No Sweeter Innocence

Chapters

Limbo
Lust
Gluttony
Greed
Wrath
Heresy
Violence
Fraud
Treachery
Epilogue: The Adversary

Limbo

Cozy Glow isn't sure why she drinks.

The taste of alcohol on her tongue is pretty gross, all things considered, and it's not completely mitigated by the sweetness of whatever sugary things they put in this particular cocktail. She’s basically just swallowing without taking the time to appreciate any flavours.

And who needs the numbing effect of alcohol when you already feel dead on the inside?

"Another one," she demands, slamming her empty glass down with more force than she intends. It's hard to judge these things when everything's fuzzy.

Right, yes, that's why. Because there's a difference between feeling numb and feeling empty. And it's a little harder to think about the latter right now, at least.

There's movement on her right, someone approaching the seat beside her. A thought flickers slowly across her brain, that this place isn't that busy tonight. There's probably a dozen other seats that don't have any ponies next to them, but someone chose to make a beeline for her.

"Room for one more?"

The voice is sweet, and soothing, and conjures up images of bells ringing in the snow, and it pisses Cozy off. It pisses her even more off when she looks to her right and sees the alicorn attached to that voice, the only one she's never seen up close before. "Of course, Your Majesty," she sneers, gripping the counter of the bar to keep herself stable as she gives her a mocking bow. "It's an honour to make the acquaintance of one such as yourself."

Princess Flurry Heart grins, and she is beautiful. "Thank you, Cozy Glow. You're quite impressive as well, you know."

Cozy snorts. "No need to rub it in. You alicorns already won."

Bright blue eyes pierce right into her soul as Flurry stares at her. "Wow, I knew it was bad, but that's just sad."

"What do you want, Princess?" Cozy slumps back against the counter. "I thought your kind was supposed to be nice and stuff."

"I want us to help each other," Flurry said. "You have something I want, and It's hard to see somepony who used to be great reduced to a drunken, depressed mess with nothing left for her in life."

She's so young, Cozy thinks. So young and full of life, just like she used to be. And full of useless ideals, too. "Do you know any spells to turn me back into an alicorn?"

And Cozy has to at least try, if there's a chance she can be like that again.

"Would that make you happy?" Flurry counters.

"I held all of Equestria in my hooves," Cozy says, eyes narrowing on Flurry. "I could have crushed every single pony into dust if I wanted to. What do you think?"

"Surely there must be something more that gave you cause to live," Flurry insisted. "Something beyond total dominion that you cared for."

"You're about eighteen years too late to be doing the guidance counsellor routine, filly. Speaking of, are you even old enough to be here without your parents?"

"I turned eighteen last month," Flurry declares proudly. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

"Good for you," Cozy replies. "Can I go back to my drink now?"

"Not until you give me a chance to make you an offer." Flurry Heart radiates a force of personality that's difficult to ignore. She trots closer and puts a hood on Cozy's shoulder. "You're only like this because of what we did to you, so let me give you your spark back. And in return, I want you to teach me."

Cozy raises an eyebrow. "Teach you?"

"I've been reading about you since I was a filly," Flurry admits quietly, stripping away a layer of that mask of the perfect princess she's been wearing as she stares at Cozy, the intense fire in her eyes bared for her to see. "I know all about you taking over the School of Friendship after draining all of Equestria's magic, and then your conquest of Equestria using power stolen with Grogar's bell. The cunning and skill you needed to do something like that when you were so young amazed me. I want to learn how to do all that, how to rule in ways that my mother and my aunts would never teach me."

"So, what, you try some feel-good therapy manure on me and I teach you how to use friendship as a weapon?" Some small part of Cozy's mind, long suppressed, crawls its way back to the surface. It sees a young alicorn, so very vulnerable and easy to use, and plans within plans begin to unfold. Why, with her power, she could— she could—

"I'd be willing to do more than talk, of course," Flurry adds. "Whatever you want from me in return for your knowledge, just name it."

The old darkness returns in full force at those words. Flurry Heart is painfully pure and beautiful, an angel with a face that could bring anypony to their knees.

And if she could not become a Goddess again, then she would drag one of them down into Tartarus with her instead.

"Outside," Cozy says after glancing around the bar. There's too many ponies around for this. She pulls out a hoofful of bits and leaves it on the counter before sliding off her stool. Despite being over a decade her senior, Flurry is already taller than her, though she doesn't yet have the towering physique of the other alicorns.

Flurry follows behind her obediently as the two of them make their way out into the open night air. It's cold and crisp, seeping into Cozy's lungs as she leads Flurry through streets of dirt and grass until she finds a deserted alleyway completely enshrouded by night.

There's no fear in the young princess as she steps into the darkness with her. Cozy wonders if that will change.

"First lesson," Cozy says, meeting Flurry's inquisitive, eager gaze with a twisted one of her own. "Don't go following strange mares into dark alleyways."

"I'm not scared of you," Flurry replies, defiant.

"You should be." Cozy's eyes narrow as she affects a sinister grin. "Let's see just how far you're willing to go to be my student." She reaches up and grabs Flurry's cheeks with her forehooves.

Flurry's eyes widen, but she stays still, determined and... yes, Cozy can see a flicker of fear in those deep blue eyes as well, faint but present. There's a chance to go back now, to walk away and pretend like this incredibly weird night hadn't happened at all. It isn't too late.

And then she thinks of drinking herself into a stupor tomorrow night instead, and the darkness snuffs out the last, flickering light in her soul.

A hunger for things she shouldn't have, but would take anyways, returns in full force. She thought it had long faded away along with everything else, and her grin widens as she gives into it. She owes the princesses nothing, and she's going to take what she can before they stop her again.

Starting with this young, beautiful alicorn with more heart than sense.

Cozy leans in, and kisses a princess who is little more than a child.

And they both are lost.

Lust

For a moment, Cozy Glow thinks she is happy.

It's not the pleasure of the kiss itself, per se. Flurry is clumsy and inexperienced and it's been a while for Cozy as well, so their tongues slide haphazardly around each other as they press their muzzles together.

But then she opens her eyes and sees wings and a horn. And there is no greater rush than bringing one of their kind low.

“You really want this, huh,” Cozy says when Flurry’s eyes open again, wide and glittering. “I bet that’s why you came to me in the first place. What, did the perfect pretty princess get bored of all the suitors her age?”

Flurry shakes her head, looking away. “I’m only showing you how dedicated I am to learning from you.”

“Aww, how cute!” Cozy’s voice dripped with open mockery. “You’re going to have to learn how to lie way better if you wanna make it in this world, Princess.”

"Is that all you wanted from me, then?" Flurry is doing a terrible job at hiding the trembling in her voice, and that only spurs Cozy on more.

"'Course not." Cozy taps her forehead with a hoof. "Now, why don't you use that pretty little horn of yours to teleport us back to your place?"

A flash of panic in Flurry's eyes as her gaze jerks back to Cozy. "If the guards see you—"

"Better make sure they don't catch us, then, huh?" Cozy smirks, suppressing her own worries. Even if she has nothing left to lose, facing the wrath of the Royal Family head-on isn't exactly something she's eager to face. But... "You don't win by playing scared, Little Snowstorm."

As expected, Flurry frowns, her pride injured. "Fine," she says, her horn glowing.

In a flash, Cozy finds herself inside a lavish bedroom. Walls of polished crystals reflect light from the giant chandelier dangling in the middle of the room. Every piece of furniture a teenage filly might need is present in exquisitely carved detail. On the bed is a worn, stuffed snail plushie that judges Cozy with its unblinking gaze.

She turns back to see Flurry's horn pulsing as magic spreads out and coats the walls in a thick layer, like a barrier of slime. "There," the young princess declares. "That should keep anyone from coming in or finding out that I'm not alone in here."

"Good girl." Cozy climbs onto the bed, running her hoof across the perfectly smooth, silken sheets. "Nice place you got here, princess," she says, idly playing with the stuffed snail toy. "You really ready to give this perfect world up?"

"I don't intend to lose anything," Flurry declares firmly. "Only to gain."

Cozy snorts. "Sorry, princess, but it doesn't work like that." She puts a hoof over her heart. "Guess we'll see if you have what it takes to give up what you need to. Now, come here."

Like a lamb being beckoned forward by a lion, Flurry approaches cautiously. Her whole body is tense, muscles taut in a way that shows off the defined lines of her body. She looks so enticing, the fear a heady cloud that stirs something primal in Cozy's brain.

"You're really pretty," Cozy comments idly, her hoof reaching out to stroke Flurry's mane. It's soft and smells nice, like a snowy meadow after a blizzard. "I bet you hear that a lot, huh."

Flurry shivers as Cozy's hoof slides lower, onto her withers. "Yeah." The answer comes out softly. "I know how good I look."

"And you're ready to give that to me?" Cozy asks. "Have you ever even kissed another pony before? Or was I your first?"

Flurry blushes but doesn't respond, and Cozy's grin widens.

"Aww, so I took your first kiss?" Cozy's voice drips with smugness. "Well, little snowstorm, I'm gonna need a lot more from you if this is gonna work out." She's drawing slow circles around Flurry's back now, making her alternately relaxed and stiff as she loses herself in her touch for a few moments before coming back to her senses.

"H-How much more?" Flurry's voice catches in her throat.

Cozy's hoof slips lower, lower, lower, and her lips brush against Flurry's ears as she whispers, "Everything."

Flurry shudders, squeezing her eyes shut.

"C'mon, princess, don't act like you're going to just lie there and think of the Empire." Cozy presses a kiss against Flurry's neck. "That's no fun." Her hoof rests against Flurry's rump, soft yet firm under her touch. "Why don't you tell me how much you really want this before I get bored and leave?"

"I-I want you," Flurry finally admits with a shaky breath.

"That's a good start." The words are punctuated by an approving slap from Cozy that makes the flesh of Flurry's rump jiggle lightly, sending mesmerizing waves down her coat. "Keep going."

Flurry gulps. "Must I?"

"The thing about having to lie to everyone else is that you need to make sure to be honest to yourself." Cozy's clicks her tongue as she rubs the place where she's spanked Flurry. "So tell me how hot you feel, how much you want my hoof to go just a little bit lower."

