Mitigating Circumstances

by libertydude

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Death, Sad, Princess Luna, Drama, Suicide / Self Harm, Cozy Glow
Length: 3959

Before her punishment is carried out, Cozy is given an opportunity to explain herself.

Her plan to drain Equestria's magic foiled, Cozy finds herself at the mercy of the Princesses. The duty of enacting punishment is given to Princess Luna, a mare who understands too well the consequences of pursuing ultimate power.

Before the sentence is given, however, Luna gives Cozy a chance to explain herself. There will be no pardon or forgiveness for the deranged filly.

But there might be an understanding.

Takes place during the ending of School Raze - Part 2.

Written for the Fifth Annual Cozy Glow Contest. Used the prompt "Cozy vs..." (in this case, "Cozy vs. Luna").

Rated T for brief discussion about capital punishment and one moment of a character performing mild self-harm.

Published 2024-10-13 02:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-10-13 02:20:00 UTC

Guilty

Luna strode into the dark classroom, her face cloaked in an unflinching intensity. Her two companions, clad in the traditional dark blue armor of the Lunar Guard, followed her into the somber room. The distant buzz of activity flowed from the well-lit hallway. Laughter and joyous shouts echoed throughout the School of Friendship before the merriment grew muffled with the door’s closing.

To call the space a classroom would be generous. It was more akin to a small office that’d been expanded in later construction. Ten grown ponies could stand shoulder to shoulder between the two walls widthwise, and fifteen lengthwise. This was likely the reason the room was seldom used by the faculty, with the ever-expanding student body necessitating larger classrooms.

Though her face maintained its stoicism, Luna gave silent thanks this lonely place was where the sentence would be passed. She and her sister had agreed the grim business be done somewhere that would not taint the School at large. Events could leave impressions on a place, whether big or small. And the sentencing of Equestria’s newest villain would certainly leave an impression on the School, more than she already had.

About halfway down the room, a small, white unicorn sat at one of the class desks, facing the far wall. Her horn glowed a soft yellow and levitated a feather above the parchment before her. Beside her stood a lectern, undoubtedly constructed for the teachers to lecture from.

Luna walked to the Royal Transcriber, her duo of guards just behind her. The unicorn turned around, then bowed her head to Luna.

“Are you ready, Steady Hoof?” Luna said, her voice deep and authoritative.

Steady nodded. “Yes, Princess.”

“Good.” Luna then turned her attention to the far wall where Steady and the lectern faced.

Standing there were two Royal Guards, one a tall white stallion and the other a short mare with a light aqua coat. Their golden armor stood out against the bland grey walls of the classroom. They’d stood unwaveringly at attention upon Luna’s full entrance, before finally relaxing at her nod of acknowledgement.

Yet it was not the guards who received Luna’s main attention. It was the small cage between them, where a small filly sat. A dejected look filled her face. Her curled, light blue mane seemed to bob with each steady breath she took, and her pinkish coat was marred with dirt from an earlier struggle. Eyes shining a light scarlet stared down at the floor of her miniscule prison.

A part of Luna wanted to laugh as she stood before the caged filly. The whole situation seemed too ridiculous to be real. A lone child, beloved by all her friends and teachers, nearly draining all Equestria’s magic and becoming Empress over all? Luna wouldn’t have believed such a tale a week ago.

But she believed it now. And with that belief came a duty, one the other princesses had agreed should be hers, partially due to their own aversions to the task. Celestia had little stomach for harsh punishment after her sister’s banishment for a thousand years, but knowing one needed to be given, simply stated she did not wish to participate. Cadence could not stand the idea of condemning a child while nursing her own. Twilight recused herself due to her connection to the accused and wishing to avoid a conflict of interest. Only Luna remained to pass judgment and decide the fate of the vanquished filly cowering before her.

Taking a steadying breath, Luna rose to her full height. Raising her right hoof up, she brought it down upon the lectern twice.

Thump, thump!

“This hearing is now in session,” she proclaimed.

Everypony, including the accused, focused upon the Princess.

“Cozy Glow,” she said, her voice low, yet still seeming to boom in the cloistered room. “You are guilty of crimes against Equestria. I have taken the responsibility of passing your sentence.”

