don’t think so!” Her eyes widen as she speaks to me frankly, “Cozy, can I be honest with you?” I loosen my face to stare at her blankly, “Wasn’t that the whole point of me saying that I wouldn’t punish you?” She smiles and lowers her gaze, “Of course, Your Highness! I think you’re better than you thought?” I gulp, “W-what do you mean?” “I mean, I think you just might be a good filly after all?” I scoff, “Don’t be ridiculous, Twilight!” Her smile lowers, “My apologies, Your Highness.” I eye her carefully, “You know I can’t let your friends out of Tartarus, even if I wanted to, right?” She nods, “I am aware Your Majesty… “ I narrow my eyes, “You don’t seem bothered by that?” She sighs, “Well Empress, I’ve long since decided that if at all possible, I will help them escape. But for the time being, since that is not possible, I’ll just bide my time until that point… “ “So you do care about your friends?” She nods, “Of course, Your Majesty! I was Princess of Friendship before the change, as you’ll recall…” I widen my eyes when I realize that I somehow forgot that. I take a look at her wings and horn and think to myself, “Well, what do you know about the Guardian Amethyst, anyway?” Her eyes widen, “Why do you ask, Your Majesty?” I sigh, “Well, I’m trying to think about this and that’s really the only X-factor here! We don’t know exactly what that artifact did to me!” She nods, “This is true Empress Cozy! Until you discovered it in that cave, I had never heard of it! Exactly what were you doing in that cave anyway, if I may be so bold as to ask?” I stare at her carefully when I try to think about exactly how much I’m willing to tell this other alicorn, “Well, if I’m being honest, I don’t know, okay? Oh, golly!” my eyes go to the ceiling, “I somehow felt drawn to that point… Something called me there…” Twilight blinks and frowns, “Don’t you think we should’ve done some more research to find out then?” I widen my eyes again when I realize she has a point! “Well, golly gee! Don’t you think I know that? It’s just that, well…” I blink. “I checked the Canterlot archives and couldn’t find anything, no matter how I searched!” “Even the Starswirl the Bearded wing?” “The what?” She nods, “The Starswirl the Bearded wing! For an artifact as old as that, I’d think that’s where any records would be?” I frown, “Well uh, I guess that makes sense?” She smiles, “Empress, I was a very effective researcher once upon a time! I could find this information for you, if you like?” I glare at her when I try to think about this… How much do I trust her? I stare at her again, “Twilight, I’d like to go on the research expedition with you!” “Then who will run Equestria?” “Well golly! Don’t you think Equestria can take care of itself for a couple of days while we find out more about this thing?” She nods, “You’re probably right, My Liege!” My eyes widen, “Of course, I am!” before we’re both enveloped in a pale pink flash! <*****> We both stand on our hooves in the darkened book room, with the bookshelf lining all along the wall… I frown and decide to use my magick to turn on the overhead light and soon, bright illumination overtakes the entire closet section… Twilight looks at me from the right and says, “Well, this is the rough location… I guess we should try to find the G section, now?” I turn my head towards her, “Why G?” She nods, “Well, we’re looking for information on the Guardian Amethyst and that starts with a…” I nod, “Right! G! Of course! Uh, lead the way! I’ve never been in here!” She turns her head towards the massive stone bookshelf before us and says, “Well, F is right here, which means G is…” “The next section! Go check there Twilight!” She smiles and nods, “Of course, Your Highness!” before adjusting her body further right and squatting to take off so she can fly in areas in the enormous shelf above… I look up and think that it’s so strange that an area this tiny would have such a high ceiling! I frown when remembering that I didn’t design the place... And Twilight soon yells back, “I found a book entitled Guardian Amethyst, A Guide! It’s very old though, and I don’t know how legible the Ponish will be!” before grasping the book in her forehooves and slowly gliding down towards me… I nod at her as she lands with the brown leather volume in her front hooves, “Well, crack it open and see what you can find out!” She smiles, “Certainly!” before lowering the book down with her body as she lands on all of her hooves, to stare at the book and use her mouth to open the front and look inside… I can tell this sudden interest in research has probably began to scratch an itch in this other alicorn’s mind… Suddenly, I hear a loud crash come from outside the library! I widen my eyes at the other alicorn, “You keep reading! I’ll go check it out!” before turning and taking off to fly out the window at the side, roughly 5 feet over the ground… I fly out and witness an enormous Queen Chrysalis standing there outside of Canterlot with a big smile on her face! “Greetings Cozy Glow! I, Queen Chrysalis am suggesting we have an alliance! I can restart my hive with a little bit of help from you, and together, we can conquer all of Equus!” she lowers her muzzle. “Join me, or die!” I sigh and frown, “Oh, golly gee! I’m an alicorn! I’m pretty sure I can…” Suddenly, a green bolt of energy comes out of her horn and zaps me and I can no longer move as I’m covered in green energy! The giant Chrysalis smiles, “I took Celestia out! You should be no problem!” Suddenly, I feel warm radiant energy come from below me somewhere and that shatters the green energy that had enveloped me! Suddenly, I could move again! I look at her and say, “Listen here, bug queen! I work alone!” before that same golden glow encases me and I lower my gaze and utilize my own magick to throw this new energy at the evil insect! * She’s soon consumed by the radiant energy and she begins to scream as she’s pushed FAR back by this energy! “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” until her body disappears from view! I widen my eyes when I realize that a lot of that power wasn’t mine! I look down and see a smiling purple alicorn standing on her hooves near the library entrance and so I adjust my body in the air and begin flapping that direction to meet my assistant on the massive concrete landing, where she currently stands! I land near her and stare up at her from 15 feet away, “What just happened?” She replies, “Well, apparently I’m your friend, because the Guardian Amethyst was able to draw power from me!” I frown, “Say what now?” She nods, “Let me explain! Now, before you freak out, you need to understand that you’re actually no better than you were from the start!” “What do you mean?” “The amethyst brought out the good in you to make you a better pony! It was Princess Harmonia’s final safeguard, should the Elements of Harmony ever fall!” My eyes widen, “Wait! Princess Har-who?” She nods, “Princess Harmonia was the princess before Celestia! She was the one who founded Equestria!” “Oh, wow! Where did she go?” “Nopony really knows?” “Okay…” I adjust my gaze. “So the amethyst made me good?” “No!” My eyes widen, “What?” She sighs, “The amethyst only brought out the good that was already inside you and made you an alicorn! It basically transformed you into a champion of justice in order to protect Equestria!” I blink as my mind begins to process all of this new information… “So, I’ve always been good and benevolent then?” She nods, “Well, basically, yes!” I frown as I gaze at her carefully… I finally reply, “You’re an idiot, Twilight!” She begins to snicker while I suppress a full-on grimace… “So wait! What was that golden energy you gave me back there?” She smiles wider, “Well, the amethyst also gives the hero the ability to absorb energy from her friends!” My eyes widen once again, “So that could only mean… “ She smiles widely, “Yup! The amethyst considers me your friend!” I blink twice as this new prospect occurs to me… “Okay, you’re both idiots!” (To be continued…) Author's Note *Yes, this line can be considered ironic. Chapter 4: The EscapeI lay on my back in my darkened room and stared up at the ceiling on my plush purple bed and thought long and hard about the events of the day… I thought about Twilight actually loving me! ME! The horrible filly who took over Equestria! Maybe I should get rid of her? I suddenly thought to myself again as I frowned at the ornate upper surface of my room, now dimly illuminated by the small light near the bed. I blink and wonder to myself, On what grounds? I mean, sure I’m an evil tyrant, but even I’d want a good reason! Before shutting my eyes and rolling over on my right side… I pout while snuggling the enormous violet pillow to the side of my face, That rotten Twilight! How dare she be nice to me! And then, I cuddle my dolphin plushie to my chest and close my eyes as I begin to drift off… <*****> I open my eyes and I’m sitting on my haunches at a wooden school desk. I’m wearing my crown, but I also see Twilight Sparkle near the front desk 10 feet from me as she smiles and says, “Okay, so for our lesson today…” I cut her off, “What do you mean lesson? Wasn’t I the Empress of Friendship?” She nods courteously, “But of course, Empress Cozy Glow!” I frown, “So then WHY are you teaching me lessons?” before widening my eyes. She smiles, “Because you came here to learn about friendship, remember?” I’m silent for a moment, “You know, I think I’d remember something like that?” She nods again, “Indeed! Now, as you’ll recall, yesterday, we were talking about sharing and we had that exercise where you shared the power of my friendship and used it to make Chrysalis go away!” I stare back at her mortified. “N-no it didn’t! That never happened!” She broadens her grin to me, “Oh, but it did, don’t you remember? We’re friends now and we worked as a team to make the threat go away!” I suddenly open my eyes while laying on my back on the bed. The blanket now only half-covers me and the dolphin is thrown off to the right side of the bed as I stared up at the ceiling in the darkened room that one fateful morning. I whispered emphatically, “I gotta get out of here!” <*****> I’m honestly not sure how long I had been flying? I think I was heading north, which means I’m going towards the Everfree… I also know the sun was just now starting to peak out over the eastern horizon at my right and I saw the long shadows of the trees below in the pastures in the early morning sunlight… The forest will be perfect because it’s a nice quiet place to clear my head! I think to myself as I suddenly notice a treeline come into view in front of me. I lower my gaze and begin to flap faster… The sooner I reach the woods, the faster I can relax! It’s so stressful around Twilight right now! Just the thought of being around her makes me uneasy! I think as I furrow my brow and flap forward with all of my might. I finally see the trees get closer and eventually fall underneath me as I continued to flap forward into the forest… You know, I have no idea exactly how far I went? I was starting to feel cramped in the Friendship castle and I just needed to get away! Away from Twilight and the other servants! Away from everything! I landed just shy of a wooden shanty about 20 feet in front of me as I stared up at it over a pond… I huffed in and out of my mouth… I haven’t flown THAT far in a long time! I just kept breathing in and out of my snout, in and out, in and out, while the shanty came into view and I saw that it was on a front with a wooden railing protecting it from the pond before it… I saw marshlands all around me as I caught my breath and began to breath slower... I eventually raised my neck as my breathing grew shallower and turned my ears to the shack, because I suddenly wondered who lived there? “Haven’t seen you ‘round here!” I suddenly hear a grizzled masculine voice from behind me! This startles me and I scream, “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!” “EEK!” The voice starts and I turn my head to face it behind me and witness a brown earth stallion with a thatched straw hat, dark blue eyes, light wavy tan mane and tail, and quite a few wrinkles on his face! “Sorry bout that young’un! I didn’t mean to startle you! Name’s Bayou Billy Clops! Most ponies call me Bill!” his gaze lowers as his brow furrows. “Who are ya and what’re ya doin’ here?” I turn my body to face uh, Bill and widen my eyes, “I shall call you Bill then!” I nod. “Well, Bill! If you really wanna know, I just uh, needed to get away! You ever need an escape?” He smiles down at me, “Well, yeah! All the time! The real trick is figuring out what ta do!” I blink, “Uh, of course!” “If ya don’t mind me askin’, what were ya tryin’ ta git away from?” I sigh to the side, “Well uh, it’s my friend!” He frowns, “Oh?” I smile dimly and giggle nervously at him, “Yeah, she’s uh, a really good friend and I just don’t know if I like that?” His eyes widen, “Now, why in Equestria would ya not like that, little un?” I adjust my body and say to him, “Well I uh, did some things and well…” His eyes narrow, “Look! It don’t matter what ya did and it don’t matter how ya feel about it! We’re not talkin’ bout that! What’s truly important is your relationship with this friend, y’hear?” I frown, “Oh? Uh, hey listen, “I shake my head. “I’m just not sure who I am anymore?” His eyes normalize, “Y’know, friends can help with that sort of thing? Uh, what should I call you, anyway?” My eyes widen as I think on the fly, “Call me Annabelle!” He nods, “Alright Annabelle, look! It seems to me that any friend that can make ya travel this far out must be some friend… And it also seems to me that y’truly care bout this friend cause yer not sure if you deserve her…” his view enlarges. “Y’think maybe thems all the answers y’need?” I gaze at Bill with enormous eyes, “Oh, golly Bill! You’re right! I mean, she might be in an awkward position, but we still have a connection of some sort and I need to nurture that!” He frowns, “Say what now?” I turn and begin to gallop away from the shanty in the distance, “Thanks Bill!” before I quickly begin flapping my wings and take off out over the milder forest further back towards Ponyville… <*****> I must’ve been flying for hours! Gee, is the Everfree Forest really that far from Ponyville? I finally saw the towers of my castle in the distance as they sat in the view just beyond the small townscape of downtown Ponyville. I kept flapping as the towers got larger and larger in my view… I knew which towers I’d want and I knew what area of town my castle was in! Just a matter of getting there… I then thought about Bill… To him, I wasn’t empress of anything… He saw me as a small pink filly and nothing more, and so he gave me solid advice… I care about Twilight and it’s probably better that I deal with that? As I flapped through the air, I witnessed many pegasi and a lot of them stopped and gawked at me while flapping in mid-air! You know, I’m just the Empress of Friendship, the single most important pony in Equestria, after all! As I continued to fly over the town, I suddenly thought that I did care about Twilight and she cared about me… That our situation is just scenery and that I need to come to terms with that… Uh, somehow? I also knew that it was well after 9 o’clock and she’s probably wondering where the hay I am? I saw the tall spire of my castle’s main keep! That’s where I want to be, because it’s secure! I flap hurriedly that direction as another pink and blue pegasus ponies on my right stop to stare at me… I see it come into view and I witness the platform of the awning come into view over one section of the tower... I land on the old wooden platform with a clack noise as my hooves make contact… You know, I really should have them replace this deck later? I blink and stare at the door in front of me… Ponyville town is sprawled out behind me in the morning sun, and I just stood there, staring at my door and thinking to myself… I care about her and she cares about me! That’s it! We’re friends! Uh, how should I handle this? Suddenly, it bursts open to the left to reveal a wide-eyed purple alicorn with a blue mane, “Empress Cozy Glow! I’ve been looking for you all morning! Where were you?” I stare at my assistant and decide I wanna be tough, “Twilight Sparkle! I order you to hug me!” She frowns, “W-what?” “Hug me! Right now, servant!” Her face straightens as she slowly trots towards me, one step, then another, and a third, before her forehooves both come over me and I feel her warm embrace and her body close to mine… “I love you!” I whisper while burying my face in her chest floof… “What was that, Your Majesty?” She asks… “Nothing!” I reply while still happily being held in her hooves… I think I might be smiling right now, actually? I’m probably smiling? (To be continued…) Chapter 5: Who We Are to Each Other“Shut up!” I say to the alicorn standing to the right of my throne… She stares at me wide-eyed, “Um, but I didn’t say anything Your Majesty?” I narrow my eyes while keeping my gaze on her, “You don’t have to…” She’s silent for a moment before finally asking, “Are you okay, Your Highness?” I blink before widening my eyes, “Oh, golly gee uh, I think so, why?” She frowns, “You’re sure? I mean, you’ve been acting off all day, ever since I woke you from sleep this morning.” she nods. “I know you told me not to do that, but I also know you’ve been acting weird for the past two days now, even for you, so I think I need to make sure you’re okay?” My gaze softens, “Y-you care about me? The horrible filly who took over Equestria?” “But of course, Your Majesty!” “A-and I care about you… “ “Well, yes!” Her gaze lowers. “What are you getting at, Empress?” My gaze hardens! “I can’t!” Her eyes widen, “What?” My eyes close, “I must be hard! I must be cruel!” “Empress Cozy?” I open my eyes quickly and leap towards the other alicorn with my forehooves in front of me, ready to attack! “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!” I knock her over and we both crash to the floor on the other side of my throne and I adjust to force my hooves into her throat while staring down into the enlarged violet eyes of the now gasping adult pony with a wide, enraged view, “I can’t love you! I’m the bad guy! You’re my enemy!” After a few seconds of forcing my hooves into her jugular and watching her sputter for air underneath me, I suddenly lose the force in my hooves and I soften them and lower my head as I breath heavily in and out of my mouth… I close my eyes and feel liquid begin to come out of the right side, “I’m the bad guy! I’m the evil filly!” I open my eyes again and feel the moisture dripping down my face and I see my violet assistant currently gasping for breath with my hooves at her throat! I release her, “I uh, I…” I close my eyes and lower my face as I feel the warm liquid continuing to stream from my face. “I…” “Y-your Majesty?” She manages to gasp out inquisitively before coughing slightly and sputtering to the side… I get off her and turn to trot a few paces away from her at my back… CLIP, CLOP, CLIP, go my hooves before I shout, “GO! GET OUT OF HERE! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM! I’LL CALL YOU LATER!” and then, I close my eyes and lower my face towards the floor… I honestly and truly don’t know what I’m feeling anymore… I do know my face is moist… I stood there in silence, with my eyes closed as I heard clopping… To be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention to it and I didn’t realize that it was getting closer before I felt two forehooves coming over my body to embrace me in a tight warm hug… I felt more liquid coming out of my eyes as my mouth quivered and I whispered to her, “Why are you hugging me?” “You need comfort!” She whispers back... I’m silent for another moment before eventually saying, “What’s wrong with me?” She whispers back, “You’re still a pony, and like any other pony, you’re connected to Equestria…” <*****> “AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” The brown earth stallion suddenly at my right screamed as his straw hat bounced on his head and eyes widened! I turn to face Bill, “Calm down! It’s just me!” He adjusts the straw bill of his hat with his right forehoof and lowers it to look at me with focus in his blue eyes, “Well uh, one good turn deserves ‘nother? Guess you’re in your rights to startle me, Annabelle!” I sigh, “Look Bill, I uh,” I shake my head. “I didn’t mean to startle you and uh, I,” I then said words I haven’t uttered sincerely in years… “I’m sorry, okay?” He smiles, “Oh, twern’t yer fault young ‘un! You just came in at tha wrong spot!” I frown, “You don’t seem at all freaked out by the fact that I’m a filly and an alicorn and that I can just teleport anywhere I’ve been? I mean, isn’t that rare?” He chuckles, “Believe it or not, I’ve seen weirder! Uh, “his eyes widen. “you want some coffee? I jus’ brewed it!” My eyes widen and mouth tightens when I remembered that one fateful day and why I should drink coffee slowly… I calmly say back to him, “Uh, two sugars and one cream, please!” and then smile broadly at him… <*****> So, Bill smiles at me from the other side of the worn wooden table in what I’m guessing is his kitchen… He stares down at me with a peculiar kindness in his azure gaze as he says softly, “I’m guessin’ this ain’t just a social call?” I frown up at him as the black cup of coffee steams on the table in front of me, currently filled to the brim with blond liquid, and say, “Well uh, technically, no!” I blink when I suddenly realize that’s something I should probably do? “I can make social calls later though! Um, “before smiling broadly up at him… “if you like?” He smiles and for the first time, I notice he’s missing a couple of teeth on the top row of his mouth and giggles before saying, “I’d like that little filly! So uh, what brings you out here, anyway? This is about yer friend, right?” My eyes widen, “How did you guess?” “Call it a hunch!” He says calmly before using his forehooves to take a drink of his white coffee mug… I didn’t see him add anything to his coffee, so I guess he likes it black? He finally sets it back down. “So, what’s the problem this time?” I stare at him and carefully decided how I wanted to word this… “Well, I kinda maybe tried to strangle her?” His eyes widen, “That’s a pretty big problem!” “And then she hugged me!” “That’s even weirder!” My own gaze enlarges, “Oh, golly! Don’t you think I know that? I uh…” I suddenly take a sip of the warm bitter liquid… I’ll admit that while it’s strong, it does make me feel better oddly enough… He sighs before looking off to the side, “Well, look! I don’t think what happened is gonna tell us as much as what was said, here! So, “he adjusts his gaze to me. “what exactly did she say?” I gulped, “Th-that I needed comfort! That I’m not a bad filly!” “And you agreed?” “Well, not exactly?” He frowns… “Just who are you, anyway Annabelle? Where did you come from?” I sigh and gaze up at him before saying, “I’m the current ruler of Equestria and I’m starting to like my assistant as a friend and this scares me, because of who she is…” His eyes widen, “Didn’t realize I was serving royalty today!” I frown, “Think nothing of it! I’m more interested in what you have to say about my friend?” He eyes me carefully, “Well, that depends! Just who is this assistant of yours, anyway?” I stare back at him, “My old arch nemesis! The one who tried to stop me from taking over Equestria!” “Now, why would you make such a pony your assistant, anyway?” I blink when I suddenly remembered that that crystal called to me about two weeks before that experimental trip into Tartarus, “I don’t know, okay? I uh, I just felt that… “ He frowns, “Felt that what, young ‘un? I stare directly at him and answer with all sincerity in my voice, “I thought that maybe she didn’t have to be locked up? I guess I kinda felt sorry for her?” He nods, “I see… Well, I haven’t been to town in eight months, but don’t this beat all?” “I guess so?” He adjusts his view down to me, “So anyway, the thing is, she was yer enemy earlier, right?” I nod back, “That is correct!” He smiles, “Right! But tell me somethin’, do ya see her as an enemy now?” I eyeball this peculiar swamp dwelling redneck carefully, “Uh, not really, no?” His view lowers, “So y’think maybe somethin’ changed?” I suddenly thought about that crystal again… I thought about what it had done to me… I grimace angrily! “Well, obviously!” He nods, “So tha question you now gotta answer is, is this really what ya want? Do you want to be a good filly?” My face normalizes, “I don’t know?” “What do ya mean, ya don’t know?” I blink, “Well uh, I guess I never really thought about it?” He smiles and breathes out his nostrils, “You think maybe you oughtta start thinkin’ about it?” My eyes widen, “Probably?” He’s silent before finally saying, “You don’t have a lot of friends, do ya?” I gaze at him carefully, “Well, I got enough!” He nods, “Well, let me tell you somethin’… You gotta come to an understandin’, y’hear? It’s about yer relationship with this other pony and how it works!” “How it works?” He nods, “That’s right! Yer gonna have ways and ins and outs and things in any friendship! It’s really about knowing what that is!” I frown, “So the big question I need to answer is, who is this other pony to me?” He nods, “That’s right!” I gaze at him, “I don’t know!” His eyes widen, “Well, don’t ya think you should be figurin’ that out?” <*****> I knock on the tall unassuming wooden door… I gaze at the knob on the left and think that it sure has been a long time since I locked that thing! The door opens up to reveal a much taller more violet alicorn with a metal ring on her horn and two distinct off-color streaks in her mane, “Empress Cozy! How are you?” I gaze carefully at this other, much larger alicorn, “Twilight Sparkle! We need to talk!” Her eyes widen, “Oh? Okay, Empress Cozy! We can talk! What would you like to talk about?” I look at her carefully in silence and ponder on exactly how to say this, before finally asking her, “Twilight, just who am I, to you?” (To be continued…) Chapter 6: Twilight SparkleI buried my face in her soft warm chest fluff as she held me in her hooves… It kinda tickles my nose a bit and I giggled slightly before saying what was on my mind, “I’m an idiot!” Twilight giggles softly, “You’re not an idiot! Now just relax empress!” “I am relaxed! You relax!” She tightens her hold on me and for the millionth time today, I begin to wonder if I truly deserve this love and why she’s giving it to me? “I’m more relaxed than you!” “Are you okay, empress?” “Why are you doing this?” “What do you mean? You attacked me earlier because you were having a breakdown and now, I should take care of you…” I continue snuggling her chest and hold my tongue, before finally saying, “You’re not mad?” “No. Why would I be mad?” I raise my voice, “I attacked you!” “Because you’re scared, empress!” “I’m not scared! You’re scared!” She chuckles, “You’re scared to be cared for because you’ve been hurt!” “How would you know that?” She holds me tightly and begins to very gently rock me, “Look at the signs! The need for power and control. Anti-social behavior. Inability to forgive. These are all signs of previous emotional trauma… I’m silent as she’s holding me… “Have you been studying this?” She calmly responds, “Kinda, yeah…” “Why would you be studying this?” “Because I wanted to know why you acted the way you did, Empress Cozy… I wanted to understand you so I could serve you better…” “Why do I have trouble believing that?” “Because you don’t trust me…” “Well, I know that!” I snap with my face still in her chest floof… “Tell me again why you insisted that we hug before you answer me?” “Because I need you to understand that despite everything and despite the pony you seem to think you are, I actually do love and care about you…” I’m silent again before finally speaking… “You’re an idiot, Twilight! Complete moron!” She giggles, “Well, you agreed to this!” I bury my face even further, “Yeah, because we’re both idiots!” She holds me more tightly, “Shh! My empress! It’s okay, I assure you!” “The Empress of Equestria is insane!” I say while continuing to cuddle my assistant, “And she’s an idiot!” before burying my face again... The violet alicorn chuckles while continuing to hold me and suddenly begins rocking me back and forth… You know, for the first second or so, I was gonna protest, but now, this feels really nice… I really like this… Better not tell her that! “Enjoying yourself empress?” “No!” I snap back! “Why would you think that?” “Well, the way your muscles relaxed and the soft purring were pretty clear indications…” “I did no such thing!” I bark back while continuing to rest in Twilight’s hooves… “So you wish to stop then?” She inquires… “Um, n-not yet!” I say back to her… She’s silent for a moment before softly replying, “As you wish, My Liege…” * I cuddle my face to her floof some more… This moron… “How do you feel?” Again with that! “I’m fine!” I snap back… “Shh!” She soothes me while resting her head on top of mine and continuing to hold onto me with her forehooves… “It’s okay Empress Cozy Glow…” “Bunny brained, stupid, jerk-faced, moron!” I begin grumbling underneath her chest floof… “Shh!” She soothes me again while continuing to rock me back and forth… <*****> She lowers her neck to give me the white cup, now steaming with blond liquid inside before I grasp it with my right forehoof from her snout and bring it to my face as I set on my haunches there on my throne… She raises her neck right as I take that first cautious sip of coffee and frowns, “You never asked for coffee before?” I lower the cup from my face and swallow to stare back at her, “You never did answer my question, Twilight?” She smiles down at me, “Oh, didn’t I, Empress Cozy Glow? Think about what you asked me and what we did as a result of that…” I stare up at her as these facts begin to coalesce in my mind before grimacing at her, “You’re an idiot, Twilight!” She chuckles under her breath a bit, “I love you too, Empress Cozy Glow!” And I stared at the grinning alicorn for a moment as it suddenly began to dawn on me what she was doing… I squint at her, “I hate you!” Her eyes widen as her mouth begins to normalize, “But Your Majesty! I’ve shown you nothing but kindness and compassion!” “I know! And it sucks!” Before taking another slow easy sip of my hot coffee… It sure is yummy though! You know, I really like this French vanilla stuff, although I’m still not sure where it comes from? Her eyes normalize and view lowers, “So, tell me now, Your Majesty… Why does it suck?” I eye this other pony carefully and squint in frustration, “Oh, you know why?” She giggles, “Could it be because you don’t believe you deserve kindness?” My eye widen, “What? Why wouldn’t I deserve kindness?” She sighs, “Well, you obviously didn’t get it earlier, and now you’re wondering about a lot of things, aren’t you?” I furrow my brow, “You don’t know what I’m thinking!” Her snout lowers, “No, not precisely, but I can make judgments and assumptions based on what I’ve observed.” I frown in irritation, “And just what have you observed, Twilight?” She smiles again and nods, “I’ve observed an adorable, kindhearted, sweet filly trying to be evil…” I then stared at the smiling alicorn… I thought long and hard about the words she was saying to me… Kindhearted? Sweet? M-me? Before frowning, “Go back to your room Twilight!” She lowers her view and normalizes her face, “You need more time to ponder this, don’t you?” I scowl as hard as I can at her, “I need to think about a lot of things right now!” “Would you like a…” I don’t let her finish, “Yes please!” and nod… She then takes three paces towards me and hugs me in her forehooves… “What’s wrong with you?” I ask her before burying my face in her soft, wonderful chest floof again... “I’m giving you exactly what you didn’t get earlier, Cozy Glow… I’m showing you love and kindness…” “Idiot!” I mutter under my breath… “Shh!” She soothes me as she begins the rocking again… <*****> After Twilight left for her room, I spent the majority of the morning reading… I did call a servant and had him bring me a yummy spinach and mustard sandwich for lunch, although I hadn’t said a word to Twilight after that… I wrote in my diary: Well, she seems to be giving me genuine affection now and I’m still not sure why this irritates me so much? I mean, shouldn’t I want love and kindness from other ponies? Why is it different with her? Well, she’s Twilight Sparkle, my former nemesis and the pony who tried to keep me from my rightful position? That must be it! It really is annoying though, because I’d like to imprison her or put her in the stocks or something, but I just can’t find it within me to do that when she’s so kind! I know I need to face her again today, but not right now… Not yet… I spit the pen out on the desk and raise my head to stare at the wall and I thought about what she said to me… Kind-hearted? Nice? Just who the hay does she think she is, speaking to me like that? At the same time though… I blink when I thought about that farmer earlier with the sister who needed a liver transplant… Then I thought about the ponies near Ghastly Gorge and how I’ve been making sure they had water… Then, I thought about Fillydelphia and hoped we could find a resolution with the union there... What’s happening to me? I wrote in my diary again with my mouth: I just keep thinking about what she said to me… And then I think about how I’ve been running Equestria… I actually seem to care about everypony now? At first, I was a ruthless tyrant, but over time, I seem to have gotten softer? I keep asking myself if this is what I really want, but I can’t seem to act any other way? It makes me think of that amethyst thingy again! I mean, could I fight it? Should I fight it? I just don’t know and I don’t know who I am anymore! I spit the pen out and raised my head again to stare at that same wall… You know, I really should put a picture there… I furrow my brow when I think about what I’m going to say to her next… She seems to care about me now? Would it really be right to punish her? Wait! Since when to I care about what’s right? Oh, golly! I widen my eyes when I think that I don’t want to think anymore… I take a long deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth, same as always whenever I got tense and then stared at the wall behind my purple desk… A smile creeps up on my snout as I think now is a great time to do one of my favorite activities! I scooted my chair back from the desk, got on all fours, and took off, before flying behind the chair towards my enormous bed with it’s MANY stuffed friends there, all waiting for me to cuddle! I smile happily as I crashed into the pile of plushies there, and I grab a red stuffed dog and a yellow giraffe and hold them to my chest as I lay there happily in the fetal position among my sprawled pals… So nice not to think anymore! I can just cuddle my stuffed friends now! <*****> I open my eyes to find myself somewhere deep in the woods late at night… I raise my gaze to the heavens and see all the pretty stars there, twinkling down on me… I smile when I see them because the night always brings me peace and serenity… Just staring up at the sky like that, I kinda forgot all the questions on my mind for a moment or two… I’ll admit that I truly felt at peace just standing there in the forest there… I breathed the cool night air in and out through my nose while staring at the stars, planets, and constellations… You know, I’m not sure which forest this is? It might be the Everfree, actually? But I don’t know for sure… And then, my dream became a nightmare when I lower my gaze back to the ground to see a dark purple alicorn there with an ethereal blue mane, flowing to the right and a sparkle in her olive colored eyes! I widen my eyes at the smiling winged horn-pony 15 feet in front of me, “YOU! How did you escape?” Princess Luna chuckles slightly, “Didst thou really think thou could imprison thy Princess of the Night for any real length of time?” I frown when I suddenly think that I’m probably gonna hate this… Her gaze and smile lower, “So, I understand thou had some concerns regarding Twilight Sparkle and your relationship with her?” And that’s when I knew, I’m definitely going to hate this! (To be continued…) Author's Note *Oh my Celestia! I appear to have invented Cozy-Sparkle cuteness in this story? You know, this chapter is interesting because it presents one potential theory on Cozy Glow and why she acts the way she does. I still believe I saw goodness in there and I don't believe she's a sociopath... Something happened to Cozy to make her the way she is... Something bad... Chapter 7: Dream to NightmareSo anyway, then I woke up from my nap… What do you mean I was having a Princess Luna dream? Oh, golly! FINE! So, I stood there in the darkened forest, looking at the smiling alicorn and finally asked her, “What do you mean concerns with Twilight Sparkle?” before raising my right eyebrow. Her eyes widen as her face raises, “You’re worried that you’re getting too close to your former enemy, is that not so?” “NO!” I yell back at her! Her face lowers, “Methinks thou doth protest too much!”