Flurry's voice and body tremble in counterpoint to one another as she speaks. "I... It feels like it's burning down there. It's... it's so hot between my back legs, but I'm tingling everywhere."

"Like this?" Cozy trails kisses down Flurry's neck towards her belly and then back up again, using plenty of tongue to bathe her coat in her saliva. "You thought about this before you even came to the bar, didn't you?" she accuses.

"Y-Yes." Flurry burns in shame at the admission, her whole body shaking.

"The Empire would be so disappointed to learn that their perfect pretty princess has a thing for older, unsuitable mares," Cozy whispers, her tongue poking against Flurry's ear.

"Please don't tell them," Flurry begs.

"Don't worry, I won't," Cozy assures her. "You're all mine." She pushes against Flurry, and there's a moment of hesitation before she yields, allowing herself to be rolled over onto her back as she closes her eyes.

And that single moment of submission is better than any drug.

Cozy's hoof touches Flurry in her most intimate places, planting the seeds of corruption deep within her body. Every cry and sob and moan spurs her on and adds fuel to the fire in her own loins, but that doesn't matter at the moment. Eventually, once she's toyed with her prey enough, Cozy's tongue joins in the violation of her princess, inflicting new heights of pleasure upon her victim as she thrashes and pleads wordlessly for mercy.

Lust and domination and darkness consume her mind as she drives Flurry towards her release, and those feelings only sharpen when Flurry doesn't resist at all afterwards as Cozy tugs her head between her own back legs. Her little snowstorm is dutiful in her reciprocity, and her skill is less important than her innocence in bringing Cozy to her own climax.

And then, when they both collapse in exhaustion, side-by-side as if they were actually lovers, the void in Cozy's heart is replaced by a black sludge that she's fed to Flurry.

She can't wait to feed her more of it in the morning.

Gluttony

Cozy Glow wakes up feeling empty again.

She glances to her side to see Flurry Heart still asleep, looking like the innocent princess everypony else believes her to be.

And yet, knowing that she's stolen that innocence doesn't even put a smile on her face. It was fun in the moment, but now the moment is gone, and with it, all the joy and satisfaction she had felt.

The solution was obvious, of course.

"Wake up, little snowstorm." By the time Flurry opens up her eyes, Cozy's head is already between her back legs, her tongue already hard at work continuing the corruption of the young alicorn.

Flurry groans, first in tiredness, and then in pleasure as her mind registers what Cozy is doing. "W-What?" Her eyes widen. "Cozy?"

"Morning, sleepyhead," Cozy says, never stopping her ministrations. "What, you didn't think we were done yet, were you?"

"I-I need to get ready for class," Flurry stammers out. "I have a presentation on—"

"Who cares about that?" Cozy asks. "Doesn't this feel way better than any lecture?"

Flurry pushes her away, and her unintended strength is so great that Cozy has no choice but to acquiesce. "That doesn't matter," she says firmly. "I have a duty to myself and to the Empire to set a good example and learn what I need to become a proper princess."

"Oh, I get it." Cozy waves a hoof dismissively. "You just wanted a little taste of teenage rebellion, and now that it's not sitting so comfortably in your stomach, you're ready to turn tail and run." She shook her head. "Figures. I shouldn't be disappointed that you're just as much of a goody-two-shoes as the rest of the princesses." She made a show of casually hopping off the bed. "Well, hope you have a happy rest of your life, little snowstorm."

She barely makes it halfway to the door before Flurry calls out. "Wait!"

Cozy turns around, triumphant. "Yeah?" She taps her hoof against the pristine crystal floor impatiently. "You have any last goodbyes you wanna say?"

"Fine." Flurry looks down at the bed, not meeting Cozy's gaze. "I'll... I'll skip class and do what you want." Her cheeks burn at those words.

"Good girl." Cozy flits back onto the bed, giving Flurry a kiss as her reward.

"So, what do we do now?" Flurry sneaks nervous glances at the door, as if she's expecting a truant officer to burst through at any time. "We will need some kind of cover story if we're going to spend the day together."

"Sounds like a skill you're gonna have to learn fast," Cozy replies with a shrug. "You can figure it out later." Upon further reflection, she decides to throw her new pupil a bone. "This place is too bright for me. There's a safe house we used back in the day that's probably still in one piece." Cozy rattles off the coordinates. "Won't you be a dear and teleport us there, please?"

Flurry rolls her eyes but does as commanded.

What was once a lair where Cozy had plotted the downfall of the alicorns is now little more than a dusty apartment filled with boxes of plans that no longer matter. There were once supplies in the kitchen pantry in case she needed to hide out here for an extended period of time, but Cozy isn't exactly eager to find out if they're still good.

Flurry glances around the room with a disgusted expression on her face, her eyes settling onto the moth-eaten curtains that let in the sunlight through their holes. "Charming," she says, sarcasm dripping with her lips.

"Feel free to use that magic of yours to tidy up a little," Cozy says, and is somewhat relieved when a wave of magical energy clears the dust from the room, along with all the mysterious stains. It even mends the decaying fabrics in the room.

In short order, her hideout looks as it once did, and with that familiar sight a wave of longing washes over her. Not for the anger and hate that had consumed her mind while she drew up her plans to oust the alicorns— no, she still held that enmity somewhere in her cold, dead heart. But that sense of purpose, of feeling like she could actually do something with the bile and boiling blood in her veins, that she missed dearly.

She had felt a sliver of that last night, with Flurry.

And maybe she could feel it again today.

"Okay, let's get back to the bedroom," Cozy said. "I'm not done with you yet."

That knocks the confidence from Flurry's face. "O-Oh, okay."

Cozy spends the whole day tainting Flury further. By lunchtime, her own lust is thoroughly burnt out, but Flurry is still young and far from shallow as a vessel for carnal pleasure.

And Cozy fills her up in hopes that she will spill over into herself.

When she isn't inflicting sex acts upon her, Cozy and Flurry break to talk.

"So, what're you the alicorn of, anyways?" It's the easiest question for Cozy to ask in order to learn how to better drag down this filly she's accidentally ensnared without trying.

"I don't know," Flurry replies, which still gives Cozy a lot to work with. "Unlike the others, I wasn't granted my apotheosis during a moment of grand revelation. I was just... born like this." She looks away, allowing her mane to cover her face. "Even my cutie mark was granted to me when I led a ceremony at the Crystal Faire to empower the heart with the love of our people, which does not give me a clue as to what my domain would be."

"Wow, that sucks." Cozy busies herself in tracing out small circles in Flurry's coat, appreciating how silky smooth it is. "Is that why you came to me, then? Hoping that being a villain might help you with your whole coming-of-age self-discovery stuff?"

"Something like that," Flurry mumbles. "I'm... different from my parents. I've always known that. Not just because they earned their positions, but because they've always been good people."

Cozy smirks. "And you're a bad girl?"

"Something like that." Flurry lets out a bitter chuckle. "And I guess bad girls need to be punished, huh?"

Cozy responds by bringing Flurry to orgasm with her hoof, her mind churning all the while. Flurry's answers are often those of a child chafing under the perfect presence of her parents. And yet...

She's hiding something. It's quite obvious with how she's trying to play the role of the mysterious alicorn even with her heart laid bare to Cozy, but for the life of her the older mare can't figure out what's actually shrouded beneath her sometimes-vague words.

The questions Flurry asks after catching her breath don't help much in that regard either.

"What felt better?"

"Huh?" Cozy lifts her head up from Flurry's belly to stare at her.

“You held the world in your hoof twice,“ Flurry explains. "Once through guile and once through magic. Was it more satisfying to command ponies with just your words, or to crush them under spells no mortal could ever cast?"

For a moment, she looks far older than her eighteen years, the weight of eternity stirring in her voice and face. Cozy beats back the primal fear of such a powerful creature, reminding herself that she is the one in control. "Well, you'd know a thing or two about both, princess," she deflects.

"I wanted the perspective of someone who wasn't born with either," Flurry replies. "Well, someone who isn't my mother or my aunt."

"What, worried they'd think you were broken because you didn't hate having power like they do?" Cozy sneers.

"You know how they would answer the question." Flurry sighs. "So that's why I'm asking you."

Cozy makes a show of teasing Flurry as she thinks of a safe answer, her hooves tracing slow circles on the inside of her thighs. "I only really had the school the first time," she says eventually. "I had big plans, but those meddling students stopped me before I got very far. But the second time, I had all the princesses captured and we'd blown up Canterlot Castle, so that was way more of a big deal."

"Every princess except for my mother," Flurry corrects her. "And me, of course."

Cozy's eyes narrow. "Sounds like somepony needs to find something better to do with her mouth than ask dumb questions."

And so it goes. Cozy's kiss shuts Flurry up for a time, and the back-and-forth continues with both sides yielding as little ground as possible.

Night falls on a bed that reeks of sweat and sex, but Cozy doesn't care. She can feel her body finally beginning to give after the day's physical exertion, but Flurry can't be allowed to see that weakness.

"Well, that was fun," Cozy says casually, after making Flurry bring her to one final climax after several hours of convalescence on her part. "But we don't want ponies getting too suspicious, so you're gonna go home and go to school tomorrow like the good little girl everyone thinks you are, okay?"

Flurry lifts her head up from between Cozy's legs to stare at her, wide-eyed. "Just like that?" she asks, and the hurt in her voice almost makes Cozy feel powerful and pathetic.

But at least it's a feeling.

"What, were you expecting us to cuddle and do each other's manes after?" Cozy rolls her eyes, pushing Flurry away. "We're not marefriends. You're just hot."

Flurry gulps, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Right, of course. So, will I see you again afterwards?" she asks, far too desperate than she likely intends to come across.

"Yeah, sure." Cozy tries to sound as disinterested as possible. "I'll meet you here at six. Now get out while I shower." She heads towards the bathroom, not bothering to spare a glance at the filly she's spent the whole day defiling.

"Thank you," is the last thing Cozy hears before Flurry teleports away, and the words stick in her mind as the water descends upon her head.

Flurry is young, but not so naïve as to not see what Cozy is doing. She knows that Cozy is just using her.

So why does she sound so grateful?

