Empress Cozy Glow part 2: The Reckoning

Chapters

Chapter 1: A New Beginning
Chapter 2: Turning a Bad Situation Good
Chapter 3: Cozy Glow Makes a Friend!
Chapter 4: Complications
Chapter 5: Opening Up
Chapter 6: The Prodigal Crusader
Chapter 7: Accepting Friends
Chapter 8: Crusading For Love
Chapter 10: Cozy Glow and Sweetie Belle's Really Neat Adventure, part 1
Chapter 11: Discorded Body
Chapter 12: The Source of Control
Chapter 13: Bringing Order
Chapter 14: Revelations
Chapter 15: Crusaders
Chapter 9: Empress Cozy Fixes Everything

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

“I literally killed ponies!” I say to the purple alicorn, currently lovingly holding me from behind as we both cuddled in the soft warm sky-blue blankets with their weird floral print.

“I know!” She says as she cuddles me close…

I’m really confused right now, “Well, don’t I need to be punished, or?”

“Why? You’re reformed now!”

There’s that word again! “You don’t know that!”

“Yes I do!” She happily replies before holding me closely.

I can’t help but feel irritated at this whole thing, “Am I still Empress of Friendship though? I brought Celestia and Luna back and that other pink one!”

“Cadance!”

I nod, “Yeah, her too! And you! All the original princesses are back!”

“And so are you, Cozy! My wonderful cuddly wuddly Empress of Friendship!” She says before clasping her forehooves over me again to hold me close to her body tightly.

“Cuddly! Bleh!” I stick my tongue out while the alicorn behind me happily cuddles my body to her… I suddenly wonder just who’s idea this was?

“I love you Cozy Glow!” I hear her say from behind me!

I manage to stammer out, “I-I love you too… m-mom…” And as she clings onto me tightly, I think that this love isn’t really meant for me… It can’t be! I’m evil!

“Cozy? Are you okay?” She compassionately asks.

I robotically reply,”Yes! I am fine! Just fine! Yes! We’re all fine here… How are you?”

“Cozy? Can I ask you a question?”

I frown, “Why wouldn’t you be able to? You’re my uh, mom now, right?”

I hear her softly giggle and feel the warmth of her breath on my neck, “Of course! Now, Cozy, why are you cuddling me?”

“Because it feels nice!” I reply without thinking… I blink and nod my head.

“Tell me something Cozy, you know I like holding you and snuggling you. Now, are you doing this for you or for me?”

My eyes widen and snout frowns, “What do you mean?”

She’s silent for a moment… “Do you believe you deserve love, Cozy?”

I grimace as I suddenly wonder if she can get inside my brain somehow? “Of course, I deserve love! I restored Equestria to it’s former happy magical glory, right? And, I’m all nice now, yes? Why wouldn’t I deserve love?”

“Well, you seemed so hesitant? I just want my cuddly wuddly Empress of Friendship to know that she needs snuggles!” She excitedly says before tightening her grasp on me and I suddenly wonder just how I got here again and refrain from yelling at her about how I’ll break every bone in her body!

“EEP!” I squeak!

“I love you so much, Cozy!”

My eyes widen, “We’re domestic now! HELP!”

<*****>

I look down at the bowl on my area of the table while the other larger, more purple alicorn says to me from the other side at the grand dining table in the castle… Everything is still purple now, thank goodness! I raise my eyes up to her before she stares back at me and asks, “So, do you get it now Cozy? You’re smart!”

I stare up at her with wide eyes as I’m not sure what the hay she’s talking about? “What do you mean?”

She nods, “Well, you have this new title now!

“Empress of Friendship!”

She nods, “Yeah, that! And you get to start over now!”

“As royalty?”

She blinks and nods again, “Yeah, pretty much!”

“And an alicorn!”

“Yes!”

And I frown suddenly, “And not to mention the overwhelming desire to do good!”

Her eyes widen, “Exactly! You made your trade with the amethyst earlier!”

I stare up at her, “You know, I didn’t realize exactly what I was signing on for, right?”

Her eyes are peeled at me, “But you are happy, right?”

“I think so?” I lie while my eyes go skyward and I scrunch my mouth.

“Cozy?” She addresses me.

My eyes widen because I’m starting to wonder just how much this mare knows about me? “Yes?”

She smiles, “I worked with you to better Equestria for months, now…”

I grimace when I realize that she isn’t wrong! “Yeah!”

“And you seem upset by that?”

I stare up at her and finally just admit what’s really on my mind, “Mom! I don’t know if this is real?”

“What do you mean?”

I sigh and stare forward, “I don’t know, okay? It’s just that, I…” I close my eyes…

“What is it honey?”

I note that that’s literally the first time she’s ever called me that! “I just don’t know if this is real, okay?”

“What?”

I open my eyes to her, “Your bones! I wanted to break them!”

Her own eyes widen as a confused frown forms on her snout, “Huh?”

“I uh, okay, I was annoyed earlier when you were snuggling me…”

She frowns, “Well, if I’m ever bothering you, you could just tell me?”

I frown when I realize that she’s right! “Oh! Uh, yeah! Okay! So uh, no more bone breaking?”

She smiles and widens her eyes and I’m not sure she was expecting that? “Right!”

I close my eyes and say to myself, “I’m actually good now! I’m good now and I’m admitting to it!”

“It was only a matter of time, you know?”

I open my eyes to her again, “What do you mean?”

She nods, “Well, how long did you really think you could pretend to be evil, anyway?”

My eyes widen, “I have no idea!”

She smiles, “Well, this has to do with observing yourself!”

I stare at her very carefully… “What?”

She giggles softly under her breath, “Well, you just had a bowl of oatmeal, right?”

I nod, “Um, right!”

“And how did you prepare that?”

I continue to stare as I’m not sure where she’s going with this? “My usual! Two spoons of brown sugar and some butter!”

“And raisins!”

I nod, “Right! I added those last!”

“This has to do with observing yourself! If you are in fact doing good, you really need to acknowledge that!”

I finally just admit the problem, “But if I do that, I might have to admit that I-I’m a good pony!”

She frowns, “So?”

I stare at her, “But I don’t wanna be good!”

Her face straightens, “Are you sure?”

I stare at her and say, “I’m not sure if you’d understand?”

Her eyes remain affixed to me, “Try me!”

I sigh and gulp, “Well, all this time, I thought I was a baddie, you know? A villain! A bad guy!”

She nods, “Well, I believe this is true!”

I blink, “Right! And now, I just don’t know if this is really me, now?”

“I think I see what you’re trying to say?”

I frown at her, “You do?”

She smiles down at me, “I think so? You just LOVED being evil, didn’t you?”

I widen my eyes as I’m not sure I’m prepared to admit this? “Yeah, I kinda did?” Or maybe I am ready?

She continues to smile, “And now that you can’t burn, torture, and kill ponies, you’re just wondering what you’re going to do with yourself, is that right?”

I continue staring with my enormous gaze, “Uh, I guess so, kinda, sorta, maybe?”

“Right!” She nods again, “Then it’s settled!”

“It is?”

“Yup! It’s time for your reformation, Cozy!”

“Wait, what?”

Her smile widens, “I think it’s time you met the team!”

(To be continued…)

Chapter 2: Turning a Bad Situation Good

I widen my eyes at the sight, “Wait! I thought I was meeting your friends?”

The russet red pegasus filly on the left with her purple Mohawk style mane near the entryway raises her neck to me, “We are Twilight’s friends!”

Twilight… Okay, my new mother turns her head left to stare at me from the other side of the room, “Well, you’re pretty young, and so I’m thinking Crusader lessons to get you started!”

The yellow earth filly in the middle raises her red mane to speak in her country drawl towards us, “Yeah, Cozy! I mean, we need to start over, after all!”

I raise my own view to them, “Uh, no we don’t! I don’t ever need to see any of you ever again! Yes!” I turn my head back towards… my mom… “Send them away! We don’t need them! We can do better! Yes!” and nod…

Then, the white unicorn on the right with a two-tone mane turns towards her two friends, “Weren’t we all voted Best Friendship Tutors for the last four years in a row, now?”

Scootaloo turns her neck towards Sweetie, “Yeah, but we lost last year to Frisky Hooves!”

Apple Bloom then lowers her gaze towards me, “Well, then I think it’s time to get better!”

I widen my eyes at the apple filly, “EEP!”

Twilight… My mom then explains to me, “Now Cozy, you did bad things to these fillies and the first step to reforming you is to get you to make amends!”

I turn back and frown at her, “Does it have to be today, though?”

She stares into my eyes with her violet gaze, “If not now, then when, Cozy?”

The yellow filly says, “AWW! Cozy Glow, we’re being all friendly like! Ya’ think you could maybe meet us in the middle here?”

The red filly on the end adds, “Yeah, we’re not angry or aggressive or anything! We just wanna talk!”

The white filly on the other says, “We’re here for you and we’re just trying to help!”

I turn my gaze back to them, “Oh, golly! Um, okay, what did you have in mind?”

<*****>

“Alright, so this is a simple trust exercise!” The country filly says in her drawl.

I look at her from the end of the dock, “Trust exercise?”

Apple Bloom smiles at me, “Yeah! Like, how much do you trust us?”

Not that much! I immediately think before smiling and saying, “Oh, good golly! I trust you fillies a whole lot!”

She smiles, “Good! Now, we just need to tie yer wings up!”

My eyes widen, “What?”

Then, two fillies appear on either side of me, the white unicorn on my right ties up one wing while the red pegasus gets the other…

I frown as I try to move my wings, now bound to my body with narrow rope, “So, I can’t use my wings, no matter what?”

The apple filly smiles and nods, “Yup! You gotta jump off this dock and just trust us to catch you! Simple, right?”

“This is a bad idea!”

“Oh, no worries, Cozy! We’ll catch you in our net! Just trust us!”

<*****>

“You know, I never really saw that one going wrong?” Scootaloo says…

“Yeah, I mean, it’s always worked great before? The perfect ice breaking move, right Apple Bloom?” Sweetie replies.

“I uh, I just feel awful about this whole thing!” Apple Bloom says.

And as I sat there, with my forehooves now held in traction and wrapped in bandages above me in suspension over the hospital bead, I looked at the three cohorts, furrowed my brow, and said, “Well, golly gee! What did you think was gonna happen if you didn’t catch me?”

The yellow filly on the left widens her orange eyes, “Well, you fell into the net!”

The white filly in the middle lowers her gaze with her green eyes, “Yeah, but she went right through!” before darting them to the left. “Probably should’ve used a newer net?”

The pegasus on the right looks at her two friends with her purple eyes, “Well, it’s what I grabbed from the shed!”

At this point, the stupidity has me enraged, “Well, maybe you should check to see that your equipment is still good before you use it, huh?”

Apple Bloom widens her eyes to me along with her friends, “Well, look! It’s only a week and we’ll come by every day and give you lessons!”

Scootaloo blinks and nods, “Yeah, think of this as an impromptu study break!” and smiles like an idiot.

“Thanks to your negligence!” I add..

The white unicorn scrunches her mouth and says, “Yeah, look! We’re sorry Cozy and we promise you, as Crusaders, we're gonna make this up to you!”

I blink and widen my eyes, “Oh, golly! Is that so?”

Suddenly, the door behind them opens and a larger older alicorn trots in quickly behind the Crusaders and stares up at me, “Cozy Glow! What were you thinking!”

I look back at her, “You know, this really wasn’t my fault!”

Scootaloo turns to face Twilight with the other three Crusaders, “She’s right, Twilight! It was our idea!”

Apple Bloom faces her body to her and adds, “Yeah, it’s a simple trust exercise we use in school all the time!”

Sweetie says from the other side of the earth filly, “It’s literally never gone wrong before!”

I look down at them, “You know, I’m starting to think that she should’ve just gotten rid of you like I suggested?”

Twilight stares up at me and says, “Now Cozy Glow! Let’s not be too hasty! This does present us with an opportunity!”

I look back up at my mom, “Oh, golly gee, another chance for me to be annoyed?”

Twilight smiles at my dry wit, “No, silly! I mean, this gives you a chance to forgive the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“For injuring me accidentally?”

She lowers her smile somewhat and blinks, “Well, exactly! Yes!”

All three Crusaders then turn to face me…

Twilight then reminds me, “They forgave you for what you did earlier, and now it’s your turn to forgive them… “

My eyes go down to the Crusaders, “Oh, gee! I locked you three in a closet! You fillies broke my legs! But who’s keeping score, right?”

Twilight sighs, “Cozy, enough! Now, what do you need to say to your friends?”

And at the mention of that word, friends, I suddenly frowned and thought that maybe if I can just meet the fillies in the middle, I could have real friends here? I stare down at the three expectant fillies, now all staring up at me with wide apologetic eyes, and smile, “You know, even if things went horribly wrong, I think your hearts were in the right place… And I guess since we all kinda, make mistakes on each other sometimes, and we’re not perfect, I guess we do need to forgive sometimes? I mean, if we're to have friends, right?”

Apple Bloom widens her orange view, “Uh, right Cozy Glow! Apologizin’ is just a part of friendship! Since, y’know, nopony’s gonna be perfect all the time round each other.” her neck raises. “Right Crusaders?”

Scootaloo blinks and squeals, “Right!”

Sweetie smiles and nods, “Of course!”

I sigh, “Okay, fine! I forgive you!” before looking down slightly.

They all begin to move forward before I look up quickly and shout, “STOP! My legs are broken, remember?”

They all stop and look towards the ground as the yellow earth filly says, “Oh, right! Sorry bout that Cozy!”

Scootaloo stares at me and adds, “Yeah, I guess we can’t hug you for awhile?”

My eyes widen and I nod, “Right! Yes! Anyway, since you’re here, you’re gonna read to me and keep me company!” I look up at the purple alicorn, “And mom!” and smile. “Can I please have another pudding cup?”

Her eyes narrow and she smiles coyly, “Well, okay Cozy Glow! Since your legs are broken!”

My smile lowers, “Gee, pretty extreme requirements for pudding cups around here, huh?” before looking back down at the smiling Crusaders. “Go see what books they have! Since you know, I can’t use my forehooves to read!”

<*****>

Now, I’m not really sure what happened the next few hours? It seemed so surreal… I picked out a fun fantasy novel about a brave pegasus knight and his epic journey into the Dragon-Lands where he actually fought in their civil war!

I listened as Scootaloo talked about Sir Widemane’s exploits and his heroism in rescuing pony hostages…

I did take note of a few things as the night wore on, though…

First, Scootaloo got excited about reading! She would excitedly hop in her chair as the knight clashed his weapon against a fearsome enemy’s talons! At one point, Sweetie actually had to tell her to settle down because she was getting so excited!

Sweetie Belle just loved making sure everypony was comfortable! She made sure I had plenty of juice to drink and propped up my pillows for me! She was also nice to her Crusader friends too! And she always used her magick to make sure there were plenty of cookies and snacks!

And Apple Bloom was by my side, the whole time! I didn’t have my bear yet from the castle, but that didn’t matter, because there was a kind yellow earth filly there with me, talking to me as pages were flipped… Having a friend near me sure was swell…

<*****>

My eyes are closed and I hear a feminine voice say, “Empress Cozy Glow? Are you awake?”

I open them and stare up to see my front legs, still in traction and bandages over the bed… I then look down to see Nurse Redheart there, staring at me with concern in her blue eyes as she said, “Did you pass out last night while playing with your friends?”

I frown at the white earth pony and suddenly take note of the sleeping filly pile in the corner to the left of the door, with it’s many blankets and pillows before adjusting my eyes back to her and saying, “Uh, kinda?”

She smiles demurely at me, “I’ll get you all some breakfast! Now, there’s four of you, right?”

“Yeah, but uh,” I look down at my three sleeping friends and smile. “come back with it in about an hour, okay? Let them rest…”

Her smile widens before she nods, “Yes Empress!”

(To be continued… )

Chapter 3: Cozy Glow Makes a Friend!

I stare at the purple alicorn who flapped her wings to hover in the air as she furrowed her brow and said, “It’s over Cozy Glow! Your evil stops here!” before lowering her head to send a big beam of reddish pink energy at me!

I strafe to the side to narrowly dodge the energy blast as I fly in the sky and stare back at her, “I don’t understand mom? What did I do wrong?”

“Oh, you know EXACTLY what you did!” She screams before lowering her head again to send another bolt of energy at me!

I effortlessly form a blue energy shield that quickly absorbs the blast before I make it disappear and stare back at her and encase her in similar energy, “Oh, golly! Why would I know that, mom?”

“I’m not your mom!” She screams before forcing the blue bubble she’s trapped in to burst!

I stare at her blankly, “You know, you don’t have to kill me, right? We can still talk about this!”

She stares at me with seething hatred in her purple eyes before lowly shouting, “There’s nothing to discuss!” and lowering her head to send another bolt of energy my way!