The filly looked at Luna, her face a mixture of surprise and confusion. “Where’s the other Princesses?” she said, her voice practically a squeak. “Aren’t all of them supposed to be present for trials?”

“This is not a trial, little one,” Luna said in a flat tone. “Your guilt is beyond question. A trial would be meaningless and a waste of time.”

“B-But I didn’t do anything!” she cried.

“Your partner Tirek says otherwise.”

“And you believe him?!” she hollered, leaping up and smooshing her face against the bars of the cage. “He’s a grumpy old centaur who would do anything to save his own skin!”

A sly grin crossed Luna’s face. “You’re right. He would sell out anypony to further his own goals. But for once, the truth came naturally from him. And…” Her horn glowed and floated out a bundle of letters tied together with string. “…Your letters to him are convincing enough.”

“He fabricated those!” she screeched. “He had time to make those in Tartarus before Twilight found him!”

“Oh, he might’ve. But I’m afraid I misled you. These are not your letters to him. They are his letters to you. We found them in your room.”

Cozy gaped, her mouth moving like more words would come out any second. Yet her jaws simply shut into a defiant grimace.

Luna gave another sly smile. “As I said, a trial is pointless.”

Cozy huffed and crossed her hooves. “So what now? You going to give me Twilight’s Friendship Speech? Put me in a reform school?”

Luna lifted her chin. “I can guarantee you such a limp-wristed penalty will not be coming, little one. You’ve done something the worst fiends in Equestria’s history have not been able to accomplish.”

“Including you?” Cozy hissed.

The guards, both beside the cage and behind Luna, shot dirty looks Cozy’s way. Yet a wave of Luna’s hoof stayed them from any further action.

“Including me,” Luna said, her tone more factual than self-flagellating. “And I guarantee you any further insults will lead to…harsher punishment.” At the final words, Luna’s voice grew exponentially deeper. Her pupils thinned, her teeth grew jagged, and a dark countenance replaced Luna’s face.

Cozy instinctively pushed herself to the back of her cage. The unmistakable visage of Nightmare Moon stared back at her, her nefarious grin burned into the filly’s mind by many Nightmare Nights. For a moment, Cozy thought she could see the dark being lick her lips, ready to devour the little filly in a single bite. Her cyan eyes glinted with unspoken menace.

Just as quickly as the face appeared, it was gone and Luna’s harsh scowl back to its rightful place. “So choose your next words wisely if you wish to seek a more lenient sentence,” she said, her voice back to normal.

For a few moments, Cozy stayed still, her back still pressed against the far bars. Then, carefully, like she was expecting Nightmare Moon to reappear at any moment, she stepped to the front of the cage and sat.

Luna gave an approving nod, then said: “Cozy Glow, your crimes are, without question, heinous. The responsibility has been given to me for your sentencing. Your fate is entirely in my hooves, and whatever decision is made will not be influenced by the other Princesses of Equestria.”

Cozy shifted somewhat, her front hooves fidgeting amongst each other.

“At the moment, all currently sanctioned punishments are on the table. This includes imprisonment, banishment, and…execution.”

The filly’s eyes went wide, just as Luna expected. Execution had not been practiced in over a thousand years, largely due to Celestia’s own distaste for disciplinary action, but the punishment had never technically been banned by royal decree. Perhaps an oversight caused by more pressing matters over the years, or maybe the Princesses, though they’d never admit it, knew the day might come where such a penalty was needed.

Whatever the reason for its continued legality, Luna knew this punishment hanging over Cozy’s head would make her more cooperative. It was a tactic she’d learned in her years dealing with the scum of Equestria’s underworld, who always grew more talkative the moment they knew an axe could drop upon their scrawny necks at a royal whim.

The cruelty of using it upon a filly didn’t faze the Princess of the Night. Cozy had tried to steal the essence of Equestria and make magic completely her own, potentially condemning both ponies and other creatures into being playthings of the psychotic filly. Without magic, many ponies would be sapped of their drive and their deepest desires in life; sad, lifeless zombies without purpose besides what the so-called Empress of Friendship would’ve demanded of them. Was this not murder, just in a spiritual sense rather than physical?

No, Luna did not think her method overly harsh. Only perfectly proportioned toward an act of unimaginable cruelty and selfishness.