The worst part is that Cozy hasn’t even gotten what she wanted out of her. For all the carnal pleasure that she's lost herself in, the emptiness is just as gnawing and ever-present as it was two days ago when she’d been a pony drowning herself in drink.

She slams a hoof against the wall, sending water spraying everywhere. It’s fine. This is just an appetizer, really, a quickie to serve as a prelude for what’s to come.

Soon, Cozy will have her revenge, and then she’ll feel whole at last.

Greed

Cozy Glow waits until half-past-six to return to the safe house.

As expected, Flurry is waiting there for her. “You’re late,” she says shortly.

“And you showed up on time?” When Flurry nods, Cozy chuckles. “Well, that sounds like your problem.” She walks up to her and pulls her head down for an aggressive, possessive kiss, her tongue invading Flurry’s mouth for a moment before darting back like a viper.

“Are we having more sex today, then?" Flurry blushes and looks away as she asks the question. Out of shame or desire or both, Cozy doesn't know.

Not that it matters either way.

"Maybe later tonight," Cozy says with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "We have other plans for now."

“Oh?”

“We’re going shopping!” Cozy declares cheerfully. "After you cast a disguise spell on yourself so you don't have to deal with ponies kissing your hooves."

Flurry frowns but holds her tongue, magic washing over her as she takes on the form of a teal unicorn with a pink mane.

"Yeah, that'll work." Cozy makes a point of putting her wing over Flurry as they walk out of the apartment building, an assertion that she still possesses Flurry even if they're out in public.

"So how was your day today?" Flurry asks as they make their way down the streets. The disguised alicorn can't hide her regal bearing, but Cozy does a good job hiding her gait, pulling her down into a slouching position as they walk.

"Boring," Cozy replies. "This place sucks."

Flurry frowns. "Why don't you leave, then?"

"Equestria sucks too." Cozy shrugs. "At least the Empire doesn't have as many alicorns in it."

"Oh." Flurry is quiet after that.

They make it to the other end of the city, and Cozy leads Flurry down a row of shophouses.

"So what did you need to buy over here?" Flurry glances down the shops, a fairly typical mix of stores selling everything from produce to furniture.

"Oh, we're not buying anything." Cozy stops outside of a jewellery store. The sign above says Precious Memories, with a picture of a laughing mare holding up a hoof encrusted with a diamond ring. "I'm looking for a pretty necklace, something to wear if I ever get invited to a fancy gala, but the prices are outrageous. That's why you're going to steal it for me instead."

Flurry tenses. "Do you really expect me to rob some poor businesspony simply because you asked?" she hisses, taking a step back from the store as if it's on fire.

She's far too late to avoid being burned, though.

"And here I thought you were here to learn how to be more like me," Cozy tsks. "Lying, cheating, and stealing is the kind of stuff you wanna do, right?"

"Not at the cost of some innocent pony's livelihood." Flurry stands her ground, a righteous fire in her eyes.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Cozy laughs. "They're not innocent at all. Precious Memories' jewellery is actually sourced from mines in the former Storm King territory that still use slave labour. There's a bunch of back-and-forth trading to hide where the gems actually come from, but the owners definitely know that the stuff they're buying is cheap and illegal for a reason."

That righteous fire turns to wrath as Flurry sets her sight on the store, her body leaning forward and her stance radiating aggression. "Are you sure?"

"They do a good job of hiding it, but I like to keep tabs on what's going on underground," Cozy replies. "Anyways, the thing about stealing is that you need to act like you're not doing anything wrong. Remember, they won't be suspicious of some random mare who looks and acts nice as long you don't give them a reason to be."

"Right." Flurry's expression sets into one of determination as she steps forward, and Cozy pulls her back.

"You look like you're gonna burn the place down in cleansing fire, little snowstorm," Cozy admonishes, waggling her hoof at her. "You have a pretty smile, so use it."

Flurry glares at her, but a moment later she's wearing a practiced smile as if she's the happiest mare in the world. Cozy assumes that it must have come from a lifetime of training in being a guest at royal events, and it looks so real that she can hardly see the slight strain in her lips and the pain in her eyes.

"Much better," Cozy says, giving her an approving grin. "Alright, let's go shopping!"

A cheerful jingle announces their entrance into a homely place that smells of the painted oak walls and floors that give the store a soothing warmth. "Welcome to Precious Memories!" an older mare announces, the kindness and gentleness in her voice matching her overall demeanour. "I'm Precious Metals, but you can call me Precious. How may I help you today?"

Flurry seems disarmed by Precious' matronly bearing, but she is not so naïve as to assume that bad ponies will always wear a mask of evil. "Hi!" she chirps brightly after a moment, transforming into another pony entirely. "My sister and I were looking to get some matching bracelets. She's leaving for Saddle Arabia next week and I wanted something to remember her with."

The lie flows off her tongue so smoothly that even Cozy is surprised, keeping silent as Precious replies, "Well then, you've come to the right place, dearies. I think some emeralds would go wonderfully with both your complexions." A nostalgic light enters the mare's eyes. "My sister and I used to wear matching necklaces all the time," she says, her hoof moving to gently touch the diamond hanging around her neck. "I got my cutie mark making a pair of sapphire ones for ourselves as fillies."

"I just think it'll be a nice way to remember her when she's not here," Flurry says.

Cozy mostly keeps quiet as Precious shows Flurry a number of different options, only chiming in to point out that this one looks really pretty or that one is a bit too big for her tastes.

Of course, she also asks Precious to show her to the restroom at one point, shooting a knowing wink at Flurry as she does so. By the time she comes back, she sees Flurry shaking her head.

"Sorry to waste your time," she says. "But I'll be sure to come back when I need something for just me."

"It's no trouble," Precious replies, sounding genuine. "An old mare like myself is always happy for just the company." She glances at both of them. "You two take care of each other, you hear me? Family's more important than most ponies think."

"We will," Cozy promises before they make their way out.

They maintain the illusion of a pair of sisters walking down the street until they're far from any possible prying eyes. At which point, Flurry casts a cloaking spell over them before producing a ruby necklace from her saddlebag. "It goes with your eyes," she mumbles, handing it over.

Cozy takes it with glee, watching the glint of the gem in the dying sunlight. "Aww, you shouldn't have!" she says, saccharine sweetness dropping from her tone as she leans forward to give Flurry a kiss on the cheek. "No, really," she adds, a moment later, faking seriousness. "Didn't your parents ever teach you that stealing is wrong?"

Flurry paws awkwardly at the ground. "That necklace might as well have been stolen in the first place, if the gems in it were mined with the blood of the innocent." She refuses to look at Cozy as she speaks. "I'll alert the guards and have them run a thorough investigation. Meanwhile, I got to practice a valuable skill I can use in the future, and nothing I took would not have been seized anyway."

"Yeah, about that." Cozy makes a show of clasping the gift around her neck, letting the chains snap shut with an audible click before upending Flurry's world. "I made it all up."

"You— what?" Flurry's eyes widen in surprise that borders on panic.

"Everything I said about Precious Memories was me just making stuff up," Cozy explains. "I've never even been to that store before."

Panic turns to anger as Flurry glares at her. "But why? Why would you make up such a horrible story about someone?"

"Because you still think you're a 'good' pony." Cozy rolls her eyes. "Which means it's only okay for you to do bad things to bad people, because they obviously deserve it, right? But now you're the bad pony, so how does it feel?"

"I— you tricked me!" Flurry points an accusing hoof at her, desperation lacing her tone as her eyes dart about widely, as if scared that she'll be imprisoned right on the spot for her crimes.

"You asked me to teach you," Cozy replies calmly. "If I didn't try to pin some random crime on that pony inside, you wouldn't have tried to steal from her, and there wouldn't have been a lesson. Two of them, actually, since now you need to learn how to deal with those pesky feelings of guilt. Really, you should be thanking me."

"I just wanted to be strong," Flurry whispers, clutching at her chest as if she's in physical pain.

"And you will be, after you get over this." Cozy raises a hoof to boop her lightly on the nose. "I'm doing this for you, little snowstorm, because there's no such thing as a good pony or a bad pony. Just those that can hurt others, and those that get hurt. And I don't think you've been hurt before, have you?"

Flurry shakes her head, silent.

"Then you know which kind you are. And if you want to do what I did, then you have to be able to take whatever you want." Cozy pulls her close, nuzzling her throat before speaking directly into her ear, sweet malevolence tainting her tone. "Don't worry, though, I'll be there to help you every step of the way." Her head dips back down to pepper kisses down Flurry's neck. "Now, why don't you take us back to the safe house and I can help you forget the icky feelings and focus on the good ones?"

Beneath her touch, Flurry's entire body tenses. "I shouldn't," she whimpers as Cozy's teeth graze across her flesh, making her shiver with need. "This is a mistake."

"If you were that good pony you thought you were, you would've already given back the necklace and confessed to your parents." Cozy doesn't let up, using her lips and hooves to keep Flurry off-kilter as she infects her with her poison. "So why don't you stop pretending and have some fun? You can kill me in the morning if you find your pesky moral compass again."

No further words are spoken, but Flurry manages to cast her spell and take them right into the bedroom.

"Good girl." Cozy gives Flurry a pat on the head, before pushing her down onto the bed. "Now, just lie back and let good ole Cozy Glow take care of you, okay?" Her hoof drifts downwards, and Flurry lets out a gasp of surprised pleasure. "You can think about ethics and other boring stuff in the morning."

The fire leaves Flurry's eyes, replaced by a dull, almost blank look, and Cozy knows she has won this victory. She knows that, when morning comes, it will have been too long to make amends, and Flurry will have to accept that the leash around her neck has tightened even further as they plunge deeper into the darkness. And then, Cozy will finally have the satisfaction that she craves.

They have sex three times that night.

Cozy Glow never bothers to reach orgasm.

Wrath

Cozy Glow wakes up to find a hoof around her throat.

Survival instincts, long dormant, kick in, and she begins to flail against her assailant. It's useless, of course, her limbs pawing pathetically at a foreleg that's stronger than any mortal's. Cozy opens her mouth to scream, but a weak, choking cough is all that comes out as she can't quite get enough air to survive.