At this point, I see no other choice! I form a reflective blue shield a mere 15 feet in front of her to cause the energy to bounce back and blast her, causing her fur and feathers to begin to smoke as she plummets from the air.

I widen my eyes, “Oh, golly!” before taking a dive towards her falling body as I stare at it and encase it in another blue forcefield…

I cause it to stop falling and begin to hover in the air as I approach the now unconscious purple alicorn enveloped in the field…

I stare at her floating 20 feet in front of me, “What happened? Why are you attacking me?”

<*****>

You know, there’s a reason you were chosen, right?

I hear my own voice in my head as I open my eyes… I look up at the stone ceiling before turning my head right to stare out my window and I see that the sun is not up outside and I wonder what time it was as I lay there in my bed in the dark…

I stare up at the ceiling again and see all the indentations as I lay in my plush purple bed and think to myself, Why would my mom be attacking me? What could I have done?

I shake my head and decide that it’s just a silly nightmare and that I should forget about it… I look up and cause my magick to glow blue from my horn and stare at my little purple alarm clock to see that it’s currently 3:17 in the morning!

“Golly!” I lowly whisper to myself before throwing the blankets off of me, getting to all fours, and taking off with my wings…

I finally make my way to the kitchen and suddenly think that maybe it shouldn’t be so far away from my room? I float through the air to the cabinet and open it with my forehoof before using my teeth to retrieve a glass and then, floating back to the sink on the other end…

I suddenly wonder if the kitchen really needs to be this big as I set the glass down in the sink and begin to turn the knob on the right with my hooves to make water flow down into the cup…

At least, that’s what I thought was going to happen, but when I look into the glass, I can’t help but notice that instead of an invisible liquid, it contains a motley brown form!

I widen my eyes and whisper, “Oh, golly! I don’t think I want to drink that?”

I suddenly see two misshapen yellow eyes form in the cup that stare at me with two different sized red pupils! “Thank you, empress! It’s appreciated!”

This causes me to scream, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

The strange voice screams with me! “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!”

I stop and stare down at the cup as it stops screaming with me, “What are you?”

It mimics me, “You know, every time I meet you in a different dimension, you always scream when I reveal myself!” *

I stare at the glass with wide eyes, “That didn’t answer my question!”

The voice sighs, “Oh, fine! I’ll come out now! I’m over it!” before I see a long brown snake-like creature exit the glass!

This creature has two different sorts of horns on it’s head, a lion paw and an eagle talon for higher appendages, two different sorts of cloven hooves on its legs, and a long brown serpentine tail! He stares at me with his two different eyes as he floats above the sink and furrows his brow, “Surely, you recognize me now?”

“Oh, golly! It’s Disarray! How you been? It’s been a few months!”

He narrows his eyes, “It’s Discord!” before snapping his talon to make us both become enveloped in blue light!

<*****>

Once again, I’m staring at a ceiling… This one is different though… It looks like it was made of panels and had square shaped borders going through it… The panels had speckled brown or black paint on them, but were otherwise plastic… It looked like the ceiling of an office!

I hear a familiar smarmy voice coming from my left, “Now Cozy Glow! You dreamed that Twilight Sparkle, er, your new mother, was trying to kill you? Why don’t we start off with that? Tell me, how did that nightmare make you feel?”

I turn my head left to see that same golly damned serpent, now wearing a green sweater vest with a collared white undershirt, leaning towards me from his seat in a plush looking red chair, with an interested expression in those two motley eyes of his, now behind two gold-rimmed spectacles. I speak, “Well, gee! How do you think it makes me feel? Confused and worried!”

He looks down and begins to scribble notes down onto a yellow pad with a nice looking metal pen and his eagle talon before looking back up at me, “Okay, I can get the confusion, Cozy! But tell me, why do you think it’s worrying?”

I furrow my brow, “Wait! How do you know about my nightmares? And what business is it of yours, anyway?”

He smiles and after I see his snaggle tooth go diagonal, he says, “Well, Fluttershy is a very good friend of mine and so, it’s therefore now important that I keep Equestria safe from all threats, foreign and domestic! And that would include evil alicorn children!”

“But I’m not evil! I’m reformed, remember?”

“Yes, yes! Of course!” He looks down and scribbles another note before looking back up at me, “So, worrying! Why do you find the dream, worrying, Cozy Glow?”

I frown, “B-because I don’t want my mom to attack me!”

“And why do you believe she would attack you?”

I furrow my brow in irritation again! “Because the dream was really vivid, okay? And again, how do you know about that and why am I even talking to you about this?”

He smiles, “Where do you think that dream came from?”

At this point, I’m growing irate, “WHY WOULD YOU GIVE ME A NIGHTMARE LIKE THAT?”

“To prove a point, Cozy! You see, while you believe you are reformed, you’re not sure if everypony around you has accepted it?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“Well, why else would you try to fight your own mother?”

I frown, “I wasn’t fighting her, okay? I was trying to disable her!”

“But you don’t know how powerful that energy blast was that you deflected! What if it had killed her?”

“I doubt that would happen! She’s an immortal alicorn!”

He looks down at his pad and scribbles some more with his talon before looking back up at me, “You seem very sure of yourself?”

“Yes, I am sure! I’m also sure that there’s no reason for us to be talking! I’m sure that you need to just go away now!”

He smiles and I see his rows of jagged oddly shaped teeth as he chuckles, “Oh, you’re so sure of yourself now, aren’t you?”

At this point, I can already tell he’s just trying to get into my head! I smile, “And what makes you believe you have any business here, hmm? Tell me again why I’m talking to you about this?”

He looks up at me, “I already told you about Fluttershy, did I not?”

I nod, “Yes you did! And you know that sounds like nonsense, right?”

“Oh?” His left eyebrow raises from behind the spectacles.

I smile wider, “Yup! It sounds to me like you just can’t mind your own business and need an excuse to get into mine!”

“But for the good of Equestria!”

I lower my gaze, “Equestria is fine, Discord! This is really about me and you, isn’t it?”

His eyes widen, “Why, whatever do you mean?”

“I mean, I get this feeling there’s more that you’re not telling me! I mean, I get a feeling that there’s a reason, aside from Fluttershy, that you’ve taken such an interest in me!” I widen my eyes… “It doesn’t make much sense, otherwise!”

He rolls his eyes before adjusting them to me, “FINE!” he points his lion paw at me, “You’ve been an insufferable little brat and I just think you’re not quite reformed yet?”

“And who are you to be making that call, Discord?”

Suddenly, he throws his upper appendages into the air and raises his muzzle in a fearsome snarl! “I AM DISCORD, THE LORD OF CHAOS!”

I frown, “That still doesn’t explain how it’s any of your business? Honestly, you’re probably just bored, huh?”

He looks down at me and lowers his arms, and says, “Huh?” with a perplexed look on a muzzle.

I smile and nod, “Yup! You got eternal life and nothing to do, am I right?”

“Well, I uh…” He says as he fumbles and twiddles his talon and paw together…

“Am I right?” I repeat myself while widening my eyes!

He frowns at me and lowers his arms again, as I continue to beam back at him…

The lessons of my mother flow into my mind as I finally ask him, “Tell you what Disarra, er, Discord! Why don’t I become your newest friend?” before smiling brightly at him with my teeth…

(To be continued… )

Author's Note

*Discord is beyond the fourth wall of my best filly stories…

You know, you can really see Twilight's influence on best filly in this one...

Chapter 4: Complications

The serpent stares down at me, “WHAT? And just why would I want to be YOUR friend, Cozy Glow? You’re a selfish little brat!”

“Am I though?”

He points down at me with his eagle talon, “YES!”

I nod, “You accuse me of these things, with no basis! And now, I’ve restored Equestria to it’s former glory and you’restillsaying that I’m selfish? You’ve got nothing, Discord!”

His eyes narrow, “Oh, do I though? If you didn’t have Twilight Sparkle and a loving home, you wouldn’t be so good!”

“Well, what difference should that make?”

His eyes widen, “What?”

I nod again, “I mean, you’re speaking hypothetically here, Discord! The fact is, I do have a loving mother and friends now and they will help me be a better pony and stay true to myself! You know, that’s that whole ‘magic of friendship’ thing that my mom keeps talking about, right? It doesn’t matter what I would do in a different situation because this situation is not different! It’s like this!”

He frowns his snaggle-toothed mouth and sighs, “Uh, actually, you have a point there Cozy…”

I widen my eyes as I really wasn’t expecting him to give up, like that, “Oh, golly! I do?”

He smiles at me, “Why, yes Cozy! You see, you’re in this situation now and you’re taken care of! You have no reason to be evil anymore and so, you won’t do it! I think everything is under control!” before vanishing in a fluff of confetti and popcorn!

I stare at the now empty air and blink my eyes… “That was way too easy!”

<*****>

The purple alicorn on the other side of the table frowns at me, “Well, probably not! Knowing Discord, we’ll see him again soon!”

I frantically answer her, “Well, what can we do?”

She nods and sighs, “Well, there’s really not much we can do until he shows up!” she widens her eyes, “Believe me! You can’t prepare for every conceivable possibility and until he actually shows up again, there’s really nothing we can do… “

I stare at her intently as she smiles blankly back at me… I can tell she’s just trying to make me not worry... I hate being able to figure out other ponies’ intentions sometimes! “He said that I’m selfish… “

She stares at me carefully herself, “Well, do you believe you’re selfish, Cozy?”

I frown as I didn’t think about that! My eyes go skyward, “Um, I don’t think so?”

“Well, what did he say?”

My eyes go back to her and I lean forward and slightly vibrate, “Well, not much. He just said I was a brat and that I was selfish!”

She nods, “Sounds about right! Discord was always one to call out ponies for their past sins…”

I nod back, “Well, okay! But uh, I changed and I’m better now!”

“Then you have nothing to worry about!”

I frown… “Wait! Why does this Discord guy get to test ponies, anyway? Who does he think he is?”

“The Lord of Chaos?”

“Okay, yeah! I get that, but what does that have to do with testing ponies, anyway? I’m just saying, you wouldn’t think that office or title or whatever, would involve that sort of thing!” *

She grimaces when her mind begins to process my words, “I uh, never really thought about it like that Cozy!”

Suddenly, I hear a familiar male sleazy voice from behind me, “When you have eternal life, there’s really not much else to do! Since I am so evolved, I take it upon myself as my duty to test the ponies of Equestria to make sure they’re well behaved…”

I widen my eyes, “Well, I guess that would make sense to an arrogant tool, yeah!”

“You don’t like me, do you Cozy?”

“Would you?”

“Okay, granted! But I don’t have to be your enemy here, Cozy!”

I continue to stare blankly forward after adjusting my gaze, “Well, gee! Guy who makes me doubt myself and tests my convictions! How the golly hay could you ever be my friend?”

The voice is silent…

I smile, “Oh, yeah! Mommy told me all about you, Discord!”

My mom smiles at me from the other side of the table…

“Oh? And just what did she tell you, anyway Cozy? Did she tell you how inept she was as a ruler?”

I see mom grimacing again, “Discord! You have no idea what I did earlier as Princess of Friendship!”

“I know I saw her adopt an evil little monster who basically destroyed the country!”

Twilight frowns in defiance at what I’m guessing is Discord, floating in the air behind me, “She’s not evil anymore! She’s changed!”

“Oh, really?” I hear the smarmy voice reply before my vision is suddenly consumed in blinding white light!

<*****>

My vision returns and I see myself, once again, in the antechamber to the School of Friendship with a golden crown on my head as I look up and say, “And now, time for your COMPLETE DESTRUCTION!” I yell at the six ponies I have imprisoned in the floating blue bubble! I move my forehooves to the left side of my body and make a cute face, “Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Twilight Sparkle looks at me from where she’s trapped in the bubble with her five friends, “Cozy Glow! Eat a Venus Bar!” before I look down and notice a neatly wrapped candy bar sitting on the chamber floor just 5 feet in front of me…

I frown and ask, “What? Why?”

“You get all maniacal and evil when you’re hungry!”

I slowly trot to the candy bar with the crown still on my head and pick it up with my right forehoof and tear open the wrapper with my teeth before taking that first scrumptious bite!

“Better?” Twilight asks with a frown on her face.

I swallow and look up at the purple alicorn with a big smile on my face, “Better!”

I then hear Discord’s voice coming from nowhere, “You turn into somepony different when you’re hungry! Venus satisfies!”

I flatten my mouth and ask the obvious question, “Wait! What am I doing here? Why do I have a candy bar?”

Discord suddenly shows up floating on my left and I look up at him, “This is your life, Cozy! We’re going to be talking about your life and why you’re the way you are, now!”

I look back down at the Venus Bar and take another bite…

“Cozy, are you listening to me?”

I look back up at Discord as I finish chewing and swallow, “Oh, yeah! Sure Discordy, ol’ buddy ol’ pal!” before looking back down at my candy bar and taking another bite…

He narrows his eyes before flicking his eagle talon in the air…

My vision is once again, overcome by a blinding white light… When it returns, I then see where this truly all began… I see the front of my old cottage, just north of the Everfree Forest… “Why are we here?” I ask before taking another bite… You know, it wouldn’t be my first choice, but the price was right!

He narrows his eyes to me, “You seem so calm about this? This is where you were raised, Cozy! This is your home!”

I turn back to the tan brick building with that familiar red door that used to haunt my nightmares, “No! This used to be my home! It burned down, remember!” before looking back down at my bar and taking one of the final bites after pushing it up from the wrapper… **

“Well, don’t you want to go inside, Cozy?”

I push the last bit from the wrapper and eat the final remaining bits of the candy bar and just toss the wrapper on the ground as I chew and swallow my bite before staring up at the draconequus, “No Discord! I actually don’t! I have no business here anymore!” before turning and squatting to take off with my wings! I begin flapping hard and heading back towards the forest! ***

<*****>

“Cozy Glow!” I suddenly hear my adopted mother screaming at me from across the table!

I snap to attention and stare back at her, “Y-yeah?”

She frowns, “Discord disappeared and then you kinda went into a haze for a few minutes, Cozy! Are you alright?”

“You can’t run from your past!” I hear Discord’s voice in my head say…

I shake my head and stare at her, “Oh uh, I’m fine mom! I’m just dandy! Yes!” and smile at her…

She stares at me intently for a moment… “Cozy Glow, what happened?”

I sigh and look down, before adjusting my gaze back to the purple alicorn and doing something I still haven’t quite gotten used to doing just yet… I told her the truth! “Discord showed me the home where I grew up in!”

She keeps the frown on her face, “Oh? Well, what about it Cozy Glow? Where exactly did you grow up, anyway?”

I put my own frown on my muzzle, “Well, I lived in a cottage, just north of the Everfree Forest!”

She nods, “Okay, Cozy! What did you do there?”

“Well, it was in the middle of nowhere and there weren’t many fillies to play with! So I spent a lot of time by myself!”

“That would explain the antisocial behavior!” She says analytically, “But that still doesn’t explain why you’re evil!”

I stared at the other alicorn carefully… Somehow, I knew this would one day come up, but I kinda wanted it to be later, rather than sooner... I gulped and I stared at her carefully before doing something incredibly brave… I bravely teleported to my friend’s house in the Everfree marshlands!

<*****>

I see Bill there at a table, looking down his brown snout at some cards on a rustic looking unvarnished table in the shack, with a lantern glowing overhead to light everything…

I look around and see the familiar place, his kitchen area, the bookshelf, and his nice recliner… I’m guessing he sleeps in there? He finally looks up from his cards, “Oh, hiya Empress Cozy! What brings you back to my shack?”

I stare at him, “Wait! You know who I am?”

“Well, even if I live here, I still read the news sometimes, y’know?”

I stare at him intently… “Do you still want to be my friend?”

He smile, “Aw, shucks! You probly didn’t tell me who y’where cause you thought I’d look at ya differently, am-aright?”

I blink and think to myself that he’s actually not wrong! “Well um, yeah!”

He frowns, “Well, guess what?” his eyes widen, “I really don’t! Now git up here, Empress Cozy! I’m gittin tired a solitaire and I’d like a buddy to play gin with!”

I suddenly wonder why I can’t just have a normal week, before giving him a toothy grin, “Sure, ol’ buddy ol’ pal! Ya got any coffee?”

(To be continued… )

Author's Note

*Yet even more fourth wall breaking in my stories here…

**Alright Discord! This is where you tell Cozy that you like to see homos naked!

***Yeah, my childhood home really did burn to the ground, but I haven't lived there or even been inside since 2005... Thing is, it's not my home anymore... It was just a building by that point...

Chapter 5: Opening Up

“I guess I’ll start?” I say nonchalantly before picking up the 2 of diamonds from the pile and then discarding the 9 of clubs…

Bill smiles at me, “This isn’t just a social call, is it Cozy?” before picking up the 9 and setting down the 3 of clubs…

I look at him and smile, “Well, you are my friend and I did want to see how you were?”

He smiles, “Cozy, I’m not dumb! I saw how you teleported in and yer not the type ta do that sort of thing… Something’s up!”

