A little ways out in the meadow, just a few kilometers away from the Sweet Apple Acres family home, there stood a modest little cottage, made from apple tree wood. For the last 2 and a half years, this unassuming structure was what Applejack and Rainbow Dash called home.

The pair had officially moved in on the day of their wedding, after spending the prior six months building it. It was a testament to Earth Pony architectural ingenuity, nothing short of a super-tornado would tear it apart.Over time, most Ponyville residents, including the couple themselves, had come to know it by the name ‘The Zap Apple Cottage’, a title that Applebloom could be thanked for coming up with.

Even within the relatively short amount of time since its construction, The Zap Apple Cottage had already become a place that held many memories. Some bad, some good, some really good, and a few that were just kinda… weird.

Needless to say, it was everything that a cowgirl farmer and her flying daredevil wife could ask for.

“Wow, those two live in THAT crap hole?”

Of course, it may be an acquired taste.

Twilight and Cozy Glow stood a few hundred feet away from the cottage. Rope had been tied around the filly’s wings to prevent her from flying off, she was a quick little devil, and Twilight kept a stern eye on her at all times. For the entire walk from the school to where they were now, Cozy had made sure her displeasure hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Well, that ‘crap hole’ is where you’re going to be living for the foreseeable future,” said Twilight with only a hint of snark. Cozy’s eyes widened, and her jaw hung agape.

“I think I would have preferred getting executed.”

Twilight groaned in exasperation. She really didn’t know how much more of this little twit she could stomach, and felt bad in advance for what Applejack and Rainbow Dash were getting themselves into.

Well, they volunteered, she thought to herself. She waited patiently for her two friends to arrive, her eyes never leaving Cozy, who was staring at her tied-up wings with narrowed eyes. The filly began to shift uncomfortably, and looked up at Twilight.

“My wings are getting itchy.”

“We’ll untie them when we’re inside,” Twilight said flatly.

“Then let’s go inside, already!”

“Not until Rainbow and AJ get here.”

Cozy whined angrily. “Where the hell even are those chumps?”

“Right here, drip.”

Both ponies looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering above them, her forelegs crossed and a smirk on her face. Twilight smiled while Cozy rolled her eyes.

“Where’s Applejack?” asked Twilight, as Rainbow landed in front of them.

“AJ’s still got some work left at the farm, she’ll be here in a minute.”

Cozy scoffed. “Of course she works at a farm.” Rainbow narrowed her eyes, and Twilight cautiously took a step back. She knew very well that the filly was swimming into dangerous waters.

"What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow more snarled than asked.

“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it,” replied Cozy with her trademark mock innocence. “Farmers do a lot of important work, they’re truly the backbone of Equestria. I’m just surprised somepony as ‘high-flying’ as you would settle for… one of them.”

Her eyes piercing right into the little pegasus’s soul, Rainbow grit her teeth. “…one of… them?”

“Oh, you know… a mudpony.”

Twilight made a mental note to remember to buy one foal sized coffin later, as Rainbow inched closer to Cozy. The filly held an annoyingly pleased smile on her face, but it started to dissipate as the larger pegasus grew closer, her posture hunched, her steps slow and precise, her face locked into a haunting scowl.

Cozy shrank back as Rainbow lowered her head, her muzzle an inch apart from Cozy’s forehead.

“Let me make something very clear, twerp,” she began in a voice so low it sent chills up even Twilight’s spine. “You can say whatever you want about me. But if you ever talk about my wife like that again, I’ll make you spend a night in the middle of the Everfree forest, tied up against a tree.

“And if, Celestia Forbid, you say that word in front of her, I will send you straight to Tartarus myself. Ya got that, punk?”

Sweat dripping off her like a faucet, Cozy gulped, and nodded slowly. This seemed to satisfy Rainbow, who gave a firm nod of her own and backed off.

That… could have gone worse, Twilight thought to herself. There was a brief stretch of awkward silence before a voice from nearby caught their attention.

“Howdy, Y’all!” Applejack came into view from the trees, trotting briskly towards them. Rainbow’s stern glare instantly changed to a big smile as her wife came up to them, and greeted her with a peck on the cheek. “Sorry ah took so long, Mac got himself stuck in a tree hollow. Had to saw the thing in half to get ‘em out.”

“Is he okay?”

“Eh, he’ll live.”

With everyone present and accounted for, the four ponies made their way towards the Zap Apple Cottage. During the short canter, Applejack took note of the rope around Cozy’s wings, and winced. It was hardly the first she’d seen a Pegasus tied up like, but seeing it in this context, and with a foal no less, felt a bit wrong.

Rainbow, sensing her wife’s sudden discomfort, leaned in for a nuzzle. “Somethin’ buggin’ ya?”

“I dunno, it’s just…” Applejack spared another glance at Cozy. “Don’cha think it’s a bit cruel havin’ her tied down like that?”

Raising an eyebrow, Rainbow looked at Cozy for herself, then back to Applejack. Her mouth scrunched up in contemplation, but she ultimately shrugged. “Eh, maybe, but… I think it’s sort of a… what’s that thing Twilight says? A necessary evil, or something?”

“I guess…” the farmer mare didn’t really look convinced. Rainbow sighed, and draped a wing over her wife.

“Look, the way I see it, compared to what could have been done with her, a little wing restraint is pretty tame. ‘Sides, she won’t have to stay like that for long. We’re here!”

They were in fact here. There. Rainbow flew over to get the door, and held it open for the rest of them. Once they were all inside, Twilight leaned over to Rainbow and whispered. “Everything else locked?” Rainbow nodded.