Eyes as bright and blue as the empty skies stare down at her, clouded with rage. "They should have killed you years ago," Flurry Heart snarls, tears falling onto Cozy's chest, hot and wet and bitter. "The world would be better off with you dead. I would be better off with you dead."

As her brain grows more and more starved of oxygen, Cozy's struggles grow weaker, limbs going heavy until she can do nothing but choke, silently begging for mercy.

She receives it.

"I guess I am weak," Flurry mutters, looking away as she releases her grip on Cozy's life.

Cozy coughs and sputters, sending saliva flying onto the sheets as she gives herself a moment to let the oxygen in her blood flow back into her body and brain. Then, she carefully selects her next words.

"You are," she agrees, the words said without scorn. "But I told you I'd help with that, and I will." She forces a weak smirk onto her lips. "Even if you did just try to kill me."

"I... I'm sorry." There's guilt in Flurry's voice, but more than that, there's fear.

Cozy sits up, taking strength in Flurry's weakness. "Still think you're a good pony?" she asks smugly. When Flurry doesn't answer, she reaches to cup Flurry's chin, forcing the alicorn to look her in the eyes once again. "Do good ponies hurt people in their sleep when they're defenceless?"

Still, Flurry remains silent, and Cozy presses on.

"What, you're gonna nearly choke the life out of the mare you spent all night having sex with and then ignore her?" A thread of emotion enters her voice as she growls, "I want an answer, little snowstorm."

"I don't know!" Flurry wrenches her head away, her wings flaring out and knocking over a potted plant— long dead, of course. "I don't know," she repeats, taking in a shuddering breath. "I've been so confused for so long, and I thought I'd find the answer with you, but now I'm questioning everything." She glares at Cozy. "You're a bad pony, though."

"I know," Cozy replies.

"I hate what you did to me yesterday."

"I know."

"But I think I've been angry for a long time."

"I know."

Flurry's eyes widen at that. "Wait, how did you—?"

"You showed up to a bar to talk to a mare who tried to kill your whole family," Cozy explains. "Normal mares don't do that." She refrains from pointing out how normal teenage rebellion is, though.

"They don't understand," Flurry hissed. "I'm different." Power radiates from her body, making her point indisputable.

Cozy fills in the blanks. "They want to keep you in a cage," she finishes for her. "That's what they always do when someone ends up being special in a way they don't like. Yours is just a lot nicer than mine was."

Flurry's eyes narrow. "You think you're really good at reading ponies, huh?"

"You talked me into this whole thing, so you're not too bad yourself," Cozy replies, leaning upwards to give her a kiss. "It's good that you realized the anger thing, though."

"Yeah." Flurry nods to herself. "I hate feeling like this, but now I can start working on moving past it."

"Nah, it's great." Cozy uses Flurry's surprise to tackle her to the bed, putting herself on top. "Like, yeah, being angry can make you do dumb stuff, but I would never have gotten as far as I did if I wasn't pissed off at the princesses for being idiots. Being mad makes you do things."

"I almost killed you!" Flurry protests, squirming beneath Cozy. She doesn't fight back, though, allowing her lover to remain on top.

"And you stopped, because you were smart enough to know you still need me," Cozy lies. "But you never would have even tried killing anyone if you weren't mad, right?" When Flurry still looks uncertain, she goes in for the finishing blow. "You wanted to learn how to be the kind of ruler that your parents couldn't ever be, right?"

She sees the submission in Flurry's eyes long before the alicorn speaks. "So what's our plan for today?" she asks, and Cozy knows she has won.

"You have class, right?" Cozy glances at the calendar. Friday. "Where do you study, anyways? Some fancy private school near the palace?"

"Amore High," Flurry replies. "A public school for a princess of her people."

There's wisdom in that, but Cozy ignores it. "Right, because you're not special," she says mockingly. "You're just an alicorn princess who almost destroyed the Empire before you could even talk."

"Is there a purpose to your taunting?" Flurry asks, teeth gritted.

"Just that I think today's the perfect day for you to put that angry pony inside of you to good use." Cozy cups Flurry's hoof with a chin, holding her gaze. "Anyone in school pissed you off lately?"

Flurry takes a moment to think about her answer. "Golden Wish," she growls, her voice low, on the cusp of being sultry despite her best efforts. "She resents me for the circumstances of my birth, and likes to spread rumours about me when I'm not there. I've been told to be the bigger mare about it."

Cozy snorted. "Because they don't want any trouble. And you're the one who gets the short end of the stick." She slides off her perch on Flurry's body, flitting over to the edge of the bed and motioning for her lover to sit beside her. "So, how are we going to crush her under your hoof?"

Flurry rolls her eyes. "We?" she asks dryly. "Not sure how the principal will feel about a thirty-year-old mare showing up to deal with a bully. Unless you're ready for the two of us to have to go on the run."

The suggestion puts a smile on Cozy's face. "Aww, wouldn't that be romantic?" she teases, making Flurry blush. "The two of us riding off into the sunset, hoof in hoof, hopping from hotel to hotel and pretending that you're my little sister so they don't ask questions about why we only need one bed."

Cozy leans in closer, warmth and affection suffusing her tone. "Seeing all the sights like tourists instead of conquerors, chatting with other travellers like we're normal ponies. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Her lips draw closer to Flurry's, and she sees the response in the softness of her eyes.

On the cusp of a most tender kiss, Cozy roughly shoves her student away.

"So weak," she sneers. "I shouldn't have expected better from someone who needs an excuse to hurt another pony."

Flurry stares at her, her mouth open in shock and hurt. "You're horrible," she whispers hoarsely.

"And you want to end up just like me." Cozy nudges her playfully. "Don't worry, we'll get there. Now, take all that anger with you, and show this Golden Wish why you’re the better pony.”

Flurry closes her mouth, glares, but eventually nods. “Fine,” she says. “I’m going back to my room so nopony gets suspicious.”

“Tell me all about your sweet, sweet vengeance when you get back, alright?” Cozy dismisses her lover with a wave of her hoof, and Flurry vanishes in a flash of magic.

Only when she’s finally alone does Cozy let out a relieved sigh. And then, with a scream of incoherent rage, she smashes her hoof against the dresser, leaving a small dent even as she winces at the pain.

Flurry’s little stunt has reminded her that, no matter what dark thoughts she might find at the bottom of a bottle, she wasn’t so far gone as to end it all herself, would fight anyone who tried to do it for her.

Cozy Glow didn’t have many solaces left to her, and she was going to make Flurry pay for taking one more away from her.

Heresy

A week passes, and Cozy Glow's world grows darker.

"Here," Flurry says, floating a circle of wood and metal over to Cozy as she steps into their love nest— Cozy started calling it that two days ago, and Flurry hasn't tried to stop her yet.

"Is that a carriage wheel?" Cozy asks, raising an eyebrow. "What, did you visit Carriages and Corsets on the way here?"

"No, this is from Lord Quill's carriage," Flurry replies. "He's going to be late for his soirée now. How unfortunate for him."

Cozy grins. "Good girl." She leans over to place a kiss on Flurry's lips, deep and possessive, to reward and reinforce her obedience.

After that guilt-inducing brush with death, Cozy had commanded Flurry to bring back something stolen to her every day after class, as a form of training. She's deliberately made sure to know as little as possible about the victims, cutting Flurry off whenever the young alicorn tried to explain the crime that had made her victims deserving of losing one of their possessions.

No, Cozy doesn't care, and makes sure Flurry knows that, knows that it is the princess herself making the choice to hurt somepony else. That's the point, of course.

And now Flurry finally understands, and is seeking to cause harm rather than just take something to give to Cozy.

That deserves a reward too.

"Go put on something nice," she instructs, "and come back in an hour."

Flurry frowns. "Are we tormenting the nobility again today?"

"Nah, we're going on a date." Cozy waits for that statement to sink in.

It doesn't take long— less than a second— before Flurry glares at her suspiciously. "We're not dating, though," she affirms, a slight hitch in her voice and a faint blush on her cheeks.

Cozy presses a hoof against her heart. "Aww, I'm hurt, little snowstorm!" she sighs dramatically, looking wistfully out the window. "What of all the nights of torrid passion we shared beneath the stars, or the secret meetings beneath the cover of night when we our feelings outpoured for one another?"

When Flurry looks unamused, Cozy giggles. "I just figured we'd do something fun since you've been so good at being bad this week," she says. "Also, pretending to like me for a whole evening will be good practice, too."

"I do have political training," Flurry mutters, cheeks still red.

"There's a big difference between being polite and actually pretending to be into someone someone you don't like," Cozy points out. "No way your parents would've made you do that."

Despite still looking sullen, Flurry replies, "Fine."

"Hey, chin up," Cozy tenderly brushes a hoof against Flurry's cheek. "We both know you think I'm hot, at least. So, it could be worse. Now go get changed." She punctuates that last command with a light smack against Flurry's rump.

Flurry rolls her eyes. "Yes, ma'am." And with that, she disappears, the afterimage of her teleport fading to leave Cozy in darkness once more.

Cozy wastes no time either, not having the benefits of magic to whisk her back to her own home. She takes to the skies, excitement brimming at what's to come.

That excitement dies the moment she enters her house.

The smell of staleness hits her first. There's nothing rotten or spoiled stinking up the place— she's still able to take care of that before it becomes a problem, at least— but she can't remember the last time she did more than a cursory cleaning of whatever surfaces were convenient. The dying sunlight highlights the dust disturbed by her arrival, framing the piles of books and knick-knacks strewn about.

In the corner, hanging slightly off the edge of a dented table, is a chess set, frozen in the final few moves before checkmate— Cozy vaguely recalled being stumped by that chess puzzle for a week before figuring it out.

The bed hasn't been made in, well, ever, to be honest, and the pile of clothing atop it— the ones not too dirty to still wear— are all far too rumpled and casual for a date.

Fortunately for Cozy, she still has one particularly nice dress that she's never worn before— from a time when she'd still had ambition. It's mostly red, bleeding into a black-and-white checkerboard pattern at the bottom. The sleeves are patterned after the design of the rook— her cutie mark.

Cozy pulls it out of the wardrobe, gives it a sniff, and decides it's good enough.

She also finds whatever makeup that isn't expired and hastily puts something together to pretty herself up as best she can.

