A young Unicorn Colt with moderate blue colored fur, a sky-blue mane and tail, cyan eyes, and wore a turquoise baseball-style hat and a saddlebag was running to the Friendship Castle as fast as he could. His name was Cobalt Blitz and he was famous for running away from home and making the bad side of Canterlot free of its thugs, getting the nickname "Runaway Ruler". There was one secret, however, that he had never told anyone about when he was living there. That was going to be revealed to Twilight and her friends today.

Twilight was getting no luck trying to find any parents or siblings for Cozy Glow. Not even any aunts, uncles, or cousins were showing up in her data base, but her friends and she were about to get the shock of their lives today. There was a knock at the front door, and the lavender Alicorn trotted over to answer it. She opened it to reveal a Unicorn Colt with moderate blue colored fur, a sky-blue mane and tail, cyan eyes. He wore a turquoise baseball-style hat and a brown saddlebag. He was out of breath and could barely speak.

"May I *pant* come in *pant*, please?" He croaked out, sounding like he had a sore throat.

"Uh, sure," Twilight said. She assumed that this colt was another one of her many fans.

"Thank *pant* you," He said, sounding a bit better than before now that he had stopped running.

"Twilight, what's goin' on out there?" came a heavy southern accent.

Cobalt instantly recognized that voice as Applejack's. He was a big fan of all of them and had seen them on several occasions. He was a very smart kid and could recognize anyone by their voice.

"We have a visitor, Applejack. Oh, I almost forgot, what's your name?" Twilight asked.

"Cobalt Blitz," he responded, his voice almost fully restored.

Applejack came into the hallway, followed by Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Gabby, Smolder, and Garble. When Pinkie saw Cobalt, she immediately became really excited.

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Girls do you realize who this is?!" She squeaked.

"Uh, no..." Rainbow Dash, confused by her friend's sudden change in demeanor.

"You seriously don't know the story of Cobalt Blitz? The Runaway Ruler?!" Pinkie asked, shocked by the oblivious nature of her friends.

"Well, we've heard of him, but we've never seen him," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, I'm him," Cobalt sighed. Like many ponies, he wanted to make his mark on the world, but this was not what he wanted to be known as. He was honestly expecting ponies to be mad at, or even shunning, him for pulling a stunt like that. He wasn't expecting for every kid in his class asking for his autograph, nor was he expecting ponies on the street congratulating him for his efforts, let alone the heroes of Equestria that he stood before today.

"No. Way," Rainbow Dash said. "I can't believe it. Cobalt Blitz is in our castle. I have so many questions to ask. How many ponies did you defeat who dared to stand in your way? How did you manage to get every thug out of Canterlot? What was it like being a runaway?"

"Okay, we're getting off topic here. This is not why I came here," Cobalt said. He opened his saddlebag with his magic, which had mastered very recently, pulled out a photo, and showed it to the ponies.

Everyone's faces were given quite a shock when they saw it. It was a picture of Cobalt Blitz, but it was who he was next to who got everyone's attention. It was Cozy Glow. Cobalt and Cozy were looking at the camera with a big wide smile.

"I believe you know who this is," Cobalt said.

"It's...Cozy, b-but...how?" Sweetie Belle stammered, feeling absolute shock come over her.

"Listen, I've never told anyone this, but I was the only one who was the closest to Cozy Glow. She had no family and no friends since she was a foal," Cobalt said. " I've heard that you're trying to find anyone who might be considered family to Cozy. It's best you quit now, please. Trust me, you're going to find absolutely no family members on her. I've tried that myself and I too came up with nothing. If you could get Celestia and Luna to come over here so I can talk to them about Cozy's origins and why she's so crazy, that'd be great."

"Certainly, Cobalt," Twilight said. "Rainbow Dash, can you please go get Celestia and Luna? You're the fastest flyer out of all of us."

"You can count on me, Twi," Rainbow Dash said confidently. "I can get there in ten seconds flat. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I can get there pretty fast."

With that Rainbow Dash grabbed the photo of Cobalt and Cozy (after asking politely of course), ran out the front door, and flew as fast as she could to Celestia and Luna's castle.