Stepping through the living room, Cozy scanned the interior of her new place of living, appearing to scrutinize every little detail. It was a model of un-remarkability; two red couches, one slightly longer than the other, a beanbag chair in the corner and a countertop in the center, all atop wooden floor panels covered by navy-blue carpeting.

She opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a purple glow enveloping her backside. Twilight used her magic to untie the rope, and just like that, her wings were free.

“Oh, thank the lord,” she muttered, fluttering the tiny appendages, and lifting into the air, whatever she was going to say completely forgotten as she buzzed around the room. Rainbow almost thought it was cute, until she remembered who the filly in question was.

“Welcome to yer new home, Cozy Glow,” exclaimed Applejack. The filly abruptly stopped flying, and turned to Applejack with disinterest as she landed.

“Yeah. Right. Cool.”

Another bout of awkward silence passed over, until Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, um… I should be going now. But first, may I have a word with you two in private?” She gestured to Applejack and Rainbow, who exchanged a glance, and then both nodded.

The three trotted over to the kitchen. Cozy didn’t follow, but she kept her eyes on the kitchen entrance. She heard them speaking in hushed tones, too quiet to make anything out. Still, it sounded like they were having an argument.

“…..I just think it’s best if you keep her under house arrest for the time being,” Twilight explained sternly. Applejack didn’t seem to agree.

“And ah think that goes against what we’re tryin’ to do here. She’s not gonna learn much if anything if’in she’s cooped up in here the whole time. Back me up here, Dashie.”

Rainbow bit her lip, and rubbed her neck. “I don’t know… Twilight does have a point. We can’t keep an eye on her 24/7, and we can’t really trust that she won’t do anything bad if she manages to get away.” Applejack didn’t reply, instead choosing to stare at the floor with a frown.

“That’s not the only thing,” said Twilight. “Doing this is just as much for her own safety.”

“Whaddya mean?” inquired Applejack.

“Everypony, more or less, knows about Cozy Glow and what she did, and I know that there are a few ponies in town who might try and do something to her if she happened to be out and about.”

The earth pony was silent for a moment, mulling Twilight’s words over. “…Ah hadn’t thought of it like that.”

Rainbow simply scoffed. “If anypony wanted to try something like that, we could take ‘em,” she said, proudly holding a hoof to her chest. Twilight didn’t look convinced.

“What happened to ‘we can’t keep an eye on her 24/7’?”

Rainbow had no retort, and instead sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Like I said, this is only for the time being,” Twilight reassured. “If everything goes well, we should get to a point where she can go outside, with your supervision, and eventually, let her be entirely free to go whenever she likes.”

With a sigh, Applejack finally conceded. “Alright, Twi. You made your point. We’ll…lock her in.” Her face still looked quite uneasy as she said those last three words.

Twilight turned to Rainbow. “And you both agree on this?”

Sharing a glance with her wife, Rainbow nodded. “If AJ says yeah, then…I guess I say yeah, too.”

“Good,” said Twilight with a single nod. “Well, I’ll get out of your manes now, best of luck to you both.”

She trotted out of the kitchen, and on her way to the front door, briefly locked eyes with Cozy. They both held unreadable expressions. With a final good-bye to her friends, Twilight walked out.

Cozy turned around, and let out a small yelp as she saw her new guardians hovering over her mere inches away. Rainbow held a flat look on her while Applejack shot the filly an odd smile.

“Soooo…” the Earth Pony began. “We should probably, uh, give ya a tour of the place, hehe.” Cozy didn’t roll her eyes, but it looked like she wanted to.

“I think I can find my way around,” she said dismissively. Rainbow started to say something, but was cut off by her wife soldiering on, however awkward it still was.

“Well, at least let me show ya to yer room, it’s just a few feet away from ou-“

“Yeah cool,” The filly interrupted as she flew into the hallway. Applejack sighed, and turned around to follow her, but stopped as she saw Cozy opening the door to her and Rainbow’s bedroom.

“That’s uh, our bedroom-“

Cozy shut the door, and flew over to another one on the right, opening it as well.

“That’s the bathroom-“

Another door shut. At last, she flew over to the left, and opened the door to the guest bedroom. “This one mine?”

Applejack nodded, taking a few steps forwards. “Sure is, if ya want, I can-“

Without saying a word, Cozy flew into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. Applejack hung her head low and sighed, earning a comforting hoof from Rainbow.

“Don’t worry, babe. We’ll figure this out.”

Cozy laid down on her new bed, eyes staring up at the ceiling. It was an average sized room; one closet, a small desk facing a window, and a nightstand with a lamp to the left of the bed. Said lamp was currently the only light source in the room, and it only stretched out so far.

The filly couldn't really care less about how bright her room was. All she really cared about was leaving. She had tried to fly out though the window, only to find it had been sealed shut. Evidently, they had planned for her trying to escape.

Those idiots are smarter than I thought. If they had the forethought to seal the windows, it only tracked they would have kept the rest of the house locked down as well. If I want to get outta here, I’m gonna have to be clever. She sat up in bed, and rubbed her chin as she thought out her options.

Doing a quick little survey of the room, looking for something useful, Cozy’s eyes landed on a small stack of paper and some markers on the desk. She smirked.

Flying over to the desk, Cozy grabbed a piece of paper and a black marker, and started writing:

Escape Plans

Author's Note

This chapter has been re-edited to better suit the vision of this story that i have now, and i will begin proper work on Chapter 2 soon.