“However, before punishment is decided, I will grant you the opportunity to explain yourself and offer reasons you should be granted clemency.”

“Clemen-what?” the filly said.

Luna sighed. “Mercy. A lighter sentence.”

“Oh.”

Luna looked toward Steady Hoof, who gave a curt nod as her quill flew over the parchment. Her eyes flickered toward Luna for only a moment to give the confirmation before zipping back to the writing.

“Then we shall begin. Do you have anything you wish to say, Cozy Glow, regarding your reasons for committing your crimes?”

Cozy shuffled, her front hoof tracing the cage’s steel bottom. Then, leaning forward, she grasped the bars.

“I…I don’t understand,” Cozy whispered.

“What do you not understand?” Luna said.

“I don’t…I don’t know why I’m here.” She gestured to the dark room surrounding them. “I just wanted to be everypony’s friend. I had to get the magic, you see? To be everypony’s friend! You can’t be friends with everypony without having all that power. Otherwise, you’re just…” She gripped the bars tighter. “…You’re just you.”

Luna’s head tilted. “So you stole all of Equestria’s magic because you didn’t think you were good enough to be anypony’s friend?”

“No, I…I needed that power to be everypony’s friend. Because you can’t have friendship without power. Otherwise, what’s even there? Happy feelings?”

“Happy feelings can be some of the most powerful things in the world. And powerless little colts and fillies make friends all the time. You could’ve made plenty of friends being yourself, not-“

“No, I couldn’t!” Cozy screeched, her hooves slamming the bars. The Royal Guard beside her reached for their swords, and Luna’s own guards pointed their own spears toward the enraged filly.

“You couldn’t what?” Luna said, her voice still calm.

“I couldn’t make friends just being myself!” she said, her tone like that of a frustrated teacher dealing with a thick-headed student. “Nopony loved me! Nopony wanted me! I had to be Miss Goody-Four-Shoes just to not be kicked in the mud by other ponies! It’s the only reason I even got into the Friendship School!” Her eyes turned to Luna, blazing, and she pointed through the bars at the Princess. “But you wouldn’t understand! You terrorized Equestria, then came back and got to be Princess again! Everypony loved you, even after all you’d done! It’s…Gah!”

She crossed her hooves again and sat down in a huff. Luna almost chuckled at the pettiness of the action, but held back any sign of her amusement.

“If you feel I am not a suitable executioner of your sentence, then I can get somepony else to-“

“It doesn’t matter,” Cozy growled. “They’d all be meanies like you.”

Luna nodded. “Perhaps you’re right.”

Cozy looked up in surprise.

“About me being a ‘meanie’, as you say. At least, I understand why you’d say that. I shouldn’t have scared you with that face I made earlier. It certainly has scared other colts and fillies before.”

“I wasn’t scared,” Cozy said, cheeks red.

“Whether you were or not doesn’t matter. What does matter was that I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry, little one.”

A confused expression filled Cozy’s face for a moment, before the emotion disappeared in an angry sigh. “Whatever. Let’s get this dumb talk over with.”

“It’s only over once you decide it’s over, Cozy Glow,” Luna said, her tone a little softer than before. “You can talk for as long or as short as you want. Whatever you want to say about…well, about everything that happened.”

Cozy stared at the floor for a few moments, then let out a heavy sigh. She stood up and grabbed the bars again. “Look, Princess Luna, I…I don’t know what to say. Everything just happened, honest.”

Luna shook her head. “Now you know that’s untrue.”

“No, it’s not! I came to the Friendship School to learn how to make friends. Everything that came after was just…” Her hoof wiggled in the air. “…just what needed to be done. To make friends.”

“I highly doubt imprisoning your headmistress and collaborating with a notorious criminal were recommended friendship methods in Princess Twilight’s courses.”

Cozy huffed. “Look, I don’t know…I can’t explain it. Not the way you would understand.”

“Try me,” Luna said, her hooves folding under her chin.

A gulp came from Cozy’s throat, and her eyes wandered over the other ponies filling the room.

“Look, Princess Luna,” Cozy said, shuffling in her cage. “Can we talk alone? These guards and that writing lady give me the willies.”

“I’m afraid not, Cozy.”

“I’ll tell you everything if you do. Just you and I, face-to-face.”