***

Celestia and Luna were calmly sitting on their throne chairs when the front doors suddenly flew open, and Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop in front of them.

"Rainbow Dash, what's the rush?" Celestia asked.

"Listen, do either of you know of the "Runaway Ruler"?" Rainbow Dash asked back.

"Yes, what about him?" Luna said.

"He's got pictures of himself and, you're not going to believe this, Cozy Glow!" Rainbow Dash said. She out a picture of Cozy and Cobalt smiling at the camera and showed it to them, both Royal Sisters were shocked. "He's requested a visit from you both specifically. He says that he wants to help us with Cozy's origins so we can finally figure out why Cozy is so psychotic."

"Bring him here at once," says Celestia. "As well as the others. It will be easier to discuss here ."

Rainbow salutes and flies off.

***

Cobalt had taken a seat in the Living room of the Castle, patiently waiting for Rainbow to return. The other 12 creatures were looking at all the photos from Cobalt's saddlebag he brought along. There were so many pictures of Cozy and him smiling at the camera. There were also pictures of Cozy and Cobalt alone in the shot. No doubt the other was holding the camera. Everyone heard the front door open and in stepped Rainbow Dash, who relays what Celestia told her.

"I can teleport us all there," says Twilight , and without hesitating, does so, rubbing her horn shortly afterwards. "I forgot how draining it was..."

Cobalt bolted down the hallway, and into the throne room as fast as he could. Celestia and Luna were surprised to see a blue unicorn colt barreling to them at full speed. He skidded to a stop in front of them and stayed silent for a few seconds to catch his breath.

"Hello, Princesses. My name is Cobalt Blitz. I have information on why Cozy Glow became the way she was," Cobalt said, his eyes locked onto those of both Royal Sisters'.

"Yes, we've seen the picture Rainbow Dash gave us," Celestia said. She looked up to see Twilight running in, no doubt to find where Cobalt had run off to.

"Twilight, do you mind if Luna and I talk to Cobalt alone, please?" Celestia asked. "I promise we'll tell you everything he's told us after he's finished."

"Very well," Twilight said. She gave Cobalt one last warm smile, which the colt returned, and trotted back to the hallway.

Cobalt was more than happy to go with the Princesses. At long last, the reasons behind Cozy Glow's insane nature would finally be revealed. Staring at the picture he held, the thought that Cozy's unstable mind and uncontrolled rage almost took a life never left his head.

"Alright, Cobalt," Luna said, snapping Cobalt out of his trance. The Princess of the Moon took out a clipboard with several pieces of paper attached to it. "Tell us everything you know, don't miss any detail."

The second Luna finished her sentence, Cobalt started talking, although slowly. He told them how he had run away from home because at the time he was always getting into arguments with his parents, and he claimed he was "sick of his parents setting up playdates for him with kids he shared absolutely nothing in common with" and believed his parents didn't "understand him". He knew his parents would be both in bed by 10:30 P.M. and planned to be ready to leave home by 11:15 P.M.

Using his allowance that he managed to save up over two years and change that he managed to scrounge off the street dropped by other ponies, he bought a tent, enough food and drinks to last him six months, a sleeping bag, two toothbrushes, two tubes of toothpaste, a comb, 10 dozen rolls of toilet paper, and shampoo and body wash so he could wash in the river. It wasn't easy, but he managed to stuff all his survival supplies under his bed and in the very back of his closet. He was able to obtain all these materials because he enjoyed watching shows about survival expeditions. He gained all the knowledge of the great outdoors and the dangers that came with it.

Tonight, would be the night he put all of his knowledge and materials to the test. Cobalt pretended to fall asleep that night and it was an agonizing two-and-three-quarters-of-an-hour wait for his digital alarm clock to finally signal when he could hit the road. The second the clock hit 11:15 P.M. that night, Cobalt grabbed a giant duffel bag, that he had also stashed under his bed, carefully put all his supplies inside of it, and was out the door like a rocket, although quietly because he didn't want to risk waking his parents up. The second he was out the door and was all alone in the middle of the night, he felt calm and at ease. The night was quiet, the air was cool and crisp, and the moon seemed to stare down upon him. His only sighting of any life was an owl that greeted him with a friendly "Hoo". Cobalt gave it a friendly wave back.