The mare looking back at her in the mirror is still Cozy Glow, and that makes her sadder than she wants to think about right now. Turning away, she takes her leave, flying out the window and heading back for the safe house.

She arrives with ten minutes to spare and wonders how Flurry is faring right now.

It's laughable, really, how the teenage alicorn still tries to pretend like she hasn't fallen for Cozy. It's not love that she feels— heaven's above, what a silly idea!— but she's not sure if Flurry knows that, or if she thinks her crush is some deeper thing.

Then again, Cozy has never known love, so maybe all romantic feelings are as shallow as the fire burning in Flurry's heart right now.

Regardless, Cozy is absolutely taking advantage of those feelings, feeding them with sex to make Flurry even more reliant on her. Pleasure makes for such a good reward, and the more petty crimes— and some less petty, after the fire at the market had spread and consumed an entire fruit stall by accident— the more Flurry slides into the darkness where only Cozy will accept her.

As predicted, when Flurry appears a few minutes later, she's dressed to the nines. A diamond bracelet around one ankle, to match with the necklace and brooch she's also wearing. The dress is an exquisite mix of silk and lace, designed to look as elegant as possible while still being practical to go out in, dyed an intense, yet light blue that makes her coat and eyes shine.

Her makeup is flawless, as expected, and her hair has just a hint of product in it to make it look more sleek than usual. If Cozy had been a decade younger, she would have been poleaxed at how beautiful Flurry looked.

As it was, she simply sucks in a single, minuscule breath, which is still noticed by the garbed princess. "Careful," Flurry warns, a faint smile playing at her lips. "Wouldn't want you actually falling for me. Love is weakness, right?"

Cozy nods. "Lust, too, honestly, but we gotta have fun somehow, right?" She gives Flurry a knowing wink before drawing her in for a kiss. "Alright, let's get going."

"Should I cast the disguise spell now?" Flurry's horn is already lit, ready to obey.

"Nope!" Cozy declared cheerfully. "Even if it's a fake date, we're still going as our real selves."

Flurry's entire body locks down as panic shows itself clear on her face. "W-What?" Her eyes silently plead with Cozy to reconsider.

"What's wrong?" Cozy taunts. "Do you think you're too good for me? An alicorn princess can't be seen going out with a commoner, right?"

"It's not that." Flurry shakes her head violently. "But you— I—"

"You asked me to teach you, but you don't even want to be seen in public with me?" Cozy asks, outraged. "I should be really insulted right now, don't you think?"

It takes a few more seconds before Flurry finally comes up with a good excuse. "We don't want to raise any suspicions at this point," she argues. "Given your history, people might expect us to be working together on some sort of scheme, and that might result in increased scrutiny that negatively impacts our lessons."

Cozy calms down immediately, giving her an approving nod. "Good. Next time, figure it out faster. You won't always get to be all calm and collected when you need to make something up to get out of doing something you don't want to."

Flurry stares blankly at her. "Wait, that was a test?" There's an echo of hurt in her voice, and Cozy has to resist the urge to mock her for it.

"Meh, just wanted to see how you reacted," Cozy says flippantly. "Anyways, don't worry, little snowstorm, your dirty little secret'll be safe another day. Where we're going, we won't need disguises."

Flurry manages to hide her surprise and relief well. "We aren't going to some fancy restaurant or visiting an art gallery?"

"Even better." Cozy grins. "We're visiting a palace."

"Over there!"

In hindsight, Cozy should have remembered that the wasteland beyond the Empire's borders tended to be consumed in raging blizzards. Flurry's shield spells prevent them from freezing to death, but their visibility suffers heavily as a result and, even with the exact coordinates, it takes nearly an hour of searching before she sees the glowing red crystal jutting angrily out of the snow.

"What is that?" Flurry asks approaching the magical structure cautiously.

"A door," Cozy replies. She steps forward, walking into the crystal.

The world is consumed by a bright, pink light.

And then she steps out into a wasteland of stone and dried-out plants.

"Where are we?" Flurry asks, eyes alight in wonder and fear as she looks up at a ceiling of jagged rock. "Is this some kind of giant cave?"

"It's a prison." Cozy leads them around a jutting hill of grey, pockmarked stone, pointing at a structure in the near distance. "Or, it was one. Welcome to the former home of the Umbrum. Figured it'd be a nice place for a picnic."

"The Umbrum?" Flurry scratches her head in confusion. "They tried to take over the Empire before I was born, right? Radiant Hope and King Sombra were helping them, but eventually did the right thing and locked them back up before going on their quest to rescue Princess Amore."

"You mean before Sombra betrayed his own kind and left them all to die in here." Cozy continues to make her way towards what looks like an apartment building, but dotted with holes and spots of inky darkness. It almost reminds her of a bleached changeling hive. "The palace should be behind this one."

To her credit, Flurry disguises her fear well, her voice unwavering as she asks, "You've been here before?"

"Just a couple times after I got out of that statue," Cozy explains as they pass by the crumbled remains of a hut, rotting straw still covering the pile of rubble. "Chrysalis told me about her team-up with Radiant, and I put together some of the stuff she said with the public records and figured out where their prison was."

A stale wind blows in from... somewhere, and they both tense as a chunk of white rock topples from the top of a house, shattering into dust as lands behind them.

"I was hoping to make some friends to crush my enemies with— y'know, the usual— but..." Cozy gestures towards the ruins surrounding them. "Oh, look, there's the palace. Let's go!"

With a burst of energy, Cozy dashes across a barren field, towards a towering spire that melds into the jagged stone roof that bears down on them. Flurry quickly catches up and then overtakes her, waiting at the entrance as she looks up at the grand structure.

"I would expect a palace to be more... ostentatious," Flurry comments upon Cozy's arrival.

Cozy shrugs. "The Umbrum weren't really into art. Still, a palace is a palace. I know you can feel it."

Flurry nods. There's a weight to this building that comes from more than its height. Gravity itself seems to drag them towards the maw of this feted home, and Cozy needs to take Flurry's hoof and pull her inside to break her resistance to that magnetism.

The inside is as unadorned as the outside, but more claustrophobic, even when they're standing in a throne room with a ceiling tall enough to stack a hundred ponies above each other. The royal seat itself is crumbling apart, as if eroded over millions of years, and dead moss grows upon it. In the centre of the room is a table showing a crude facsimile of the Empire, with its palace toppled and shattered.

Cozy pats at the ground next to the war table. "Here's good. You still have all the stuff?"

Flurry's horn glows as she conjures up the picnic basket and blanket they packed before heading out. At Cozy's instruction, she lays the blanket down and places the simple basket on top. "Interesting choice for a date," she comments dryly. "But I can see why you wanted to dress up for it. It would feel even more weird being naked, huh?"

"Yup," Cozy agrees, taking a seat on the blanket and brushing the hem of her dress out of the way. "That's power for ya. At least, for those of us who won't live forever. Years after all the Umbrum are gone, when their kingdom is literally falling apart, we can still tell they were a great people."

Flurry snorts, settling gracefully into a sitting position as she picks up a cucumber sandwich with her magic. "They tried to turn my parents to stone."

Cozy shrugs. "They were trapped inside the prison for thousands of years, and knew they'd be hunted down even if they escaped unless they had a base to work out of. Not that it mattered in the end since the princesses wiped them out." She doesn't even bother to look at her date as picks up a bunch of crystal berries and begins snacking on them.

"That's not— they were just defending themselves!" Flurry exclaims, sandwich forgotten as it floats in front of her.

"Isn't it interesting how whenever someone attacks one of your alicorns, they're evil and bad and need to be 'fixed,' but when your family does it it's self-defence?" Cozy asks, plucking another berry and crushing it between her teeth, letting the cool, sweet juices flow down her throat. "What makes having a horn and wings so special, anyways?"

"Well—" Flurry stumbles over herself trying to get an answer out. "We're chosen by Harmony to rule. Either through some great feat or—"

"Or because you were just born better than everypony else," Cozy finishes for her. "If Harmony is some all-knowing power who only chooses the worthy, then why were you born an alicorn?"

Flurry sighs, but looks for more comfortable. "Yes, yes, that's the question everyone is asking, isn't it? You're just the only one willing to be that blunt about it."

"And if you had a good answer, we wouldn't be on a date right now," Cozy says smugly, pursing her lips seductively as she sips from a juice box.

"Pretty sure most dates don't involve one partner trying to tear down the philosophical foundations of the other." A gust of wind punctuates Flurry's retort, causing a few more pebbles to rain from above and clatter like bones against the ground.

"You haven't been on a date with me, then," Cozy quips. "So, you're not an alicorn by merit, but you have powers of one."

"My parents always told me I had a responsibility to use my powers for good," Flurry says.

Cozy makes a show of surveying the decaying ruins of their palace. "Yeah, I guess this place looks pretty good for a ruin. Very aesthetic."

Flurry looks troubled, keeping silent.

"Personally, I think it isn't fair that you have to hide your powers away and only use them the way other ponies tell you to, when you didn't even ask for them in the first place," Cozy says. "I mean, didn't it feel good to put Golden Wish in her place last week?"

"Not really," Flurry mutters. "But, it made her stop."

"See? Your parents wouldn't ever let you do the kind of thing they did." Cozy decides to go in for the kill. "Being an alicorn doesn't make you good. It just makes you powerful. And when you have enough power, you decide what's right and wrong."

Flurry stares at the ground, frowning. "I... I don't want to do that. It shouldn't be up to me to define good and evil."

"Well, in that case, I guess you can leave it to the other princesses to define that," Cozy says. "And then you can fall into whatever nice little box they want you to fit into. Is that what you want?"

"No." Flurry shakes her head slowly, hesitantly. "I just want to be—" She catches herself, corrects course, but not before Cozy notices. "I just want to use these powers I have without feeling bad."

"If anything, Harmony's the one who should be feeling bad for saddling you with these powers without a user manual on how she wanted you to use them," Cozy points out. "You don't have to be her slave just because she gave you a gift you didn't ask for."

"So I should be yours instead?" Flurry shoots back.

