When she came to, after the sudden loss of consciousness comparable to anesthesia, Cozy Glow found herself lying in a rusted cage. She was quite groggy feeling from her slumber, and it took a while for her to realize that she wasn’t in a desert wasteland anymore. She was in a grand hall, that alike to a castle.

A flurry of ideas went through her mind. Had she time traveled? Had she been sent back in time to before she destroyed the entire world? Or was this some alternate universe, or a different planet?

For some reason, Cozy Glow couldn’t quite remember what had happened before she found herself here. All she could conceive from the (day? Year? Life?) before was that she had been staring at some entity that glowed very brightly, and whatever it did got her here.

That was it. She was left in the dark, funny enough, by an entity of light.

Cozy Glow took in her surroundings once more. The cage was old and clearly not cleaned in decades, at least. The hall was tall and narrow, and there was a pair of tall, narrow doors in front of her. They screamed royalty.

As if unlocking a memory, she realized this was the castle at Canterlot—the Twin Sisters’ castle, and what was soon to be Twilight’s castle if Cozy Glow hadn’t swooped in and overthrew the princess not too long before her coronation.

What was she doing back here? If she hadn’t time traveled, how did this place still exist? And did anything else remain?

In answer to her questions, a pair of stallions in armor, one white coated and the other a lime coat, came down the hallway. Somewhere in the castle, a clock chimed. It struck once… twice… all the way up to twelve. Seeing how bright it was, she confirmed it was noon.

The guards reached her cage, and she immediately started asking questions.

“What’s going on?” She asked, all cutely, hoping for a response from the usually quiet guards.

None of them responded. The most she got was a glare of disapproval. If it weren’t obvious enough, she was guilty of something BAD.

They rolled the cage—promptly on wheels—to the double doors. The lime-colored guard used their magic to open the doors, allowing the cage to ease through.

The room beyond the doors was none other than a court room. It had the usual set-up, and it was jam packed with eerily solemn ponies of all kinds.

And, of all ponies to be the judge, as if out of Cozy Glow’s nightmares, it was Twilight Sparkle herself. You know—the leader of the free world. The boss. The Queen of Equestria.

Cozy Glow’s stomach felt as if it were twisted into knots upon knots. She was dreading knowing what was happening before her very eyes. Deep down, she had a glimmer of hope that Twilight would forgive her if she explains how much she regretted doing what she had done. However, judging the look on her judge’s face, she wasn’t going to get off any hooks—in fact, they might as well put her on meat hooks and leave her to die in a freezer.

The eternal walkway from door-to-podium felt as if it were never going to end, but at long last, she was put at the front of Twilight’s podium, ready to get what she had coming.

The audience all began whispering as the guards hurried out of the giant space. Cozy Glow turned to face them, eager to get her eyes off Twilight Sparkle and her disturbing glare.

The audience wasn’t much better, as she now recognized some faces: Starlight Glimmer, the other five some call a part of “the mane six,” Spike, the Two Sisters (Celestia and Luna), and none other than the Pillars of Equestria. And to add to the dreadfulness, the rest of the audience were giving her I-hope-your-end-is-long-and-painful looks, something many couldn’t relate to but could imagine isn’t a fun thing to see directed at you.

Twilight settled the audience down. “Quiet down, everypony,” she yelled in a stern voice that meant business.

The room fell eerily silent. It was time for the trial to begin.

“We come here today to trial thee, Cozy Glow, and give her a fitting fate,” Twilight began. “Of course, it is mandatory by Equestrian law that we hear out the one who had committed a felony to be seen here. So, Cozy Glow, do you have ANYTHING you want to say before we begin?”

Cozy Glow gulped. She felt tingly all over. This was horrible, and quite terrifying, but she spoke carefully.

“Y-yes,” she started. “I am truly sorry for w-what I did, and I wish to someday to be forgiven.”

“That’s very thoughtful and all, Cozy Glow, but it’s a little too late for that now,” Twilight informed her.

“I know, but please—“ she said, getting a little frantic. “…I am really, really sorry, and I j-just want to somehow turn my wrong into a right, y’know?”