The runaway survivalist-wannabe had already found a perfect place in mind, Canterlot. He always wanted to go there, but his family and he never had time to go there. He lived about 15 miles outside the big city, but fortunately, he was right next to a train track that led right into the heart of it. He trekked no more than a mile on hoof before a slow-moving freight train approached him. He jumped in a nearby bush to avoid the conductors spotting him, before noticing one of the boxcars had a broken lock as it approached him. With no time to spare, he ran as fast as he could from his bush, jumped onto the boxcar, opened the door, and climbed inside. He was able to open a crate and stuff both himself and his duffel bag inside. Within an hour, the train arrived at the final station. Cobalt stayed inside his crate until he was transported to a warehouse right next to the final station. Then he snuck out with his supplies like a camouflage soldier. By now, it was almost 6:00 in the morning and fatigue was finally catching up with Cobalt. He looked for a place to set up his tent and catch a few hours of sleep.

Then, he came across a bench in a nearby park covered with newspaper. He would've paid it no attention if there wasn't a strand of sky-blue mane sticking out of it. He walked over to it and, very cautiously, pulled the newspapers back. Instantly, his fatigue faded. There laid a Pegasus the same age as him. She has pink fur, scarlet eyes, and it seemed she was getting sick, no doubt from the elements. Cobalt was shocked at what he saw and just couldn't leave her behind to suffer. He grabbed the unwell Filly, hoisted her up on his back, and continued on. Many were surprised to see such a small colt carry so much weight. Although most didn't know it, Cobalt was actually a very strong and tough kid who stood up for anyone who was bullied. He had a black belt in karate, and he was captain of the wrestling team. He'd sometimes be seen wrestling an older, meaner kid to the ground if he found them trying to intimidate or physically harm other kids who were younger and meeker.

Cobalt managed to find a secluded place with an herb bush at the top of a hill that overlooked Canterlot. The hill had a steep drop-off, and the duo had a charming view of the sunset. He set his tent up, unrolled his sleeping bag, and placed the sick Cozy Glow inside. Then he went over to the herb bush, plucked off a few branches, and began using his knowledge from his survivalist shows to whip up a cure to prevent his new friend from getting worse. That night, Cobalt slipped into the sleeping bag with Cozy and held her tight to keep her warm. Within two days, Cozy Glow was feeling well enough to talk. When Cobalt asked about where she came from, Cozy claimed that she didn't have a home or family and had been living on the streets since she was a foal. She also said that she had no clue who her parents even were. Cobalt felt absolutely horrible for her. This was a child who had no family, grew up on the street, and had no idea who her parents even were. It was a miracle to Cobalt that she was even here today.

By day five, Cozy was fully well again. She thanked Cobalt for what he did to make her feel better and was about to head back down the hill, but Cobalt stopped her. He absolutely refused to see this poor filly go all the way back down to those horrid streets where she had to fend for herself 24/7. He told her after all that she had gone through, seeing her back on the streets where she could very well get hurt again was the last thing he wanted. It wasn't just fear for Cozy's safety that Cobalt had on his mind, he also felt a personal connection with her as well. Cozy felt so touched. No one had ever cared this much about her before.