"You should be whatever you want to be," Cozy declares. "Tyrant or saint or just a normal pony who dies without doing anything that matters. Because nothing matters in the end anyway. The next powerful creature could come along and tear down everything you've been working towards tomorrow, so why bother doing anything except what you want?"

"I know you're right, but..." Flurry pauses, sighs again. "It sucks, not having some kind of guiding principle."

"Isn't that why you came to me, though?" Cozy pokes at her weaknesses, prodding the open wound in her soul. "Any old criminal or weird professor could teach you how to pick a lock or distract someone while you steal some pretty gems or talk a pony into betraying her best friend. But you came to me because you wanted to learn more than how to do these things. You want to learn how to be able to do them. This is what you asked for, little snowstorm. To tear you down and free you from the shackles of morality or whatever."

"I realized that too, I just..." And now shame burns Flurry's cheeks. "I thought it would feel good to be free. I wasn't expecting it to feel like... this."

For a moment, Cozy feels a pang in her heart, remembers when she too lost faith in Harmony. "You'll get over it," she lies. "I'll be there to help you push through those silly little mental blocks in your brain so that you can be the alicorn you want to be."

There's a moment of silence, and then—

"Can I kiss you?"

Cozy blinks, taken aback. It's the first time Flurry has ever made the first move. "Well." She takes a moment to pretend like she considering the question, waving her hoof back and forth under her chin. "You have been a great student this week. Honestly, I thought you'd back out when I told you to plant that evidence in Lord Ingot's bedroom, but you went through with it like a champ. That probably deserves another reward. C'mere."

Flurry leans in and Cozy captures her head with her hooves, pulling her even closer so they can kiss. For the next few minutes, their picnic is forgotten as their tongues battle for dominance beneath the broken remains of a foe that consumed itself.

Not that Cozy plans on telling Flurry the whole story, of course. It wouldn't do for her to know that the Umbrum had only been banished here after their second defeat, and turned on each other as a result. Those records that Cozy found on her first trip here just happen to be located in the library on the complete opposite side of this prison realm, where Flurry would have no reason to visit.

Their date continues on normally after that, as they eat and trade barbs and avoid revealing too much of their feelings to one another. The fire in Flurry's eyes is dimmed, though, and she often stares off into the distance, taking in the signs of collapse all around her. For some reason, Cozy stares as well, a lump in her chest that she brushes off as sympathy for another failed villain.

When the picnic is over, Flurry and Cozy have sex on the blanket without saying a single word to each other, quiet as the ghosts of the Umbrum haunting their final prison.

Cozy reaches her climax using Flurry's tongue as thoughts of doomed civilizations dance about in her mind's eye.

Violence

Cozy Glow miscalculates, and now Flurry has to suffer for it.

She's planned this break-in for two weeks, since the day after their date in the Umbrum prison, going after a journalist who's decided to poke her head into Flurry's business. A Princess Summit was upcoming next month, and the staff had already begun to talk about Flurry's absence from much of the planning and pre-events leading up to it.

The journalist in question, an earth pony named Byline, had begun asking questions about her disappearances, and also the spate of petty and not-so-petty crimes plaguing the empire— Flurry's twisting mind had woven itself into a shape that allowed her to shoplift or inconvenience "innocent" ponies, but anything risking minor bodily harm or livelihood, like burning down a market stall, was reserved for "bad" ponies who had managed to get away with some crime or other.

The couple had only caught wind of the investigation because some of the maids had been gossiping about Byline's snooping while in Flurry's earshot, and an intercepted letter had revealed that she was definitely building up to some sort of exposé.

Obviously, this couldn't be allowed to happen, and it would also be another chance for Flurry to practice her less-legal skills. She was getting quite good at the more subtle arts.

Thus, on a day when the journalist is out of town covering a fashion show in Vanhoover, a disguised Flurry and Cozy talk their way into Byline's apartment building— it's so easy to lose one's key, you see. Once inside, they make their way to the unit in question, and Flurry picks the lock on Byline's front door.

That is their first mistake.

"Did you feel that?" Flurry hisses as the door opens. "Magical surge. Very faint. Some kind of silent alarm, I think."

Cozy bites back a curse. "We still have a few minutes before anyone shows up," she says, tamping down the panic rising in her throat. "Not like the Guard has ponies patrolling every single street all the time. We just need to get this done fast."

Caution thrown into the wind, the pair burst into the apartment. Row upon row of filing cabinets greet them, but luckily, what they're looking for is right on the table.

"No way she doesn't have copies of these," Cozy mutters as she flips through page after page of schedules and reports, linking various incidents to Flurry's absences.

"We might as well take them anyways," Flurry says. "It's going to be obvious that someone broke in."

"Still, go grab some other files to make it less obvious," Cozy instructs. "And mess this place up a bit too."

In short order, most of the furniture is overturned, papers scattered everywhere from the filing cabinets to look like they were all haphazardly searched. Flurry even makes a show of breaking the lock to the safe in the bedroom and stealing the bits hidden within.

"Let's go," Cozy says after thoroughly trashing the place. "We should still have a couple minutes before anyone—"

"Stop right there!"

Cozy realizes that they're trapped as a guard steps inside, pointing a spear at them. "You're under arrest for—"

Whether it's a result of Cozy's training or Flurry's own aptitude, the disguised alicorn thinks fast, not giving the guard a chance to raise any more of an alarm or prepare a defence. A bolt of magic flies towards him, slowing to a crawl as it shreds through the guard's shielding spell. The unfortunate mare's eyes widen as she realizes how powerful the shot is, right before getting flung back with enough force to crack the wall behind her.

Cozy makes her way to the window as the guardsmare slumps to the floor, unconscious. "Little help here?" she snaps, struggling to open it.

"I— I didn't mean to hit her that hard." Flurry rushes over towards the body. Blood is already beginning to seep from... somewhere.

"Forget about her!" Cozy barks. "If we don't get out of here right now we're both toast!"

Flurry hesitates, and Cozy doesn't bother biting back the curse this time.

"Flurry Heart," she says through gritted teeth. "You're not weak anymore. You made a choice, and you have to live with it. Now be the pony you wanted me to make you into, and open this damn window, or you're never going to see me again."

Another moment's hesitation, and Flurry acquiesces under Cozy's glare. Her horn lights up and the frame of the window snaps as she shoves it up with immense force. And then, they're both out, making their way through a series of back alleys and emerging onto a busy street as two normal ponies with nothing to hide.

Flurry doesn't say a word as they make their way back to the safe house, but the nervous glances she throws and the way her shoulders hunch in on themselves speak volumes. Cozy hasn't seen her this off-kilter after an excursion since the first couple days of their partnership.

It isn't until the door is locked behind them and they're both standing in the sparsely decorated living room that Flurry finally breaths again, taking big, gasping lungfuls of air as she skirts the edge of hyperventilation— assuming alicorns could even be afflicted with such.

"I—" Flurry rests a hoof against the table, holding onto it for dear life as she tries to stop shaking. "My blast was just supposed to stun her."

"Well, I'd say she was pretty stunned." Years ago, in some book on psychology, Cozy had learned something about children. Specifically, when they got hurt, they would often panic and cry much harder if their guardian also appeared to be in great distress, but if the one assigned to keep watch over them appeared calm or ever cheerful, then they tended to also assume it was no big deal.

Thus, Cozy tamps down her own worries for the moment, smiling nonchalantly at Flurry.

Flurry's breathing slows, though the sound still comes out harsh as she shakes her head. "It's been too long since I practised self-defence magic. I didn't reduce the power properly and—" Tears well up in her eyes and she stares at Cozy, pleading silently.

"She'll probably be fine," Cozy says, and it's probably the truth. "Guards aren't supposed to fly solo so I'm sure her backup arrived sooner rather than later. Either way, she knew what she signed up for."

"She wasn't supposed to be there." Flurry glares at Cozy. "You said we still had time."

"Hey, don't put this on me." Cozy glares right back. "You're the one who fired the shot. Not my problem you don't have as much control as you thought you did, Honestly, it's a good thing that it happened."

"How can you say that?" Flurry demands, taking a step forward as power and rage radiate from her uncloaked body. "I hurt somepony really badly and I don't even know if she's still alive and you're telling me it's a good thing?"

Cozy stands her ground. "Yeah, because you weren't ever going to do that on purpose. The first time's always the hardest, but you don't have to worry about that anymore!" She smiles broadly, mocking her protégé's distress.

"You're despicable," Flurry spits out, closing the distance between them in a swift step until she's less than a couple feet from physical contact.

Cozy leans forward, grinning. "Sure am," she says brightly, her eyes narrowing. "Thing is, you knew that already. Actually, you knew that from the very start."

She reaches out with a hoof, gripping Flurry's chin as she continues to speak. "Honestly, it's funny. We've been ignoring it the whole time, but we both know you're hiding something."

Flurry stills, her body taut as a coiled spring. "Everyone keeps secrets," she says cautiously, batting away Cozy's hoof. "I'm sure you have a bunch too."

"Obviously, but what I don't understand is this wishy-washy horseapple nonsense you've got going on." Cozy points at the small pile of trinkets that Flurry has stolen for her. "You told me you wanna be a strong ruler who can do what the other princesses can't. That's why I decided to take you under my wing. But every time I actually try to get you to do something deliciously ruthless, you back off and call me names."

She narrows her eyes. "Makes me wonder if you even want this, or if you just want an excuse to make Mommy and Daddy pay a little more attention to you."

For a moment, Flurry looks like she's going to actually murder Cozy. Tension fills the air, sharp and heavy, as the silence grows dense between them. And then, the teenage princess lets out a deep sigh, the anger draining from her body as she droops down. "You're right," she says. "I— it's not fair to you. I'm sorry." She bows her head, cheeks burning and voice trembling as she adds, "But I'm never going to be okay with hurting random ponies that I don't think deserve it."

"Fine," Cozy says. "We can play judge, jury, and executioner." She gives Flurry a mocking curtsy. "And you made your judgement, Your Majesty, so now you have to live with it. But don't worry, you have another case to review already!"

With a dramatic gesture, she throws the stack of papers they pilfered from Byline's apartment onto the table, allowing them to fan out and cover the wooden surface with their damning words.