* I squint my eyes and frown at this other alicorn, “What’s it to you?” “I care about the lives of all my subjects!” “I’m not your subject!” She giggles, “Have it your way, Cozy! But back to Twilight!” “What about her?” “How do you see her?” My eyes widen when it occurs to me that I never really considered that? “I see her as my faithful assistant! Nothing more!” Luna’s smirk grows to a full smile, “Is that so?” “YES!” Her right eyebrow raises, “But you’re hugging her?” “So? You don’t hug your assistants?” She gives a long sigh, “Not usually, although I normally work alone… ” “Well, I do!” I nod. “And THAT’S why I’ll always be a better ruler than you!” “You are obfuscating from the fact that you care about her.” “No, I’m not!” “But you DO care about her!” I’m silent for a moment… “Okay, yeah! Kinda, maybe, a little bit?” She giggles again, “You are SO stubborn!” “I’m not stubborn! Your stubborn!” “Surely though, you’re aware that she makes you a better pony?” My eyes widen, “What?” She nods, “By making you second guess yourself, you become a better ruler with her at your side.” “Oh, golly! What does that have to do with anything?” “It’s the affect she’s been having on you, coupled with the rise of goodness from the crystal, it makes you into a better pony…” Her view lowers again, “But how do you see her?” I squint again, “Just what are you getting at?” Suddenly, the wind picks up and blows the trees to my right and as the branches sway, Luna continues, “I don’t think you’re entirely honest with yourself on this matter, Cozy Glow… I think you see her as more than just your assistant…” “You and the amethyst both!” “I think she’s currently taking the place of somepony who was very dear to you… “ My eyes widen when a horrifying thought suddenly occurs to me, “Taking the place? You can’t mean…” Her own eyes widen while her wings fan out to her sides, “Oh, I don’t mean Twilight is your mother now, Cozy! I’m just saying that she’s filling some roles for you now in your life…” her wings go back down… I finally ask what’s been on my mind this whole time, “How would you know about any of this?” She nods, “I can see your dreams!” I blink when remembering that I don’t usually remember my dreams. I ask her, “Well, what do I dream about? What do you see?” “I see many things, Cozy.” Her gaze goes upward, “But my favorite is definitely the one where you’re snuggling Twilight in bed.” before she smiles again and stares back down at me sweetly. “You just look so cute there in the fetal position with your big teddy bear!” “Why would I dream about that?” “Because you need comfort and you’re beginning to realize that Twilight can provide that to you on some level… It’s purely psychological!” By this point, I’ve had enough. I just shake my head, turn around, and hop into the air with my hooves and begin flapping my little wings to fly away from Luna! In the beginning, I don’t want to look down! I just keep flying as I’m trying to get away from this obstinate alicorn! I breathe in and out through my mouth as I keep flapping, Why is she saying these things to me? For what purpose? What does she want me to do? I close my mouth and look down and I see the darkened forest floor and the treetops. I then adjust my gaze ahead and see woods and forest as far as I can see. I suddenly hear a familiar feminine voice resonating through the woods, “You cannot escape your dreams Cozy! You dream of something much greater than what you have!” “I dream of nothing!” I shouted back as I continued to flap forward with all of my might! You know, as I flew, I wasn’t really sure how fast I was going and the trees kinda disappeared in a dark green blur beneath me! “You have many hopes and dreams, Cozy!” I continue flapping as the green blob continues to undulate in my perception below and shout into the air with my eyes now closed, “I’m Empress of Friendship and ruler of Equestria! What could I possibly have left to dream about?” before opening them again and widening when I see the cliff face approaching me! I smack into it, although for some reason, I feel no pain… My body is now flat against the side and stationary as I stared up at the night sky above me with it’s many twinkling glows and wondered just where in the hay I am? “You’re in your mind now, Cozy! It is a forest maze at night currently because you have many more questions than answers… “ I grimace while continuing to sit on the cliff face as I move my wings lower to ready them, “Okay, Miss Smarty Smart Hooves! Just what does this cliff represent?” “Your stubbornness and inability to change!” My eyes widen when I then think about just how large this cliff actually is. I then think about all the observations I’ve been making, “But I have changed! I’m a better pony now!” “You haven’t investigated this cliff fully Cozy… If you get off and fly lower down, you’ll find something you don’t know about… “ As I peeled myself from the cliff and caught myself in the air with my wings to fly away from the cliff while facing that direction, I then turned to face it and hovered… I stared at it from about 15 feet away and suddenly wondered why I’m following orders from an escapee when I began to slow my flapping so I got lower and watched the cliff face before me lower as well… Suddenly, I couldn’t help but notice a particular black spot on the cliff face, just below me and on the left side! I’ll admit I was interested, so I adjusted my body and flapped further that direction to see just what this spot actually was! When I got closer, it grew very dark… I suddenly remembered that I was an alicorn now and could use my horn! So, I made my horn glow bright white and saw that the spot was actually a cave! My eyes widen again when I think it’s either investigate or go back down… And so, I flew towards the cave and went the necessary 12 feet to enter it before landing on the small ledge and stared inside. My light illuminates some of the path in front of me, but I can only see so far in, so I decide to explore it further by trotting inside… I look at the gray cave walls and stare up at the ceiling to see it’s roughly 12 feet high and maybe 10 feet wide… It’s not a small cave! I trot further in because I can only see so far and I don’t think flying here would be a very good idea… I trot further in when I suddenly notice a glintroughly 12 feet in front of me… The glint is the light reflecting off a restraining ring, currently being worn by a purple alicorn who now stands on her hooves staring further into the cave, away from me, with her wings relaxed at her sides… She turns and looks at me with her purple eyes before widening them and saying, “Welcome to the path to yourself, Cozy Glow!” <*****> I wake up with a start while clutching my big stuffed dog to my chest and widening my eyes in a cold sweat… Oh, I screamed too! Should probably mention that? “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” Then, I just laid there, clutching my stuffed friend to my chest and breathing as a drop of sweat went down the left side of my face and below my snout… “What does that mean?” I whisper to myself while my breathing begins to slow and I stare there at my purple room… I look around and see it’s the same as it always has been with my violet desk towards the left and the only door in front of the bed… Suddenly, the door opens and I see a purple alicorn standing there with a ring on her horn… “Cozy! I heard screaming! Are you okay?” Twilight asks me… I stare back at her and I can’t help but notice her eyes, “I’m fine!” as they stare at me with genuine confusion and empathy. Her eyes widen with concern, “Cozy! Would you like a…” Again, I don’t let her finish! “Yes please!” She trots in the room 15 feet towards my bed and begins to circle around the right side to where I’m sitting up on my haunches with the light purple blankets sprawled out on the bed to my left and many stuffed friends scattered throughout the bed and floor… As I hear the clip clopping of her hooves, I thought about what Luna said to me… I thought about that cave and seeing Twilight there… Welcome to the path to yourself? What the hay does that mean? I hear her clopping closer to me, when suddenly, I’m scooped up in a strong purple forehoof that brings me into soft wonderful chest floof! I grumble while my face is encased, “Stupid, muffin-brained, idiot alicorn!” “Shh!” She soothes me while caressing the top of my curls with her off-hoof and clenching onto me with her left… I then mutter something incoherent with my mouth as I go further into her… She whispers to me, “So, I take it you had a nightmare?” “Maybe!” I angrily retort with my face buried into her chest. “Do you want to talk about it?” And then, I surprised myself when I said something I didn’t think I would at that point… “Actually, I would… But I want coffee first!” (To be continued…) Author's Note *Yes, I’m paraphrasing Shakespeare here. Good for you if you caught that! Chapter 8: FamilySo I sat at my throne, holding my yummy blond cup of coffee in my right forehoof and staring at the purple alicorn in front of me, who frowns and says, “So, you had a nightmare?” I widen my eyes, “I get it, alright Twilight? I’m reformed now and you helped me!” She stares at me perplexed, “What are you talking about?” I sigh, “The dream! It’s so obvious! You led me to the path to my true self or whatever and uh, well gee, you know, I’m not really evil after all!” “I see…” She flatly states… Before staring back at me and asking, “So, have you thought about what you’ll do now?” I sigh, “Well yeah! So now, I guess we have to rescue your friends then, huh?” Her face lights up, “Oh, Your Majesty! That would be very nice of you!” I sigh and stare downward, “Yeah, whatever!” before raising my gaze back to her. “The only problem is, I don’t know how we’re gonna get into Tartarus?” Suddenly, a small serpent wearing a red mortarboard hat and red robes walks in from the front door, toots on a little horn and loudly proclaims, “His Majesty, the Lord of Chaos, Bringer of Bedlam, Master of Mayhem, Maker of Mischief, Purveyor of Pandemonium, AHEM!” he clears his throat while putting his small eagle talon in front of his face and waves forward to say, “Discord!” Then, a much larger, albeit similar serpentine creature floats into the throne room after magically opening the doors, stares right at me with his two misshapen eyes, and mimics me when he says, “You know, whenever anybody talks about getting into Tartarus, they always forget that I can easily go there!” I turn to face the bizarre motley serpent, “Is that so, huh?” Twilight stares at the serpent, “That’s Discord, Your Highness! He’s a tricky one! I’d advise you to be very specific when telling him things… “ He smiles his snaggle-tooth grin at me, “Yes, we’ve been over my name once before, book horse” and adjusts his gaze higher and grins wider, “and so, now is your ultimate test, Empress Cozy Glow! I can easily rescue all five of Twilight’s friends as well as Celestia, Luna, and even Starlight Glimmer from Tartarus, but I will only do these things, by your command!” he flicks his eagle talon at me. “So, what say you Cozy? Do you wish for me to rescue these ponies from their imprisonment?” I turn my gaze to my alicorn assistant who then stares at me with wide purple eyes, and quivering lips, not sure what I’ll say… I turn back to the serpent and smile, “I don’t know who you are strange serpent, but yes! By all means, please rescue Twilight's friends and those two other alicorns as well!” Twilight’s eyes widen as she shouts, “And the dragon!” I widen my eyes, “Oh! Don’t forget that purple dragon either! Uh, I can’t remember his name?” Twilight interjects, “Spike!” I nod at the serpent, “Yeah! Him! Rescue Spike too!” He crosses his lion paw and eagle talon across what I’m fairly certain is his chest, and frowns as his one tooth goes diagonal, “Well, if I MUST!” I nod and smile, “Thank you, mysterious serpent!” before staring at him flatly, “Um, could you also rescue Tirek while you’re there?” and smiling. Twilight turns her head back right to me and widens her eyes, “But Tirek is still evil, as far as we know! I don’t think it’s a very good idea!” and she narrows her them and frowns. “Also, how in the hay are you now openly good, anyway? I thought you know, you didn’t like admitting to stuff like that?” I stare back at the other alicorn, “Yeah, about that!” I sigh and stare downward before adjusting my eyes back up to her, “I did a lot of thinking over the last few days…” I sigh again. “I guess I should just accept that I’m apparently on the side of good now? I mean, I don’t know if I’d call it something clicking inside me, but… “before frowning, “I came to realize that I care after all…” and smile dimly at the other alicorn. “I do care about other ponies and I care about Equestria…” “But the Guardian Amethyst…” I flatten my mouth and cut her off, “Had nothing to do with it, Twilight. I don’t know if you think I’m insane and I don’t know if I am, but I believe that since this was inside me all this time, that I gotta be good by default? I just don’t know what went wrong?” “You got some bad advice!” I blink, “Um, I guess so? But golly! You know, since I now have this power given to me,” before sighing again, “I should just accept it and do good with it?” and I smile dimly. “My name is Cozy Glow and I’m not evil…” She blinks with an astonished look in her eyes that I’m guessing means she’s still processing this, “Okay, but, what about Tirek though? He’s still evil, as far as we know, right?” I adjust my gaze back to the other alicorn, “Well gee, it seems so lousy of us to just you know, leave him there, don’t you think?” She nods, “Well, don’t you believe we should reform him then?” before frowning as I’m still pretty sure this is still all new to her… I nod and smile, hoping I don’t look evil or fiendish at this point,“Good point Twilight!” before turning my neck back right towards the strange serpent, “Discord! Put Tirek in the dungeon when you save him! Uh, don’t do anything weird with him, either, okay?” He smiles his snaggle tooth grin at me, “Oh, you’re no fun!” before disappearing in a flash of light! Twilight stares at me, “I can almost guarantee you he’s gonna do somethingweird now!” I turn to stare back at her after blinking cause the flash kinda hurt my eyes, “Well golly gee, what can really we do now?” Twilight sighs, “Well, there’s nothing we can do, until he gets back.” And just then, the door to my throne room pops open and I raise my neck to see a pegasus guard pony there, with white fur and clad in golden armor. He stares at me and says judiciously, “Your Highness! You really need to go to the dungeon now!” <*****> And so, I saw it… I saw Tirek there, with a purple pacifier in his mouth, and sitting on his haunches in what appeared to be a poufy diaper with purple star, heart, teddy bear, and lollipop designs on it… I gotta admit, that weird serpent guy must have a sense of humor! I widen my eyes and start to laugh hysterically at this! He stares at me with wide black eyes from what I’m guessing is a playpen as the guard from earlier turned his neck right towards me and says as I compose myself and look back, “I have no idea where he came from Your Majesty? I left to go to the latrine and when I returned, uh, there he was!” “Golly gee! I uh, really don’t what to say? We wanted to reform him, but…” Twilight interjects from behind me, “Well, it’s certainly not the worst thing he could’ve done?” I raise my neck, “Well, yeah!I mean, it’s not like he tore Tirek’s nipples off or anything like that!” before lowering it. “Can we still do that, now that we’re good, by the way? Tear his nipples off, I mean?” I then hear something I haven’t heard in a very long time… I heard Twilight raise her voice to me! “NO!” I widen my eyes again, “Oh, golly! Okay, no nipple tearing!” before normalizing them. “So uh, what do we do about your friends?” Twilight frowns and sighs, “Well, there’s nothing we really can do, until Discord gets back?” I nod, “Well, right! You know, that’s probably gonna be weird too?” Her eyes adjust before she says, “Well, yes…“ <*****> And so, as I flew into the mental institution at a slow speed, the doctor trotting on my left began to explain to me, “Well, I know who Pinkie Pie is, of course, and immediately knew to contact you! I got in touch with one of your secretaries!” I roll my eyes, “Well, do you have any idea how many calls I get each day? I’m Empress of Friendship!” He nods, “Well, right! Uh,” before reaching into his left lab coat pocket with his snout and pulling out a piece of paper, and he then says through his teeth. “We also found this note with her!” I stare down at the note as I continue to slowly hover forward and notice that it says: Dear, whoever finds this, I have brought back the first, this, Pinkie Pie, just as I promised! However, I decided to give her a little treat since she just got out of Tartarus and she’s currently blasted out of her mind on a number of psychoactive substances. Worry not, because she’ll be back to normal in a few hours! Or uh, it might take days? Oh well, I’m pretty sure it’ll happen eventually! Ta-ta! Discord I then stop flying forward to stare into the small porthole window of the metal door in front of me and I see a pink earth mare wearing a white straight jacket wrapped around to confine and contain her front two legs as she howled maniacally at the ceiling and stares on with wide eyes while frothing at the mouth and muttering, “I am the Empress of Friendship! I have no friends, but everypony loves me or else! You will all bow to me or die! Ha ha ha ha he he he he ho ho ho ho ho ho!” I frown and stare wide-eyed at this, as those words make me think… I decide I want a chocolate milkshake when I get home! I say to the doctor while staring at the pink mare, “Keep her under observation and locked up until she sobers up! Do not let her hurt herself or get hurt, do you understand me?” He blinks and nods, “Y-yes Your Highness!” <*****> I approach Cloudsdayle Stadium from a distance, with my assistant flying near me… “I know they told me she was here somewhere?” Twilight looks up and to the left before saying, “There she is! Rainbow Dash!” As I’m floating near the stadium, a blue blur suddenly approaches me! Golly, I almost didn’t have enough time to trap it in my purple forcefield! My magick is always purple now… * As I stare at her with my head tilted left, Rainbow Dash thrashes and kicks inside the barrier and screams, “You won’t get away with this Cozy!” I look straight at the blue pegasus and scream at her, “YOU KNOW I’M THE REASON YOU’RE NOW FREE FROM TARTARUS, RIGHT?” She stops in kicking in the air to stare at me, “W-what?” Twilight smiles and stares at Rainbow to shout, “It’s true! Cozy’s good now!” before smiling at her… I stare up at her and smile my toothy grin… <*****> As the yellow pegasus smiled at me from across in my throne room, she says, “I’m so happy you’re good now, Cozy Glow!” I stare at her, “So, what exactly did Discord tell you?” Fluttershy vibrates, causing her pink mane to sway and excitedly exclaims, “Oh, just that you’re good now and that you’re really nice and friendly and cheerful and lovable and adorable and pleasant and calm and…” I cut her off while widening my eyes, “Okay! I get it! I’m good!” She nods, “Oh, and having a nice tea party with him after all that time was great too!” she happily smiles and continues. “We had cucumber sandwiches and scones and this lovely jasmine tea!” I enlarge my view and suddenly wonder if being good is always gonna be this boring? <*****> I stared at the filthy disheveled white unicorn in my throne room as she stared up at me from underneath her matted purple mane, “I WAS MORTIFIED!” I frown and stare with wide eyes, “You know, I think the fact that you’re free from Tartarus at all is just swell, don’t you?” Rarity stares at me with tears on her face, “He teleported me to the Canterlot Wine Mixer after I had spent months in that filthy dingy cage! Now, nopony in high society will want to deal with me!” I stare at her, “What if I MAKE them like you again and say, ignoring you is punishable by death?” She stares at me with wide blue eyes, “U-um, maybe not something so extreme?” I blink and suddenly wonder if I’m gonna be doing anywhere near as much killing anymore? <*****> I frown at the apple pony and the purple dragon, standing side by side in my throne room, “Well, aren’t you insulted?” She raises her neck to me to stare with her green eyes from underneath her Stetson, “W-what do you mean?” I blink and stare at her, “Well, he gives Fluttershy a tea party, lets Dash fly around Cloudsdayle Stadium, dopes up Pinkie Pie six ways from Sunday, and puts Rarity back in high society… He just dropped both of you off at the farm!” She smiles, “Well, what can I say? It doesn’t take much to make me happy!” I frown, “I guess not? Well, look! You’re permitted to stay here in Canterlot Castle, until we get the return all sorted out! Only the two princesses are left!” Applejack smiles and nods, “Thank you kindly, Cozy! So glad to see you turned over another leaf!” “Oh golly, gee! Get out of here, before I change my mind and put you in the stocks!” She chuckles and turns to trot out… As I shout at her, “I’m serious! I’ll tear your nipples off!” although it’s obvious by this point, she doesn’t take me seriously… I also wonder about my sudden nipple fixations? Spike chuckles and shakes his head before turning to walk out of the room behind her and shut the door quietly behind him… A few moments later, the door to my room bursts open and I see a magenta unicorn there with a deep purple and lavender mane! “Twilight!” Starlight screams at my assistant, currently standing next to my throne! Twilight’s eyes widen, “Starlight!” before she gallops forward towards the unicorn! They embrace in a tight hug and Starlight looks back at her mentor and says, “It’s so good to finally see you again!” before frowning at her forehead. “Uh, why are you wearing a restraining ring around your horn?” Twilight explains, “Well, I’m Empress Cozy Glow’s prisoner and assistant!” I interject before the other unicorn can respond, “Uh, about that Twilight! I uh, you know, there was something I was wanting to say to you…” Twilight turns and trots back to me as I clear my throat… First, I stare at her and I furrow my brow as I force her metal restraining ring to glow and levitate off of her straight horn and I then casually toss it to the side before staring deep into her purple eyes and suddenly realize that I almost don’t wanna say it… My lips quiver as I struggle to get the words out... “Twilight, um…” Her eyes widen, “Yes Cozy?” I’m silent and staring deep into those violet pupils before realizing I can’t anymore, lowering my gaze to the floor, and finally staring back up at her to sigh and admit, “I love you…” She smiles, “I love you too Cozy Glow!” I gaze at her for another super awkward moment before saying to her, “You know my parents are dead, right?”