I sigh and look down at my cards before collecting a card from the face-down pile and deciding I don’t want the 3 of hearts either… I discard the 3 before finally looking at Bill and saying, “She wants to know more about me…”

“Who?”

“M-my mom…”

“Ya mean, Twilight, yer adopted mother?”

I gulp and nod, “Yeah, her!” before looking down at my cards while he draws from the mystery pile and discards the 4 of spades…

Bill frowns, “Well, what did ya tell her?”

“Nothing! I kinda teleported here instead!”

“And she don’t know where ya went and ain’t gonna be bothering us, I reckon?”

I nod, “Well, you’re not wrong!”

He chuckles, “Alright young’un, but I do wanna meet yer new ma, one o’ these days!”

I blink, “Um, of course!”

He nods and then stares at me while continuing to smile, “Right! So now, I’m wonderin’… Just why don’t ya wanna talk to yer new lovin mom about this?”

“Well, I don’t like talking about that, you know?”

“Bout what?” He asks before drawing the 4 of spades and discarding the king of hearts.

I blink and sigh when I realize what I need to tell him… “About how my mother died…”

His eyes widen as he looks up at me from his cards, “Well, what about her? Why don’t ya wanna tell Twilight about that?”

I continue staring at him… “Well, she got sick and died slowly in front of me…” I look off to the right and cringe, “I don’t like to talk about it…”

He smiles at me and gently says, “Well, here’s the thing Cozy! Twilight is yer adopted new mom, right?”

I open my eyes, start breathing through my mouth, and nod, “Well, yeah, I think so?”

He nods, “Well, right! Anyway, in order to take better care o’ you, it’s in both of y’all’s best interests to have open communication!” as I see a wispy blond lock from his head go to the other side of his shoulder…

I frown, “Oh?”

His eyes widen and I can now plainly see the green of his pupils as he leans forward and affirms me, “Well, o’ course! I mean, how’s she gonna take care o’ you, if she don’t know all the facts?”

My eyes narrow, “Okay, granted! But do I need to talk to her about this?”

He pulls back and frowns, “Didn’t I just say you did?”

I sigh in resigned defeat, “Okay, fine! But I wanna finish this game first!”

He smiles again, “O’ course! I think tha coffee is brewed now?”

I smile back and place my cards face-down on the table, “Okay! I’ll go get a cup!”

“Git me a cup o’ black, would ya?”

I salute with my right forehoof, “Yes sir!”

He beams brightly at me…

<*****>

I eventually teleport back into the dining room and I see my mom there, reading a paper held in her magick off to her left before she looks up at me and asks, “Cozy! Where did you go?”

I stare at her from where I stand on four hooves 8 feet from the other side of the table, “Remind me to introduce you to Bill one of these days!”

Her eyes widen, “Bill?” as the paper neatly floats to the front of the table…

I smile, “Yeah uh, he’s a good friend of mine! I uh… “ I look down nervously…

She frowns, “You’re not ready to talk about it yet, are you?”

I look up at her with newfound resolve in my mind… “I uh, I think I’m ready now, actually?” I close my mouth and it doesn’t tremble…

“Oh?” She asks inquisitively as I trot slowly to the chair on the opposite side of the purple dinette and pull it back with my teeth before propping myself on my haunches in the seat and staring up at her somberly…

“My father left, and well, then it was just me and her… We were alone in that house… Then, she got sick…”

Her eyes widen, “What Cozy?”

I blink, “M-my mom!” I try to smile, but my snout goes back to normal instead, “My first one, I mean! I uh, I know now that it wasn’t my fault…” I blink twice and sigh... “I know that there’s really nothing I could’ve done… I-I know that now! But...she just looked so frail!” I continue while giving her a blank stare…

Twilight immediately gets off her chair and begins trotting around the table on my left as I keep talking…

I stare forward blankly while continuing to talk, “She was really all I had, you know?”

I feel hooves going over my body, although I don’t really react…

I stare at the other alicorn without an expression as she holds me from the side of the chair…

“Cozy?”

My eyes widen, “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Um, I think so?” I lie.

“Do you want to talk some more?”

My eyes normalize, “You know, I think the thing that hurt the most was being alone?”

“What Cozy?”

I blink, “Yeah, it’s just that, well, I felt so alone and I even went to her funeral and everything, but even if I was around all of those other ponies wishing me condolences and saying they’re sorry, none of it really meant much to me…” I shake my head and frown, “I mean, how could it?”

“And you felt alone?”

“Yeah, but uh, I don’t think that was really my fault either?”

“Of course not!” She reassures me while keeping me in her tight stable embrace.

I smile like a madpony, “Oh, golly yeah, but you wanna know something? That’s normal for me! I’m always alone and by myself! So uh, what difference did any of it really make, right?” I chuckle, and hope I don’t sound nervous…

I feel her embrace tighten, “It makes a world of difference, Cozy!”

By this point, I kinda lost it, I’ll admit, as I say sardonically, “Hmm, you don’t say?”

“Cozy, I want you to know that as your new mother, you can ALWAYS count on me to listen and to be there for you!”

“That’s nice!” I reply in the almost mocking tone from earlier.

“Cozy, are you okay?”

“I’m great! Why wouldn’t I be?”

She stops hugging me and stares back at me from all fours on the left side of my chair as I crane my neck her way and asks me, “Well, we were talking about your pain and I needed to know if you were alright? I mean, you haven’t so much as shed a tear or gotten flustered?”

“This is true!” I matter-of-factly state before nodding my head…

She frowns at me and stares intently, “Cozy, are you alright?”

I adjust my view to her as I said, “You keep asking me that!”

“You’re so calm!”

“Well uh, why wouldn’t I be?” I repeat!

She blinks and nods, “Well, we were talking about the awful way your mother died?”

I give a big toothy grin, “Oh, Twilight! Not everypony is a miserable sad sack like you, you know? I’ll be just fine! Don’t worry about me!”

She immediately hugs me again and for some reason, this only irritates me! “Why are you hugging me?”

“Because you need support, Cozy!”

“GRRRRRR!!!!” I growl angrily as my body begins to vibrate! “I’m not like you, okay? I don’t need all that sappy love and support junk!”

She giggles, “You’re so cute when you get flustered, Cozy!”

I frown while continuing to be hugged by this ridiculous pony…

“I love you, Cozy Glow!”

“This isn’t over!” I state lowly.

She just giggles and continues cuddling me…

<*****>

And so, after a really weird morning between mom and Bill, I eat lunch and take a nap! I cuddle my white bunny to my chest and I smile in snuggly bliss as I rest my head on a pillow…

Suddenly, I hear a filly voice from off the bed say with a country drawl, “Heya Cozy! Were here now to play and talk!”

Then, I hear a raspy tomboyish voice say, “Yeah, sleepy head! Get up already! It’s time to play!”

And finally, a feminine sing-song voice say, “We’re here Cozy! Time to get up!”

I say, “No! I’m Empress of Friendship! Come back in an hour!”

“Come on Cozy! We came all this way!” The apple filly says.

“Thirty minutes!” I say while snuggling the bunny tightly!

The sing-song voice says, “Well, she’s not really giving us much choice?”

The raspy voice asks, “Should I let her have it?”

The country voice says, “Go ahead Scoots! Give it to her!”

I open my eyes and they suddenly widen, “Oh, golly!”

And just then, the bed jolts as a russet burnt orange pegasus crashes into the bed and blankets to land right next to me quickly and I feel her bring her forehooves under my pits to tickle me!

“Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, he he he, knock it off, jerk!”

“You gonna come out of bed?” Scootaloo asks while continuing to tickle me!

My body bursts out of the blankets as I throw all four of my hooves out and force the other pegasus to back off! “Alright, fine! We can play! Uh, after coffee!” I say before suddenly wondering if I have a new addiction? *

(To be continued…)

Author's Note

*Alright, I’ll admit it. In real-life, I’m a chronic coffee junkie and drink it all day every day when I’m not doing my Zen thing and drinking herbal tea while meditating… Between coffee and tea, I drink a lot of brewed drinks that aren’t beer…

So, you know how this chapter is entitled Opening Up? Thing is, Cozy Glow here is based off of me, in which case, they needed to use a crowbar…

Chapter 6: The Prodigal Crusader

Apple Bloom looks at me with the other Crusaders in the room as Scootaloo takes off the side and I get off the bed, and says in her country drawl, “So, what are we all gonna do?”

I stare at her, “Oh golly, how would I know? You all came here!”

Scootaloo looks over at the other two fillies from the left, “She’s got a point! We really should have a plan when we come down here!”

Sweetie Belle widens her chartreuse eyes from the other side, “Well, this just gives us another opportunity to be creative!” she nods, “I’m sure between the four of us, we can figure out something fun to do!”

Scootaloo turns her head left to look at her past Apple Bloom, “Well, what about the park?”

Apple Bloom looks at the burnt orange pegasus, “Yeah, but we went there two days ago!”

Scootaloo turns further left to the earth filly, “So? We didn’t have Cozy then! Lets see if she wants to go to the park!” before turning her head right towards me and grinning brightly.

The other two fillies turn to stare at me with equally strange grins on their faces and I stare back at them wide-eyed, “What? Why would I want to go to the park?”

Apple Bloom nods, “Because you have friends now!”

Scootaloo adds, “And you want to play with them!”

Sweetie Belle smiles, “And have fun!”

I stare back at these other fillies and frown… “I do?”

Sweetie nods, “Of course, Cozy!”

Scootaloo adds, “You don’t have to be alone all the time, Cozy!”

I continue frowning before asking the obvious question, “Okay but, am I still Empress of Friendship?”

<*****>

The yellow filly stares at me with enormous orange eyes in between her friends on their side of the desolate playground as the wind coldly blows the swing set to my right and I see the red plastic swing there move a few inches, “So, your mom’s dead?” as the burnt orange pegasus on the left snorts and the white unicorn on the right stares onward with a blank expression…

I’m not really sure what to say? “You act like you’re surprised by this?” Or maybe I am? “You know, I don’t exactly act like anypony’s in charge of me, right?” I then blankly gaze at these three worried fillies…

Sweetie says, “Well, we knew Twilight was your new mom, or whatever, but uh, we didn’t know… Um…” before looking down with a timid frown on her face…

Scootaloo blinks towards me and stammers out while leaning forward slightly, “About your first mom!”

Apple Bloom looks at me and stutters, “Yeah, about how uh…”

“How she died?” I finish her sentence while staring at her coldly and wind blows a few leaves toward my left…

Apple Bloom blinks and gulps, “Um, yeah! That!”

I give an exasperated sigh as I stare towards the sky, “You know, this is exactly why I don’t like talking about this!”

Scootaloo starts, “What?”

I nod and stare down at the fillies, “Because everypony always feels sorry for me!”

Apple Bloom says, “Well, you’ve been through a lot, Cozy!”

Sweetie says, “Yeah! We want to make sure you’re okay!”

“I’M FINE!” I scream before fluttering my wings and glaring at the three fillies with a HARD scowl…

“She’s losing it! We need to hug her!” Scootaloo says before springing at me from the left!

The other two fillies follow suite and I only manage to turn around and just begin to flap my wings before the orange filly crashes into me and I feel her forehooves going over me for a loving embrace from behind!

“HELP! I’M BEING ATTACKED!” I yell out to anypony who would hear me in this desolate playground with no other ponies around… I’m kinda doomed, huh?

I feel more hooves embracing and holding me now. White hooves from the left and yellow now coming from the right… I wonder if I truly need this?

I suddenly feel enveloped in love and support… And after all this time, I begin to wonder if this is what I truly needed? I finally told the story and now, after all this time and all these years, I started to think that maybe running away from it was what caused all these problems in the first place?

… NAH!

<*****>

I stare at the red rubber ball on the pavement of the sidewalk, roughly 8 inches in diameter and 2 feet in front of me and widen my eyes, “Oh, golly! So, we’re playing ball now?”

Scootaloo smiles from the right, “Yup! And we’re gonna talk!”

I stare at her wide-eyed, “Not about my mom, right?”

Scootaloo frowns, “What’s wrong with Twilight?”

I blink and realize she doesn’t know what I’m talking about, “Uh, never mind!” before taking a few paces forward and getting the ball on my snout to launch it at the orange pegasus.

Scootaloo catches the ball and balances it on her nose, “Oh! You don’t wanna talk about your other mother! Okay, sure thing, Cozy!” before launching it to the white unicorn foal at her far left beyond the earth filly.

Thinking that’s probably as good as it gets, I say, “Thank you!” before watching the unicorn bounce the ball my way with her right forehoof.

I use my forehoof to bounce it to the earth filly between the unicorn and the pegasus…

Apple Bloom bounces the ball left towards Sweetie with her head before looking at me with those orange pupils of hers, “Well, if you ever need somepony to talk to about that or ANYTHING else!”

Scootaloo turns right towards me, smiles, and adds, “We got your flanks Cozy!” as Sweetie knocks the ball my way with the left side of her head…

I decide that hitting the ball with my horn is probably a bad idea when I use the left side of my own cranium to hit the ball and make it go towards the yellow filly, “Okay uh, so what’s new with you Crusaders?”

Apple Bloom bounces it right towards Sweetie while Scootaloo says to me, “Well, we’ve been talking a lot about you!”

Sweetie knocks the ball my way with her right forehoof while I say, “What? Me? What about me?” before using the left side of my head to bash it into the air back towards the other pegasus.

Apple Bloom says from the front, “Well, we need to know how you’re adjusting, so we’ll better understand how to help you!”

“What? Why?” I say while Scootaloo kicks it back to the apple filly.

Apple Bloom knocks it back to Scootaloo and looks at me before saying, “Well, we care about you Cozy!”

I look at her while Scootaloo headbutts the ball towards Sweetie, “You do?”

Scootaloo stares at me while Sweetie kicks the ball towards the yellow filly with her right forehoof, “Well, duh!”

Sweetie looks at Scootaloo while Apple Bloom headbutts the ball towards me and says in her musical voice, “Didn’t we make it obvious?”

Scootaloo looks back at the white unicorn, “Well, we did everything but come out and say it?”

By this point, I’m holding the ball up in the air with my magick and staring at these three outrageous fillies… They care about me? Really? “Why would you care about me?” I narrow my eyes, “What’s in it for you?”

The filly before me widens her orange eyes, “How about knowing our good friend Cozy Glow is doing okay?”

Scootaloo stares at me and smiles, “Yeah, you’re like, the prodigal Crusader now!”

Sweetie smiles at me, “Lost and found again!”

Scootaloo says, “And safely returned!”

I frown at these three grinning ponies while the ball continues to glow and float 6 feet off the ground, “Why are you being nice to me?”

Sweetie says, “Because we’re your friends!”

“You are?”

The earth filly says in her country drawl, “Come on now, Cozy! You were never THAT dense before!”

“You know, you never told me why you’re my friends now?”

Sweetie says, “How about because you need us?”

Scootaloo says, “Yeah, so you’re not alone all the time! You gotta get bored when it’s just you and Twilight, right?”

I stare back at the smiling foals while my mind processes all of this, “And in exchange for that, you get to be around me, b-because you uh, you like spending time with me?”

The yellow country filly exclaims, “It’s like pullin’ alligator teeth! You sure yer okay Cozy? You didn’t hit yer head or anythin’, right?”

At this point, I grin at Apple Bloom like a madpony and cheerfully say, “Oh, never better AB! Oh, golly! It sure is swell to have friends now, golly gee! And that’s just swell, yes!” before glancing back, “Uh, you’re not going to hug me again, are you?”

Scootaloo stares blankly, “I don’t know? Are you okay, Cozy?”

My mouth trembles as I decide threatening to break her legs is probably not the best response to my friend? I nod instead, “Oh, I’m just swell, Scootaloo! Everything is swell! Yes!” before smiling widely again, “Let’s play some bouncy ball!”

<*****>

I stare at the purple alicorn as she used her magick to take a bite out of her pineapple casserole… “Mom, why did you tell the Crusaders about how my first mom died?”

She chews and swallows before looking back down at me as her fork floats towards the table, “Well, they asked me about your first mother!” and stops glowing once it lands next to her plate.

“And you didn’t lie to them?” I asked with an annoyed frown on my face.

Her purple eyes widen, “What? No! Why would I do that? They asked me what happened to her and I told them she got sick and died in front of you!”

My eyes widen and I point at her with my right forehoof, “There! THAT’S the problem!”

She frowns, “What?”

I sigh and look down while lowering my hoof, “I just don’t think you’d understand?”

“That you’ve been through trauma and you don’t like talking about it because you don’t want ponies to feel bad for you?”

I stare at her suddenly wide-eyed, “NO!”

“Cozy, it’s okay to feel pain and it’s okay to need help! That’s a lesson I once had to learn long ago!”

“I’m fine!” I bark before fluffing my wings in irritation!

“Cozy, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to!”