Cozy gives Flurry a peck on the lips, surprising her. "Don't know how much time we have, so we should probably get reading. If we're fast enough, we might have time for some fun." Her voice drops low and she runs a hoof suggestively across Flurry's withers to ensure she isn't misunderstood.

Flurry nods silently, looking away as she heads over to the stack of papers.

"She's a threat, obviously," Cozy states after an hour of reading.

"There's no hard proof," Flurry argues. "It's all coincidences and 'those two mares kinda acted the same and maybe one of them was nobility.' No court would ever even entertain a case like this."

"You're not stupid, little snowstorm," Cozy says, setting down an interview transcript with one of the guards at the palace. "You know that doesn't matter."

"There are crazy tabloid stories about the princesses all the time," Flurry responds. "Normal ponies don't pay them any mind, and while this may end up being published in a more reputable paper, it's unlikely to get much traction given the lack of tangible evidence."

"And what if your parents or aunts decide to start paying more attention, huh?" Cozy crosses her forelegs, eyes narrowing. "What happens when they find out about me?"

"It—" Flurry glances back at the papers. "We've at least delayed her." She tries to sound logical, but Cozy can hear that hint of desperation beneath her voice. "The Princess Summit is in a couple weeks, and after that, everypony, including my family, will be too busy dealing with the press and executing whatever plans they come up with and all the politics stuff. The news coverage is going to drown out this article too. It'll be fine."

"There's a lotta ways that could go wrong." And Cozy doesn't like this new rebellious streak in Flurry. "And it'll all come crashing down on little ol' me if it does. Guess you princesses really are the type to let your friends take the fall if means you don't have to do something uncomfortable." Cozy affects a hurt tone, turning away from her love. "Princess Twilight left that lesson out of her curriculum for the rest of us."

Flurry reaches out a hoof. "I'll make sur—"

Cozy bats it away, and the shock and pain in Flurry's eyes nearly stirs something in her heart, but she pushes forward. "I'm your teacher," she hisses. "And I know what's best for you. If you disagree, then maybe you should find someone else." She stands up, taking a step towards the door. "I'm getting real tired of having to drag you through each step towards becoming a better alicorn."

She takes another step. And then another. And then...

"Wait!" A desperate plea, tinged with sorrow and fear. "Wait," Flurry repeats, and it sounds like she's about to cry. "I'll— I'll deal with it, okay?"

Cozy turns around, a sceptical look in her eyes. It's too early to celebrate her victory, not when she hasn't fully achieved it yet. "What, are you going to give her some kind of friendship speech?" she sneers. "Or maybe you'll get your guards to do it, so you don't have to get your hooves dirty, even if they're already covered in mud."

"No, it's— it'll be fine, I promise." Flurry forces a smile out. It might as well be painted on. "You'll see, okay?" Her tears smear the paint, revealing the frown beneath. "I have a plan. Really."

"Hmm..." Cozy taps a hoof against her chin. "Alright, I'll give you until tomorrow, okay?" she says, her own smile much more genuine, and much more sinister.

And then, she walks up to Flurry, and grabs the back of her head, pulling her down for a violent, dominating kiss. "I hope you don't decide to throw away everything I've taught you," she warns.

"I won't," Flurry assures her breathlessly, desperately. "I won't."

"Good. I'm trusting you." Because she has no one else to go to, Cozy doesn't add. "Anyways, I need to go deal with some stuff anyways. If you didn't chicken out, I'll see you here at five."

Another kiss, to seal her position as Flurry's keeper.

And then Cozy leaves, to give her time to imagine what a life without her chains would be like. The terror of that thought should be enough to ensure her will done.

REPORTER REPORTED MISSING, the next day's headline reads.

Cozy Glow is waiting for Flurry Heart when five o'clock rolls around,

"So, what'd you do?" she asks as the alicorn teleports into the living room.

"I took care of her," Flurry replies shortly, her eyes cutting to the side instead of meeting Cozy's gaze. “She won’t be a problem for us anymore.”

“Oh, come on, you can’t just leave it at that.” Cozy reaches out stroke Flurry’s withers as she needles her. “C’mon, spill the beans. Did you kill her?” she presses, unable to think of another reason for Flurry’s hesitance. “How did that feel?”

“I—“ Flurry sighs. “I didn’t kill her. Auntie Twilight, she… she taught me the petrification spell.”

Cozy immediately tenses, her hoof stilling while still tangled in Flurry’s mane. “You turned her to stone,” she says, trying to keep her voice level.

“And I hid the statue where nopony will ever find her.” Flurry concludes.

“You should have killed her,” Cozy hisses. “It’s the safe option.” It’s the kinder one too, but she can’t say that out loud.

“I’m not going to kill her when she’s done nothing wrong,” Flurry replies.

“So you’ll do worse instead.” Cozy snorts. “You alicorns really are all the same, huh?” She can’t decide between pulling Flurry closer or pushing her away, and so they stay in their stillborn embrace as Cozy rages calmly. “So self-righteous, thinking that locking someone up in stone forever makes them better than everypony else.”

Anger finally wins out over revulsion as she grabs the back of Flurry's head, pulling her in so they can mash their lips together. One could say this is an expression of passion, but not in the sense of sexual desire. It is a brutal claiming of tongue and teeth as Cozy asserts her will over another.

Flurry allows herself to be dragged into the bedroom without saying a word, yielding to Cozy's assault upon her body as she's preyed upon once again, more violently than before. Cozy's rage demands that she puts Flurry in her place, needs this young, tempestuous alicorn to submit to her so that Cozy will never end up in that stone prison again. And so, it is not so much that they have sex, but that Cozy performs sex acts on Flurry, hard and fast and rough and furious, until both of them are out of breath.

Afterwards, Flurry speaks.

"So... does this mean we're still..." Flurry trails off, struggling to find an acceptable word to describe the nature of their twisted joining.

Cozy is too drained to make a snide remark, and simply lets her flounder for a time.

"...continuing this partnership," the young princess eventually finishes lamely.

Cozy shrugs. "Sure," she says casually, as if she hadn't threatened to upend Flurry's life the day before. "This is pretty fun," she adds, pressing a kiss against Flurry's belly.

A yawn creeps up on her, and Cozy rolls over to rest her head against an actual pillow. "As long as you keep doing what I tell you."

"Does that make you happy?" Flurry asks, and there's an intensity to the otherwise casual question that nearly makes her sit up and stare.

She suppresses the urge, simply shrugging a second time. "Of course," she replies. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Okay then," Flurry says, and no more words are said as they drift off to sleep.

Fraud

Two days before the Princess Summit, Cozy Glow receives an answer to her questions.

It starts out that evening, when Flurry teleports into the room, looking uncharacteristically nervous. Cozy has gotten good at reading the teenage princess, but this time it's plain to anyone who so much as glances her way that she's hiding something big.

"Hey," Cozy greets with a casual wave. "What's up?"

"I have something to show you." Any attempt at calm is washed out as Flurry rushes out the words. "Will you come with me?"

Cozy nods. "Sure." Flurry's never acted like this before, so Cozy decides not to comment on her trying to take the reins. She can bring it up after she sees whatever has this teenager so excited.

Flurry's horn ignites, and Cozy finds herself in... a storeroom? A dusty one, at that, filled with cleaning supplies and miscellaneous tools and...

Cozy gasps as she recognizes the six artefacts inside the room. "How did you...?"

"Princesses have access to many things," Flurry explains, trotting over towards the magical circle inscribed on the floor. "Whether our claim on them is through right or might is something you've made me no longer sure about, but either way, everypony's so concerned with the summit that they won't notice these are gone until it's too late."

"Are you crazy!" Cozy flies up to Flurry, their faces inches from each other as she lets her panic show plainly on her face. "Do you have any idea how dangerous these things are?"

Flurry cringes back for a moment, but holds her ground. "I've modified the spell you used," she says quickly. "It's not going to drain all of Equestria's magic this time. I've made the effect localized to a small area."

The gears click into Cozy's head as panic gives way to a much more primal fear, and she takes an instinctive step back. "The Princess Summit," she says slowly. "You're going to take out all four of the other princesses with this."

Flurry nods. "I've made sure it won't affect me, of course. Which means I'll be able to... eliminate them."

"A couple weeks ago, you freaked out over knocking a guard out," Cozy scoffs. "You really think you can kill four ponies that you love?"

"I didn't have to hurt that guard," Flurry replies.

Cozy stares in disbelief. "But you have to wipe out your own family?"

"It's the only way," Flurry whispers, and for the first time tonight, Cozy can see the pain beneath her nervous determination, can hear it bleeding from each word she says. "The only way for both of us."

"Wait, what do you mean for us?"

"You're happy, right?" Flurry's question comes out as a plea, desperate and breathless. "You said you were happy. And it's because of me. It has to be. That's why I started doing all this. For you."

Flurry takes a step forward, and Cozy backs off further, suddenly feeling way, way out of her depth. "Don't put this on me," she snarls. "You're the one who approached me. And I taught you what you wanted to learn. That's it."

"It was never about that," Flurry says. "Not completely. I mean, yes, all your training helped me to do what needs to be done, but the reason I came to you in the first place is because..." She trails off for a moment with a gulp, before continuing. "Because we're the same. You're empty inside too, you have to be. After you lost the world."

Cozy freezes, chilled to the bone as her mind goes numb. "What does that have to do with anything?" she deflects.

"I needed to know," Flurry explains— pleads— begs. "If someone like you could be fulfilled again, by having someone to lead into darkness, to corrupt into someone even more like you, if that made the emptiness go away, then maybe... maybe I could feel full too, by taking what you once took and holding onto it."

"Wait, so you knew what I was doing from the start?" Cozy demands, anger bubbling up at the thought of being deceived by someone who should've been under her control completely.

"Of course," Flurry says. "That's why I agreed to sleep with you and do all that other stuff, no matter how I felt about it." She smiles. "It's okay though, I eventually learned to enjoy it— just another way you corrupted me. That should make you feel even better, right? Knowing that I'm only like this because you dragged me down to it?"

Cozy Glow feels sick, but she can't show it. "Fine, good job on lying to me," she congratulates through gritted teeth. "Now that you got what you want, why'd you bring me here? To gloat?"