** She gulps and stares back, “I kinda figured…” “A-and I know that you could never replace them, but… “ She smiles and takes a pace forward to hug me tightly… I barely manage to squeak out, “So you understand exactly what I need from you, r-right?” “Of course I’ll be your mother, Cozy Glow!” I widen my eyes in shock while still held in her embrace, “W-wait! Mother? M-mom? You wanna be my mom now?” She releases me to stare down into my eyes with those purple eyes of her again, “Well, wasn’t it obvious?” And as I sat there, staring back into those loving purple eyes, I suddenly realize that she’s actually not wrong… And I abruptly cringe when I realize the horrible ramifications of my sudden decision! <*****> 20 years later: I stood there and swung my long curls behind my head as I raised my neck to stare down at the pink foal, “Oh, golly Luster Dawn! So that’s the full story of how I became Empress of Friendship at a very young age, and before that title even existed! And now, I reign from the Castle of Friendship!” I look up, “Well, they’re still building me a new castle west of Canterlot!” before back at her. “Yeah, they want me to start a new colony in the grassy fields out there towards Cloudsdayle!” “With guidance from your loving mother!” I hear a much larger purple alicorn say from behind as my eyes widen… The pink filly looks up at me and smiles, “That sure is a neat story Empress Cozy Glow!” I smile back down at her, “Oh, golly! Just call me Cozy!” She nods, “Okay! And you’ll both be teaching me?” Twilight steps up to my left to speak to the foal, “Sure will, Luster! You won’t be alone in this! Cozy here is still learning, even after all this time!” before turning her head right towards me and frowning… At that point, I feel my cheeks puff up as I grin nonchalantly, “Oh, golly mom!” “Don’t you, oh golly mom, me, young mare! We need to talk about brainwashing and manipulating ponies again! You know, I already went through this once with Starlight Glimmer? Honestly, by now, you should be so much further along, than you actually are! We’ve made a lot of progress, but…” And as I stood there, smiling at the young filly who stared up at me, Twilight continued to prattle on about mastering this and friendship thatalthough by that point, I long since stopped paying attention… And I suddenly realized that even after all this time, even if things were kinda weird, everything turned out okay… Bucking Discord! “Oh, golly!” (The end…) Author's Note *The color of her magick is a metaphor for her soul. It’s purple now because her soul is purple and it matches. **My parents are also dead… That’s actually one of the primary reasons I started writing in the first place… You know, I think this could be a the prequel of a good "coming of age" style story about best filly? Chapter 3: ConfessionsYou know, I had been sitting on my haunches in bed staring at that weird purple crystal for about 45 minutes or so… At least I think it was? I know the clock on my wall said 8:22 now anyway, and I knew it was the morning… Such a strange crystal… It had six sides and was a vibrant purple color... It was roughly five and half inches tall and four and a half inches wide, or so I’d say… And it just sat on top of the ornate wooden dresser I kept in my large walk-in closet… I finally realized that that crystal has done all it’s meant to do before removing myself to the air with my wings as I flew over to the dresser within the closet to get my crown next to the amethyst… I stared at it very carefully in my forehooves as I began to wonder about what it truly meant and I started to think about a lot of things… <*****> I sat at my throne… I left my crown on the floor next to it… I didn’t feel much like wearing it at the moment… When suddenly, my violet alicorn assistant opens the front door with her right forehoof to the room to appear into view before she begins trotting towards me… I gaze at her face carefully and can’t help but notice an almost invisible smirk there right on her lips… I decide to ignore it, “Report Twilight! How was your morning?” before noticing I’m extra official all of a sudden… She stops to stand at attention and officially states back, “Well, I woke up in my room and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast! I know how you like to sleep in and decided to check in the throne room later, since you weren’t there earlier!” I nod when thinking to myself that this actually makes sense, “Right! You’re dismissed, Twilight!” Her eyes widen, “Did you want your morning report?” I know this is when we usually do it, so I can understand how this might confuse her, “N-no Twilight! Not yet! I uh…” I shake my head. “need some more time to wake up! Yes!” She looks at me expectantly, “Would you like me to fetch you some juice from the kitchen, your majesty?” I stare at her blankly when I think that I haven’t done anything nice yet, today, “Yes Twilight! That would be really swell! Thank you!” when I widen my view and realize that I just thanked my assistant! She smiles, “Very well, Your Highness! I shall go get it presently!” before turning to trot out of the throne room… I’m left alone with my thoughts… Why do I suddenly think that’s a bad thing? I think about the changes in me that I’ve suddenly began to notice and I wonder why I didn’t see them earlier? Do I really not pay that much attention to myself? Okay, yesterday! What did I do? Well, I had breakfast and the usual morning report... There was that thingy with the farmer pony later on after Twilight… There she is again! I blink when I suddenly start to think that she probably knows more than she’s letting on? Okay, so it brought out the good in me… Where was that good before, anyway? Did I just not want it? Wait, if I don’t want to be good, then that means… I blink… Is the amethyst forcing me, now? No, it’s just bringing out good that was already inside me… R-right? Is the bad still there though? Wasn’t I evil once upon a time? My eyes widen, That could only mean that the good became more powerful! It must be, because it can now overpower the bad! I mean, I’m apparently giving out liver transplants now! I shake my head when I think that I’m starting to think like a crazy pony! Soon, a purple alicorn appears in the doorway to the throne room while carrying a glass of orange juice on her snout. I look at it and widen my eyes before forcing the glass to glow white and raise off her muzzle, “I have the juice now! You may lift your neck!” She lifts her head to a regular stance and smiles at me as my cup soars across the throne room, “Thank you, Your Majesty!” I begin to ponder on the true meaning of those words as the glass floats into my waiting forehooves. I greedily grasp it and bring it to my muzzle for a mighty swig! “Oh, golly, yes!” I stare at her. “You know, I didn’t realize just how thirsty I really was!” She smiles and nods… I begin to wonder just why she’s smiling? Is she thinking about what the amethyst thinks? She couldn’t be my f-friend, right? I mean, I have lots of friends! But her? “Would you like your morning report now, Your Highness?” Her voice startles me out of deep thought. I shake my head again, “Uh, golly right! Go on, Twilight?” She nods, “Of course, Your Highness! The farmers near Ghastly Gorge say that the dam project is coming along nicely and that the temporary irrigation system you suggested is working well for right now, but they’re worried it might not be enough.” I nod back, “Very well then! Get somepony out there to do a report on the situation and learn what they need!” She nods again, “Right, Your Majesty!” “What else?” “Well, the unions in Fillydelphia are still technically on strike, but they seem to want a resolution just as bad as we do?” My eyes widen, “Then what the hay is taking so long?” Her own view enlarges, “Uh, I have no idea!” I nod and sigh, “Oh, golly!” and adjust my view to her. “Fine! Get somepony else on that one, too and report back to me tomorrow to let me know what’s going on!” She nods, “Of course, Your Majesty!” her view raises. “Would you like breakfast, now?” I frown when I realize I haven’t eaten yet! “Uh, yes Twilight! Bring me juice, fruit, and toast with jam! You know what I like! I’ll be in my dining room!” She smiles again, “Yes, Your Majesty!” before nodding and turning to trot out of my throne room… I’m once again, alone with my thoughts… I suddenly found it very interesting that Twilight would be concerned about me eating breakfast. It’s almost like she cares about me? You know what I like! Those words enter my mind… She knows me well at this stage… Almost like… <*****> I look at my plate of fruit on the purple table in front of me and look up from my big purple chair to the smaller purple chair on the other side of the table, where a certain purple alicorn sat… I think to myself that I can either start this conversation or begin eating? And so, I immediately grab a large red apple from the top of the bowl with my forehooves and bite into the succulent juicy fruit as juice begins to drip down out of my mouth… She smiles at me brightly as I chew the morsel in my snout and swallow to eventually bring it down my throat. I stare at her and wipe my face before finally asking, “What are you so happy about?” Her eyes widen, “Well, I just like seeing you eat because I know you need food to live and it makes me glad to know that you’re getting that!” I frown at this bizarre response, “Twilight?” She looks at me expectantly, “Yes, my liege?” I eyeball the former princess carefully… “Do you care about me?” Her eyes soften and she begins to smile again, “Why, of course I do, Your Highness!” “I’m a bad filly though!” She frowns as her eyes widen, “What?” “I’m the bad filly who took over Equestria! Why do you care about me?” She looks at me carefully, “What if I told you that I don’t believe you’re a bad filly?” I stare at her carefully, “Then I’d call you a moron! I took over Equestria, overthrew the existing monarchy, and imprisoned you and your friends in Tartarus! Why wouldn’t I be a bad filly?” “You’re just confused!” I begin to bark, “NO! I believe it is you who are the one who is confused! Now, go back to your room! I’ll call you if I need you!” Her face grows solemn before she nods courteously, “Yes, Your Highness!” before scooting her chair back and turning to trot out of the dining room… I’m once again alone with my thoughts… You know, this is almost as bad as talking to her! Uh, almost! Oh, golly! I really should get somepony else to talk with in here! I blink before getting up off my chair and then, taking off to fly up to the small window on the other end of the dining room, over the other entrance… Nopony knows about that and I like to hide there when life gets stressful! I crawl through the window and land on the wooden floor and I then trot over to the lamp and turn on the burner before igniting so it now illuminates the small room… It is roughly 10 feet by 12, I’d say and I keep a big pile of faded green blankets in the corner with my big brown teddy bear and a small green novel I was reading… It was about a unicorn wizard who befriends a dragon! I set the lamp into it’s holder in the middle of the ceiling where it sits on a metal hook and I then go back to all fours and trot underneath it to the pile… I sigh when I think about what she said… She cares about me? Idiot! I think to myself as I get settled in my little blanket pile where I grasp the book in my forehooves and begin reading my story… I need this to unwind now! There’s simply too many questions in my head right now! I think to myself as I read the same passage about the wizard entering the cave for the third time… I blink, So hard to concentrate! Twilight Sparkle! Even as my prisoner, she continues to be a thorn in my side! Maybe I should get rid of her after all? I blink again before slowly nodding off… <*****> “Empress Cozy Glow?” I hear a feminine voice say from a mere 5 feet away from me in the tiny wooden room… I open my eyes and see that I’m lovingly holding my teddy bear to my chest floof as I stared up at her with a wide view as she slowly comes into focus as it gets less blurry “Uh! Hey! How do you know about this place?” She frowns, “Really? It’s right on the other side of your chair in the dining room and over the door! Everypony knows about this small window room!” I grimace, “OKAY FINE!” before recomposing myself to look at her. “What do you want?” Her view raises slightly, “Well, when you weren’t there for lunch, I grew a tad concerned and thought I should check on you!” I grow indignant, “There it is again! You caring about me! STOP THAT! I’m a bad filly!” “Cozy?” I snap at her, “WHAT?” She smiles again, “I love you!” I stare at her with a piercing glare, “Twilight, leave me alone! Don’t talk to me again until tomorrow!” “My liege?” “GO! Get out of here and leave me be! I’ll be fine!” (To be continued…)
Chapter 1: The ReformationTwilight looks at me with the restraining ring on her horn, “Well, Tirek says he’s still extremely unhappy with your decision Cozy…” before widening her eyes. “I must admit that I am curious though… After all he’s done, why don’t you try to rescue him from Tartarus? I mean, you’re starting to act nice all of a suddenas of a few months ago, but you continue to ignore him?” I sigh, “We’ve been over this Twilight! There’s no way we can do that!” Twilight nods, “I see…” she frowns. “But you’ve already explicitly told me in our confidential conversations that you think about all he has done for you, and you were mentioning that you think that maybe you should be nicer? And I’ll admit Cozy, it seems strange to me because you put so much effort into restoring magick to Equestria, and yet, you’ve done absolutely nothing for him?” I gulp when I think that maybe she has a point? I furrow my brow and put on my evil filly face again, “Well, why would I? I don’t need him anymore! And I don’t wish to discuss this further!” She nods diligently, “As you wish!” I frown and look directly ahead in the throne room… It used to be Twilight’s throne room, but I had it converted for me… Everything is purple now… “Twilight? I uh…” Her eyes widen, “Yes Empress Cozy?” I look at her and suddenly say, “I don’t feel well! I need to retire to my chambers now! You handle my business for me and fetch me only if something super important comes up! You understand what I mean, right?” She nods again, “As you wish, my Empress!” <*****> I look at my diary as I sat at my ornate purple desk… I like the color purple and most things in the castle are violet colored… I look at what I wrote this morning: Well, it finally happened last night! I restored magick in Equestria and everypony celebrated! Golly, I didn’t think they’d be so happy? Twilight wanted to know why I did it and I logically explained to her that now that I have power, it’s fine for other ponies to have just a little bit, since I can easily overpower them with my alicorn magick and she agreed… It was strange, but she agreed to wear the restraining ring without any arguments? I was actually expecting more resistance… The truth is though, I kinda wanted ponies to like me again… They all do what I say, but I can tell that they don’t like it and they don’t like me… Oh Celestia, how lonely do I feel! Of course, I can’t tell any of them about this! The fact is I must remain in control! I am the sole alicorn leader of this great nation, after all! After finding the artifact and ascending, the magick contained within enveloped my body and for about four months, I was the only pony with magick… And I just changed that… I still don’t know why? I think about how my writing is all over the place here and suddenly wonder if I can discern anything from it? I soon decide to take the pen in my mouth and write, Update: I still can’t get my mind off Tirek! I kept him imprisoned from the start because well, I don’t really need him anymore! Twilight wanted to know why I hadn’t released him or even spoken to him after I started acting nice… The truth is, there’s no real reason, but I also think about all he did to make my ascension possible… Of course, that doesn’t matter at this stage now, does it? I look up and stare blankly at my wall with the pen in my mouth and think to myself… Twilight’s right! There’s more to this than just me wanting to be liked! I soon pen, I think I shall write him a letter? I get out a new sheet of paper and write: Dear, Tirek Hiya old buddy! Remember me? Sure has been awhile! Now, I know you’re very unhappy that I’ve kept you there over the past six months, but as I already explained to you, you’re a threat to me with your magick sucking abilities and I can’t allow that! Besides, there’s no way we can unlock that door a third time! I hope you understand? You know, I sure am glad there’s a mail slot and I just wanted to thank you for giving me another chance… I wanted to thank you for allowing me to ascend like this and get all this power… But now, I think things are going to be different? I recently restored magick in Equestria by reopening the vortex, and of course you’re aware that that means you’re even more potentially dangerous to me! As such, there will be no attempts to open the gate to Tartarus… Although uh, I was wondering… You originally wanted me to get rid of all magick in Equestria as revenge for how the ponies defeated you earlier or whatever? How does it feel to know that I’ve reversed that? I hope you’re not mad? Please write back! Sincerely, Cozy Glow I sigh before nodding and agreeing with myself that this is what I will mail the centaur… Although I really don’t think he’s gonna be too happy about it? <*****> The farmer pony looked up at me with startled green eyes underneath his straw hat as his yellow hoof kicked the floor in nervous apprehension and he cleared his throat, “Uh, Empress Cozy Glow! We need more water in the valley south of Ghastly Gorge and I was wondering if you could open up the water a bit more?” before smiling anxiously. I smile at him, “Certainly! I’ll send an expert right over to determine your water needs and we’ll be happy to adjust that for you!” His eyes widen, “Oh, oh really? Uh, th-thank you Empress Cozy Glow!” I shrug, “Hey, no problem! What are supreme empresses for, right? Uh, “I widen my eyes to him. “was there anything else you wanted?” He blinks and clears his throat again, “W-well there was my baby sister…” I adjust my gaze to him curiously, “What about your baby sister?” He gulps and stutters out, “W-well, she’s very sick, you see! And um, Dr. Hooves says she needs a new liver and well, I just can’t pay for that! And um, I was hoping…” I furrow my brow and put on my evil face again and angrily ask, “You what? You want me to pay for her operation? Is that it?” He blinks and stares at me wide-eyed, “Um, if you d-don’t mind empress? I uh…” I sigh and raise my eyes to the ceiling, “Fine! I’ll buy your sister’s stupid liver transplant!” before lowering them back to him. “Was there anything else?” His body shakes in astonishment as he looks at me with wider eyes than I thought he could make, “Uh, n-no Your Highness! Thank you s-so much!” before turning and trotting out of the throne room a lot faster than he entered! Twilight steps towards me from my right and turns her neck right to stare at me, “You just did it again, Cozy! You were benevolent!” I widen my eyes when I suddenly realize that she’s right and I turn my head to her and say to her blankly, “Twilight…” I gulp, “As you know, I’ve punished ponies for speaking up and about me in the past… But now, I want you to know that I won’t do that…” I look at her carefully with the straightest expression I can muster… “Twilight, what’s happening to me?” (To be continued…)