“They told me the same thing!”

Her eyes widen in confusion, “So what’s the problem?”

I let out an exasperated sigh from my snout,“Why did you tell them?”

“I already told you they asked?”

I look down, “I uh, I don’t wanna talk anymore… I want to go to my room…”

“Cozy, it’s obviously still bothering you, even after all this time!”

I stare at her, “Yeah, and it’s going to continue to bother me until I’m dead! Your point?”

“Cozy! Ignoring it isn’t going to make it just go away!”

I frown, “And you’re gonna help me, whether I like it or not?”

She sighs, “Cozy, we only want what’s best for you!”

“They said that too!”

She frowns, “I’m still not sure why you have a problem with this?”

I stare at her for a long time before finally saying, “I don’t like to be weak…”

“What Cozy?”

I say in a louder volume while frantically throwing my forehooves over my body and moving my head side to side, “I don’t like being weak, okay? I’m supposed to be this strong alicorn! The mighty Empress of Friendship! Powerful beyond belief! I’m not supposed to need help!” I lower my hooves and stare at her sternly, “I don’t need any help!”

“Everypony needs help sometimes, Cozy!”

I narrow my eyes at her face, and I see a gentle loving smile form on her face... I finally ask the obvious question, “Mom… am I still Empress of Friendship?”

She smiles and giggles, “Of course you are, Cozy!”

I continue to stare at the grinning alicorn, “And um, does the Empress of Friendship HAVE to be a Cutie Mark Crusader, too?”

“Well, it would probably be good for you to make amends with these fillies, first off, and secondly, you really should have fillies your own age as playmates!” She leans forward, “But I can make it a law, if you like?”

I widen my eyes all the way, “Uh, that won’t be necessary! I guess I’ll just become a Crusader now?” before frowning and looking down at my plate as I suddenly begin to wonder what pineapple casserole actually tastes like?

(To be continued…)

Chapter 7: Accepting Friends

I sat there and looked at the coffee on the table as it cooled… At the same little purple dinette set in the back…

I thought about playing with the Crusaders the other day…

I smiled when I thought about that goofus Sweetie Belle and how she could never deal with the ball if she didn’t have magick…

I giggled when I thought about Apple Bloom and how she always had to go get the ball, just because of how close she was to Sweetie Belle…

And I thought about Scootaloo and how lean she is, as she would duck and dive to get the balls that I threw at her… I’m very coordinated and it’s her fault for not being in the right spot…

“Are you happy with your new friends, Cozy?” The purple alicorn asks me, suddenly breaking my train of thought… I glance up to see her curious face staring directly at me…

I stare back and say, “I think so?”

She frowns, “What’s wrong, Cozy?”

I stare at this other pony very carefully… I begin to wonder what I should tell her? “What do you mean?”

She blinks and leans slightly closer, “I mean, you just said I think so… That would imply that there’s still reservations… “

I glare at her and begin to wonder just what she’s getting at? “Well, I’ve always been alone… I’ve never had anypony there… I mean, to interact with and listen to me when I speak… You know how I talk to myself sometimes?”

She nods, “Well, I wasn’t going to bring it up, but you do do that sometimes… “

“Do you know why?” I ask inquisitively as the other alicorn continues to frown at me…

“Um, no?”

“I’m always alone, Twilight… Being around other ponies is a new experience for me… “

She smiles dimly, “Well, maybe it’s time you’re not so lonely?”

I scowl at this audacity! “Who said I’m lonely?”

She blinks and nods, “Well, when I first came in, you were sad and bitter and now you’re better!”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Her grin widens, “Well, now you have me AND the Crusaders and you’re better!”

“Completely coincidental!”

She nods, “Right! So, I guess that means I should tell the Crusaders not to come over anymore and that you’re better off alone then?”

I narrow my eyes at her, “Oh, golly! That’s not what I want and you know it!”

“So you like hanging out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, then?”

My eyes widen, “NO!”

She smiles and giggles slightly under her breath, “But you DO want them to continue to come by here, yes?”

I eyeball this other alicorn carefully… “Are you trying to bring The Magic of Friendship into my life?”

“What do you think Cozy?”

My eyes enlarge again, “I think you are!”

“And you have friends now!”

“NO!”

She giggles, “Which means I have been successful and you want to see more of the Cutie Mark Crusaders…”

I glare at the smiling purple pony and open my mouth to speak… I know I opened it, but it suddenly occurs to me that I have nothing to say…

“And you’re a better pony now!”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I saw you playing with the Crusaders earlier… You were a courteous and kind little filly…”

“Even if I was, what does that have to do with anything?” I lean forward, “And how would you know about that?”

“Well, you know how I no longer wear a restraining ring around my horn?”

I blink, “Well, yeah?”

She mimics me, “Well, I can turn invisible, you know?”

I stare at the grinning alicorn carefully…. Before screaming, “STOP SPYING ON ME!”

Her eyes widen, “Oh, wow! There’s that neck vein thing again! Look Cozy! You have to understand that I take my job as your mother very seriously and well, let’s face it! You’re not a normal filly!”

“You know, that still doesn’t justify spying on me!” I say before crossing my forehooves in irritation.

She nods, “Okay, honestly, I don’t know! But I do know that I care about you Cozy and I just want what’s best for you!”

I keep my eyes narrow… “Okay, but since I know this now, I am curious… “I lean forward slightly after lowering my hooves to my sides, “Tell me Twilight, what did you see?”

She stares back at me, “I saw a happy healthy young pegasus filly enjoying the company of her three friends. I saw childhood bonding and wonderful friendships that will probably last a lifetime… “she smiles… “I saw the filly I wanted to raise earlier… Honestly, Cozy Glow, I saw the same thing I always see when I look at you, but with the Crusaders, it’s much brighter… “

“What do you mean, brighter?”

“I mean I didn’t see a manipulative villain at all! I saw an adorable lovable little filly having fun with her friends!”

For some reason, this comment makes me sick to my stomach! “Okay, now I know you’re lying about spying on me! NO WAY did you see all that!”

She stares at me, “Tell you what, Cozy! I’ll make a deal with you! Call it, a little wager…”

I glare back at her, “I’m listening?”

She blinks and her muzzle quivers before forming a smile, “I like you being a Cutie Mark Crusader and you don’t like me spying on you… Since you’re a better pony with the Crusaders, I won’t spy on you anymore, so long as you’re their friend… “

I frown, “And let me guess! By friend, you mean a playmate and somepony who hangs out with them and spends time with them, right?”

“Well, what else would I mean?”

I smile, “How about a sneaky manipulative filly who plays other ponies and gets them to do her under-hooved bidding?”

Her eyes widen, “COZY!”

I giggle and flit my hoof in the air, “Just kidding!”

“That’s not funny!”

I glare back at her, “Oh, it is a little!”

“Cozy, I mean it! You’re going to behave!”

“Behave like what?”

“COZY!”

By this point, I can tell she’s getting irritated, and so my work is done! I smile, “Okay, FINE! Uh, what time are the Crusaders coming by, anyway?”

Her face straightens, “That’s the thing! They should be here by now!”

I frown, “Well, what could be keeping them?”

“I have no idea!”

Suddenly, the door to my throne room bursts open to reveal a yellow earth filly with a big pink bow on the back of her head! She looks at me and says, “Scootaloo! Danger! Help!”

“What?” I ask…

While Twilight stares and says, “Huh?” with a confused expression on her muzzle.

<*****>

“Cozy Glow! Help! I’m trapped in a well!” The brown pegasus screams up at me from the darkened hole…

I stare down at her wide-eyed from the side of the well, “Oh, golly! And I was so sure you were just playing hide n seek! You know, Apple Bloom found you earlier!”

“Cozy! Can you teleport me out?”

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t be able to?”

And then, there was silence… She finally says, “Well, would you please teleport me out of here, Cozy?”

My eyes widen again as I’m once more startled out of a trance, “Oh, golly! I probably should do that, huh?” before lowering my head and forcing my horn to glow white…

Soon, Scootaloo materializes behind me, between her two friends! She stops glowing before turning to face her two friends, “Girls, I’m free!”

Sweetie Belle on the right says, “And it’s because of Cozy Glow!”

At that point, time once again ceased as I began to process the events… I rescued Scootaloo because I care about her… Apple Bloom got me because she knows that I care about Scootaloo and would help her… And it’s easy for me too, since I’m an alicorn…

“Cozy! Still with us?” I hear a voice with a country drawl yell at me and I stare forward to see the Crusaders there with Scootaloo in the center after my train of thought is broken… You know, that’s happening a lot today! I see they’re all frowning at me expectantly…

“Are you hurt? Do I need to call you a medic?” I ask the other pegasus as she stares at me between her two friends…

She blinks her purple eyes before saying, “I just have a bruise on my left hind leg and a scrape on my right! I’ll be fine!”

“You’re sure?”

She blinks, “Uh, yeah Cozy! Pretty sure! Geez, you really care about me, don’t you?”

“Y-yeah! Okay! I guess I do?” I say while scratching the back of my neck with my forehoof.

The white filly on the right says in a musical tone, “That’s probably new for her?”

Apple Bloom stares at me, “Yeah, Cozy! You actually care about other ponies now!”

This annoys me as I scream back, “You know, I think we established that earlier when I was a nice ruler, didn’t we? There’s literally nothing different here!”

Sweetie nods and smiles, “Oh, but there is Cozy! Earlier, you were telling other ponies to be nice and do things! But this time, it was you who actually saved Scootaloo!”

“My hero!” The smiling burnt orange filly in the center says.

I center my view with an expression on my muzzle, “You know, the saying is right! No good deed goes unpunished! Every time I do something nice, somepony has to point it out and analyze it!”

Sweetie says, “Well, it’s important Cozy, because that’s not typical behavior for you!”

Scootaloo says, “Yeah! You were mean and nasty before and now you’re… “

I stare at the other pegasus, “Different! Yes, I know!” I cut her off!

Apple Bloom says, “You know Cozy, this ain’t necessarily a bad thing?”

I stare at the yellow filly on the left side of the room very carefully before finally asking her, “Do you think I’m bad?”

She widens her orange eyes, “What Cozy? No! You just helped Scootaloo, remember?”

Sweetie adds from the other side of the room, “You’re a hero Cozy! Why would you think you’re bad?”

“Well, I did take over Equestria, imprison the princesses and many other ponies in Tartarus, and ruled with an iron hoof for awhile back there?”

Sweetie nods, “Okay, granted! But are you doing any of that right now, Cozy?”

“What?” I say while staring at her.

Scootaloo croaks out, “Cozy, you’re not being evil anymore!”

Apple Bloom says, “You’ve changed! You’re better now… “

I stare at the three fillies carefully… “Do I deserve friends?”

<*****>

I can only gasp out, “Oh, golly! Yeah, that’s why I’m currently underneath a filly blanket of love and affection! Because I’m not sure if I deserve love!” I say while laying on my belly and covered in small ponies…

“Cozy, who are you talking to?” Scootaloo asks while directly on top of me…

I sputter, “Myself! Just making sure I grasp the gravity of the situation here!”

Apple Bloom drawls out from directly above Scootaloo, “I think gravity is the problem here, Cozy? Sweetie! Get offa me so we can let Cozy breath!”

“Sorry!” I hear a musical voice say before a little bit of weight gets released from my poor back and I see a white unicorn filly with a two-toned mane step to my right…

“Hang on, Cozy!” Apple Bloom says before getting off and I feel less pressure before seeing a yellow earth filly with a red mane and a big bow on her head stare at me from the center…

“Yeah, we just think it’s awful that you think you’re suppose to be alone!” Scootaloo says before getting off of me to release the last of the pressure and I see a pegasus filly with a purple mane and tiny wings trot over to stand at the left…

“Really? Why?” I ask while continuing to lay on my stomach there on the floor while the three fillies stared at me from the front and I begin to breathe again… In and out…

The musical unicorn says, “Cozy, everypony deserves friends and companionship! Even reformed supervillains!”

“Who was successful!” I add!

Scootaloo says, “Yeah, but you’re not evil anymore!”

“This is also true!” I say.

“So what’s the problem?” The apple filly asks…

I lay there for a moment in front of the three expectant fillies when suddenly it finallyclicks in my head… You know, I’ve been really stubborn this whole time! I have friends now! Real friends and they depend on me and care about me! I widen my eyes, “Oh, golly! Problem? I don’t know of any problems? Whatever are you talking about?” and give a big toothy grin…

(To be continued…)

Chapter 8: Crusading For Love

I take a sip of the delicious blond elixir in it’s blue magical glow before the white cup floats back down to the table and I stare at the three smiling fillies, also at the dinette set with me… You know, until today, only me and Twilight ever sat here! “So uh, my mom is dead, and that’s bad!”

“Definitely!” The yellow filly across the table says before nodding her head and I see her big pink bow go up and down…

“Totally!” The russet brown pegasus on the left says before nodding herself so I get a better look at her purple Mohawk mane.

I continue, “And despite what I may have believed before, I actually do deserve love and friendship!”

The white unicorn on the right smiles and says, “Yup!” before I see her wisteria and pink two-toned mane vibrate in what I’m guessing is excitement…

It then occurs to me that these fillies actually want me as a friend as Apple Bloom says in her drawl, “So you see Cozy, you’re just a Crusader now and you got three new friends!” and beams at me brightly with her teeth…

Since my mom already reassured me, I decide not to ask the question on my mind and instead say, “So, what do we do now?”

“We get you better again!” The white filly says to me while continuing to beam her smile as the other two fillies grin onward.

I widen my eyes intrigued, “How you gonna do that?”

The yellow filly across from me makes her orange eyes enormous, “We have no idea!”

The orange pegasus filly on the left turns her head to the apple filly, “Did we even talk about that?”

The white unicorn foal on the right turns to the pegasus, “I brought it up, but you brushed it off, saying we needed to talk about what we’re gonna do with Cozy first!”

The apple filly turns her head right to the russet pegasus, “This always happens, Scootaloo! You always have to take over our meetins’ and nuthin’ gits done!”

I smile when I see this is my opportunity! “Okay uh, that’s just swell! I mean, it’s kinda better this way anyway, because you know, I REALLY should be included, right?”

Apple Bloom stares at me blankly, “Include Cozy when we’re talkin’ about what we’re gonna do with her?”

Scootaloo stares at the yellow filly from the left, “I uh, never really thought about it like that!”

Sweetie stares at her two friends, “I DID try to bring this up too, you know?”

At this point, I decide I’m tired of the banter! “YES! SO! Getting me better or whatever! How are we gonna do that?”

Apple Bloom stares at me while the other two fillies gaze onward, “Well, right! I was just thinkin’ that since Cozy lost her ma, it would be good that she find a replacement or somethin’ ta fill that void, ya know?”

Sweetie looks at the yellow filly and says, “Well, that’s what Twilight can do for her!”

Apple Bloom looks left at the white unicorn and nods, “Well, right! I still can’t help but think we’re missin’ somethin’ though?”

Scootaloo finally interjects, “Friends?”

I stare at this scene, “You know, you three were kinda already being my friends, right?”

Sweetie turns to me and then back to her friends, “Well, right! She has a parent and friends! What else does Cozy need?”

All four of us fillies just put our forehooves to our chins and pondered for a moment… What more do I really need?

Scootaloo excitedly shouts, “I know!” before looking at me with wide eyes, “Cozy! What about your dad? You never said you had much of a father figure, right?”

I stare at the deranged looking brown pegasus, “Oh, golly! Um, no! Not really!”

Apple Bloom looks right at Scootaloo, “Hey, yeah! She’s got a mom with Twilight! We just need a dad now!”

I stare at the yellow filly with wide eyes, “No, no we don’t! I’m fine!”

Sweetie turns her head right to the apple filly, “Well, that would suggest that we find Twilight a mate! So Cozy won’t be lonely all the time!”

“I’m not even that lonely, really!”

Apple Bloom turns left to Sweetie, “Yeah, but is Twilight straight or gay?”

“Are you ponies listening to me?”

Sweetie replies, “How would I know? Maybe we should ask her?”

Scootaloo turns her head right towards Sweetie, “Okay, but we don’t wanna be too obvious! I mean, lets keep this as a surprise!”

“I’m empress of nothing!” I resignedly say before throwing my forehooves up in defeat.

Apple Bloom looks at me from across the table right as I’m taking a sip of my coffee and asks, “Cozy! Do you know Twilight’s sexuality?”

I widen my eyes as I taste the warm creamy brew in my mouth and swallow before adjusting my gaze to look at her and say, “Oh, golly! You know, that somehow never came up.”

The yellow filly sighs, “Great! We need a mate for Twilight, so Cozy won’t be alone and we don’t even know if we need a stallion or a mare!”

“You know, nopony at any point said we needed to do this, right? You three fillies just decided to!”

Scootaloo turns back left to Apple Bloom, “Well, we could just nonchalantly ask her if there’s anypony in town that she likes? Best-case-scenario, she’s already picked somepony and then we don’t need to figure anything out?”