Twilight glared at her, a hostile glare that meant stop trying your blatant crap. “That won’t work here. Now, let us begin the trial,” Twilight spoke sternly.

Cozy Glow was getting frantic now. “No, I’m not done. Can I—“ Cozy attended to say, but was cut off by Twilight stomping her hoof on the floor.

But she wasn’t done, either. Twilight got up, flew down, and approached Cozy Glow’s cage.

“Since you decided to act all cute and sorry today, we’re just gonna speed up the trial,” Twilight told her flatly.

Cozy Glow shivered. She wanted to reply, but knew it was no use.

Twilight got back to her place on the podium “Let’s go over what brought you here today, shall we?” She asked, as if Cozy Glow could deny her access to the knowledge of all she had done to end up in her current predicament.

Rarity used her magic to hover a file up to Twilight. The princess opened it, scrambled through some papers, and picked one out. She cleared her throat and began.

“Cozy Glow, you are found guilty of overthrowing my rule as the leader of Equestria, endangering and attempting to murder or harm residents of the country without hesitation, accounts of destruction, murder, arson, using illegal magic, and breaking and entering into many of the most secured places in Equestria, such as Tartarus and the vault below Canterlot where we keep magical weapons,” she cited.

“Fuck…” Cozy Glow whispered. “I can’t believe I did that…” she said.

“You’d better. And that’s not even all of them, but I’m making the case file public soon enough, excluding what’s going to happen to you after the trial,” Twilight explained.

Cozy Glow nodded. She wanted to get it over with, sooner rather than later.

“Let’s cut to the chase. Your sentence will be decided after a brief intermission,” Twilight informed Cozy Glow.

“Um, okay,” Cozy replied, not sure what that meant.

A guard approached. She took her cage and guided it down the walkway. Cozy realized it was intermission for just her. She hoped her sentence was to be light, even if she couldn’t communicate even now, but she knew it was very unlikely in the end that she’ll be satisfied with her punishment due.

The double doors opened, and Cozy Glow was wheeled out of the room to give the attendees and Twilight privacy to discuss the fate of Cozy Glow beyond the court room.

Cozy Glow was left right outside the room, and the guard quickly vanished back inside. The only ponies outside were the guards, the same ones who took her inside.

‘Twas no use talking to them. All the guards were basically silent mimes unless told not to be. Especially to villains and villainesses like herself.

Cozy Glow pondered in her cage for a long while, unsure of how things were going to end up for her. She imagined all sorts of punishments: a century in Tartarus… or even eternity there; death by beheading, though even that would be unlikely due to her age; a life in the Canterlot dungeons; the worst possible scenario, she decided, was stone imprisonment. It happened to Discord, so it could happen to her.

Interrupting her thoughts, her eye caught a look at a strange stallion approaching the cage. He had a dark, dark blue coat, ragged gray mane, and looked to be fairly old, just old enough to be her grandpa.

They were quite ragged looking, and they wore a torn cloak that barely covered their body; it was more of a small blanket.

As they passed, they shot Cozy Glow a glance. “Aye, yo, Cozy Glow,” he whispered in a musical tone. “You’d better get comfy in that cage. Ha!”

Cozy Glow just stared back in confusion. She was but a filly, but she could tell he knew she was going to be in it for a while. Why he knew was beyond her, let alone who he was supposed to be was a complete mystery.

She shot a glance at him as he entered the court room. She couldn’t see through the gap to see if anything was going on visually, but she heard a lot of talking. The doors were really sound proof.

As he closed the door behind him, he stared at her once more. A crooked grin crossed his face. That couldn’t be good.

Cozy Glow slumped back in her cage, awaiting the rest of the trial.

What is that random, old stallion’s deal with her? Why did he show up here? She didn’t even know her, but apparently he knew something about her fate. This was getting weird.

Just then, the doors opened. Twilight whistled at her podium. That cued the guards standing by the doors to navigate her cage into the court room.

The quickly started to roll the cage into the room, making it rattle as it moved along the carpeted flooring.

Cozy Glow scanned the room, seeing the same faces as before, but now, standing off to the side of the room (about ten hooves length from the cage in center square) was the old stallion who had just entered the room.