Chapter 2: Equestria's New HeroTwilight stares at me with sincerity in her purple eyes and says, “Well, since you want me to answer truthfully, I’ll tell you that you’ve become more benevolent and uh, nice…” I nod, “Right! But why?” She frowns, “You think maybe you were never really evil to begin with?” I widen my eyes at this preposterous notion! “What? No! I’m the evil filly who took over Equestria, remember? That can’t be it!” I shake my head. “It just can’t be!” She lowers her gaze, “Well, let’s explore this mystery a bit, shall we, Your Highness? Tell me, when did you begin to notice a change?” I blink as I think back, “Well, to be honest, I thought I had been acting the same this whole time? Although uh, I haven’t really imprisoned anypony in months now, come to think of it? I still think of those that I locked up earlier sometimes as well, and uh, I was actually thinking about releasing them now?” Her muzzle raises, “So why don’t you do it?” I harden my gaze as I say ferociously, “What? And weaken my power? I don’t think so!” Her eyes widen as she speaks to me frankly, “Cozy, can I be honest with you?” I loosen my face to stare at her blankly, “Wasn’t that the whole point of me saying that I wouldn’t punish you?” She smiles and lowers her gaze, “Of course, Your Highness! I think you’re better than you thought?” I gulp, “W-what do you mean?” “I mean, I think you just might be a good filly after all?” I scoff, “Don’t be ridiculous, Twilight!” Her smile lowers, “My apologies, Your Highness.” I eye her carefully, “You know I can’t let your friends out of Tartarus, even if I wanted to, right?” She nods, “I am aware Your Majesty… “ I narrow my eyes, “You don’t seem bothered by that?” She sighs, “Well Empress, I’ve long since decided that if at all possible, I will help them escape. But for the time being, since that is not possible, I’ll just bide my time until that point… “ “So you do care about your friends?” She nods, “Of course, Your Majesty! I was Princess of Friendship before the change, as you’ll recall…” I widen my eyes when I realize that I somehow forgot that. I take a look at her wings and horn and think to myself, “Well, what do you know about the Guardian Amethyst, anyway?” Her eyes widen, “Why do you ask, Your Majesty?” I sigh, “Well, I’m trying to think about this and that’s really the only X-factor here! We don’t know exactly what that artifact did to me!” She nods, “This is true Empress Cozy! Until you discovered it in that cave, I had never heard of it! Exactly what were you doing in that cave anyway, if I may be so bold as to ask?” I stare at her carefully when I try to think about exactly how much I’m willing to tell this other alicorn, “Well, if I’m being honest, I don’t know, okay? Oh, golly!” my eyes go to the ceiling, “I somehow felt drawn to that point… Something called me there…” Twilight blinks and frowns, “Don’t you think we should’ve done some more research to find out then?” I widen my eyes again when I realize she has a point! “Well, golly gee! Don’t you think I know that? It’s just that, well…” I blink. “I checked the Canterlot archives and couldn’t find anything, no matter how I searched!” “Even the Starswirl the Bearded wing?” “The what?” She nods, “The Starswirl the Bearded wing! For an artifact as old as that, I’d think that’s where any records would be?” I frown, “Well uh, I guess that makes sense?” She smiles, “Empress, I was a very effective researcher once upon a time! I could find this information for you, if you like?” I glare at her when I try to think about this… How much do I trust her? I stare at her again, “Twilight, I’d like to go on the research expedition with you!” “Then who will run Equestria?” “Well golly! Don’t you think Equestria can take care of itself for a couple of days while we find out more about this thing?” She nods, “You’re probably right, My Liege!” My eyes widen, “Of course, I am!” before we’re both enveloped in a pale pink flash! <*****> We both stand on our hooves in the darkened book room, with the bookshelf lining all along the wall… I frown and decide to use my magick to turn on the overhead light and soon, bright illumination overtakes the entire closet section… Twilight looks at me from the right and says, “Well, this is the rough location… I guess we should try to find the G section, now?” I turn my head towards her, “Why G?” She nods, “Well, we’re looking for information on the Guardian Amethyst and that starts with a…” I nod, “Right! G! Of course! Uh, lead the way! I’ve never been in here!” She turns her head towards the massive stone bookshelf before us and says, “Well, F is right here, which means G is…” “The next section! Go check there Twilight!” She smiles and nods, “Of course, Your Highness!” before adjusting her body further right and squatting to take off so she can fly in areas in the enormous shelf above… I look up and think that it’s so strange that an area this tiny would have such a high ceiling! I frown when remembering that I didn’t design the place... And Twilight soon yells back, “I found a book entitled Guardian Amethyst, A Guide! It’s very old though, and I don’t know how legible the Ponish will be!” before grasping the book in her forehooves and slowly gliding down towards me… I nod at her as she lands with the brown leather volume in her front hooves, “Well, crack it open and see what you can find out!” She smiles, “Certainly!” before lowering the book down with her body as she lands on all of her hooves, to stare at the book and use her mouth to open the front and look inside… I can tell this sudden interest in research has probably began to scratch an itch in this other alicorn’s mind… Suddenly, I hear a loud crash come from outside the library! I widen my eyes at the other alicorn, “You keep reading! I’ll go check it out!” before turning and taking off to fly out the window at the side, roughly 5 feet over the ground… I fly out and witness an enormous Queen Chrysalis standing there outside of Canterlot with a big smile on her face! “Greetings Cozy Glow! I, Queen Chrysalis am suggesting we have an alliance! I can restart my hive with a little bit of help from you, and together, we can conquer all of Equus!” she lowers her muzzle. “Join me, or die!” I sigh and frown, “Oh, golly gee! I’m an alicorn! I’m pretty sure I can…” Suddenly, a green bolt of energy comes out of her horn and zaps me and I can no longer move as I’m covered in green energy! The giant Chrysalis smiles, “I took Celestia out! You should be no problem!” Suddenly, I feel warm radiant energy come from below me somewhere and that shatters the green energy that had enveloped me! Suddenly, I could move again! I look at her and say, “Listen here, bug queen! I work alone!” before that same golden glow encases me and I lower my gaze and utilize my own magick to throw this new energy at the evil insect! * She’s soon consumed by the radiant energy and she begins to scream as she’s pushed FAR back by this energy! “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” until her body disappears from view! I widen my eyes when I realize that a lot of that power wasn’t mine! I look down and see a smiling purple alicorn standing on her hooves near the library entrance and so I adjust my body in the air and begin flapping that direction to meet my assistant on the massive concrete landing, where she currently stands! I land near her and stare up at her from 15 feet away, “What just happened?” She replies, “Well, apparently I’m your friend, because the Guardian Amethyst was able to draw power from me!” I frown, “Say what now?” She nods, “Let me explain! Now, before you freak out, you need to understand that you’re actually no better than you were from the start!” “What do you mean?” “The amethyst brought out the good in you to make you a better pony! It was Princess Harmonia’s final safeguard, should the Elements of Harmony ever fall!” My eyes widen, “Wait! Princess Har-who?” She nods, “Princess Harmonia was the princess before Celestia! She was the one who founded Equestria!” “Oh, wow! Where did she go?” “Nopony really knows?” “Okay…” I adjust my gaze. “So the amethyst made me good?” “No!” My eyes widen, “What?” She sighs, “The amethyst only brought out the good that was already inside you and made you an alicorn! It basically transformed you into a champion of justice in order to protect Equestria!” I blink as my mind begins to process all of this new information… “So, I’ve always been good and benevolent then?” She nods, “Well, basically, yes!” I frown as I gaze at her carefully… I finally reply, “You’re an idiot, Twilight!” She begins to snicker while I suppress a full-on grimace… “So wait! What was that golden energy you gave me back there?” She smiles wider, “Well, the amethyst also gives the hero the ability to absorb energy from her friends!” My eyes widen once again, “So that could only mean… “ She smiles widely, “Yup! The amethyst considers me your friend!” I blink twice as this new prospect occurs to me… “Okay, you’re both idiots!” (To be continued…) Author's Note *Yes, this line can be considered ironic.
Chapter 4: The EscapeI lay on my back in my darkened room and stared up at the ceiling on my plush purple bed and thought long and hard about the events of the day… I thought about Twilight actually loving me! ME! The horrible filly who took over Equestria! Maybe I should get rid of her? I suddenly thought to myself again as I frowned at the ornate upper surface of my room, now dimly illuminated by the small light near the bed. I blink and wonder to myself, On what grounds? I mean, sure I’m an evil tyrant, but even I’d want a good reason! Before shutting my eyes and rolling over on my right side… I pout while snuggling the enormous violet pillow to the side of my face, That rotten Twilight! How dare she be nice to me! And then, I cuddle my dolphin plushie to my chest and close my eyes as I begin to drift off… <*****> I open my eyes and I’m sitting on my haunches at a wooden school desk. I’m wearing my crown, but I also see Twilight Sparkle near the front desk 10 feet from me as she smiles and says, “Okay, so for our lesson today…” I cut her off, “What do you mean lesson? Wasn’t I the Empress of Friendship?” She nods courteously, “But of course, Empress Cozy Glow!” I frown, “So then WHY are you teaching me lessons?” before widening my eyes. She smiles, “Because you came here to learn about friendship, remember?” I’m silent for a moment, “You know, I think I’d remember something like that?” She nods again, “Indeed! Now, as you’ll recall, yesterday, we were talking about sharing and we had that exercise where you shared the power of my friendship and used it to make Chrysalis go away!” I stare back at her mortified. “N-no it didn’t! That never happened!” She broadens her grin to me, “Oh, but it did, don’t you remember? We’re friends now and we worked as a team to make the threat go away!” I suddenly open my eyes while laying on my back on the bed. The blanket now only half-covers me and the dolphin is thrown off to the right side of the bed as I stared up at the ceiling in the darkened room that one fateful morning. I whispered emphatically, “I gotta get out of here!” <*****> I’m honestly not sure how long I had been flying? I think I was heading north, which means I’m going towards the Everfree… I also know the sun was just now starting to peak out over the eastern horizon at my right and I saw the long shadows of the trees below in the pastures in the early morning sunlight… The forest will be perfect because it’s a nice quiet place to clear my head! I think to myself as I suddenly notice a treeline come into view in front of me. I lower my gaze and begin to flap faster… The sooner I reach the woods, the faster I can relax! It’s so stressful around Twilight right now! Just the thought of being around her makes me uneasy! I think as I furrow my brow and flap forward with all of my might. I finally see the trees get closer and eventually fall underneath me as I continued to flap forward into the forest… You know, I have no idea exactly how far I went? I was starting to feel cramped in the Friendship castle and I just needed to get away! Away from Twilight and the other servants! Away from everything! I landed just shy of a wooden shanty about 20 feet in front of me as I stared up at it over a pond… I huffed in and out of my mouth… I haven’t flown THAT far in a long time! I just kept breathing in and out of my snout, in and out, in and out, while the shanty came into view and I saw that it was on a front with a wooden railing protecting it from the pond before it… I saw marshlands all around me as I caught my breath and began to breath slower... I eventually raised my neck as my breathing grew shallower and turned my ears to the shack, because I suddenly wondered who lived there? “Haven’t seen you ‘round here!” I suddenly hear a grizzled masculine voice from behind me! This startles me and I scream, “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!” “EEK!” The voice starts and I turn my head to face it behind me and witness a brown earth stallion with a thatched straw hat, dark blue eyes, light wavy tan mane and tail, and quite a few wrinkles on his face! “Sorry bout that young’un! I didn’t mean to startle you! Name’s Bayou Billy Clops! Most ponies call me Bill!” his gaze lowers as his brow furrows. “Who are ya and what’re ya doin’ here?” I turn my body to face uh, Bill and widen my eyes, “I shall call you Bill then!” I nod. “Well, Bill! If you really wanna know, I just uh, needed to get away! You ever need an escape?” He smiles down at me, “Well, yeah! All the time! The real trick is figuring out what ta do!” I blink, “Uh, of course!” “If ya don’t mind me askin’, what were ya tryin’ ta git away from?” I sigh to the side, “Well uh, it’s my friend!” He frowns, “Oh?” I smile dimly and giggle nervously at him, “Yeah, she’s uh, a really good friend and I just don’t know if I like that?” His eyes widen, “Now, why in Equestria would ya not like that, little un?” I adjust my body and say to him, “Well I uh, did some things and well…” His eyes narrow, “Look! It don’t matter what ya did and it don’t matter how ya feel about it! We’re not talkin’ bout that! What’s truly important is your relationship with this friend, y’hear?” I frown, “Oh? Uh, hey listen, “I shake my head. “I’m just not sure who I am anymore?” His eyes normalize, “Y’know, friends can help with that sort of thing? Uh, what should I call you, anyway?” My eyes widen as I think on the fly, “Call me Annabelle!” He nods, “Alright Annabelle, look! It seems to me that any friend that can make ya travel this far out must be some friend… And it also seems to me that y’truly care bout this friend cause yer not sure if you deserve her…” his view enlarges. “Y’think maybe thems all the answers y’need?” I gaze at Bill with enormous eyes, “Oh, golly Bill! You’re right! I mean, she might be in an awkward position, but we still have a connection of some sort and I need to nurture that!” He frowns, “Say what now?” I turn and begin to gallop away from the shanty in the distance, “Thanks Bill!” before I quickly begin flapping my wings and take off out over the milder forest further back towards Ponyville… <*****> I must’ve been flying for hours! Gee, is the Everfree Forest really that far from Ponyville? I finally saw the towers of my castle in the distance as they sat in the view just beyond the small townscape of downtown Ponyville. I kept flapping as the towers got larger and larger in my view… I knew which towers I’d want and I knew what area of town my castle was in! Just a matter of getting there… I then thought about Bill… To him, I wasn’t empress of anything… He saw me as a small pink filly and nothing more, and so he gave me solid advice… I care about Twilight and it’s probably better that I deal with that? As I flapped through the air, I witnessed many pegasi and a lot of them stopped and gawked at me while flapping in mid-air! You know, I’m just the Empress of Friendship, the single most important pony in Equestria, after all! As I continued to fly over the town, I suddenly thought that I did care about Twilight and she cared about me… That our situation is just scenery and that I need to come to terms with that… Uh, somehow? I also knew that it was well after 9 o’clock and she’s probably wondering where the hay I am? I saw the tall spire of my castle’s main keep! That’s where I want to be, because it’s secure! I flap hurriedly that direction as another pink and blue pegasus ponies on my right stop to stare at me… I see it come into view and I witness the platform of the awning come into view over one section of the tower... I land on the old wooden platform with a clack noise as my hooves make contact… You know, I really should have them replace this deck later? I blink and stare at the door in front of me… Ponyville town is sprawled out behind me in the morning sun, and I just stood there, staring at my door and thinking to myself… I care about her and she cares about me! That’s it! We’re friends! Uh, how should I handle this? Suddenly, it bursts open to the left to reveal a wide-eyed purple alicorn with a blue mane, “Empress Cozy Glow! I’ve been looking for you all morning! Where were you?” I stare at my assistant and decide I wanna be tough, “Twilight Sparkle! I order you to hug me!” She frowns, “W-what?” “Hug me! Right now, servant!” Her face straightens as she slowly trots towards me, one step, then another, and a third, before her forehooves both come over me and I feel her warm embrace and her body close to mine… “I love you!” I whisper while burying my face in her chest floof… “What was that, Your Majesty?” She asks… “Nothing!” I reply while still happily being held in her hooves… I think I might be smiling right now, actually? I’m probably smiling? (To be continued…)