Then one day while the two new friends were on a walk, they both noticed a masked pony walking into a convenience store. Both kids immediately realized that from the way that pony acted, he was most likely going to rob the store. Cobalt and Cozy immediately followed the pony into the store and sure enough their suspicions were confirmed, and the pony aimed a gun at the clerk and demanded all the cash in the register. Cobalt nor Cozy could stand by and watch as the clerk nervously dropped the bits into the robber's sack. The duo ran inside, and Cobalt taunted the robber into chasing him while Cozy sneakily flew overhead and called the police. By the time the Police arrived, Cobalt had pinned the robber to the ground, and he actually begged the cops to take him away claiming that Cobalt was "crazy". The Police didn't need to be told twice, they handcuffed him and took him to the Police Station. The media caught wind of Cozy and Cobalt's heroic actions and they were swarmed with attention. Cozy and Cobalt couldn't care less about the media attention, they were just happy with their heroic deed. They would go on to prevent three crimes for back-to-back-to-back days. Two were robberies, the third was a murder attempt. Other bad guys began to catch on to the heroic duo's reputation. Most didn't have the guts to hurt them. They were kids after all. Seven of them, however, believed that they could easily beat in a fight Cozy and Cobalt if they all fought the duo together. The heptad was in for an unpleasant surprise when they met them, fortunately. Cozy had been taught fighting moves from Cobalt and Cobalt himself gave a personal demonstration of his favorite wrestling takedown moves on their would-be assailants. Within 15 minutes, Cobalt and Cozy had taken down every one of their foes. The cops arrived just as Cozy knocked out the last foe standing. They were very surprised because they had been called by someone fearing for Cozy and Cobalt's safety. Yet, here they were taking down their assailants single-handedly. All seven, like the first robber, cried and begged the cops to take them to jail. Cozy and Cobalt's reputation once again became stronger and now all criminals fully knew that it was best not to cross them ever.

For three months, the Pegasus and Unicorn were happy as can be with each other, fighting off the bad guys and gals and living like a King and Queen in the heart of Canterlot. That was until one fateful night when they were out stargazing at the top of the hill. The two had already set up their tent and had planned to go to bed in an hour. That's when they saw Cobalt's parents leading a group of police officers to them. Cobalt was later informed that an "anonymous source" tipped off the cops to their cops to their location. Cozy had already figured it out from the moment she saw the cops. They would've taken Cobalt back without a fight had an incensed Cozy Glow not interfered. During the struggle, Cozy tried to tackle an Officer, he shook her off, and she slid off the edge of the hill, bumping her head hard on the way down. There was a rock with a flat surface about halfway down and Cozy, by some miracle, landed on that rock. She was unconscious, but somehow still alive.

The police radioed to get a helicopter to get Cozy out of there, but they used the word "recovered". When Cobalt heard that, he finally broke down and cried. His lifelong friend was dead...or so they thought. When the Police arrived a few hours later to get Cozy off the cliffside, they couldn't find her anywhere, meaning she was still alive. Cobalt was overjoyed to find out his friend wasn't dead but was worried that she was lost and could be anywhere in Equestria. Throughout the next couple of months, ponies reported sightings of Cozy all throughout Equestria, but were unable to get a clear picture to confirm the cops' suspicions. No one dared confronting and chasing her as that might've short-circuited Cozy's temper.

Somewhere along the line, Cozy met Tirek and he convinced her to help him conquer Equestria. It was very likely that the hit to the head made Cozy Glow unable to control her rage, unpredictable, and very, very unstable. Tirek must've figured that out and exploited that to make her his minion.

As for Cobalt, after reuniting with his parents, they all underwent counseling together, and he has since rebuilt the bridge with them both.

Celestia and Luna were, to put it very lightly, shocked by what Cobalt Blitz had told them. Here was a boy who was able to melt Cozy's walls and become close to her and in the span of two minutes, it all fell apart.

"Look I know Cozy's probably going away for life because of this, but I just wanted to get that off my chest before she gets sentenced," Cobalt said.

"Well, thank you for sharing your story, Cobalt. I know that was hard for you to talk about," Celestia responded, placing a hoof on his shoulder.

"No, I wanted to tell you sooner," Cobalt replied. "I was planning to pay you a visit when I heard Cozy was imprisoned in Tartarus, but I misplaced my photos, and I feared you wouldn't believe me without them. By the time I did find them, I got word Cozy had mysteriously vanished from Tartarus. I never heard her name again until I saw what happened during that battle on the news and I knew this was my last chance."

Just then, two royal guards came into the room, followed by the Element Bearers.

They both took a bow, "Your highness."

"Greetings," Princess Celestia replied. "What can I do for the two of you?"

"It's Cozy Glow," one guard said. "It seems she's going back and forth between emotions. She's crying one minute and the next she's laughing manically."

"She's also saying something about it "teaching you a lesson about taking away her best friend in the whole world"," the other guard added.