The red maned filly looks at the orange pegasus, “That sounds like a great idea Scoots!”

“This is going to be a golly disaster!”

Sweetie stares at her two cohorts, “That sounds good! I’ll stay here with Cozy and you two go and ask her!”

“Why does somepony need to stay with me?”

Sweetie continues, “Then, you just arrange for a date at lunchtime while we continue hanging out! It can be, Cozy and Sweetie’s Day of Fun!” before turning her head left towards me and smiling. “After all, we wouldn’t want you to be lonely!”

I narrow my eyes at her, “And this has NOTHING to do with the fact that you three are making plans behind my back, right?”

The yellow filly widens her orange eyes and says in her country drawl, “What? No! Of course not, Cozy!”

The white filly on the right stares at me with a shocked expression before saying with her musical voice, “Not at all!”

The brown filly on the left stares at me and says in her raspy tone, “You’re safe, Cozy! We promise!”

I narrow my eyes at the three smiling fillies as I can’t shake this feeling that there’s something else they’re not telling me…

<*****>

I take a sip of my coffee as I sit at the purple table, staring at the white unicorn filly on her side, while the rest of the quiet dining room stands still… I set it down with my magick and decide to break the ice! “So, you’re Sweetie Belle! How’s that working out for you?” And suddenly I wonder why I asked that?

She smiles at me, “Oh, not too bad! I mean, living with my sister Rarity gets kinda boring, but it’s not awful when I have my Crusader friends to turn to!”

“Yeah, friendship is pretty swell, huh? Listen, we know Twilight Sparkle said she had a thing for his Flash Sentry guy and we know Scoots and AB somehow managed to arrange a date! Now, they’re not going to dope them with a love potion or anything like that, right?”

Sweetie’s eyes grow enormous, “Oh, gosh no! We definitely won’t do that again!”

I remind myself to ask her about that later! “How’d you set up a lunch date on such short notice, anyway?”

“Well, most ponies eat lunch at around noon, right?”

I nod, “That’s true!”

Sweetie nods too, “Right!” and blinks. “You see, since Flash and Twilight are both at the Castle of Friendship, we just needed to tell Flash to meet Twilight in her chambers for lunch in the morning, instead of going o the cafeteria, like normal! We just needed to check the boards to see where he was today and find him when he’s on his shift!” before grinning brightly. “We just had to find where pillar thirty-four was!”

“And how did you convince my mom to confess her crush to him?”

Sweetie smiles, “Well, we kinda told a little fib there and said he had a crush on her after we talked to him!”

“Right! So uh, you wanna play chess again?”

She sighs, “No Cozy! You always beat me!”

I frown, “Um, right! Well, checkers also exists? You wanna play checkers?”

Sweetie smiles, “Sure Cozy!”

And then, I frowned in concentration as I began to wonder where I put the checkers pieces, when suddenly, the door opens and I turn my head left to see my mother there with a large frown on her face, “Uh, Cozy! I’m gay!”

I widen my eyes, “What? Oh, golly! Uh, how can you tell?”

She turns her head right towards me and says, “I kissed him!”

I enlarge my own pupils all the way as I didn’t think my mom would kiss and tell! “Uh, and?”

She cringes and sticks her tongue out, “And it’s icky! I don’t like it! I want to kiss mares!”

“Okay uh, fine! Break it off with him! I mean, you being gay seems like a pretty clear reason to cancel this whole thing, right?”

“Uh, I kinda already agreed to another date!”

“Then cancel it! You’re a homo and don’t like stallions! What else do you really need to say?”

“I also told him I loved him!”

I gaze at this insane alicorn for a moment before finally belting out, “Why the golly did you do that?”

My mom blinks and sighs, “I-I got scared, okay? It was going great and I just well, I didn’t want to upset him and uh… “

“Well, you’re gay! It doesn’t work like that!”

She cringes deeply again, “I-I know that!” she widens her eyes towards me, “It’s just that uh well… I kinda need your help now!”

“Oh, golly gee! Good thing Sweetie is here to lend a hoof then, huh?”

Sweetie Belle looks at me and leans slightly closer in shock, “Huh? What?”

I turn to her and rope her in, “Of course! I mean, we’re friends after all, right?” and smile at her brightly.

She frowns and makes her green eyes big as the ramifications of this whole harebrained scheme begins to dawn on her…

I continue grinning at my new white unicorn best friend, “Yup! We’re friends and we’re gonna help you break up with Flash Sentry!”

“And Cozy! Since we’re working on my love life now, there was one mare in town I kinda wanted you to talk to!” she blinks. “Well, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“You mean, you want us to talk to her!” I say as Sweetie continues staring at me in he blank cerulean glare and I hold my toothy grin.

She frowns too, “Um, right!”

I sigh and stop smiling, “Okay, but for the record, I didn’t sign up for any of this!”

Sweetie says, “Well, we thought it would be nice to help you, Cozy!”

I lower my gaze to the unicorn, “Yeah! And you see happens when ponies do things? Stuff happens! And now we got this!”

(To be continued… )

Chapter 10: Cozy Glow and Sweetie Belle's Really Neat Adventure, part 1

Sweetie Belle widens her green eyes as she stares at me from the other side of the table and frowns, “So, why am I here again?”

I smile at her from the other side of the purple dinette set, “You volunteered, remember?”

“No!”

I frown too, “Well, you did! Trust me!”

“I don’t trust you!”

I turn my face to a serious expression and say, “Well, I’m Empress of Friendship and I order you to stay for this dinner!” before wondering why I said that?

She stares at me blankly, “O-okay Empress Cozy Glow!”

I sigh, “Okay, Sweetie Belle! You don’t have to stay if y-you don’t want to… I uh, I shouldn’t do that to you and I shouldn’t force you… “and then look down…

She stares at me carefully and I don’t know what my face looks like? “You want me to stay, don’t you?”

Maybe it looks nervous? I look up at her and sigh, “Yeah, I kinda do, really… I don’t like the idea of being alone with mom and” I gag.” romance! I mean, it’s just so golly gross!”

She smiles and giggles, “Well, they say we’ll all like it when we get older?”

I look at her, “Well, that’s then and this is now! And now, romance is nasty!”

Her eyes widen, “Well, we can both be grossed out together then!”

I glare at her carefully… “Because you’re my friend?”

She keeps her grin and nods, “Yup! And we should have ice cream when we’re done!”

I frown again, “You just want me to use my position to get us ice cream, huh?”

Her mouth flattens, “Well, yeah! Rarity never has any at the boutique unless she’s depressed and even then, she’ll just be eating it all out of the carton! I never get ice cream!”

I stare at her carefully before finally replying, “Then you shall have all the ice cream you want!”

Her face lights up with a smile! “Thanks Cozy!”

“Right!” I nod, “And I totally won’t skin you alive or stab your eyes out or hang you or anything like that!”

Her eyes widen again, “WHAT?”

I shake my head, “Uh, n-nothing! What time is it?”

I see her tilt her body slightly to the right and she says, “Uh, it’s five twenty-four!”

“Oh, golly! We got six minutes!”

I suddenly hear a raspy voice from behind the door to Sweetie’s rear, “Uh, Twilight? You around here?”

I widen my eyes, “Or Dash is already here and I need to deal with her now! You go get mom!”

“You mean Twilight?”

I lower my gaze and furrow my brow, “Who else would I mean?”

Her eyes enlarge again, “Oh! Right!”

<******>

The blue pegasus stands in the middle of the stone throne room amidst the pillars with a frown on her muzzle, “Uh, where’s Twilight? You said dinner was at five-thirty, right?” before turning her head back right towards me and I witness the many chromatic colors of her vibrant mane flowing to the side as her magenta eyes lock onto me…

I smile at her as I trot her direction as I know it’s now time to go to work! “Of course, Dash! You’re right on time!”

“I am? Where’s Twilight?” She says to me before glancing around the stone throne room… You know, that mane goes places!

“She’s in her room! Sweetie Belle is getting her as we speak!” I say before I stop trotting, 10 feet from Dash.

When suddenly, Dash opens her mouth and her muzzle and body suddenly stop moving before she can get a word out!

Dash is frozen in place, like a statue, with her mouth agape like she is about to say something, when suddenly, I hear a familiar feminine voice, “Cozy, I know you mean well! But this is way too fast and I’d be more comfortable if we took a step back here!”

I say, “Tell the Crusaders that! I don’t even wanna be here!”

“Then why did you not decide to leave and have a pizza party with your friends instead?”

I glance to the right side, “Because well, it just seemed like you needed me?” I turn my eyes to the floor in a gloomy way, “I didn’t want to leave my mother alone if I felt like she needed me!”

The purple alicorn trots up to my left side and looks down at me lovingly with her violet eyes as I turn my head and look up to her with a sad frown on my muzzle, and says, “Cozy, I know you mean well, but love just has to take it’s course!”

“Well, what does Dash think about all this?” I say before blinking.

She frowns, “How would I know?”

“You know, you just froze her right there.” I motion my head towards the frozen pegasus, “Why don’t we ask her?”

Twilight giggles and smirks, “Oh! Right!” before turning her head back forward to Dash and forcing her horn to glow blue, and suddenly, Dash’s body begins to move again as she breathes…

She stares at Twilight with large magenta eyes and says in an exasperated, albeit grating tone, “Was that really necessary?”

Twilight frowns, “Well, I needed some way to speak to Cozy Glow!”

Dash frowns, “I’d never get in the way of that!”

Twilight sighs and looks down, “I-I know… It’s just that well, “she looks up at Dash, “I uh, I don’t know how you feel about me… “

Dash widens her eyes and speaks in an even more flustered tone, “You could always just ask?”

Twilight’s eyes widen, “Oh, wow! I uh… “she blinks, and a frown soon forms on her muzzle... “You know, I uh, never really thought about it? Um, how do you feel about me Rainbow Dash?”

Dash finally smiles warmly, “The truth is Twilight, I’ve kinda always liked you… I mean, sure your a nerdy egghead, but that’s probably what’s so cute about you!” she giggles. “Remember when Rarity got you and I had to clean you up?”

“Oh gosh!” Twilight turns her head right quickly and blushes!

I stare up at her and I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen her cheeks red! I quickly turn to Dash, widen my eyes and whisper, “Now! Do it now!”

Her eyes widen at the purple alicorn, “OHMYGOSH! OHMYGOSH! OHMYGOSH!”

I close my eyes at this disgusting scene, “I’ll uh, I’ll be back later! Right!” and force my horn to glow as I teleport out!”

<*****>

“What’s happening? Where’s Twilight and Rainbow Dash?” Sweetie asks me from her usual side of the table… Wait, when did she get a usual side of the table?

I widen my eyes, “They uh, needed to be alone!”

She smiles brightly! “For romance?”

I cringe at this horrifying thought, “Uh, yeah! That!” and stick my tongue out to the side.

She smiles, “That’s okay, Cozy! You’re Empress of Friendship, right? Just order us some food from the kitchen!” before her grin suddenly turns to a frown, “But uh, why are the walls behind you bleeding chocolate?”

I widen my eyes at her, “How would I know?” before turning to see that the walls behind me are in fact, bleeding brown and white chocolates out of the stone orifices between the bricks!

I then see a familiar serpentine form materialize in front of me with green energy as he stares down at me with his yellow and red misshapen eyes and sneers his snaggle tooth mouth, “I would think a dark and white chocolate fountain walls would be cause for celebration, hmm?”

I gaze at the strange creature starkly, “We literally just noticed them! Who are you again?”

He rolls his eyes, “Discord! And why didn’t your mother enlighten you as to who I am?”

I stare forward blankly, “Another question I can’t answer!” and adjust my gaze back up to him, “Well Discord, we’re busy here! Go away and take your chocolate walls with you!”

He glowers harder, “I don’t think I can do that, Cozy Glow… “

I frown, “But we don’t need you here! They’re having a romantic get together and me and Sweetie are emotional support… “

He raises an eyebrow, “Emotional support?”

I smile and nod, “Yup! We’re all here for my mother! And you need to go away now!”

“Oh, for goodness sake!” The creature exclaims before wiping down his face with his lion paw. He points it at me, “Look! We’re all just led to believe that you’ve truly changed for the better, even though you have a legacy of torture, death, tyranny, and even deception behind you! And now, you’ve been lovingly adopted by Twilight Sparkle! Do you really expect me to believe that an evil manipulative filly like you isn’t planning something devious, hmm? How do I know you’re truly safe?”

I normalize my face, “You know, I didn’t have to release anypony back there! I could’ve easily stayed Empress of Friendship and continued ruling Equestria!” I say before widening my eyes and pointing my right wing at him, “And furthermore Discord, if you care so much about Equestria, then why didn’t you intervene earlier when I was terrorizing it? Why show up just now, after you’ve helped me restore the normal order of things? It makes no sense!”

He smiles and I see his tooth go back up as he says sardonically, “Oh, make sense? What fun is there in making sense?” before clicking his eagle talon in the air and forcing us all to disappear!

<*****>

Me and Sweetie are now standing on a cliff face and facing an enormous raging waterfall, maybe 40 feet away from us… I notice Sweetie to my left in my periphery and I also see the brown serpent floating off to the left and I also can’t help but notice two ponies being held upside down by rope that’s also tied around their legs and wings, so they can’t escape!

The pony on the left is blue and has many colors in her mane and tail while the other one is purple and has a blue mane with two different colored streaks going vertically through it…

I turn to Discord, “What is the meaning of this?”

He grins and places his eagle talon and lion paws together, “Welcome to our little game Cozy Glow! This is your trial by fire! Or maybe I should say, trial by water?”

I frown, “Okay, stop!”

His misshapen yellow eyes widen as his upper appendages loosen their bond with each other, “What?”

I smile at him, “You need to test me, so you feel necessary or needed, right?”

He frowns and I see his snaggle-tooth go another direction, “And what if I do?”

I chuckle and nod, “Oh, golly! It’s so obvious! I restore Equestria and everything is just fine! So of course, you have to come in and ruin it, huh?”

He furrows his differently shaped brows, “I’m the Lord of Chaos!”

I blink, “The unwanted and unnecessary Lord of Chaos!”

He points his talon at me, “Enough Cozy!”

“Besides, I know that whatever happens, you can’t hurt my mom or Dash! This is all just meant to look scary!”

The serpent furrows his brow and fixes his eyes on me carefully, “Choose your next words carefully filly…”

I beam up at the brown creature, “Discord, what if I told you there’s a way to do that without involving my mother or Dash?”

Sweetie stares at me and whispers, “What are you doing Cozy?”

I turn to face the white unicorn, “Relax Sweets! I got this!”

She frowns, “Sweets?”

I turn my gaze back to the brown serpent as he says tentatively, “I’m listening?”

(To be continued… )

Chapter 11: Discorded Body

I smile up at the serpent, “Why don’t we play chess?”

His brow furrows again, “Oh, I’m sure you’d love that! A game you’re already very good at! Unless” before bringing his lion paw and eagle talon together to twiddle the appendages and grin wickedly as he gazes at me with his two different eyes, “you’d be willing to make it more interesting?”

I blink, “Oh, golly! Do you mean, up the ante interesting, or weird new game with weird new rules interesting?” and lean forward, “And why are we doing this again?”

His eyes widen, “Because you need to be tested to see if you’re truly reformed!”

I raise my head, “Yeah, but who decided that? I mean, who really wants to test me?”

He frowns and flips his paw to his chest, “Why, me of course!”

I lower my view at him, “Okay, but who are you to decide these things, anyway?”

He points his eagle talon at me and bellows, “I am the Lord of Chaos!”

“Is that an official title or self-proclaimed?”

He lowers his appendage and widens his eyes, “What?”

I smile, “Did you just declare yourself the Lord of Chaos one day or did somepony or somebody actually bestow that title on you!”

He throws his upper appendages in the air, “Well, what difference does it make?”

I nod my head and smile up to him, “Oh, golly! It sure makes a world of difference Mr. Discord! You see, if the title is bestowed upon you, that makes it official and real! But if you just went around saying your the Lord of Chaos, well you know, anybody could go around doing that! It doesn’t mean anything!”

He lowers his view and furrows his differently shaped brows before slyly retorting, “Oh, like you just declared yourself the Empress of Friendship one day?”

I keep the grin on my muzzle, “Well, golly yeah, I did do that!” and nod. “This is true! But you know, Celestia herself gave me that title after I released everypony and now, it’s official! While you’re officially just a guy calling himself the Lord of Chaos!”

Discord throws his appendages to his sides, “FINE! We forget titles!” before pointing at me with his talon, “But that doesn’t change the fact that you need to be tested!”

“Why?”

“To make sure you’re truly good!”

I raise my gaze and frown, “I already proved I’m good Discord! Lets cut the crap! You and I both know this is really about you and your ego!”

He widens his eyes, “Why, whatever do you mean?”