Chapter 5: Who We Are to Each Other“Shut up!” I say to the alicorn standing to the right of my throne… She stares at me wide-eyed, “Um, but I didn’t say anything Your Majesty?” I narrow my eyes while keeping my gaze on her, “You don’t have to…” She’s silent for a moment before finally asking, “Are you okay, Your Highness?” I blink before widening my eyes, “Oh, golly gee uh, I think so, why?” She frowns, “You’re sure? I mean, you’ve been acting off all day, ever since I woke you from sleep this morning.” she nods. “I know you told me not to do that, but I also know you’ve been acting weird for the past two days now, even for you, so I think I need to make sure you’re okay?” My gaze softens, “Y-you care about me? The horrible filly who took over Equestria?” “But of course, Your Majesty!” “A-and I care about you… “ “Well, yes!” Her gaze lowers. “What are you getting at, Empress?” My gaze hardens! “I can’t!” Her eyes widen, “What?” My eyes close, “I must be hard! I must be cruel!” “Empress Cozy?” I open my eyes quickly and leap towards the other alicorn with my forehooves in front of me, ready to attack! “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!” I knock her over and we both crash to the floor on the other side of my throne and I adjust to force my hooves into her throat while staring down into the enlarged violet eyes of the now gasping adult pony with a wide, enraged view, “I can’t love you! I’m the bad guy! You’re my enemy!” After a few seconds of forcing my hooves into her jugular and watching her sputter for air underneath me, I suddenly lose the force in my hooves and I soften them and lower my head as I breath heavily in and out of my mouth… I close my eyes and feel liquid begin to come out of the right side, “I’m the bad guy! I’m the evil filly!” I open my eyes again and feel the moisture dripping down my face and I see my violet assistant currently gasping for breath with my hooves at her throat! I release her, “I uh, I…” I close my eyes and lower my face as I feel the warm liquid continuing to stream from my face. “I…” “Y-your Majesty?” She manages to gasp out inquisitively before coughing slightly and sputtering to the side… I get off her and turn to trot a few paces away from her at my back… CLIP, CLOP, CLIP, go my hooves before I shout, “GO! GET OUT OF HERE! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM! I’LL CALL YOU LATER!” and then, I close my eyes and lower my face towards the floor… I honestly and truly don’t know what I’m feeling anymore… I do know my face is moist… I stood there in silence, with my eyes closed as I heard clopping… To be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention to it and I didn’t realize that it was getting closer before I felt two forehooves coming over my body to embrace me in a tight warm hug… I felt more liquid coming out of my eyes as my mouth quivered and I whispered to her, “Why are you hugging me?” “You need comfort!” She whispers back... I’m silent for another moment before eventually saying, “What’s wrong with me?” She whispers back, “You’re still a pony, and like any other pony, you’re connected to Equestria…” <*****> “AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” The brown earth stallion suddenly at my right screamed as his straw hat bounced on his head and eyes widened! I turn to face Bill, “Calm down! It’s just me!” He adjusts the straw bill of his hat with his right forehoof and lowers it to look at me with focus in his blue eyes, “Well uh, one good turn deserves ‘nother? Guess you’re in your rights to startle me, Annabelle!” I sigh, “Look Bill, I uh,” I shake my head. “I didn’t mean to startle you and uh, I,” I then said words I haven’t uttered sincerely in years… “I’m sorry, okay?” He smiles, “Oh, twern’t yer fault young ‘un! You just came in at tha wrong spot!” I frown, “You don’t seem at all freaked out by the fact that I’m a filly and an alicorn and that I can just teleport anywhere I’ve been? I mean, isn’t that rare?” He chuckles, “Believe it or not, I’ve seen weirder! Uh, “his eyes widen. “you want some coffee? I jus’ brewed it!” My eyes widen and mouth tightens when I remembered that one fateful day and why I should drink coffee slowly… I calmly say back to him, “Uh, two sugars and one cream, please!” and then smile broadly at him… <*****> So, Bill smiles at me from the other side of the worn wooden table in what I’m guessing is his kitchen… He stares down at me with a peculiar kindness in his azure gaze as he says softly, “I’m guessin’ this ain’t just a social call?” I frown up at him as the black cup of coffee steams on the table in front of me, currently filled to the brim with blond liquid, and say, “Well uh, technically, no!” I blink when I suddenly realize that’s something I should probably do? “I can make social calls later though! Um, “before smiling broadly up at him… “if you like?” He smiles and for the first time, I notice he’s missing a couple of teeth on the top row of his mouth and giggles before saying, “I’d like that little filly! So uh, what brings you out here, anyway? This is about yer friend, right?” My eyes widen, “How did you guess?” “Call it a hunch!” He says calmly before using his forehooves to take a drink of his white coffee mug… I didn’t see him add anything to his coffee, so I guess he likes it black? He finally sets it back down. “So, what’s the problem this time?” I stare at him and carefully decided how I wanted to word this… “Well, I kinda maybe tried to strangle her?” His eyes widen, “That’s a pretty big problem!” “And then she hugged me!” “That’s even weirder!” My own gaze enlarges, “Oh, golly! Don’t you think I know that? I uh…” I suddenly take a sip of the warm bitter liquid… I’ll admit that while it’s strong, it does make me feel better oddly enough… He sighs before looking off to the side, “Well, look! I don’t think what happened is gonna tell us as much as what was said, here! So, “he adjusts his gaze to me. “what exactly did she say?” I gulped, “Th-that I needed comfort! That I’m not a bad filly!” “And you agreed?” “Well, not exactly?” He frowns… “Just who are you, anyway Annabelle? Where did you come from?” I sigh and gaze up at him before saying, “I’m the current ruler of Equestria and I’m starting to like my assistant as a friend and this scares me, because of who she is…” His eyes widen, “Didn’t realize I was serving royalty today!” I frown, “Think nothing of it! I’m more interested in what you have to say about my friend?” He eyes me carefully, “Well, that depends! Just who is this assistant of yours, anyway?” I stare back at him, “My old arch nemesis! The one who tried to stop me from taking over Equestria!” “Now, why would you make such a pony your assistant, anyway?” I blink when I suddenly remembered that that crystal called to me about two weeks before that experimental trip into Tartarus, “I don’t know, okay? I uh, I just felt that… “ He frowns, “Felt that what, young ‘un? I stare directly at him and answer with all sincerity in my voice, “I thought that maybe she didn’t have to be locked up? I guess I kinda felt sorry for her?” He nods, “I see… Well, I haven’t been to town in eight months, but don’t this beat all?” “I guess so?” He adjusts his view down to me, “So anyway, the thing is, she was yer enemy earlier, right?” I nod back, “That is correct!” He smiles, “Right! But tell me somethin’, do ya see her as an enemy now?” I eyeball this peculiar swamp dwelling redneck carefully, “Uh, not really, no?” His view lowers, “So y’think maybe somethin’ changed?” I suddenly thought about that crystal again… I thought about what it had done to me… I grimace angrily! “Well, obviously!” He nods, “So tha question you now gotta answer is, is this really what ya want? Do you want to be a good filly?” My face normalizes, “I don’t know?” “What do ya mean, ya don’t know?” I blink, “Well uh, I guess I never really thought about it?” He smiles and breathes out his nostrils, “You think maybe you oughtta start thinkin’ about it?” My eyes widen, “Probably?” He’s silent before finally saying, “You don’t have a lot of friends, do ya?” I gaze at him carefully, “Well, I got enough!” He nods, “Well, let me tell you somethin’… You gotta come to an understandin’, y’hear? It’s about yer relationship with this other pony and how it works!” “How it works?” He nods, “That’s right! Yer gonna have ways and ins and outs and things in any friendship! It’s really about knowing what that is!” I frown, “So the big question I need to answer is, who is this other pony to me?” He nods, “That’s right!” I gaze at him, “I don’t know!” His eyes widen, “Well, don’t ya think you should be figurin’ that out?” <*****> I knock on the tall unassuming wooden door… I gaze at the knob on the left and think that it sure has been a long time since I locked that thing! The door opens up to reveal a much taller more violet alicorn with a metal ring on her horn and two distinct off-color streaks in her mane, “Empress Cozy! How are you?” I gaze carefully at this other, much larger alicorn, “Twilight Sparkle! We need to talk!” Her eyes widen, “Oh? Okay, Empress Cozy! We can talk! What would you like to talk about?” I look at her carefully in silence and ponder on exactly how to say this, before finally asking her, “Twilight, just who am I, to you?” (To be continued…)
Chapter 6: Twilight SparkleI buried my face in her soft warm chest fluff as she held me in her hooves… It kinda tickles my nose a bit and I giggled slightly before saying what was on my mind, “I’m an idiot!” Twilight giggles softly, “You’re not an idiot! Now just relax empress!” “I am relaxed! You relax!” She tightens her hold on me and for the millionth time today, I begin to wonder if I truly deserve this love and why she’s giving it to me? “I’m more relaxed than you!” “Are you okay, empress?” “Why are you doing this?” “What do you mean? You attacked me earlier because you were having a breakdown and now, I should take care of you…” I continue snuggling her chest and hold my tongue, before finally saying, “You’re not mad?” “No. Why would I be mad?” I raise my voice, “I attacked you!” “Because you’re scared, empress!” “I’m not scared! You’re scared!” She chuckles, “You’re scared to be cared for because you’ve been hurt!” “How would you know that?” She holds me tightly and begins to very gently rock me, “Look at the signs! The need for power and control. Anti-social behavior. Inability to forgive. These are all signs of previous emotional trauma… I’m silent as she’s holding me… “Have you been studying this?” She calmly responds, “Kinda, yeah…” “Why would you be studying this?” “Because I wanted to know why you acted the way you did, Empress Cozy… I wanted to understand you so I could serve you better…” “Why do I have trouble believing that?” “Because you don’t trust me…” “Well, I know that!” I snap with my face still in her chest floof… “Tell me again why you insisted that we hug before you answer me?” “Because I need you to understand that despite everything and despite the pony you seem to think you are, I actually do love and care about you…” I’m silent again before finally speaking… “You’re an idiot, Twilight! Complete moron!” She giggles, “Well, you agreed to this!” I bury my face even further, “Yeah, because we’re both idiots!” She holds me more tightly, “Shh! My empress! It’s okay, I assure you!” “The Empress of Equestria is insane!” I say while continuing to cuddle my assistant, “And she’s an idiot!” before burying my face again... The violet alicorn chuckles while continuing to hold me and suddenly begins rocking me back and forth… You know, for the first second or so, I was gonna protest, but now, this feels really nice… I really like this… Better not tell her that! “Enjoying yourself empress?” “No!” I snap back! “Why would you think that?” “Well, the way your muscles relaxed and the soft purring were pretty clear indications…” “I did no such thing!” I bark back while continuing to rest in Twilight’s hooves… “So you wish to stop then?” She inquires… “Um, n-not yet!” I say back to her… She’s silent for a moment before softly replying, “As you wish, My Liege…” * I cuddle my face to her floof some more… This moron… “How do you feel?” Again with that! “I’m fine!” I snap back… “Shh!” She soothes me while resting her head on top of mine and continuing to hold onto me with her forehooves… “It’s okay Empress Cozy Glow…” “Bunny brained, stupid, jerk-faced, moron!” I begin grumbling underneath her chest floof… “Shh!” She soothes me again while continuing to rock me back and forth… <*****> She lowers her neck to give me the white cup, now steaming with blond liquid inside before I grasp it with my right forehoof from her snout and bring it to my face as I set on my haunches there on my throne… She raises her neck right as I take that first cautious sip of coffee and frowns, “You never asked for coffee before?” I lower the cup from my face and swallow to stare back at her, “You never did answer my question, Twilight?” She smiles down at me, “Oh, didn’t I, Empress Cozy Glow? Think about what you asked me and what we did as a result of that…” I stare up at her as these facts begin to coalesce in my mind before grimacing at her, “You’re an idiot, Twilight!” She chuckles under her breath a bit, “I love you too, Empress Cozy Glow!” And I stared at the grinning alicorn for a moment as it suddenly began to dawn on me what she was doing… I squint at her, “I hate you!” Her eyes widen as her mouth begins to normalize, “But Your Majesty! I’ve shown you nothing but kindness and compassion!” “I know! And it sucks!” Before taking another slow easy sip of my hot coffee… It sure is yummy though! You know, I really like this French vanilla stuff, although I’m still not sure where it comes from? Her eyes normalize and view lowers, “So, tell me now, Your Majesty… Why does it suck?” I eye this other pony carefully and squint in frustration, “Oh, you know why?” She giggles, “Could it be because you don’t believe you deserve kindness?” My eye widen, “What? Why wouldn’t I deserve kindness?” She sighs, “Well, you obviously didn’t get it earlier, and now you’re wondering about a lot of things, aren’t you?” I furrow my brow, “You don’t know what I’m thinking!” Her snout lowers, “No, not precisely, but I can make judgments and assumptions based on what I’ve observed.” I frown in irritation, “And just what have you observed, Twilight?” She smiles again and nods, “I’ve observed an adorable, kindhearted, sweet filly trying to be evil…” I then stared at the smiling alicorn… I thought long and hard about the words she was saying to me… Kindhearted? Sweet? M-me? Before frowning, “Go back to your room Twilight!” She lowers her view and normalizes her face, “You need more time to ponder this, don’t you?” I scowl as hard as I can at her, “I need to think about a lot of things right now!” “Would you like a…” I don’t let her finish, “Yes please!” and nod… She then takes three paces towards me and hugs me in her forehooves… “What’s wrong with you?” I ask her before burying my face in her soft, wonderful chest floof again... “I’m giving you exactly what you didn’t get earlier, Cozy Glow… I’m showing you love and kindness…” “Idiot!” I mutter under my breath… “Shh!” She soothes me as she begins the rocking again… <*****> After Twilight left for her room, I spent the majority of the morning reading… I did call a servant and had him bring me a yummy spinach and mustard sandwich for lunch, although I hadn’t said a word to Twilight after that… I wrote in my diary: Well, she seems to be giving me genuine affection now and I’m still not sure why this irritates me so much? I mean, shouldn’t I want love and kindness from other ponies? Why is it different with her? Well, she’s Twilight Sparkle, my former nemesis and the pony who tried to keep me from my rightful position? That must be it! It really is annoying though, because I’d like to imprison her or put her in the stocks or something, but I just can’t find it within me to do that when she’s so kind! I know I need to face her again today, but not right now… Not yet… I spit the pen out on the desk and raise my head to stare at the wall and I thought about what she said to me… Kind-hearted? Nice? Just who the hay does she think she is, speaking to me like that? At the same time though… I blink when I thought about that farmer earlier with the sister who needed a liver transplant… Then I thought about the ponies near Ghastly Gorge and how I’ve been making sure they had water… Then, I thought about Fillydelphia and hoped we could find a resolution with the union there... What’s happening to me? I wrote in my diary again with my mouth: I just keep thinking about what she said to me… And then I think about how I’ve been running Equestria… I actually seem to care about everypony now? At first, I was a ruthless tyrant, but over time, I seem to have gotten softer? I keep asking myself if this is what I really want, but I can’t seem to act any other way? It makes me think of that amethyst thingy again! I mean, could I fight it? Should I fight it? I just don’t know and I don’t know who I am anymore! I spit the pen out and raised my head again to stare at that same wall… You know, I really should put a picture there… I furrow my brow when I think about what I’m going to say to her next… She seems to care about me now? Would it really be right to punish her? Wait! Since when to I care about what’s right? Oh, golly! I widen my eyes when I think that I don’t want to think anymore… I take a long deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth, same as always whenever I got tense and then stared at the wall behind my purple desk… A smile creeps up on my snout as I think now is a great time to do one of my favorite activities! I scooted my chair back from the desk, got on all fours, and took off, before flying behind the chair towards my enormous bed with it’s MANY stuffed friends there, all waiting for me to cuddle! I smile happily as I crashed into the pile of plushies there, and I grab a red stuffed dog and a yellow giraffe and hold them to my chest as I lay there happily in the fetal position among my sprawled pals… So nice not to think anymore! I can just cuddle my stuffed friends now! <*****> I open my eyes to find myself somewhere deep in the woods late at night… I raise my gaze to the heavens and see all the pretty stars there, twinkling down on me… I smile when I see them because the night always brings me peace and serenity… Just staring up at the sky like that, I kinda forgot all the questions on my mind for a moment or two… I’ll admit that I truly felt at peace just standing there in the forest there… I breathed the cool night air in and out through my nose while staring at the stars, planets, and constellations… You know, I’m not sure which forest this is? It might be the Everfree, actually? But I don’t know for sure… And then, my dream became a nightmare when I lower my gaze back to the ground to see a dark purple alicorn there with an ethereal blue mane, flowing to the right and a sparkle in her olive colored eyes! I widen my eyes at the smiling winged horn-pony 15 feet in front of me, “YOU! How did you escape?” Princess Luna chuckles slightly, “Didst thou really think thou could imprison thy Princess of the Night for any real length of time?” I frown when I suddenly think that I’m probably gonna hate this… Her gaze and smile lower, “So, I understand thou had some concerns regarding Twilight Sparkle and your relationship with her?” And that’s when I knew, I’m definitely going to hate this! (To be continued…) Author's Note *Oh my Celestia! I appear to have invented Cozy-Sparkle cuteness in this story? You know, this chapter is interesting because it presents one potential theory on Cozy Glow and why she acts the way she does. I still believe I saw goodness in there and I don't believe she's a sociopath... Something happened to Cozy to make her the way she is... Something bad...