Luna shook her head. “You mistake this hearing for a negotiation. If you wish to tell your reasons for doing all of this, you may do so. But there shall be no private audience, nor an absence of the guards or Miss Hoof. You forfeited the right to such requests after what you did.”

Cozy’s eyes grew wide. “Please,” she squeaked. “I don’t want anypony else to hear.”

“Why? Wouldn’t you want your friends out there to know why you did all this? To let Equestria understand why you almost deprived them of their most precious resource?” She nodded toward the transcriber. “Miss Hoof here would be able to let ponies know everything. What she writes today will be in the public record, for as long as Equestria exists.”

Cozy grit her teeth. “I don’t want ponies to know everything.”

“Why not?”

She shot an accusatory look at the Princess. “Would you want everypony knowing why you became Nightmare Moon?”

“If it would let them understand me better, then yes.”

A sharp laugh came from Cozy. “I should’ve known you were a liar as well as a meanie.”

It was Luna’s turn to give a mocking guffaw. “You are hardly one to judge others for lying. Even putting aside your manipulations of Twilight and your fellow students, you’ve told falsehoods in this hearing multiple times.”

“I thought I was supposed to be the one speaking, Your Majesty.” The final word dripped with sarcasm. “So far, this feels like just another lecture.”

Luna shrugged. “What else can I do? You seem determined to disregard any courtesy I give.”

Cozy’s eyes wandered around the cage, then her face filled with a sneer. “If this is you being courteous, no wonder you became Nightmare Moon. You are biggest meanie of all time.”

Luna shook her head. “You’re not going to provoke me so easily, Cozy. Argue your case, or I shall pass the sentence now.”

“What case? You said it yourself, this isn’t a trial. You came in here, ready to throw me into a pit!” Her front hooves balled up. “You’re just like the rest of them…”

“The rest of who?”

“Everypony!” she yelled. “Everypony in Equestria! You’re all smiles and happy words, but just wait until things get bad! Suddenly, it’s every pony for themselves! Nopony cares about anypony else, not when it really counts!”

Luna leaned forward upon the lectern. “Are you sure this is everypony, Cozy Glow? Or was it somepony you knew?”

“It’s everypony!” Cozy hollered, a defensive tone to the words. “Everypony, including you!” She pointed through the bars to the Princess of the Night. “You, who should be locked up in here instead of me! But you’re not, because everypony loves you, and nopony loves….”

The words died upon her lips, already starting to tremble. Her eyes filled with a brilliant shine as tears began to streak down her face. Sharp breaths pumped in and out of the filly’s lungs.

Then, Cozy let out a piercing scream and started to throw herself around the cage. Her body slammed against the bars on all sides, a pitiful, sobbing shriek filling the room with each self-inflicted blow. The Royal Guards, still sporting their swords, looked at the display in confusion and discomfort. Luna’s Lunar Guards stared, cautiously adjusting their grips on their spears and waiting for a moment the filly would do something they could act on.

Only Luna looked at the sordid meltdown with an unflinching gaze. Her stare was a mixture of pity and resignation, as if she’d seen this emotional outburst a thousand times before and could only patiently wait for it to end.

The conclusion to the affair came within a minute, as the filly’s screams and sobs gradually fell lower and lower. Her bashes against the cage likewise diminished, likely due to the pain starting to flow across the filly’s body. Eventually, Cozy simply stopped and fell down in the middle of the cage. A whimpering mewl was all that could be heard from her collapsed form.

Nopony spoke for what seemed like a hundred years.

Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, Luna said: “What makes you think everypony always loved me, Cozy Glow?”

The prisoner looked up, eyes still wet.

“When I first came back, all ponies could see was Nightmare Moon. Yes, they smiled and bowed, but I could see the fear in their eyes. They knew what I’d been, and regardless of what I’d do to make up for it, some would always think I’d turn into her at the drop of a hat.”

She looked down at the floor. Her garbled reflection in the tiles stared back at her.

“Only Princess Twilight, who until today considered you one of her best students, and my own sister could see me as I really was.”

A soft, sad smile filled her face. “And I learned that was enough. Celestia’s love and Twilight’s friendship was exactly what I needed to realize my true potential. I am the Princess of the Night once more, not merely because my sister took pity or I made friends with the right ponies, but because they showed me what I could be if I just let myself be it. And those ‘happy feelings’ you dismissed? They were the ones that made me realize that I could change. That all ponies could change.”