Cobalt felt his gut drop. It was at this point he knew that Cozy had finally passed the point of no return. He just looked at the guard in shock before it turned into one of sadness. Celestia and Luna felt sorry for the young colt. Spike's harem and Garble also took notice of Cobalt's demeanor and they too felt sorry for the little guy.

"Alright, thank you for the information," Luna said. "We will head to the Canterlot dungeons shortly."

"Sure thing, your highness," the guards replied and took another bow.

Celestia and Luna had a feeling that this was coming. Even when Cozy seemed like a sweet and innocent filly, some ponies couldn't help but get a small vibe that something was off inside her mind.

Celestia and Luna thanked the guards for the new information and planed a visit for the dungeons tomorrow. They offered to take Cobalt along and he accepted the invitation in a heartbeat. He'd do anything to see his best friend one last time and have at least have some kind of closure.

Little did they know they were in for another unpleasant revelation when they next saw Tirek, Chrysalis, and the now finally snapped Cozy Glow.

MEANWHILE IN THE CANTERLOT DUNGEONS

When Twilight and the others had left the Dungeons in Canterlot, Cozy Glow broke down into a fit of sobs, tearfully saying how she was sorry for almost causing Spike to die. Two minutes later, it was a different story. Cozy's sobs slowly transitioned into maniacal laughter, babbling on about how Spike's near death would "teach Celestia and Luna a lesson for taking her best friend away from her" and that they now "knew how it felt to lose, or in their case, almost lose someone close to them". She kept going back and forth between crying and laughing manically. It was needless to say that at this point, the last of the severely mentally ill Pegasus' sanity seemed to have finally given out. Chrysalis seemed to enjoy Cozy's mood swings, even chuckling when she was about to shift moods. Tirek, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable by Cozy finally snapping right in front of him.

THE NEXT DAY

Right on schedule, Celestia, Luna, Cobalt, Garble, and Spike's harem were at the dungeons and were being led to Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis' cell. As they got closer, the ten ponies heard sobbing coming from their cell. By the time they got to the front of the cell and were facing the three villains, the sobbing was now slowly transitioning into maniacal laughter. Chrysalis saw the ten new arrivals and could not be happier to see them. Even if she loathed them unconditionally. Tirek saw them too but didn't say a word.

"Oh, thank god you're here," Chrysalis growled. "Shut that brat up, she's been crying and laughing all night. I haven't been able to get a wink of sleep."

24 hours ago, Chrysalis would've found Cozy's insanity funny, but that was before she was kept up all night by Cozy's loud crying and laughing.

The 16 heroes looked into a corner and there they saw Cozy Glow curled into a ball facing away from them. She was surrounded by a puddle of tears and her mane and tail were a tangled, soaked mess. Cobalt felt tears brimming in his eyes at the sight of his first friend finally going off the deep end. At Celestia's command, the guards unlocked the prison cell and they all stepped inside.

Cobalt bolted to Cozy and gently tapped on her shoulder. She flipped around and everyone felt a bit uneasy looking at her face. Her face had a twisted smile on her face, her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her pupils were dilated, her cheeks were soaked with tears, and she looked really, really crazy. When she saw Cobalt, however, her crazed expression turned into a shocked one. It seemed the sight of her best friend was slowly bringing her back to reality.

"C-Cobalt?" she spoke softly. "I-Is-Is it really you?"

"Yes, Cozy," Cobalt said, wrapping his friend in a hug. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here now."

Cozy suddenly broke free of Cobalt's grasp and stood protectively in front of him, glaring hatefully and growling at Celestia, Luna, Garble, and Spike's harem.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!" she screamed.

"Whoa, Cozy, chill. What's the matter?" Cobalt asked

"OH, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S THE MATTER!!!" Cozy yelled. "CELESTIA AND LUNA IMPRISONED TIREK IN TARTARUS BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNEW CELESTIA AND LUNA TIPPED OFF THE COPS TO WHERE WE WERE IN CANTERLOT!!!"

"Cozy, we didn't tip off the cops to your location," Luna said calmly.