Chapter 7: Dream to NightmareSo anyway, then I woke up from my nap… What do you mean I was having a Princess Luna dream? Oh, golly! FINE! So, I stood there in the darkened forest, looking at the smiling alicorn and finally asked her, “What do you mean concerns with Twilight Sparkle?” before raising my right eyebrow. Her eyes widen as her face raises, “You’re worried that you’re getting too close to your former enemy, is that not so?” “NO!” I yell back at her! Her face lowers, “Methinks thou doth protest too much!”* I squint my eyes and frown at this other alicorn, “What’s it to you?” “I care about the lives of all my subjects!” “I’m not your subject!” She giggles, “Have it your way, Cozy! But back to Twilight!” “What about her?” “How do you see her?” My eyes widen when it occurs to me that I never really considered that? “I see her as my faithful assistant! Nothing more!” Luna’s smirk grows to a full smile, “Is that so?” “YES!” Her right eyebrow raises, “But you’re hugging her?” “So? You don’t hug your assistants?” She gives a long sigh, “Not usually, although I normally work alone… ” “Well, I do!” I nod. “And THAT’S why I’ll always be a better ruler than you!” “You are obfuscating from the fact that you care about her.” “No, I’m not!” “But you DO care about her!” I’m silent for a moment… “Okay, yeah! Kinda, maybe, a little bit?” She giggles again, “You are SO stubborn!” “I’m not stubborn! Your stubborn!” “Surely though, you’re aware that she makes you a better pony?” My eyes widen, “What?” She nods, “By making you second guess yourself, you become a better ruler with her at your side.” “Oh, golly! What does that have to do with anything?” “It’s the affect she’s been having on you, coupled with the rise of goodness from the crystal, it makes you into a better pony…” Her view lowers again, “But how do you see her?” I squint again, “Just what are you getting at?” Suddenly, the wind picks up and blows the trees to my right and as the branches sway, Luna continues, “I don’t think you’re entirely honest with yourself on this matter, Cozy Glow… I think you see her as more than just your assistant…” “You and the amethyst both!” “I think she’s currently taking the place of somepony who was very dear to you… “ My eyes widen when a horrifying thought suddenly occurs to me, “Taking the place? You can’t mean…” Her own eyes widen while her wings fan out to her sides, “Oh, I don’t mean Twilight is your mother now, Cozy! I’m just saying that she’s filling some roles for you now in your life…” her wings go back down… I finally ask what’s been on my mind this whole time, “How would you know about any of this?” She nods, “I can see your dreams!” I blink when remembering that I don’t usually remember my dreams. I ask her, “Well, what do I dream about? What do you see?” “I see many things, Cozy.” Her gaze goes upward, “But my favorite is definitely the one where you’re snuggling Twilight in bed.” before she smiles again and stares back down at me sweetly. “You just look so cute there in the fetal position with your big teddy bear!” “Why would I dream about that?” “Because you need comfort and you’re beginning to realize that Twilight can provide that to you on some level… It’s purely psychological!” By this point, I’ve had enough. I just shake my head, turn around, and hop into the air with my hooves and begin flapping my little wings to fly away from Luna! In the beginning, I don’t want to look down! I just keep flying as I’m trying to get away from this obstinate alicorn! I breathe in and out through my mouth as I keep flapping, Why is she saying these things to me? For what purpose? What does she want me to do? I close my mouth and look down and I see the darkened forest floor and the treetops. I then adjust my gaze ahead and see woods and forest as far as I can see. I suddenly hear a familiar feminine voice resonating through the woods, “You cannot escape your dreams Cozy! You dream of something much greater than what you have!” “I dream of nothing!” I shouted back as I continued to flap forward with all of my might! You know, as I flew, I wasn’t really sure how fast I was going and the trees kinda disappeared in a dark green blur beneath me! “You have many hopes and dreams, Cozy!” I continue flapping as the green blob continues to undulate in my perception below and shout into the air with my eyes now closed, “I’m Empress of Friendship and ruler of Equestria! What could I possibly have left to dream about?” before opening them again and widening when I see the cliff face approaching me! I smack into it, although for some reason, I feel no pain… My body is now flat against the side and stationary as I stared up at the night sky above me with it’s many twinkling glows and wondered just where in the hay I am? “You’re in your mind now, Cozy! It is a forest maze at night currently because you have many more questions than answers… “ I grimace while continuing to sit on the cliff face as I move my wings lower to ready them, “Okay, Miss Smarty Smart Hooves! Just what does this cliff represent?” “Your stubbornness and inability to change!” My eyes widen when I then think about just how large this cliff actually is. I then think about all the observations I’ve been making, “But I have changed! I’m a better pony now!” “You haven’t investigated this cliff fully Cozy… If you get off and fly lower down, you’ll find something you don’t know about… “ As I peeled myself from the cliff and caught myself in the air with my wings to fly away from the cliff while facing that direction, I then turned to face it and hovered… I stared at it from about 15 feet away and suddenly wondered why I’m following orders from an escapee when I began to slow my flapping so I got lower and watched the cliff face before me lower as well… Suddenly, I couldn’t help but notice a particular black spot on the cliff face, just below me and on the left side! I’ll admit I was interested, so I adjusted my body and flapped further that direction to see just what this spot actually was! When I got closer, it grew very dark… I suddenly remembered that I was an alicorn now and could use my horn! So, I made my horn glow bright white and saw that the spot was actually a cave! My eyes widen again when I think it’s either investigate or go back down… And so, I flew towards the cave and went the necessary 12 feet to enter it before landing on the small ledge and stared inside. My light illuminates some of the path in front of me, but I can only see so far in, so I decide to explore it further by trotting inside… I look at the gray cave walls and stare up at the ceiling to see it’s roughly 12 feet high and maybe 10 feet wide… It’s not a small cave! I trot further in because I can only see so far and I don’t think flying here would be a very good idea… I trot further in when I suddenly notice a glintroughly 12 feet in front of me… The glint is the light reflecting off a restraining ring, currently being worn by a purple alicorn who now stands on her hooves staring further into the cave, away from me, with her wings relaxed at her sides… She turns and looks at me with her purple eyes before widening them and saying, “Welcome to the path to yourself, Cozy Glow!” <*****> I wake up with a start while clutching my big stuffed dog to my chest and widening my eyes in a cold sweat… Oh, I screamed too! Should probably mention that? “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” Then, I just laid there, clutching my stuffed friend to my chest and breathing as a drop of sweat went down the left side of my face and below my snout… “What does that mean?” I whisper to myself while my breathing begins to slow and I stare there at my purple room… I look around and see it’s the same as it always has been with my violet desk towards the left and the only door in front of the bed… Suddenly, the door opens and I see a purple alicorn standing there with a ring on her horn… “Cozy! I heard screaming! Are you okay?” Twilight asks me… I stare back at her and I can’t help but notice her eyes, “I’m fine!” as they stare at me with genuine confusion and empathy. Her eyes widen with concern, “Cozy! Would you like a…” Again, I don’t let her finish! “Yes please!” She trots in the room 15 feet towards my bed and begins to circle around the right side to where I’m sitting up on my haunches with the light purple blankets sprawled out on the bed to my left and many stuffed friends scattered throughout the bed and floor… As I hear the clip clopping of her hooves, I thought about what Luna said to me… I thought about that cave and seeing Twilight there… Welcome to the path to yourself? What the hay does that mean? I hear her clopping closer to me, when suddenly, I’m scooped up in a strong purple forehoof that brings me into soft wonderful chest floof! I grumble while my face is encased, “Stupid, muffin-brained, idiot alicorn!” “Shh!” She soothes me while caressing the top of my curls with her off-hoof and clenching onto me with her left… I then mutter something incoherent with my mouth as I go further into her… She whispers to me, “So, I take it you had a nightmare?” “Maybe!” I angrily retort with my face buried into her chest. “Do you want to talk about it?” And then, I surprised myself when I said something I didn’t think I would at that point… “Actually, I would… But I want coffee first!” (To be continued…) Author's Note *Yes, I’m paraphrasing Shakespeare here. Good for you if you caught that!
Chapter 8: FamilySo I sat at my throne, holding my yummy blond cup of coffee in my right forehoof and staring at the purple alicorn in front of me, who frowns and says, “So, you had a nightmare?” I widen my eyes, “I get it, alright Twilight? I’m reformed now and you helped me!” She stares at me perplexed, “What are you talking about?” I sigh, “The dream! It’s so obvious! You led me to the path to my true self or whatever and uh, well gee, you know, I’m not really evil after all!” “I see…” She flatly states… Before staring back at me and asking, “So, have you thought about what you’ll do now?” I sigh, “Well yeah! So now, I guess we have to rescue your friends then, huh?” Her face lights up, “Oh, Your Majesty! That would be very nice of you!” I sigh and stare downward, “Yeah, whatever!” before raising my gaze back to her. “The only problem is, I don’t know how we’re gonna get into Tartarus?” Suddenly, a small serpent wearing a red mortarboard hat and red robes walks in from the front door, toots on a little horn and loudly proclaims, “His Majesty, the Lord of Chaos, Bringer of Bedlam, Master of Mayhem, Maker of Mischief, Purveyor of Pandemonium, AHEM!” he clears his throat while putting his small eagle talon in front of his face and waves forward to say, “Discord!” Then, a much larger, albeit similar serpentine creature floats into the throne room after magically opening the doors, stares right at me with his two misshapen eyes, and mimics me when he says, “You know, whenever anybody talks about getting into Tartarus, they always forget that I can easily go there!” I turn to face the bizarre motley serpent, “Is that so, huh?” Twilight stares at the serpent, “That’s Discord, Your Highness! He’s a tricky one! I’d advise you to be very specific when telling him things… “ He smiles his snaggle-tooth grin at me, “Yes, we’ve been over my name once before, book horse” and adjusts his gaze higher and grins wider, “and so, now is your ultimate test, Empress Cozy Glow! I can easily rescue all five of Twilight’s friends as well as Celestia, Luna, and even Starlight Glimmer from Tartarus, but I will only do these things, by your command!” he flicks his eagle talon at me. “So, what say you Cozy? Do you wish for me to rescue these ponies from their imprisonment?” I turn my gaze to my alicorn assistant who then stares at me with wide purple eyes, and quivering lips, not sure what I’ll say… I turn back to the serpent and smile, “I don’t know who you are strange serpent, but yes! By all means, please rescue Twilight's friends and those two other alicorns as well!” Twilight’s eyes widen as she shouts, “And the dragon!” I widen my eyes, “Oh! Don’t forget that purple dragon either! Uh, I can’t remember his name?” Twilight interjects, “Spike!” I nod at the serpent, “Yeah! Him! Rescue Spike too!” He crosses his lion paw and eagle talon across what I’m fairly certain is his chest, and frowns as his one tooth goes diagonal, “Well, if I MUST!” I nod and smile, “Thank you, mysterious serpent!” before staring at him flatly, “Um, could you also rescue Tirek while you’re there?” and smiling. Twilight turns her head back right to me and widens her eyes, “But Tirek is still evil, as far as we know! I don’t think it’s a very good idea!” and she narrows her them and frowns. “Also, how in the hay are you now openly good, anyway? I thought you know, you didn’t like admitting to stuff like that?” I stare back at the other alicorn, “Yeah, about that!” I sigh and stare downward before adjusting my eyes back up to her, “I did a lot of thinking over the last few days…” I sigh again. “I guess I should just accept that I’m apparently on the side of good now? I mean, I don’t know if I’d call it something clicking inside me, but… “before frowning, “I came to realize that I care after all…” and smile dimly at the other alicorn. “I do care about other ponies and I care about Equestria…” “But the Guardian Amethyst…” I flatten my mouth and cut her off, “Had nothing to do with it, Twilight. I don’t know if you think I’m insane and I don’t know if I am, but I believe that since this was inside me all this time, that I gotta be good by default? I just don’t know what went wrong?” “You got some bad advice!” I blink, “Um, I guess so? But golly! You know, since I now have this power given to me,” before sighing again, “I should just accept it and do good with it?” and I smile dimly. “My name is Cozy Glow and I’m not evil…” She blinks with an astonished look in her eyes that I’m guessing means she’s still processing this, “Okay, but, what about Tirek though? He’s still evil, as far as we know, right?” I adjust my gaze back to the other alicorn, “Well gee, it seems so lousy of us to just you know, leave him there, don’t you think?” She nods, “Well, don’t you believe we should reform him then?” before frowning as I’m still pretty sure this is still all new to her… I nod and smile, hoping I don’t look evil or fiendish at this point,“Good point Twilight!” before turning my neck back right towards the strange serpent, “Discord! Put Tirek in the dungeon when you save him! Uh, don’t do anything weird with him, either, okay?” He smiles his snaggle tooth grin at me, “Oh, you’re no fun!” before disappearing in a flash of light! Twilight stares at me, “I can almost guarantee you he’s gonna do somethingweird now!” I turn to stare back at her after blinking cause the flash kinda hurt my eyes, “Well golly gee, what can really we do now?” Twilight sighs, “Well, there’s nothing we can do, until he gets back.” And just then, the door to my throne room pops open and I raise my neck to see a pegasus guard pony there, with white fur and clad in golden armor. He stares at me and says judiciously, “Your Highness! You really need to go to the dungeon now!” <*****> And so, I saw it… I saw Tirek there, with a purple pacifier in his mouth, and sitting on his haunches in what appeared to be a poufy diaper with purple star, heart, teddy bear, and lollipop designs on it… I gotta admit, that weird serpent guy must have a sense of humor! I widen my eyes and start to laugh hysterically at this! He stares at me with wide black eyes from what I’m guessing is a playpen as the guard from earlier turned his neck right towards me and says as I compose myself and look back, “I have no idea where he came from Your Majesty? I left to go to the latrine and when I returned, uh, there he was!” “Golly gee! I uh, really don’t what to say? We wanted to reform him, but…” Twilight interjects from behind me, “Well, it’s certainly not the worst thing he could’ve done?” I raise my neck, “Well, yeah!I mean, it’s not like he tore Tirek’s nipples off or anything like that!” before lowering it. “Can we still do that, now that we’re good, by the way? Tear his nipples off, I mean?” I then hear something I haven’t heard in a very long time… I heard Twilight raise her voice to me! “NO!” I widen my eyes again, “Oh, golly! Okay, no nipple tearing!” before normalizing them. “So uh, what do we do about your friends?” Twilight frowns and sighs, “Well, there’s nothing we really can do, until Discord gets back?” I nod, “Well, right! You know, that’s probably gonna be weird too?” Her eyes adjust before she says, “Well, yes…“ <*****> And so, as I flew into the mental institution at a slow speed, the doctor trotting on my left began to explain to me, “Well, I know who Pinkie Pie is, of course, and immediately knew to contact you! I got in touch with one of your secretaries!” I roll my eyes, “Well, do you have any idea how many calls I get each day? I’m Empress of Friendship!” He nods, “Well, right! Uh,” before reaching into his left lab coat pocket with his snout and pulling out a piece of paper, and he then says through his teeth. “We also found this note with her!” I stare down at the note as I continue to slowly hover forward and notice that it says: Dear, whoever finds this, I have brought back the first, this, Pinkie Pie, just as I promised! However, I decided to give her a little treat since she just got out of Tartarus and she’s currently blasted out of her mind on a number of psychoactive substances. Worry not, because she’ll be back to normal in a few hours! Or uh, it might take days? Oh well, I’m pretty sure it’ll happen eventually! Ta-ta! Discord I then stop flying forward to stare into the small porthole window of the metal door in front of me and I see a pink earth mare wearing a white straight jacket wrapped around to confine and contain her front two legs as she howled maniacally at the ceiling and stares on with wide eyes while frothing at the mouth and muttering, “I am the Empress of Friendship! I have no friends, but everypony loves me or else! You will all bow to me or die! Ha ha ha ha he he he he ho ho ho ho ho ho!” I frown and stare wide-eyed at this, as