I smile again and lower my view, “Well, let’s see now, everything is fine and dandy, and I’ve become a Cutie Mark Crusader again and everypony is happy! You’re the self-proclaimed ‘Lord of Chaos’ and so of course, you have to mess things up! Especially since, as I already plainly stated, we really don’t need you here!” and widen my eyes. “You just need to feel important, huh?”

Suddenly, I hear a musical voice from my right squeak up, “She’s kinda right Discord! There would be no other reason for you to come in here!”

His eyes narrow and brow furrows once more, “I’m starting to believe your mother told you more than you’re letting on?”

I giggle, “Oh, please Discord! The way you act tells me everything I need to know about you!” I nod again. “You need to feel needed and this whole testing me thing is really just a way to do it!”

He silently keeps his gaze on me…

I smile again and continue, “Think about it! This constant obsession with me! The need for power and control! The way you keep shifting things, because you can’t decide how this should work! The only thing this is really about is your ego and sense of importance, huh?” I widen my smile… “You need to feel important don’t you?”

He crosses his upper appendages and turns his body to the side to pout, “And what if I do?”

I widen my eyes, “So there’s the admission! You do need to feel important! And because you’re all mega-powerful, you also feel that authority is rightfully yours, don’t you?”

He throws his talon from left to right, causing a small rift of blackness in the air that follows his talon, before he stops it and the blackness disappears, “I can rip reality apart, Cozy Glow! It’s a bit of a misnomer to say that I don’t matter!”

A new idea strikes me and I ask, “But what if you couldn’t?”

His eyes widen again as he lowers his appendages, “What?”

I smile, “We play a game as equals, you and I!”

“Not chess!”

I giggle, “Oh, you silly Discord! Do you really think chess is the only thing I’m good at?” and nod again. “Now, think Discord! The end goal here is to prove that I’m reformed, right?”

He frowns, “This is true!”

I nod again, “Right! So what better way to prove that I’m reformed than by demonstrating that I can work with and get along with my fellow pony!”

“You wish for Sweetie Belle to join you in your trial, don’t you?”

The same musical voice chirps up, “You’re not alone Cozy!”

Discord smiles and silently, but visibly chuckles to himself, “Granted! But I choose the game!”

“Bring it on Mr. Self-Proclaimed Lord of Chaos!”

And that’s when Discord snapped his talon and we all vanished in a bright flash flash of light!

<*****>

“Oh, golly! Where are we?” I ask as I look around the forest road I suddenly find myself standing in… I see a brown dirt path leading further into the woods and I see a treeline on either side of the road, casting it’s dark shadows on the path ahead… Also, I can’t help but notice that my throat feels weird for some reason…

I see a serpent floating in the air 20 feet in front of me, further down the path as he says, “Congratulations! You’re the new Scootaloo!” and throws his motley appendages to the sides!

I widen my eyes and say, “What?” in my suddenly hoarse voice before looking behind me to see that my body is now orange and my wings are really small!

Suddenly, we both hear a high pitched screaming in the air! “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” before I see a small pink body smack into the road behind me, maybe 10 feet away!

I turn to face the body and say in my raspy voice, “Oh, golly! Are you okay?”

“OW!” The pink pegasus filly exclaims before she gets up with her now disheveled, curly mane and I notice her shield emblem with multi-colored vertical stripes on her sides…

This makes me gaze back to my own flanks and I see the familiar red rook symbol I’ve always seen when I looked there, only now it’s on an orange background! “Our cutie marks are as they should be, but we’re not in the right bodies!” I say in my gruff voice.

Discord chimes in, “Funny? I thought Scootaloo, of all ponies would enjoy being in the air with working wings?”

Then, I heard something coming from the edge of the meadow… Something peculiar…

I hear a musical voice say with a country drawl, “This ain’t right! I’m not tha right color and my hair is all different!”

I turn my gaze towards the right and I see Sweetie Belle there trotting my direction among the shaded tree cover and raise my neck to scream at her, “Over here!”

“Scootaloo!” She yells while widening her eyes and galloping towards me!

I frown and say, “Um, not exactly!” to her before she stops at the edge…

Discord then says, “I don’t understand? Why isn’t Sweetie Belle here?”

I widen my eyes when staring at the white unicorn before darting my view to her flanks and I notice the shield emblem there contains an apple and not a musical note! “You switched Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle too, huh?”

I hear a masculine smarmy voice from my front say, “Of course! What better way to prove that you all act as a unit than by literally, putting you in each other’s hooves so to speak!”

I turn to face Discord and begin to speak when I hear a voice screaming from the other side of the meadow in the woods that direction, “Help! I don’t have magick!”

I say, “I think I know where Sweetie Belle is!”

Suddenly, the white unicorn raises her head and shouts, “Calm down Sweetie Belle! Yer strong now!” You know, I can’t put my hoof on it, but the musical voice and country speak thing just werks, for some reason!”

I stare at… Apple Bloom, “Does this mean you’re going to try to speak more musically when you get back into the right body?”

Her cerulean eyes widen at me, “Uh, n-no! Maybe?” she smiles nervously. “Uh, ah’m not sure? Heh heh!”

I hear Discord slyly reply, “Well, if she wants Sweetie Belle’s voice, then she shall certainly have it for the time being!”

I see a yellow earth filly with a large disheveled pink bow on the back of her head emerge from the brush to my right as she trudges two paces out of the bushes and grumpily says, “I don’t like this voice!”

Discord cackles as he throws his upper appendages in the air and exclaims, “My, what a neat way of talking you have, Apple Bloom!”

The yellow filly turns her head right to stare at Discord, “I’m not Apple Bloom!”

Discord widens his oddly shaped eyes at her, “Oh, but you are now!”

I affix my gaze and body to the serpent, “And I’m not Scootaloo either!! Change us back!”

He turns his gaze right towards me and smiles his odd grin, “Oh, but the fun is just beginning, my sweet Scootaloo!” and giggles while his body becomes clear and slowly disappears…

“Oh, golly! I need to talk to mom about this, don’t I?”

Sweetie Belle calls out from 15 feet away from me, “Yeah, probably!” Golly, it’s so weird to remember she’s in that body!

“Uh, Cozy?”

I turn my body and widen my eyes at the other pegasus currently in my body, “Yes Scootaloo?”

She smiles nervously and says in a squeaky voice, “I uh, I don’t think I’ll ever get this chance again and um, w-well, your wings work and m-mine don’t and… “… You know, I don’t think I sound that squeaky though, so she must be changing it from the way I normally talk?

I stare at her, “You want to fly with my wings and body, huh?”

She giggles anxiously, “Um, y-yeah! Kinda!”

My eyes widen, “Well, since mom won’t be back from the delegation until this evening and since we literally have nothing better to do, I guess you can try out my body if you really want to?” I smile at the scared looking pegasus, “Just uh, don’t hurt me!”

She smiles back, “You got it Cozy!”

I sigh, “Well, right…” and stare at her carefully, “Your wings don’t work, but tell me Scootaloo… What can you do?”

I hear the yellow filly on my right chime in, “Uh, does this mean I need to start talking all country, like Apple Bloom?”

The white filly adds, “Do I have to learn how to sing now?”

I close my eyes, “Oh, golly! Nopony has to do something they’re not comfortable with!” before opening them and adjusting my gaze to the pink filly before me, “But yes Scoots…” I smile, “Since you got this chance now, go ahead and try out my wings!”

Her eyes widen and I can already tell she has a lot of different thoughts on her mind…

“Oh, golly!”

(To be continued… )

Chapter 12: The Source of Control

The yellow filly looked down at her mug of cocoa dejectedly while she struggled to hold it in her forehooves and bring it to her mouth… She manages to get it halfway up, before the cup falls and suddenly glows as the white filly on her right forces her horn to glow and her eyes squint with concentration!

I smile while watching a small bit of cocoa splash onto the floor and the yellow filly stares on with dejected orange eyes, “See? The cocoa exercise was a great idea! It teaches Apple Bloom how to use magick and gives Sweetie Belle extra incentive for using her hooves!”

The yellow filly looks at me and says in a civilized, albeit rough tone, “Yeah, but it keeps teasing me with cocoa!”

“I think I’m gettin’ tha hang of this!” The white filly on the side says… You know, it’s hard to remember that’s Apple Bloom in there!

“Well, AB is getting the hang of magick, and Sweetie is sorta learning to work with her hooves! I’ll go outside now and see how Scoots is doing with my wings!” before turning to trot toward the door…

“Well, I don’t like it! I never get any cocoa!” The yellow filly pouts as I’m trotting.

“What if I helped you?” Apple Bloom asks Sweetie.

“What do you mean?” I hear the other filly say as I trot out the door and swing it back shut behind me...

I stare forward and see a pink filly with her face on the ground as she says the word, “OW!”

I look down and say in my now raspy voice, “Oh, golly! Are you okay Scootaloo?”

She looks up at me and I see she roughed up my snout a bit, and exclaims, “Not really! I can’t fly!” as I begin to see the beginnings of tears forming in the bottoms of her two brown eyes…

I widen my eyes and decide not to be mad at the fact that she’s hurting my body as I say to her, “Well, you just need practice!”

She sighs, “Yeah yeah yeah! I know! But uh, well, something happened when I was in the air awhile ago!”

I frown with interest, “Huh? What happened Scootaloo?”

She stares at me with enormous brunette eyes and says, “Well, when I was flying, I somehow felt called and like I suddenly knew how to flap my wings!”

“What?”

“Heh heh! Yeah!” She nods her head and forms a small smile on her muzzle, “When I was in the air earlier, I actually flew for quite awhile last time! Like, maybe ten minutes?”

“Well, what happened? Why are you crashing into the ground now?”

“I kinda lost it?”

“What do you mean, lost it?”

She sighs, “It’s hard to explain! Uh, you ever suddenly know something that you really shouldn’t know and then it just disappears?”

“No!”

She smiles, “Well, it’s like that!”

I gaze at the other pegasus carefully… “I guess it’s muscle memory from when I was in charge?”

Her eyes widen and smile lowers, “Muscle memory?”

I smile, “Yeah! Like, my body is so used to moving a certain way that it’s gonna keep doing that, even if it’s your mind inside my brain now!”

She smiles, “Oh, okay! That makes sense Scoota-Glow!”

I frown, “What did you just call me?”

She giggles, “Oh, I figured that since we’re in each other’s bodies now, that changes our names kinda, you know? So you’re Scoota-Glow! I’m Cozyloo! And in there is Apple Belle and Sweetie Bloom!”

“That’s dumb! We are not doing that!”

“Well, I like it!” I suddenly hear a squeaky voice behind me say with a country drawl.

“I guess that means I’m Apple Belle then, since that’s the rule, right? Inhabited body’s name goes first!” I see the other, yellower filly say…

I look back at the filly with a bow in her mane, “Who’s coming up with these rules?”

The white filly on her right stares at her and says with a twang, “And I’m Sweetie Bloom!” before smiling…

“We’re doing this aren’t we?”

The yellow filly stares at me, “Come on Scoota-Glow! It’ll be great!”

The white filly smiles at me, “Yeah!”

I narrow my eyes when I suddenly realize that my new name is Scoota-Glow… I say lowly, “This is dumb… “

<*****>

“Oh, golly! So wait, what?” I say in confusion as I stare at the white filly…

The filly who then says with a musical country drawl, “Cozyloo said it would be better if you got used to her body an’ all it can do, so she said she wanted ta give you lessons on er scooter!”

“So why isn’t she here?”

Her eyes widen, “Beats me!”

Suddenly, a scooter shoots up from the hill-slope on our right and we see a majestic looking pink filly riding it with her forehooves on the steering bar and a focused look in her brown eyes! We see it soar over us and land to the left as she jackknifes it to the right and it skids to a stop on the dirt trail leading that direction! She smiles and says squeakily, “You know, these larger wings take some getting used to and it’s very different from flying, but once I understood how to move my wings while I riding my scooter, the rest kinda fell into place! Hiya Scoota-glow! What’s up Sweetie Bloom?”

I narrow my eyes as I still think this is weird and dumb!

… Sweetie Bloom then smiles and says to Cozyloo, “Hiya Cozyloo! We were just coming up here to meet you! What took you so long?”

“Well, I’m used to those smaller wings that can’t fly! But these are different and larger! Took me a few minutes to figure out how to use them, and I got a new scrape on my body… Uh,” she frowns and turns to me, “sorry about roughing up your body Scoota-glow!”

“That’s gonna hurt, when I get back in there, huh?”

She sighs and frowns, “Well, it’s not gonna feel good? I’ll make it up to you, though! Promise!” and nods.

“Oh, golly!”

She sighs, “Now Scoota-Glow! We need to teach you how to use a scooter!”

“Why?”

She smiles, “Because you’re me now!”

I frown, “What?”

<*****>

Now, I know what Cozyloo told me… I know and understand all the words and fully comprehend what it means when they’re all together in that particular sequence as a sentence… I know this… I also know that none of that really mattered when I was screaming down the hillside riding Scootaloo’s scooter!

“I’M GONNA DIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!” I scream in my raspy voice while the wooden vehicle flew down the dirt path leading out of town to the west!

As I saw the red brick wall approaching, just outside the school on the North side, several thoughts raced through my mind…

How do I stop this thing?

I hope this doesn’t hurt too much?

Oh, golly! This is gonna suck!

Now, what happens next, I can’t quite explain? I threw the scooter to the side and jammed my rear left hoof down onto the pavement, forcing the contraption to skid to a stop as it gets thrown to the side!

It jerks to the side to a complete halt, and I blink, “Oh, golly! Why did I do that?”

“Scoota-Glow! Are you okay?” I hear a pink filly ask me as she flaps towards me in the air and floats closer to stop in the air and float over me while flapping her wings to maintain altitude…

I turn my head right towards her and look up to say, “I’m fine! Your instincts saved me! Wow! You know how to hover now!”

Her brown eyes widen, “I uh, oh wow! I’m hovering! I’m actually hovering!”

I frown when I think about this and my instinctive stop, “This muscle memory thing goes pretty deep, huh?”

She frowns when she realizes that she’s using her new wings perfectly now, “I uh, I guess so?”

I nod, “It’s also important to note that neither of us really did these things until we had a good reason to!”

Her mouth narrows, “What?”

I smile, “Think about it Cozyloo! I didn’t know how to stop until I had a really good freaking reason to! You didn’t know how to use your wings until you thought you needed to check up on me! Incentives is what makes it happen!”

“Oh, wow! That’s interesting! It’ll be pretty neat to see what else you can do while you’re training! Ready for another go up the hill?”

I really didn’t feel like it, so I smile and cheerfully reply, “Sure thing Cozyloo!” and I’m not sure why I said that?

She grins and cheerfully replies, “Alright, lets get you back up the hill!”

<*****>

You know, it’s really odd, but only when I was on the top of the hill again, behind the bar of that scooter did I actually think about my life…

I’m a Crusader again, although it wasn’t my first choice…

I’ve embraced Twilight’s love, even though I didn’t think I really wanted or needed it…

And now, I’m following this stupid naming convention and learning to scooter, despite the fact that I really should have wings…

I frowned while looking back down the hill as I suddenly felt like my life was out of my hooves…

And only then did I really think about it…

“Scoota-Glow! Still with us?”

“Yeah?” I say back to the squeaky voice, despite never moving my view from downhill…

“Are you ready to go?” The voice asks…

“Not yet… “I reply… “Uh, gimme a minute… “

“Take your time! Just remember what I said, it’s all in your back hoof!”

My back hoof? Is that the real source of control? I pondered as I stared down the slope…

As I lurched forward, I heard a squeaky voice shout, “You got this! Go!”

And at that moment, instinct took over!

I grinned like a mad-pony as I began peddling with my left back hoof to gain more speed as I sped down the hillside!

I widen my eyes as I feel a surge of adrenaline coursing through my four legs and little wings, that I soon begin flapping vigorously to give me yet even more speed!

I put both my back hooves onto the wooden vehicle and turn the handle to the right hard, in order to cause the speeding scooter to change course suddenly and run almost, but not quite parallel to the same brick wall I almost crashed into earlier!

Back hooves indeed! I think to myself as my body begins acting differently…

I grin devilishly in my new body as I begin peddling with my right back hoof and flapping my wings to feel the cool air rushing through them and I skid to the right finally, away from the wall to my side, and I soon gaze forward and furrow my brow to survey the land in front of me so I’ll know what moves I need to make next with my scooter…

(To be continued… )

Chapter 13: Bringing Order

The purple alicorn standing near the doorway, stares at me and the other Crusaders, “Wait, what?”

I sigh, “Discord put us all in each other’s bodies! I know I look like Scootaloo right now, and I know I even sound like her because well, I also have her vocal cords! But I swear, I’m not Scootaloo!”

The white filly on my right says with a squeaky, albeit country drawl, “She ain’t lyin! I’m really Apple Bloom!”

The yellow filly on my left says with careful enunciation, “Scoota-Glow is telling the truth!”