“What the…” Cozy Glow whispered.

The guards put her in place, and then turned to leave the space. It was time for Cozy Glow to hear her fate.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Alright, Cozy Glow… we have decided a rather strange conclusion to your story.”

Cozy didn’t like the use of the word conclusion. That sent a chill down her spine.

“As you briefly met, our dearest friend Cloud Shaper has always wanted to put himself to good use. He’s been a great citizen for many years, working long hours and going undercover to help protect Equestria,” Twilight stated.

Cozy Glow stared at the old stallion, who was apparently named Cloud Shaper. She concluded that Twilight meant he was some kind of agent, emphasis on was.

Twilight went on. “He came to me with a proposal. He said he could rid the world of anything, as long no one find out where they went.”

Cozy Glow was getting nervous now.

“Today, you’re that anything,” Twilight finished. She cleared her throat once more, and Cloud Shaper approached the cage.

“You’re sentenced to… well, we don’t quite know. Let’s just put it this way… you’re not gonna die,” Twilight finished.

“Woah, woah, woah! You must be crazy! You trust this guy to dispose of me without killing me? He could be a number of terrible things—a killer, a rapist, a psychopath, a slave trader, who knows!” Cozy screamed.

Twilight slammed her hooves down on the stand. She flew into the air, swooped down, and whispered to Cozy Glow in the cage.

“I know where you’re going. I’ve seen it,” she consulted her. “Are you happy now?”

“Fuck you,” Cozy Glow murmured.

Something died in Twilight that afternoon. Cozy Glow could see it in her eyes, that Twilight had some level of guilt in her eyes, whether that be for her fate… or for Cozy Glow ending up here.

The old stallion took her by the cage and wheeled her out. Wherever she as going, it wouldn’t be fun.

The audience all shot her looks, whispering to each other.

The double doors opened, and a group of guards appeared, ready to escort Cozy Glow out of the castle.

“Wait,” Cozy Glow said. “I want to talk to Twilight!”

Cloud Shaper laughed. “Well, dearest Cozy Glow, I’m afraid that ye can’t,” he told her. “In fact, you’re never going to see her again… not in this realm, anyways!”

Cozy Glow’s heart dropped. If this was her last encounter with Twilight, then that could only mean that, wherever she was going, it was to be somewhere closed away from the world. She hoped for the best of the situation.

The group of guards guided her through hallways, easing her to wherever her fate may lie, if it even was in Equestria, or at least the one she found herself in.

Hours later, she found herself…

It was no place she knew. She’d never been to this point in Equestria before, yet it seemed like a place one should know due to the large structure that loomed in the distance.

It was a castle, entirely in the colors of black and gray, that reached at least a mile into the sky thanks to its immense towers and it being on a cliff side.

Judging by the condition of it, it was bound to collapse or erode away sooner rather than later.

As Cozy Glow was edged closer to it, now remembering she’s in a cage, and all that had happened, she could see the crumbled base of it, and the destroyed bricks walls at the front; it was a disaster dome, and she couldn’t figure out why she was brought here.

“You awake now, girly?” A gruff whisper asked. It was Cloud Shaper.

“Uh huh…” she replied, still shaking off the sleep. It wasn’t a good sleep, either. Though, it felt as if she had merely skipped through time to this very moment, since the last thing she could remember felt as if it were only a minute or two ago.

“This is my place,” Cloud Shaper explained to her. He stopped pulling the cage, which was hitched to his saddle.

“Oh,” Cozy Glow said. Fitting enough that the decaying, old stallion lived in a wrecked, old castle.

The old man detached from the cage and made his way to the front doors. They were ruined, but they definitely had been grand back in their prime.

He carefully eased open the double doors, which creaked with age and fragility. Eventually, they were wide open—just barely making enough room for the cage to slip into the darkness of what lies inside.

The decayed stallion pushed the cage into the building. Instantly, a wave of cold air swept over Cozy Glow. She shivered, both because of the air and no quite knowing where this was going.

Cloud Shaper coughed out, “Did you ever read the story A Cold Winter’s Night?”

“Never heard of it,” Cozy Glow replied, uninterested. “What’s going on here? Am I gonna be let out of the cage or am I going to rot in here?”