those words make me think… I decide I want a chocolate milkshake when I get home! I say to the doctor while staring at the pink mare, “Keep her under observation and locked up until she sobers up! Do not let her hurt herself or get hurt, do you understand me?” He blinks and nods, “Y-yes Your Highness!” <*****> I approach Cloudsdayle Stadium from a distance, with my assistant flying near me… “I know they told me she was here somewhere?” Twilight looks up and to the left before saying, “There she is! Rainbow Dash!” As I’m floating near the stadium, a blue blur suddenly approaches me! Golly, I almost didn’t have enough time to trap it in my purple forcefield! My magick is always purple now… * As I stare at her with my head tilted left, Rainbow Dash thrashes and kicks inside the barrier and screams, “You won’t get away with this Cozy!” I look straight at the blue pegasus and scream at her, “YOU KNOW I’M THE REASON YOU’RE NOW FREE FROM TARTARUS, RIGHT?” She stops in kicking in the air to stare at me, “W-what?” Twilight smiles and stares at Rainbow to shout, “It’s true! Cozy’s good now!” before smiling at her… I stare up at her and smile my toothy grin… <*****> As the yellow pegasus smiled at me from across in my throne room, she says, “I’m so happy you’re good now, Cozy Glow!” I stare at her, “So, what exactly did Discord tell you?” Fluttershy vibrates, causing her pink mane to sway and excitedly exclaims, “Oh, just that you’re good now and that you’re really nice and friendly and cheerful and lovable and adorable and pleasant and calm and…” I cut her off while widening my eyes, “Okay! I get it! I’m good!” She nods, “Oh, and having a nice tea party with him after all that time was great too!” she happily smiles and continues. “We had cucumber sandwiches and scones and this lovely jasmine tea!” I enlarge my view and suddenly wonder if being good is always gonna be this boring? <*****> I stared at the filthy disheveled white unicorn in my throne room as she stared up at me from underneath her matted purple mane, “I WAS MORTIFIED!” I frown and stare with wide eyes, “You know, I think the fact that you’re free from Tartarus at all is just swell, don’t you?” Rarity stares at me with tears on her face, “He teleported me to the Canterlot Wine Mixer after I had spent months in that filthy dingy cage! Now, nopony in high society will want to deal with me!” I stare at her, “What if I MAKE them like you again and say, ignoring you is punishable by death?” She stares at me with wide blue eyes, “U-um, maybe not something so extreme?” I blink and suddenly wonder if I’m gonna be doing anywhere near as much killing anymore? <*****> I frown at the apple pony and the purple dragon, standing side by side in my throne room, “Well, aren’t you insulted?” She raises her neck to me to stare with her green eyes from underneath her Stetson, “W-what do you mean?” I blink and stare at her, “Well, he gives Fluttershy a tea party, lets Dash fly around Cloudsdayle Stadium, dopes up Pinkie Pie six ways from Sunday, and puts Rarity back in high society… He just dropped both of you off at the farm!” She smiles, “Well, what can I say? It doesn’t take much to make me happy!” I frown, “I guess not? Well, look! You’re permitted to stay here in Canterlot Castle, until we get the return all sorted out! Only the two princesses are left!” Applejack smiles and nods, “Thank you kindly, Cozy! So glad to see you turned over another leaf!” “Oh golly, gee! Get out of here, before I change my mind and put you in the stocks!” She chuckles and turns to trot out… As I shout at her, “I’m serious! I’ll tear your nipples off!” although it’s obvious by this point, she doesn’t take me seriously… I also wonder about my sudden nipple fixations? Spike chuckles and shakes his head before turning to walk out of the room behind her and shut the door quietly behind him… A few moments later, the door to my room bursts open and I see a magenta unicorn there with a deep purple and lavender mane! “Twilight!” Starlight screams at my assistant, currently standing next to my throne! Twilight’s eyes widen, “Starlight!” before she gallops forward towards the unicorn! They embrace in a tight hug and Starlight looks back at her mentor and says, “It’s so good to finally see you again!” before frowning at her forehead. “Uh, why are you wearing a restraining ring around your horn?” Twilight explains, “Well, I’m Empress Cozy Glow’s prisoner and assistant!” I interject before the other unicorn can respond, “Uh, about that Twilight! I uh, you know, there was something I was wanting to say to you…” Twilight turns and trots back to me as I clear my throat… First, I stare at her and I furrow my brow as I force her metal restraining ring to glow and levitate off of her straight horn and I then casually toss it to the side before staring deep into her purple eyes and suddenly realize that I almost don’t wanna say it… My lips quiver as I struggle to get the words out... “Twilight, um…” Her eyes widen, “Yes Cozy?” I’m silent and staring deep into those violet pupils before realizing I can’t anymore, lowering my gaze to the floor, and finally staring back up at her to sigh and admit, “I love you…” She smiles, “I love you too Cozy Glow!” I gaze at her for another super awkward moment before saying to her, “You know my parents are dead, right?”** She gulps and stares back, “I kinda figured…” “A-and I know that you could never replace them, but… “ She smiles and takes a pace forward to hug me tightly… I barely manage to squeak out, “So you understand exactly what I need from you, r-right?” “Of course I’ll be your mother, Cozy Glow!” I widen my eyes in shock while still held in her embrace, “W-wait! Mother? M-mom? You wanna be my mom now?” She releases me to stare down into my eyes with those purple eyes of her again, “Well, wasn’t it obvious?” And as I sat there, staring back into those loving purple eyes, I suddenly realize that she’s actually not wrong… And I abruptly cringe when I realize the horrible ramifications of my sudden decision! <*****> 20 years later: I stood there and swung my long curls behind my head as I raised my neck to stare down at the pink foal, “Oh, golly Luster Dawn! So that’s the full story of how I became Empress of Friendship at a very young age, and before that title even existed! And now, I reign from the Castle of Friendship!” I look up, “Well, they’re still building me a new castle west of Canterlot!” before back at her. “Yeah, they want me to start a new colony in the grassy fields out there towards Cloudsdayle!” “With guidance from your loving mother!” I hear a much larger purple alicorn say from behind as my eyes widen… The pink filly looks up at me and smiles, “That sure is a neat story Empress Cozy Glow!” I smile back down at her, “Oh, golly! Just call me Cozy!” She nods, “Okay! And you’ll both be teaching me?” Twilight steps up to my left to speak to the foal, “Sure will, Luster! You won’t be alone in this! Cozy here is still learning, even after all this time!” before turning her head right towards me and frowning… At that point, I feel my cheeks puff up as I grin nonchalantly, “Oh, golly mom!” “Don’t you, oh golly mom, me, young mare! We need to talk about brainwashing and manipulating ponies again! You know, I already went through this once with Starlight Glimmer? Honestly, by now, you should be so much further along, than you actually are! We’ve made a lot of progress, but…” And as I stood there, smiling at the young filly who stared up at me, Twilight continued to prattle on about mastering this and friendship thatalthough by that point, I long since stopped paying attention… And I suddenly realized that even after all this time, even if things were kinda weird, everything turned out okay… Bucking Discord! “Oh, golly!” (The end…) Author's Note *The color of her magick is a metaphor for her soul. It’s purple now because her soul is purple and it matches. **My parents are also dead… That’s actually one of the primary reasons I started writing in the first place… You know, I think this could be a the prequel of a good "coming of age" style story about best filly?
Chapter 3: ConfessionsYou know, I had been sitting on my haunches in bed staring at that weird purple crystal for about 45 minutes or so… At least I think it was? I know the clock on my wall said 8:22 now anyway, and I knew it was the morning… Such a strange crystal… It had six sides and was a vibrant purple color... It was roughly five and half inches tall and four and a half inches wide, or so I’d say… And it just sat on top of the ornate wooden dresser I kept in my large walk-in closet… I finally realized that that crystal has done all it’s meant to do before removing myself to the air with my wings as I flew over to the dresser within the closet to get my crown next to the amethyst… I stared at it very carefully in my forehooves as I began to wonder about what it truly meant and I started to think about a lot of things… <*****> I sat at my throne… I left my crown on the floor next to it… I didn’t feel much like wearing it at the moment… When suddenly, my violet alicorn assistant opens the front door with her right forehoof to the room to appear into view before she begins trotting towards me… I gaze at her face carefully and can’t help but notice an almost invisible smirk there right on her lips… I decide to ignore it, “Report Twilight! How was your morning?” before noticing I’m extra official all of a sudden… She stops to stand at attention and officially states back, “Well, I woke up in my room and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast! I know how you like to sleep in and decided to check in the throne room later, since you weren’t there earlier!” I nod when thinking to myself that this actually makes sense, “Right! You’re dismissed, Twilight!” Her eyes widen, “Did you want your morning report?” I know this is when we usually do it, so I can understand how this might confuse her, “N-no Twilight! Not yet! I uh…” I shake my head. “need some more time to wake up! Yes!” She looks at me expectantly, “Would you like me to fetch you some juice from the kitchen, your majesty?” I stare at her blankly when I think that I haven’t done anything nice yet, today, “Yes Twilight! That would be really swell! Thank you!” when I widen my view and realize that I just thanked my assistant! She smiles, “Very well, Your Highness! I shall go get it presently!” before turning to trot out of the throne room… I’m left alone with my thoughts… Why do I suddenly think that’s a bad thing? I think about the changes in me that I’ve suddenly began to notice and I wonder why I didn’t see them earlier? Do I really not pay that much attention to myself? Okay, yesterday! What did I do? Well, I had breakfast and the usual morning report... There was that thingy with the farmer pony later on after Twilight… There she is again! I blink when I suddenly start to think that she probably knows more than she’s letting on? Okay, so it brought out the good in me… Where was that good before, anyway? Did I just not want it? Wait, if I don’t want to be good, then that means… I blink… Is the amethyst forcing me, now? No, it’s just bringing out good that was already inside me… R-right? Is the bad still there though? Wasn’t I evil once upon a time? My eyes widen, That could only mean that the good became more powerful! It must be, because it can now overpower the bad! I mean, I’m apparently giving out liver transplants now! I shake my head when I think that I’m starting to think like a crazy pony! Soon, a purple alicorn appears in the doorway to the throne room while carrying a glass of orange juice on her snout. I look at it and widen my eyes before forcing the glass to glow white and raise off her muzzle, “I have the juice now! You may lift your neck!” She lifts her head to a regular stance and smiles at me as my cup soars across the throne room, “Thank you, Your Majesty!” I begin to ponder on the true meaning of those words as the glass floats into my waiting forehooves. I greedily grasp it and bring it to my muzzle for a mighty swig! “Oh, golly, yes!” I stare at her. “You know, I didn’t realize just how thirsty I really was!” She smiles and nods… I begin to wonder just why she’s smiling? Is she thinking about what the amethyst thinks? She couldn’t be my f-friend, right? I mean, I have lots of friends! But her? “Would you like your morning report now, Your Highness?” Her voice startles me out of deep thought. I shake my head again, “Uh, golly right! Go on, Twilight?” She nods, “Of course, Your Highness! The farmers near Ghastly Gorge say that the dam project is coming along nicely and that the temporary irrigation system you suggested is working well for right now, but they’re worried it might not be enough.” I nod back, “Very well then! Get somepony out there to do a report on the situation and learn what they need!” She nods again, “Right, Your Majesty!” “What else?” “Well, the unions in Fillydelphia are still technically on strike, but they seem to want a resolution just as bad as we do?” My eyes widen, “Then what the hay is taking so long?” Her own view enlarges, “Uh, I have no idea!” I nod and sigh, “Oh, golly!” and adjust my view to her. “Fine! Get somepony else on that one, too and report back to me tomorrow to let me know what’s going on!” She nods, “Of course, Your Majesty!” her view raises. “Would you like breakfast, now?” I frown when I realize I haven’t eaten yet! “Uh, yes Twilight! Bring me juice, fruit, and toast with jam! You know what I like! I’ll be in my dining room!” She smiles again, “Yes, Your Majesty!” before nodding and turning to trot out of my throne room… I’m once again, alone with my thoughts… I suddenly found it very interesting that Twilight would be concerned about me eating breakfast. It’s almost like she cares about me? You know what I like! Those words enter my mind… She knows me well at this stage… Almost like… <*****> I look at my plate of fruit on the purple table in front of me and look up from my big purple chair to the smaller purple chair on the other side of the table, where a certain purple alicorn sat… I think to myself that I can either start this conversation or begin eating? And so, I immediately grab a large red apple from the top of the bowl with my forehooves and bite into the succulent juicy fruit as juice begins to drip down out of my mouth… She smiles at me brightly as I chew the morsel in my snout and swallow to eventually bring it down my throat. I stare at her and wipe my face before finally asking, “What are you so happy about?” Her eyes widen, “Well, I just like seeing you eat because I know you need food to live and it makes me glad to know that you’re getting that!” I frown at this bizarre response, “Twilight?” She looks at me expectantly, “Yes, my liege?” I eyeball the former princess carefully… “Do you care about me?” Her eyes soften and she begins to smile again, “Why, of course I do, Your Highness!” “I’m a bad filly though!” She frowns as her eyes widen, “What?” “I’m the bad filly who took over Equestria! Why do you care about me?” She looks at me carefully, “What if I told you that I don’t believe you’re a bad filly?” I stare at her carefully, “Then I’d call you a moron! I took over Equestria, overthrew the existing monarchy, and imprisoned you and your friends in Tartarus! Why wouldn’t I be a bad filly?” “You’re just confused!” I begin to bark, “NO! I believe it is you who are the one who is confused! Now, go back to your room! I’ll call you if I need you!” Her face grows solemn before she nods courteously, “Yes, Your Highness!” before scooting her chair back and turning to trot out of the dining room… I’m once again alone with my thoughts… You know, this is almost as bad as talking to her! Uh, almost! Oh, golly! I really should get somepony else to talk with in here! I blink before getting up off my chair and then, taking off to fly up to the small window on the other end of the dining room, over the other entrance… Nopony knows about that and I like to hide there when life gets stressful! I crawl through the window and land on the wooden floor and I then trot over to the lamp and turn on the burner before igniting so it now illuminates the small room… It is roughly 10 feet by 12, I’d say and I keep a big pile of faded green blankets in the corner with my big brown teddy bear and a small green novel I was reading… It was about a unicorn wizard who befriends a dragon! I set the lamp into it’s holder in the middle of the ceiling where it sits on a metal hook and I then go back to all fours and trot underneath it to the pile… I sigh when I think about what she said… She cares about me? Idiot! I think to myself as I get settled in my little blanket pile where I grasp the book in my forehooves and begin reading my story… I need this to unwind now! There’s simply too many questions in my head right now! I think to myself as I read the same passage about the wizard entering the cave for the third time… I blink, So hard to concentrate! Twilight Sparkle! Even as my prisoner, she continues to be a thorn in my side! Maybe I should get rid of her after all? I blink again before slowly nodding off… <*****> “Empress Cozy Glow?” I hear a feminine voice say from a mere 5 feet away from me in the tiny wooden room… I open my eyes and see that I’m lovingly holding my teddy bear to my chest floof as I stared up at her with a wide view as she slowly comes into focus as it gets less blurry “Uh! Hey! How do you know about this place?” She frowns, “Really? It’s right on the other side of your chair in the dining room and over the door! Everypony knows about this small window room!” I grimace, “OKAY FINE!” before recomposing myself to look at her. “What do you want?” Her view raises slightly, “Well, when you weren’t there for lunch, I grew a tad concerned and thought I should check on you!” I grow indignant, “There it is again! You caring about me! STOP THAT! I’m a bad filly!” “Cozy?” I snap at her, “WHAT?” She smiles again, “I love you!” I stare at her with a piercing glare, “Twilight, leave me alone! Don’t talk to me again until tomorrow!” “My liege?” “GO! Get out of here and leave me be! I’ll be fine!” (To be continued…)