Twilight frowns from the doorway, “Wait! Scoota-Glow? What?”

I sigh again, “Uh, the other Crusaders decided that since we’re in the wrong bodies right now, that changes are names… For some reason… I’m Scoota-Glow!” I nod to my left, “That’s Apple Belle!” and then to left beyond the yellow filly, “And that’s Cozyloo just over there!”

My body stares at the purple alicorn, smiles, and says, “Hi! I swear, I’m really Scootaloo in Cozy Glow’s body!” and her little body perks up! “Flying is really fun, once you get the hang of it!”

I sigh yet again, before nodding over to my right, “And that’s Sweetie Bloom!”

Twilight eyes us all carefully before finally speaking, “You fillies must think I’m really stupid, don’t you?”

I perk up! “I called you an idiot and a stupid jerk when you first adopted me!”

The Crusaders all turn to me and the white one says, “You did? Cozy! That wasn’t very friendly!”

Twilight’s violet eyes widen, “Well uh, okay, th-that’s true! Cozy Glow did say those things to me!”

I move my head forward because now it’s time to go on the offensive! “My real body is an alicorn because of The Guardian Amethyst, created by Harmonia herself!”

The pink filly on my left asks, “Who’s Harmonia?”

Twilight’s eyes widen when it suddenly occurs to her that we’re all telling the truth… “Why the name change?”

I sigh for the umpteenth time, “I thought it was dumb, but… “

The white filly smiles at Twilight, “I like being Sweetie Bloom, though! It’s unique!”

The pink filly says, “Yeah, and Cozyloo is also a neat term for me to use!”

Twilight stares at use blankly, “Ooooookaaaaayyyy! We’re keeping the name change!”

“Apparently!” I add, before frowning because I still think this is dumb!

She stands there silently for a moment… “You fillies better come inside! I’ll send to your parents to let them know you can’t be home right now and that you’ll be taken care of by me!”

“And Applejack!” Says the white filly!

Twilight sighs, “Well, your caretakers! Now come inside, fillies! We need to figure out what we’re gonna do about Discord!”

I frown and say in my raspy voice, “Oh, golly!”

<*****>

I stare at the white filly across the table, “Since we’re alone now, I gotta tell you, I think I’m getting used to your body now?”

She sighs, “Oh, golly gee, I know what you mean! I’m almost flying like a pro now, after hours of practicing, but now my wings are sore!” and widens her eyes, “I don’t care if my wings work right now! I’ll walk, instead!” and nods.

I giggle, “Yeah, your scooter is addictive, I’ll admit! I can see now why you like riding this thing!” before frowning… Wait a minute!

She smiles, “Hey! Maybe I should get my scooter later, and we can go riding together?”

“Cozyloo, did you just use the words golly gee?”

Her eyes widen while she stares off to the side, “Uh, I uh, I think so? I uh, I guess I did, yeah!” before staring at me… “Oh, golly!”

We both stare at each other in silence for a moment…

I finally say, “Uh, when did you want to go scootering, anyway?”

“I guess muscle memory also applies to speech?”

I stare at the other pegasus, “Maybe? Have you been using the words you know to open any sentences, or ending any sentences with the word, huh?”

“You know, I’m actually not sure?”

I stare at her in silence…

I watch her begin to form a frown, “Oh, no!”

“You’re gonna turn into me now!”

She stares at me wide-eyed, “Do you feel active or sporty and like you need to push yourself to the limit at all, Scoota-glow?”

I think for a moment… “Well, gee! It’s only day one, but I was on your scooter for hours earlier!”

She gazes at me carefully… “But you just said that you liked it, didn’t you?”

“Uh, maybe? I might have said something uh, to that effect, yes? Perhaps?” I frown at her…

She stares at me with enormous brown eyes, “Oh, no!”

I look at back at her, “Well, maybe it won’t be so bad? I mean, I’ll live with your two aunts, and you can stay here with Twilight!”

“No! Twilight Sparkle is NOT my mommy!”

Suddenly, the door behind her opens, and I raise my neck to see a purple alicorn behind the threshold, “Yeah, I just talked about it with er, Sweetie Bloom and Apple Belle, and we’ve decided the best course of action would be a trap!”

“You know, I’m really smart! I could help you!” I say back to Twilight. “Also, why did want to meet with those two while me and Scoots waited here?”

She sighs, “Cozy, I needed to make sure this wasn’t a weird sort of trick you were pulling!”

I frown when I suddenly realize that this mare doesn’t yet trust me all the way… I decide to suppress my feelings about this, “Okay, sure! Makes sense! I guess?” before leaning forward, “And I think I know how we can trap Discord! We need to get him here with something he wants!”

The white filly at Twilight’s hooves frowns at me, “Well, what do we got that Discord would want?”

The yellow filly to her left turns her neck towards her, “We could use Fluttershy?”

The white filly frowns, “But how?”

<*****>

Fluttershy widens her azure eyes from her spot at the table, “But how do you know Discord will know we’re having a tea party?” as steaming white porcelain cups of hot black tea sit on the table in front of everypony...

I smile at her, “Oh, he knows! Trust me!”

Twilight turns to look at me from across the table, to the right of the yellow pegasus, “And what makes you think he’ll get jealous enough to come by?”

I turn to the alicorn, “Also, taken care of!”

Twilight frowns, “I’m not sure I like this?”

Fluttershy turns her neck right towards the purple pony, “I don’t know if I do either?”

The white filly turns her head left and asks me, “How did ya get Discord’s attention, anyhow?”

I turn right towards Sweetie Bloom, “I left a poster of all of us enjoying tea in Fluttershy’s closet, and specifically mentioned on it that he wasn’t there!”

She frowns, “Doesn’t that seem kinda childish? I mean, don’t ya think Discord’ll see right through it?” and leans towards me, “And what makes ya think Discord goes through Fluttershy’s closet, anyway?”

I smile at her, “Simple! It’s what I’d do in his hooves!”

“I’m still not so sure about this?”

Suddenly, we all hear a masculine voice say, “HOW DARE YOU HAVE A TEA PARTY WITHOUT ME!”

Her eyes widen, “Or, maybe it will work?”

Suddenly, we all see a motley brown serpent form in the middle of the room!

A serpent that soon screams as a blue sphere of magick begins to form around him!

He turns to Twilight, who just sits there at the table, calmly smiling up at him, “Hey! What gives?”

Twilight’s purple eyes widen, “You’ve activated my trap! Anypony er, anycreature teleporting in will be encased within a blue forcefield and rendered immobile!”

I stare at the purple alicorn and smile when I think about how we concocted this plan together…

The alicorn who continues, “And don’t try anything funny, either! Your being monitored!”

Also, apparently Discord goes through Fluttershy’s closet… I wasn’t so sure at first, but I thought it would be worth a shot!

Twilight frowns, “Now Discord, we can make this very easy! Simply restore everypony to their rightful body, and you’re free to go! Until that point, I will keep you trapped!”

I think about Twilight and all she had done… And about how she wormed her way into my heart…

Discord narrows his misshapen eyes, “And if I refuse?”

Twilight’s muzzle normalizes, “Well, then enjoy being trapped!”

I then think about how Discord forced us to work together on this…

“You can’t be serious!”

And how because of him, I like to scooter now…

Twilight nods, “Oh, I’m very serious Discord! I mean, “she stares down at me and smiles, “granted, your actions did eventually get me my wonderful daughter!” before raising her gaze back up to the draconequus and glowering, “But that doesn’t give you the right to interfere in ponies lives like that! As Princess of Equestria, I will protect ALL of my citizens, and that includes the Cutie Mark Crusaders and of course, my beautiful foal!” she averts her eyes back to me and then, up to Discord once more.

And now, after everything, she’s my mother… My strong powerful mother…

Discord frowns at Twilight…

Who then narrows her eyes, “So, what’ll it be, Discord? Imprisonment or righting your wrong?”

Cozyloo leans to me from the left, “We’re still going scootering, right?”

I nod yes to her while Discord sighs, “Alright FINE! I’ll release them under one condition!”

Twilight says, “No conditions Discord! Change them back and leave! NOW! We’re watching and waiting…”

Discord stares at the stern looking alicorn who narrows her eyes back at him…

“I believe everypony has had enough of you and your antics!”

… Oh, golly! I love this mare! I need to get her something soon?

Discord’s shoulders soon lower before he at last says, “FINE!” and snaps his eagle talon in the air…

And that was when I blacked out again!

(To be continued… )

Chapter 14: Revelations

I hear beeping…

Steady rhythmic beeping…

One beep, right after the other, and then silence…

Another beep, before a slightly softer one, and then silence again…

And another…

I hear a female voice say, “Well doctor, I gave her the usual doses of nutrients and drugs, but she’s still unresponsive… “

I then hear a male voice say, “That’s okay too! We’ll just jack her epinephrine! Give her 50 Ccs of Ponytol!”

I feel a slight pain in my right forehoof…

This is followed by a jolt of energy as I open my eyes up and quickly say, “Oh, golly!”

The blue earth pony doctor stares at me while standing next to a pink pegasus, in a nurse’s uniform, “Empress Cozy Glow! Thank Celestia you’re awake! You were out for two and a half hours!”

“How long was I, uh, where am I?” I ask the doctor.

He stares at me with his green eyes and I see medical equipment and shelves around the patient room as he says, “You’re in the hospital, Cozy! You were knocked unconscious into a coma when Discord left, and we don’t know exactly what happened?”

I eye this doctor seriously, “Well, what do you know?”

He frowns, “I know you’re a self-centered, egotistical brat!”

I open my eyes more and lean forward slightly, “Oh, golly! You must be Discord, huh?”

Suddenly, there’s a blinding blue flash where the doctor once stood, and he’s replaced by a screaming white filly!

The red pegasus nurse can only stand there with enormous blue eyes as her brown mane wafts in the breeze from my open window…

I must be on an upper story?

Sweetie Belle stops screaming and stares at me with her cerulean gaze, and squeakily exclaims, “Cozy Glow? Where am I? What happened?”

I sigh, “Discord happened!”

Her eyes normalize, “Oh, wow! Uh, where are we? Why are you here? What is Rarity gonna do with my triple fudge sundae?” and she blinks and closes her eyes while exclaiming, “I have so many questions!” before opening them to me…

I turn my head towards the nurse, who must be speechless? “Take it easy, ma’am! Discord is many things, but he’s no killer! I’m sure your doctor is just fine!” and then back to Sweetie, “Calm down! I’m sure Rarity will save your frozen treat for you, and we need to just figure these things out!”

We all hear a masculine voice say, “Oh, but you two need to play my game first!”

“Oh, golly! Hey Discord! You ever wonder why nopony likes you?” I say to the air while both white filly and red nurse stare at me perplexed…

“I’m not trying to be liked, Cozy! Now, listen! I… “

I cut him off, “No, you listen Discord! I’m not playing your game and I can’t play if I don’t know the rules!” before sticking my hooves in my ears, closing my eyes, and going, “La la la la la la la!”

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t hear you! La la la la la la la!”

“Cozy Glow! What’s wrong? What are you doing?”

I open my eyes and look to the right again to see the doctor standing to the left of a nurse, who still has her enormous blue eyes peeled on me…

Sweetie Belle turns her neck right towards the doctor and asks, “Who are you?” and then back at me, “And why am I standing over here now?”

Suddenly, everypony in the room freezes in place…

Or at least they stopped moving?

The male voice says, “Cozy, you really don’t understand?”

By this point, I’m almost out of patience, “No Discord! I understand that my life is great! I understand that I don’t need you here! I understand that Twilight is my loving mother now, and after everything I went through, and all of my pain and suffering, I finally have a chance to have a good life again! A life that doesn’t involve you!”

“You were supposed to be turned to stone, Cozy Glow… “

I’m silent for a moment because for some reason, those words hit me somewhere, “W-what?”

“But you were given another chance though, weren’t you? And you say you’ve proved yourself good?”

By this point, I’m really interested in this stone thing for some reason, “What do you mean, turned to stone?”

He sighs, and the world fades to black…

Soon, I see the world materialize again me, only I’m now standing on my hooves on top of a cement platform…

I see a large centaur there, that I recognize as my old pen pal, except he’s made of stone… I also see a fearsome looking bug creature there with an angry look in her eyes… And then, I see a smaller statue… It’s a pegasus filly… I know who this filly is…

“Where am I?”

“This was the way the world was supposed to turn out, but it didn’t because of that amethyst… “

I frown, “What?”

“Do you know why it was created Cozy?”

I’m silent for a moment as I steadily breath in and out of my nose…

In breath…

Out breath…

“Why Discord? Why was the amethyst created?”

“The amethyst is made of pain and tragedy… “

“What?”

The voice sighs…

In breath…

“The pain of Harmonia, at the tragedy of how her kingdom fell… She wanted to ensure that Equestria would be protected in the future… Do you honestly believe you’re worthy, after all the evil you’ve done?” *

Out breath…

“You know, there’s only one way to get reformed right?”

In breath…

I blink and I’m suddenly in the hospital bed with the doctor there at the side asking me, “Cozy Glow! Are you alright? Who are you talking to?”

Out breath…

I crane my neck right to stare at him and smile, “Oh, hiya doc! Fancy meeting you here!”

The doctor is silent… “25 Ccs of Dozemax!” And peels his eyes on me, “Cozy, you need to rest now!”

I feel a sharp pain in my right forehoof again…

And then, the world fades to black again…

<*****>

I hear a familiar squeaky voice, “Cozy? Are you awake?”

I say, “Sorta?” while laying there with my eyes closed…

“Uh, I already knew you were in room four thirty-seven!”

“Because you were here earlier, right?”

The squeaky voice stutters, “Y-yeah Cozy! Uh, what did Discord do when he teleported me out? Uh, can you open your eyes?”

“Probably?” I say before opening my eyes and craning my head right to see a white unicorn filly there with a two-toned mane and green eyes, “Oh, hiya Sweetie Belle!”

“Cozy, we need to talk!”

“You know, I was supposed to be a statue!”

Sweetie frowns, “What?”

I sigh, “Y-yeah… “I adjust my eyes to her and I’m not sure why I need to tell her this? “Discord showed me my statue and the way things were supposed to be… “

Sweetie is silent for a moment… “That’s ridiculous Cozy Glow! You’re here, alive and well with me, you’re the Empress of Friendship, and everypony now loves you!”

“Do they, Sweetie Belle?”

She frowns, “Well, why wouldn’t they?”

I blink, and I’m not sure how to say this, “I feel out of place now?”

“What?”

I sigh, “I’m not sure how to explain it?”

Sweetie smiles, “Cozy, I’m here for you… “

I stare at this weird smiling green-eyed white filly,** “I know Sweetie! I know!” and blink, “Well, after Discord showed me that statue, I uh, feel kinda different… Like, I’m not me…”

She stares at me blankly, “Well, what did Discord show you?”

“He showed me a set of three statues… One was Tirek, the centaur I used to write to, and I didn’t recognize the other, but she was some kinda bug creature… I saw her earlier, only she was much bigger then! And uh, the third statue...the third one was me… I saw me there, frozen in stone with a horrified look on my face… “

“That’s silly, Cozy Glow! Discord could show you anything just to mess with your mind! You really shouldn’t worry about it!”

“It felt so real though! Like, I wasn’t supposed to exist, and like, that was the way things were supposed to be,if that makes any sense!”

“Don’t worry about it Cozy! It’s just Discord trying to get into your head!”

I’m silent as I stare at the other filly… “I guess you’re right? Why are you here again?”

She starts and stares up at me, “I already told you! Discord teleported me out, but I needed to check on you and make sure you were okay, since uh, well, Discord is usually bad news!”

I smile at her, “I guess you are my friend, huh?”

She nods, “Of course, Cozy! Now, we need to get the other Crusaders here so we can figure out what to do about Discord?”

“What do you mean?”

“Because Discord is gonna be back! He wants you to play his game and you need to know that you’re not alone in this!”

I frown, “I’m not?”

She smiles again! “Nope! Prodigal or no, you’re still a Crusader! And we Cutie Mark Crusaders stick together!”

I smile again, “Thanks Sweetie Belle! I’d better go with you, since it’s not a good idea for any of us to be alone while Discord is on the loose!”

She frowns, “But you’re supposed to be bedridden in the hospital room?”

I smile wider, “Oh, don’t worry about that! You just go get the doctor now… Just let Cozy take care of everything!”

(To be continued… )

Author's Note

*Yes, that’s me metaphorically talking about my life…

**Sweetie Belle is now a Yugioh card! “I now summon MY GREEN EYED WHITE FILLY!”

Chapter 15: Crusaders

I teleport out of the clubhouse!

I teleport into some sort of green area…

I hear a high-pitched filly screaming to my right and I gaze around to see that I’m surrounded on all but one of my four sides by tall hedges!