"YEAH, RIGHT!!!" Cozy snapped back, her voice never lowering. "JUST HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK I AM?!! YOU WERE GONNA KILL ME IF YOU FOUND OUT WHY I WAS THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!! TIREK WARNED ME ABOUT THAT!!! SO, I HAD TO MAKE UP A LIE TO PREVENT YOU FROM FINDING OUT MY TRUE MOTIVE!!!"

Celestia turned to Tirek wearing a stern expression, "Tirek, care to explain what Cozy Glow is talking about?"

Tirek sighed. He knew he had nothing to lose and lying wouldn't do him any good. He explained that Cozy came down to Tartarus, assuming whoever had given up the whereabouts of Cobalt and her would be hiding there, assuming she'd never look for them down there. Cozy figured that whoever did tip off the cops would probably figure Tartarus would be the last place the crazed Pegasus would ever look. Tirek overheard her angry, insane rants about what she'd do to the culprit and beckoned her over to his cage. He told her he knew Cobalt and told her the Princesses were the ones who tipped off the cops to their locations. He wanted to tell Cozy Glow immediately, but the Princesses intercepted him and sent him down here to prevent him from ever telling her. Any normal pony would've blown Tirek off, but Cozy's fractured mind coupled with her lust for revenge and her unrestrained rage made her believe him. Tirek also said that Twilight and her friends were also involved in tipping off the police to Cobalt and her hideout. The Centaur advised her to try to start out as their friend because he claimed that was what they were "hellbent on teaching everyone". Before she went, however, Tirek said if she ever got caught, he wanted her to say that friendship was power to cover up the real reason about why she was there. The old Centaur "feared" that she'd be killed by Celestia and Luna if they found out her true intentions.

After Cozy left Tartarus, she found out that they had their own school of Friendship and she instantly realized how she could infiltrate their ranks. Her attempts were foiled, and she was sent to Tartarus. Then she was suddenly teleported out of her cage and into an old lair in the middle of the Everfree Forest. She wasn't teleported alone, however. In the lair with her was King Sombra, Tirek, and Chrysalis. The one who had teleported them out of there was an ancient cornflower blue ram named Grogar, who assigned them all tasks that would help them out for the final assault on Equestria. King Sombra, however, believed he could take on Equestria's heroes alone and was ultimately defeated. The other three villains soon met the same fate, but not before a young life was nearly unfairly cut short in the process.

Everyone was, to put it very lightly, irate at Tirek's revelation. Cobalt probably felt the most rage out of them all. He jumped up on Tirek's bunk, grabbed the Centaur's goatee in his magic and yanked him down so they were at eye level.

"How dare you?" he growled. "How dare you exploit a pony's mental illness, a kid for that matter, for your own SICK, TWISTED, NEFARIOUS SCHEMES OF VENGEANCE?!!"

Tirek just gulped nervously as Twilight came up to speak next.

"You are a lot lower than I thought," she said in a low voice. It didn't sound angry, but rather disappointed, as if she expected Tirek to be better than that despite being a villain.

With nothing left to say the Celestia ordered the guards to send a team of paramedics to take Cozy Glow to the hospital for a mental evaluation. The Royal Sisters already had a feeling the Cozy might be too incompetent to stand trial. When they went to pick her and put her on the bed, she resisted them. Eventually, they worked out a deal with her: She'd go with them, but only if Cobalt stayed with her the whole time. Cobalt was also on board with the plan. With that said, they loaded Cozy into the ambulance, and they rode off to the hospital. On his way out of the prison cell, Cobalt shot one last, piercing glare at Tirek. The old Centaur felt a chill run down his spine when Cobalt gave him a final dirty look. He had never stopped to think about the consequences of his actions. All he cared about was getting revenge on Princess Celestia and Luna for defeating him.