"No, I wanted to show you this because I still need you," Flurry says. "I need you to make sure I go through with it, that I won't falter at the last second. And afterwards, you can rule by my side. Then we can both be happy."

The affection in her words stuns Cozy more than anything else that's happened, and she almost laughs at the absurdity of it. So, Flurry's realized her feelings for Cozy, it seems. This is definitely one way for her to find out. "So, what, you'd be Empress and I'd be your consort or something?"

"Or something." Flurry shrugs. "We can figure out the titles afterwards. But this way we both get what we really want, right? And then neither of us will feel empty ever again, not when we have the world to fill us up."

"You've really thought this through, huh?" Cozy says carefully, buying to collect her own thoughts.

"From the beginning." Pride and shame blend into a bittersweet mix as Flurry struggles to maintain her royal bearing. "So, what do you think?"

She's weak, is what Cozy doesn't say. To have the ability to rule the world herself, and yet still be reliant on the approval of a pegasus mare who possesses nothing. If the end results didn't benefit her, then Cozy would be almost insulted right now.

Then again, this was what she'd wanted, right? To have a Princess kneeling at her hooves?

"I'm so proud of you," Cozy lies, stepping forward to caress Flurry's cheeks. Her next words, she doesn't know yet if they will be true or not. "And I'll be there, when you take what's yours." A deep kiss fills the room with dead silence.

"Now, get us out of here," Cozy commands as they break apart.

Flurry nods, teleporting them back to their safe house.

"Alright, we should probably keep away from each other for the next two days if we're going to do this," Cozy says. "Wouldn't want even the chance of anypony getting suspicious, right?"

It's laughable how lovestruck Flurry is, as her first response is hurt, not suspicion. She tries to look strong, though, saying, "That sounds like a good idea." A weak chuckle escapes from between her lips. "I should head out then, huh?"

Cozy nods. "See you in two days." She leans in to take another kiss.

"I'll come here to pick you up after I activate the spell," Flurry assures her. "Then we can do it together." She lingers for a few seconds more, but eventually teleports away, leaving Cozy alone with her thoughts.

Treachery

Cozy Glow should be happy.

After nearly twenty years of obscurity and humiliation as just another failed villain, she has another chance to be great again. This time, with one of Harmony's own at her side.

No plan is without risk, of course, but Cozy knows she won't get a fourth opportunity, and it's not as if she has anything to lose. She would be a fool to turn it down.

So why isn't she happy?

Cozy moves her black queen to check, forcing a response from white. A few more moves and the chess puzzle is solved, freeing her to work on the next one in the book.

She’s still staying in the safe house. It’s getting increasingly difficult to accept how pathetic her own home is, but she doesn’t have the energy to do anything about it. She thinks to herself that in a couple days, she could be living in the palace. Literally all she needs to do is nothing for that to happen.

And yet, the thought doesn’t make her feel less empty. And somehow, she knows it’ll be the same for Flurry.

Because she’s tried it twice, and what broke her finally was understanding that absolute power still wouldn’t make her whole. And now, she knows that breaking Flurry won’t fix her either.

But hey, better to wallow in luxurious misery, right?

Yeah, that was the best option. Just keep sitting here, solving chess puzzles to keep herself entertained until the deed was done. Not acting is making a choice, and Cozy is a strong mare who makes the choice that’s best for her.

She isn’t one to succumb to weakness.

And when the day ends, she makes the strong mare’s choice.

Cozy Glow isn’t present when Flurry teleports into the storeroom to enact her master plan. She doesn’t have to be— would only be a distraction, really.

Which is why she has to learn secondhand about how the youngest princess fell to her knees and wept into her mother's embrace when she learned that she’d been betrayed by the one who’d stolen her heart.

"It may please you to know that there was no fight. Princess Flurry Heart surrendered the moment she understood that her machinations had been thwarted."

Cozy makes a noncommittal grunt. "Well, duh. She's not stupid. What else is she supposed to do against four alicorns without thousands of years of experience?"

"Not all are graceful in the face of certain defeat," Luna points out. "I would not have been, once upon a time."

"Yeah, well, like I said, Flurry's not stupid."

Luna snorts. "I was told you were more charming."

"There's nothing I want that you can give me," Cozy replies simply. She glances around the opulent palace sitting room that she's been sequestered in. It's not entirely correct to say that she's a prisoner here, but she's certainly not free to leave without consequence. Then again, it's not as if she has anywhere to go.

"Just as there was nothing to be gained by informing us of Flurry Heart's plans," Luna points out, looking so damnably casual for a mare who nearly met her end today. "And yet, here we stand, having ne'er drawn our last breaths."

"I gained not having to spend the rest of my life having to serve under a whiny brat,” Cozy retorts. “I’d say that’s worth it.”

“So you say.” The scepticism is clear on Luna’s face. “As if one as cunning as yourself could not have gained the upper hoof once again in time.”

“What happens now?” Cozy asks, deflecting. “Have you princesses decided what my punishment is going to be?”

“You and Flurry Heart are to be separated until further notice,” Luna informs her. “You will both be assigned community service to atone for the crimes you have committed. Beyond that…” Luna shakes her head. “We cannot help those who do not wish to be helped. You will be monitored for the rest of your days, but we will demand no more from you.”

“And what about Flurry?”

“Her cry for help fell upon the wrong ears first, but we will care for her now as best we can.” Luna smiles. “But she is a strong mare, and one who understands more than most, even if she is misguided at times. I have faith that she will heal in time from the scars you’ve inflicted on her.”

Cozy doesn’t even bother trying to defend herself. “I guess that’s it, then.” She laughs bitterly. “And they all lived happily ever after.”

“This is the end of one story,” Luna says. “A dark tale of a fall from grace that could have been darker. But it can be the beginning of another as well, a tale of redemption and hope.”

Cozy scoffs. “No thanks. I’ll do my time and then stay away from you alicorns for the rest of my life.”

“Very well, then you may leave.” Luna gestures towards the door. “So long as you report tomorrow for your penance. And when you are ready to speak to me again, I will be there to help you as best I can.”

“You seem very sure of yourself, Princess.” Cozy glares as she makes her way out of the room.

“You may claim selfishness in your decision, but the heart does not lie," Luna replies, smirking. "You saved a soul today, and if you ever want to feel the sting of doing good again, simply call to me in your dreams."

"That's not creepy at all," Cozy mutters as closes the door on the princess behind her.

She manages to maintain her haughty demeanour until she reaches her home.

And then, for the first time in over two decades, Cozy Glow weeps.

Epilogue: The Adversary

"I shouldn't be here. Flurry's going to be so mad when she finds out."

Cozy shrugs, taking a sip from her coffee. "She doesn't have to know," she says, addressing the unicorn sitting across the table.

Luster Dawn snorts. "See, unlike you, I actually value honesty in my relationships. I'm going to tell her everything the moment I get out of here." She doesn't bother to hide her contempt as she asks, "So, why did you even want to meet with me?"

Cozy takes it all in stride. "I heard that Flurry had a marefriend, and I wanted to see what she was like. Also, I figured Flurry would've talked about me, so I wanted to explain—"

"Not interested," Luster cuts her off with a wave of her hoof. "Not unless you're gonna say she mind-controlled you into doing all that stuff to her."

"Fine," Cozy huffs. "Can you at least tell me if she's doing okay?"

Luster's expression softens for a moment. "She's doing better." The pain in her voice is mirrored in Cozy's heart. "Still has nightmares sometimes, but they're less frequent these days. She's still taking a break from being in the public eye until she's done getting her degree, though."

Cozy perks up at that. "Oh, I'm also studying—"

"Don't care," Luster says again, voice growing even colder. "Look, I'm not here to make friends with you. Honestly, I'd have been happier if I never met you. I only came here for two reasons. First, Princess Twilight taught me that no one deserves to suffer, and I figured knowing Flurry was doing better might, I don't know, make you feel less terrible or something."

"It does," Cozy replies softly. "Thanks for telling me,"

"Don't mention it." Luster leans forward, glaring at her. "Ever. The other reason I came here was to tell you to stay away from Flurry. She'll contact you if she wants. Otherwise, she doesn't owe you anything, and I'm not going to let you hurt her again because you want forgiveness or something."

Cozy holds her ground, despite the raw hatred radiating with Luster. "Fine. But if she reaches out..."

"She's my marefriend, not my property," Luster says pointedly. "I won't stop the two of you from reconnecting if that's what she wants. But I won't just let you waltz back into her life because you're reformed or something." She stands up, leaving her drink on the table. "So, are we done?"

Cozy nods. "Yeah. Thanks for talking, anyways."

Luster Dawn walks away without saying a word.

Cozy lets out a sigh as she downs the last of her coffee in one fell swoop. The warmth of the drink does little to drive out the cold in her heart, but it distracts her at least.

"Well, that could have gone better," she says to the disguised alicorn approaching to her left.

"Indeed," Luna replies. "But it could also have gone far worse."

"This redemption business sucks," Cozy grouses, standing up as she leaves her drink to waste away under the Sun. "I miss when I didn't care about anything ever."

Luna smirks. "You are not alone in those thoughts. Still, did you receive the closure you hoped for?"

"I guess," Cozy mutters before looking up at the Princess of the Night. "I'm really never going to see her again, huh?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Luna replies. "But 'tis true that it is not for you to decide."

Cozy sighs. "Yeah, yeah. I just. I dunno what I would even say to her. 'Sorry' doesn't seem like enough."

"There are likely no words that would make up for what you've done to her," Luna says bluntly. "But, that you would try to find them still means something, even if not to her." Her expression softens. "Come, we would not want to be late for your evaluation."

"Ugh." Cozy sticks her tongue out even as she begins to make her way towards the Palace. "You all know that I know how to say all the right words on those anyway. Why even bother?"

"Your will to attend and maintain the charade says much by itself," Luna replies.

"If it makes you feel better about your rules, sure, let's go with that." Still, Cozy finds herself dutifully trotting along. Maybe it matters, maybe it doesn't, but Cozy needs to believe in something, so she resigns herself to telling a bunch of ponies that she's better, that she wants to help instead of hurt, and to make up for her past.

And maybe, one day, she'll realize that she's been telling the truth all along.

Cozy Glow thinks she would like that.