She brought herself down from the lectern and walked toward the cage. Her guards, though confused, did not move from their spots. The Royal Guards still stood at the ready with their swords. Soon, Luna was face-to-face with the filly, and her crying finally ceased as the Princess stared down at her.

“And I think you can change, Cozy Glow,” Luna said, warmly. “Whatever it is that made you think friendship was only useful for power…you don’t have to hold onto that. You can learn to make friends again. Real friends, who care for you and you for them. The kind that will cherish you, even if you make mistakes.” She turned around and looked back to the closed door. A thin stream of light stretched under it.

Turning back to Cozy, she said: “Beyond that door are all the ponies and creatures who thought you were their friend. And they still can be your friends, if you let them see the real you. Not this manipulative you who tread over them to get ultimate power, but the wonderful little filly I’m sure you were once…and who you can be again.”

Cozy stared past Luna at the thin stream of light, her eyes still wet.

“Just say the word, Cozy. Tell me you really want to be their friend, and I’ll release you into their care.”

Shallow breaths came from Cozy. Her eyes seemed to light up with excitement.

But the gleam soon died, and Cozy stared back at the floor of her cage.

“I don’t want them to be my friends,” she said. “Not anymore. They saw what I did.”

“I’m sure, if you earn their trust back, they’d forgive you.”

Cozy shook their head. “No, they wouldn’t. Because I wouldn’t if they ever did that to me.” She turned to face Luna again. “And everypony in Equestria knows what I did. They won’t want to be my friends either.”

“I’m sure we’d find somepony who-“

“No, you won’t. You’ll search the farthest reaches of Equestria, and everypony you meet will know who Cozy Glow is. And they’ll hate me. Hate me just like…” Her eyes grew hard. “…just like I hate them.”

Luna shook her head. “That’s just anger bubbling over. You’ll learn to-“

“No,” Cozy said, calmly. “Not anger. Just…realization. I hate everypony. I hate their faces, their smiles, and everything else about them.” She nodded toward Luna. “Including you, Princess. I hate you so much I want to scream again. I hated you the second you walked in. I’ll hate you no matter what you decide to do with me, whether it’s banishment or…” She swallowed, then steeled herself again. “And I won’t ever change, no matter what you do to me. I’ll hate you and Celestia and Twilight and all her dumb friends forever. Because you will never be my friends, and if I can’t have friendship…” A maddened smile crossed her face. “…then what’s the difference between a pony and an itty, bitty bug?”

Luna stepped back, a disgusted look upon her face. None of the guards moved. Even Steady Hoof didn’t dare to scratch anymore words.

A mocking smile filled Cozy’s face. “And you thought I was a liar.”

It took a moment, but Luna regained her visage of coolness. She turned and made her way back to the lectern. Gripping the sides, she grew a look of steel.

“Is that all you have to say, Cozy Glow?” Luna said, her voice flat once more.

Cozy laughed. “Yeah, I think I’ve said all I want. So, Princess, what’s my punishment?” The words came out bubbly, like they were talking over the choice of a drink on a menu.

“Then I hereby pronounce your sentence: You shall be imprisoned in Tartarus for the rest of your days, barring a decision amongst the Princesses to release you.”

“Oooh, neatie!” Cozy said, hopping in a circle. “Tirek is down there! Maybe we could have fun down there with all those vicious animals!” A series of happy yelps came from the filly.

Luna did not waver from her glower. She turned to Steady Hoof. “Let it be on the record that the prisoner has verbally approved of their punishment.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” Steady Hoof said. She still seemed unnerved by the giggling prisoner, but diligently kept to her duty.

“Then the sentence is now given,” Luna said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “This hearing is now concluded.”

Reaching up, she gave a mighty thump upon the lectern’s surface, and the whole affair was done.

Author's Note

I've always wondered what happened to Cozy Glow during the scenes in School Raze - Part 2 between her capture and her imprisonment. Given Luna was the one depositing her in Tartarus, I always assumed she was the one given charge of Equestria's criminal justice, and I wrote this story as an idea of what might've happened in that part of the episode.