OCTOBER 28, 2019, CANTERLOT HOSPITAL

It took only four days for Cozy's test results came back. It was quicker than anyone had expected and the Royal Sisters' suspicions about Cozy being too incompetent to stand trial were confirmed. Cozy's tumble off the top of the hill had given her a severe case of bipolar disorder, PTSD, schizophrenia, and it seemed she had brain damage. She'd have to take meds and undergo psychotherapy for the rest of her life. Twilight and the other members of the harem couldn't help but feel sorry for Cozy. The only reason she was so evil all this time was because she was a pony who became mentally ill because of a concussion and was manipulated by Tirek for his own wicked deeds to bring Equestria to its knees. The idea alone that the wicked Centaur exploited the fractured mind of a child to get what he wanted made Twilight both enraged and sick to her stomach at the same time. Destroying her home was one thing. Using a mentally ill child was a taking it to a whole new level. Yet, she also felt partial blame for what happened as well. She remembered how her friends and she pressed Tirek in Tartarus and he revealed that Cozy Glow was his ally. If they weren't so eager to get out of Tartarus, the Element Bearers would've likely questioned him further about how exactly Tirek met Cozy and possibly get him to crack sooner. If they had gone with that option, Cozy would already be fully reformed.

As for Cozy's sentence, all charges against her were dropped because of her insanity. When she started taking meds for her Bipolar disorder, PTSD, and schizophrenia, her memory was, at first, very hazy and she really couldn't remember much. When she was told in detail all the bad things she had done, however, the doctors experienced a side of Cozy Glow no one had ever seen before, a woebegone, sad, and remorseful Cozy Glow. Everyone half-expected her to switch to maniacal laughing after one to two minutes, but she never did. She sobbed for a full six hours, mumbling for forgiveness from Celestia and Luna. Luna's dream relm saw Cozy having nightmares of either Celestia and Luna glaring before her before they used their magic to petrify her into stone or she'd be alone in a room with the only light being an invisible spotlight shining on her, before another spotlight would also come on right in front of her and she would see a purple dragon covered with shards of Grogar's shattered bell, soaked in blood, his abdomen was burned to a crisp and smoking, and his face was a blank expression. He'd look right her and whisper the words, "You did this," or, "You killed me. Why did you kill me?", over and over again.

Cobalt didn't know what to do. He could never leave Cozy's room, because every time he did, she'd break down and just bawl, even to just use the bathroom. He tried his best to comfort his distraught friend, but no avail. During their time together in Canterlot as runaways, Cozy would sometimes have nightmares, but Cobalt was always there to support her and lull her back to sleep. The blue colt was able to do that, but he would always be woken up several times throughout the night by Cozy's screams. It'd take almost an hour to assure her it was just a dream. When they were runaways, Cozy would usually be back to sleep in less than ten minutes. After another four days, Celestia and Luna decided enough was enough. They weren't alone either, even Twilight and her friends were onboard with the plan. If the truth be told, they also felt at fault for what Cozy did. Sending her down to Tartarus seemed to only make her become even worse. The fact that the one who had instigated it was with her the whole time didn't help much either. There was also something else that motivated them to reform her as well, but they'd reveal that to her when they got to her hospital room.

LATER THAT DAY

Cobalt was glad that Cozy was finally getting some sleep. He had seen Cozy wake up eight times last night from nightmares. It seemed they were getting worse and worse and Cobalt was running out of plans of comforting her. Now, however, she had been sleeping for almost four hours without one nightmare. A nurse came into their room and stopped in front of Cobalt.

"You have visitors, dear," she said.

"Send them up, please," Cobalt responded.

The nurse left the room and a few minutes later, Celestia, Luna, Garble, and all 12 members of Spike's harem trotted into the room just as Cozy Glow let out another scream and woke up from another horrifying nightmare. They covered their ears until Cozy was fully conscious and stopped screaming. Cozy saw the three Princesses and knew instantly that her fate was sealed...or so she thought.

"Hello Princess Celestia, Luna, Twilight," Cozy said in a sad, defeated tone. "I know why you're here. I screwed up and I can't fix what I did. So just take me to the dungeons and get it over with."

Celestia and Luna didn't respond. Instead, they moved aside and the filly Pegasus saw the silhouette of a small figure. After a few seconds, Cozy recognized who it was. The sight made her feel shocked at who it was. There, in front of her, was a purple dragon who didn't have a scratch on him. His dragon wings were replaced with a pair of black, changeling ones, and other than the new changeling horns on his head, he looked the same.