My mind processes all of this as the screaming filly continues to wail on my right and I then hear Apple Bloom’s voice somewhere further rightsaying, “Calm down, Sweetie Belle! We’re not in tha clubhouse anymore, and Discord teleported us all somewhere’s else?”

The scream stops and I hear Scootaloo’s voice on my other side say, “Okay, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are both here! Cozy Glow! Are you around?”

I finally speak up, “Yeah! Oh, golly, I’m here too!”

Suddenly, my horn disappears! Then, my wings grow tiny!

I give the obvious reaction by screaming! “AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

I hear Scootaloo’s voice to my left say, “Oh, gosh! Cozy Glow! What’s the matter?”

“My horn is gone and my wings are tiny now!”

Suddenly, we all hear mischievous laughter coming from our front where the hedges open up, and soon, a familiar brown serpent appears in the sky just to my right!

I gaze up at him, “I’m supposed to be an alicorn, jerk!”

He points towards me with his eagle talon, “Oh, no Cozy Glow! You’re supposed to be a statue! But, I’ll give you a chance! You get one shot at redemption, but the thing is, you’re simply TOO POWERFUL as an alicorn, and so I feel the need to disable you!” before nodding further towards my left, “No offense, Scootaloo!”

I hear Scootaloo retort, “You really are a jerk!”

Discord smiles, “Yeah, whatever chicken pone! Anyway, the point is,” and he grows a beard and suddenly sports orange glasses, “this is not Nam! There are rules!” before making the beard disappear with the glasses, and continuing, “The first rule is, no wings and no magic!”

Sweetie Belle squeakily speaks up, “Hey! Why do I still have my horn, then?”

Discord smiles to my right, “Oh, Sweetie Belle! I meant REAL MAGIC that could actually be a threat to me! Your little levitation tricks won’t make a difference!”

“Jerk!”

Discord hums to himself before adjusting his gaze, “And the second rule is, all Crusaders must make it to the center of the maze as a unit, or the game is over, and I win!” before putting his paw and talon in front of his body to wiggle the appendages.

“Good luck, my little ponies!” Before throwing his upper appendages up into the air and vanishing again!

“He’s a jerk!”

I hear Apple Bloom say in her drawl, “Naow, hol’ on thar everypony! Lets head to tha center, and link up there!”

I hear Scootaloo reply, “On it!”

I hear Sweetie Belle, “We’re all gonna die!”

I say, “Hang on Sweetie Belle! We can do this!”

“Um, if you say so, Cozy!”

“Follow the sound of my voice!” I say as I begin trotting forward… “Try to find me in the maze, and we can all connect that way!” and I take a left to head further into the maze…

Sweetie says, “Alright Cozy! I trust you!” and I finally hear her start clopping down the trail…

“This ain’t nothin’!” I hear Apple Bloom say!

“Yeah, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we ALWAYS stick together!”

I eventually trot towards a curve to the left, and I see a russet brown pegasus filly with a purple Mohawk mane smile at me from that direction, “Hiya Cozy!”

I smile back, “Hiya Scootaloo!”

We both hear a smarmy masculine voice say, “Tell me Scootaloo, doesn’t it just burn you up that Cozy there is so much more agile and airborne with those normally large wings of hers?”

We both see the serpent appear in-between us as Scootaloo replies, “Not really? I mean, I was just made this way and I have no choice but to accept it! I’m a flightless pegasus!”

I point to the other pegasus and add, “Hey! I had my wings, and after the amethyst, I gained a lot of magic, and now I’m all-powerful, or whatever, but that filly is WAY more awesome, than I could ever be!” and smile her direction, “Because she manages to be amazing without her wings or a horn!”

She smiles at me, ear to ear!

“I love you, Scootaloo!” And I take a few more paces towards her to hug her, before Discord disappears…

“I love you too, Cozy Glow!” And she returns the hug…

<*****>

I hear Scootaloo trotting behind me…

CLOP CLOP CLOP CLOP…

I also see a left coming up and I raise my snout to yell, “Apple Bloom! Sound off! You gotta be near here, I think?”

We both hear Apple Bloom reply, “Yeah, yer just a little ways to tha left of me, I think?”

And as we follow the curve, we behold a yellow earth filly with red mane and tail, and a big pink bow on the back of her head!

We then hear a snide male voice muse, “Oh, and Apple Bloom surely has the worst of it all, right? No wings, and no magic, and on top of that, Cozy is so much brighter than her!” and we both see the serpent in the air continue, “And ta top it all off, she ain’t got no fancy book learnin!”

I smile when I realize what angle he’s trying to play, “That may be so Discord, but I know next to nothing about apples, she can still buck with WAY more force than me,” and I look down towards Apple Bloom and smile, “and if you look at her, she’s just so gosh darn adorable!”

Apple Bloom smiles at me, “AWW! I love you too, Cozy Glow!”

As I begin taking paces towards her… I then embrace her in a hug, as the serpent disappears behind me, and Apple Bloom soon returns it…

<*****>

Us three fillies finally make it to the center, before Apple Bloom lifts her snout, “Sweetie Belle! We’re in tha center naow! Jus follow my voice!”

I scream, “Yeah, Sweetie Belle! You’re not that far off, now!”

We then all hear a familiar squeaky voice scream, “Help! I’m stuck!”

Scootaloo turns her muzzle towards the left, “It came from that direction!”

I look up that way, “Hang on, Sweetie Belle! The rest of us are all together, now! We’re coming!” before taking off that way…

Crusader or no, I’m still a leader…

<*****>

I scream at the air, “Sweetie Belle! Say something!” As I keep trotting that direction down into the maze…

“I’m over here!” I hear the squeaky voice shout.

“We need to turn right here!” I say as I lead the other two Crusaders down the trail…

“I’m over here!” We all hear the voice shout as we make out way towards the T-intersection, and turn right, to see a white filly there, with her hoof trapped in an overgrown branch!

We suddenly see Discord appear behind us, wearing what appears to be a black leather jacket and crossing his upper extremities in front of him, as he says, “And here we have Sweetie Belle, the weakest link! I mean, her magic just amounts to cheap parlor tricks while Cozy can destroy mountains, and she’s got wings! At least Apple Bloom has a strong body!”

I smile as I crane my head over my shoulder to say, “Not true! Sweetie Belle can probably sing better than Fluttershy, and her two-toned mane is just so precious!”

And Scootaloo adds, “It’s true! I mean, my mane is awesome, but I could never compete with how adorable she is!”

And Apple Bloom finally says, “And her eyes just complete the look! I think she’s gonna be a rich pop star one day?”

Sweetie Belle finally raises her snout to yell, “Cut it out, girls! You’re embarrassing me!” as we all note the sudden redness of her cheeks!

The serpent disappears as I run towards Sweetie while saying, “Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! You two are stronger than me! Let’s get her loose now!”

“Yeah, no problem Cozy!” Apple Bloom says as she runs.

“On it!” Scootaloo adds while following.

<*****>

And so, after releasing Sweetie Belle from the overgrown root, which we’re still not sure was there before, finally the Crusaders made our way to the center of the maze, where we see a smiling happy serpent!

I keep trotting towards him, with my friends behind we, “We’re here, Discord! We beat your stupid game, and now we’re ready to go back to our clubhouse!”

He lowers his view to me, “And so you did, you little filly paragon leader, you!”

“You know, I’m not perfect!” I say before stopping just inside the center area, where I see us all surrounded by tall hedges, as Scootaloo marches to my right, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle position themselves on my other side…

“Be that as it may, you’re brighter and so much more than these other fillies ever could be! As such, you have a logical obligation to be the best ” and he wretches, “Empress of Friendship that you could be! I want you to remember that in the future!” before snapping his talon in the air and teleporting all of us out of there!

<*****>

“Oh, golly! I’m sure we can all agree, Discord is a jerk!”

“Here here!” Scootaloo chimes in from the other side of me, while lifting her glass of cider.

Suddenly, we all here the familiar voice of my mother, amplified and radiating across the Apple family farm, “Cutie Mark Crusaders! I felt strong magic earlier! Are you okay?”

I release some air from my lungs in a long sigh out of my snout as my eyes narrow, and mutter, “Oh, golly… Yeah, don’t worry everypony! I’ll take care of it!” before lifting my cider to my mouth for one good pull before I go deal with my mother…

(The end?)

Chapter 9: Empress Cozy Fixes Everything

The white unicorn frowns at me from her side of the purple table, “Wait! So what?”

I sigh, “We tell Flash Sentry that he’s the ultimate stallion and literally made Twilight gay!”

She frowns, “That doesn’t make any sense?”

I widen my eyes, “That’s the beauty part! It doesn’t have to! It’ll both placate his ego and put Twilight off limits for him! It’s golly perfect!”

She nods to make her horn bob, “Okay, so what do you do?”

“Well, telling those things to Flash should be a breeze and that’s why you’re doing that Sweetie! I’ll go find Rainbow Dash and deliver Twilight’s note!”

Her green pupils grow, “But Twilight didn’t write a note?”

“Of course not! I did! Rainbow will show up at The Castle of Friendship really wanting to be with Twilight because of what I wrote!”

She stares at me intently, “Well, you are pretty manipulative!”

I nod, “Right! But since Dash will think the letter was written by Twilight, she’ll trust it completely!”

“You’re using your powers for good now!”

I look at her, “Well, assuming a loving relationship between my mom and Rainbow Dash is a good thing, then yeah, I guess I am! We already determined I was reformed, you know?”

She smiles, “I know! But it’s just so good to see you turning over a new leaf!”

I’ll admit the thought of removing the skin from her face did occur to me when I replied, “Oh, golly! It’s not that big of a deal!”

Her mane bobs again, and I guess she does that when she’s excited? “Oh, but it is a big deal, Cozy! You’re actually doing good things now! With your talents no less!”

“I saved Scootaloo earlier, remember?”

“Cozy, I was there and saw it with own two eyes! Now why in Equestria would I remember a big event like that?”

I widen my eyes to see the smirk on her muzzle, “Knock it off, Sweetie! My point is, yes! I’m good! But we really don’t need to keep making such a big deal out of it, okay?” I say as I suddenly imagine her neck snapping at the end of a rope…

She sighs and lowers the smile on her muzzle to a dim smirk again, “Yeah, but I like nice Cozy Glow, even if she has WAY more power than most ponies I’ve known!”

“Um, right Sweetie Belle! So you know what to say, right? Any questions?”

She frowns, “Okay, I tell him his masculinity is so great as a stallion that Twilight simply can’t be with him and now she must be gay, right?”

I smile and nod, “Yup! Tell him that! I’ll go get Dash at her cloud house now since she’s off today and tell her Twilight likes her and that her beauty and charm is simply too great to ignore!”

“How do you know Dash is off today?”

“I can find out! Being royalty has its perks! So, you tell Flash Sentry what I told you to say, alright?”

She stares at me blankly while keeping the frown on her muzzle, “Um, okay! I can do that!”

<*****>

I finally see the cloud house on the North end of Ponyville and make my way there with my wings… It’s hard to teleport somewhere if you don’t know where it is!

I see it at the edge on the right side of the road and make my way there to land on the balcony in front of her front door… Well, I guess it’s a balcony? I’m not sure what else you would call it?

I use my right hoof to knock on the door…

BAM BAM BAM!

I hear a raspy feminine voice come from inside, “Hang on! I’ll be right there!”

The door soon opens and I see a blue pegasus pony behind it with magenta eyes and many colors in her mane and tail, “Uh, Cozy Glow! What are you doing here?”

I get in character and smile while widening my eyes, “Yes, Rainbow Dash! I had a letter for you from my mother!”

She frowns, “What?”

I raise my smile to maximum, tilt my head, and giggle, “He he! Yeah, she likes you and wanted to see you! You’re very special!” before handing her the letter from my floof with my right hoof…

Her eyes widen, “I am?” before she takes the letter from me…

I straighten my head and widen my eyes for maximum effect, “Of course, Dash! You never noticed how friendly and nice she’s always been to you? Surely you noticed that she really liked you?” The truth is, I never noticed anything special, but if I say something like that, I know her mind will start looking and it should find something…

“Um, not really?”

I sigh and look down when I realize she’s tougher than that! I look back up cutely, “Well, she really likes you and you need to be at the Castle of Friendship today at five-thirty!”

“Five-thirty PM?”

I frown, “Well, obviously Dash! It’s ten in the morning now!”

At that point, I saw something I never thought I’d see in a thousand years… I saw Rainbow choke! “B-but what do I bring? What do I say?” She exclaims with enormous eyes that dart this way and that and a nervous frown on her muzzle!

I narrow my eyes when I realize that I’m going to have to coach this other pegasus… I smile again, “Just bring yourself Dash! Trust me! She’s loves you now! You’ll do fine!” and then I think to myself that I should talk to my mom before their meeting… And then I wonder why I’m doing this again?

I begin to think she might also be fond of Twilight when she says, “Um, o-okay! Uh, yeah! I kinda wanted to say a few things to her anyway! Thanks for the letter Cozy, and I’ll see you at five-thirty!” before she shuts the door and I’m left alone standing on the balcony…

“Oh, golly!”

<*****>

I stare at the clock on the other side of my throne room and smile as I think that everything should go just swell now! Sweetie will soon get rid of Flash, Rainbow Dash knows what to do, and everypony is where they need to be! When suddenly, the door to the room opens and I see a small white unicorn with a wide cerulean eyes who says, “Cozy! It didn’t work! Flash is coming up here right now!”

I widen my eyes, “Oh, golly!” and teleport to the front of Twilight’s throne room!

I look around the stone hallway at the door 50 feet to my front, which soon opens up and I see a white unicorn stallion with a flared out neon blue mane hurriedly galloping towards me!

I make my horn glow again and we both vanish in a bright white light!

<*****>

I stare down at the white stallion from the top of the well to see him frantically looking around before finally turning his gaze upward, to stare at me, looking down at him… I’m thinking about lotion for some reason when he says, “Oh, thank Celestia! Empress Cozy Glow! I somehow got trapped in this well in the forest! Could you get me out please?”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that Flash!

His eyes widen, “What?”

I sigh, “Look! I can’t explain, but you need to stay put for five hours and you can’t see Twilight until tomorrow, okay? I know it’s boring and I’ll bring you puzzles and food later! Just sit tight Flash!” and suddenly wonder when I developed empathy?

He yells back, “What are you talking about? And how do you know about this well?”

Why must prisoners be so demanding? “I’ll tell you everything later! I just need you to trust me! I outrank you, remember?”

He looks down and sighs, “W-well, I guess that’s true?” before adjusting his gaze back up to me.

I nod, “Golly right! Now stay put! That’s an order!” before teleporting out…

<*****>

I stare at the larger purple alicorn on the other side of the purple table, “Okay, Flash will not be bothering you again, and Dash is coming over at five-thirty for a date!”

Her violet eyes widen, “Wow Cozy! How did you take care of all that?”

I smile, “Me and Sweetie have our ways! The important thing now is that you need to understand that Dash also has a thing for you!”

“What? How can you be so sure?”

“Oh, please mom! The way she was acting extra nervous and all the things she wasn’t telling me! Either she has a crush on you or there’s some elaborate conspiracy here!”

Her eyes narrow again, “Well, we can’t rule out conspiracy!”

I stare at her carefully, “You’re nervous, huh?”

Her eyes widen once more, “What? Me? Nervous? No! Never!” before she throws her forehoof in the air as if to brush me off…

“You know, you and Dash do have one thing in common… You’re both terrible liars!”

She frowns and sulks, “Okay, fine! I’m nervous!”

“You’re a lot more nervous now because it’s somepony you actually want to be with, right?”

She sighs, “Well, yeah!” and she looks down…

I don’t know where the advice comes from when I say to her, “Mom, look! You’re an amazing pony! And anypony worth being with is going to see that and appreciate it! And you know, I think Rainbow Dash is a fine choice to do just that!”

She looks up at me, “You think so?”

I nod and lie, “I know so!” and smile at her…

“Well, you’ll be there too, right?”

I widen my eyes when I imagine the ultra-boring dinner between Rainbow Dash and my mother and think I’d rather be drug across the Everfree by my snout! “Of course mom! I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” I say before widening my eyes as I smile at her…

“You don’t want to be there, do you?”

I eye her carefully… “You want the truth or a lie?”

She looks down and says, “Fine! You can go have a pizza party with your Crusader friends for dinner instead and I’ll just meet you back at the castle later…“

I frowned when I looked at this other alicorn and saw the look on her face… And then, I once again, say the unthinkable, “Mom! If you truly want me and Sweetie there to support you, I guess we can be there too?”

She stares at me, “Well, you don’t have to? And why does Sweetie have to be with you?”

I suddenly have the same question in my mind, “Well, Sweetie Belle is supporting us in this whole operation and I think it’s uh, appropriate that she also be there!”

She frowns, “Well, okay Cozy! If you really think it’s necessary… “

I smile, “Golly right! Five-thirty! We’ll be there!”

(To be continued… )