"Spike?!" she exclaimed. "How?!! I saw you dead! How-How are you here now?!"

The young dragon smiles softly and says, "Indeed, that day I was very close to dying, but by some miracle, I was saved."

"S-Sp-Spike," Cozy choked out. "I-I'm s-so sorry. Y-You didn't deserve this. You didn't deserve to be hurt so badly, or to have almost lost your life."

Spike felt sorry for her. When he had returned from his camping trip with Starlight and Trixie, he heard Cozy's story and how she was manipulated, and convinced the Royal Sisters to drop all charges against Cozy, as well as seeking permission to talk to her personally. He also heard about Cobalt's story and that seemed to only make him more determined to talk to Cozy.

"Shhh," Spike soothed. "I know, Cozy. I know why you're the way you are. I forgive you."

Cozy's sadness was replaced with surprise.

"What? B-But why???" she stammered.

"Because Cozy, you and I have a lot more in common that you think," Spike explained. "We both have no real parents, we were both outcasts from society, and we were both taken advantage of. Yes, I too was manipulated by someone as well. He was a Dragon too and his name was Sludge. Smolder and I were on a walk around Ponyville when he suddenly crash landed in front of us. He said he was okay, but I knew better than that. With Smolder's help we took him back to the castle and got him the medical care he needed there. Before he headed back to the Dragon Lands, however, he dropped a giant bombshell that no one expected: He came to Ponyville looking for me. He claimed that he was my father and had gone through a lot of trouble to find me, but as it turned out it was all a big trick just so he could live in the castle and be waited on hand and foot. I was devastated at first, but I realized that I had my true family, Twilight, was with me all this time. How Sludge took manipulated the fact I was an orphan was bad, but how Tirek manipulated the fact that you lost a friend and that you were mentally ill is 100 times worse. I'm sorry we didn't, I didn't, think twice about sending you to Tartarus. It seemed sending you down there only seemed to push you further toward the edge. Which is why when Celestia first told me about what happened I asked them not to charge you."

Cozy gawked at Spike in dumbfounded amazement. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The kid who she had almost killed was forgiving her AND convinced the Princesses not to charge her with any crime. She didn't know what to say.

"I-I'm-I'm speechless. Thank you, Spike," Cozy sputtered. She teared up again, but this time it was out of happiness. "How do I ever repay you?"

"Just promise me you'll be better from now on. I know things were tough for you back then, but I promise you, it will get better," Spike said, his emerald eyes meeting Cozy's scarlet eyes.

Cozy could clearly see Spike soul in those two pools of green that were full of hope. Spike saw the exact same thing in Cozy's eyes, it looked like her soul was broken but smiling right back at him. When the purple dragon saw that, it was at that point he knew that this little Pegasus did indeed have good in her.

"Spike," Twilight said. "You don't know how proud I am of you."

"Aw, come on, Twilight," Spike said. "I'm just doing what everyone should do."

"The key word is "should", sweetie pie," Rarity spoke up. "There are many people who would reject Cozy in a heartbeat because unlike us, they'd only notice her flaws, but they'd never notice her pain."

"Well that ends today," Spike said. "It's time we help Cozy back onto her hooves and place her back in society."

Cozy and Cobalt both had liquid pride welling up in their eyes. They felt so touched by Spike's kind words and gesture. She stuck out her arms for a hug toward Twilight and she was quickly met with one for the lavender Alicorn Princess. Cobalt, the other harem members, Garble, Celestia, and Luna quickly followed along, and they all hugged each other for a solid minute. They broke away and gave one last, kind smile to Cozy before leaving the hospital room, all except Cobalt. Seeing Spike act so kind to a former villain only increased the bold, blue Unicorn's determination to help Cozy out of her slump ten-fold.

As for Cozy, it was from this day forward that the pink Pegasus decided to be a better pony. For her own good. For Equestria. Most importantly, for Spike.

"I'll be better," she said to herself. "For Spike. Not the hero I deserved, but the hero I needed...to show me the light."

Author's Note

This chapter is derived from 1jckuhn's story: Spike's Sacrifice (AU), chapters 11 and 12. I have used and slightly edited it with their permission.