“The story is about a filly who gets lost in the cold,” Cloud Shaper continued, ignoring Cozy’s questions. “The filly was nearing death, having been out in the cold for hours with nothing to eat, drink or keep her warm aside from body heat.”

“Get to your point,” Cozy Glow urged.

“I am gonna, lady,” Cloud Shaper continued. He had the strangest vocabulary.

He coughed, and then continued. “They were saved by a time traveler, because the time traveler knew saving her could reverse a spiral of events. It’s the butterfly effect. Ever heard of that?”

“Yes,” Cozy Glow answered. “Is story time over now?”

“Shush,” he told her. He moved to the front of her cage, and struggled with the lock. He continued as he searched his saddlebags for the key.

“Saving her was a good deed. She deserved to get out of the cold, because she was an innocent filly.”

“Oh, I understand,” Cozy Glow said. “You think you’re saving me? You’re the time traveler, and I’m the filly?”

“Yeah, sorta,” he replied. “You got one part right. You’re the filly, and I’m the time traveler. Would you believe me if I told you I come from the future?”

“Nope,” Cozy Glow answered.

“Ha. Smart kid,” he said, smiling. He had bad teeth, though he was definitely a consistent brusher, Cozy had noted.

“Well, unlike the filly in the story, you aren’t a good kid,” he went on. “You don’t deserve to be taken out of the cold.”

“I…I know,” Cozy Glow informed him.

“I’m putting you in the cold,” he told her.

Cozy Glow stared, stunned. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me,” he said. At that instant, he found the right key for the cage.

Cozy Glow licked her lips. She might be able to run for it, however she didn’t know the strengths of this old dude. He was a unicorn, so he could easily be a powerful one since he’s had many, many moons worth of time to practice.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached the key to the cage door. He caught Cozy Glow’s stare, and pointed out the obvious.

“You’re just gon’ try to run for it,” Cloud Shaper acknowledged. “Don’t lie to me, foolish girl.”

Cozy Glow sighed. “Where would I go? Deeper into your dungeon of doom?”

“Fair enough,” Cloud Shaper replied. He slipped the key around his neck; it was one of those keys attached to a lanyard.

“I suppose I shouldn’t keep you in much suspense, even though I already told you what your fate was,” Cloud Shaper said. “You haven’t figured it out by my story, huh?”

“Not really,” Cozy Glow whispered. She hugged herself, not quite anticipating the soon-to-come revelation.

“I’m much more than a time traveler, Cozy Glow. I can make things happen. I can make places exist. I can rid things of being,” he confided.

“You’re going somewhere where you ain’t gonna exist, but your mind and the place itself are real enough to you, as if it isn’t already that way here…” his voice trailed off.

“You’re going into the cold. Consider it your personal wonderland, why don’t ya?”

“You’re scaring me, Cloud Shaper,” Cozy Glow told him. “I-I don’t like the cold, and I really don’t like what you’re telling me… no, I don’t understand what you’re telling me.”

“Don’t like the cold? That’s music to my ears,” he consulted. “Adapt quickly, my friend. Your sanity may depend on it. As a time traveler myself, I have to adapt to new times frequently.”

Cloud Shaper opened a stone door, which revealed a dark chasm. In an instant, Cozy Glow felt a tug—from the tail.

“What the—“ she attempted to yell. The cage door was yanked open quickly, and with that, she was yanked straight from her spot in the cage and into the blackness beyond the stone door.

“One quick adjustment…” Cloud Shaper said, dangling Cozy Glow via magical force above the narrow drop into infinity, or so it was perceived hence the blackness of it.

Cozy Glow, already screaming, felt a magical tug on her sides—or more specifically, her wings.

“Can’t have ya flying straight out of the chasm now, can we, Cozy Glow?” Cloud Shaper kept tugging at her wings.

“NO! PLEASE! DON’T DO THIS,” she screamed at him, her pleas echoing in the vast chamber of pure darkness.

“I already have,” he yelled. “I’m a time traveler!”

Cozy Glow winced in agony. “YOU’RE A PSYCHOPATH!”

With that, off came her wings. And with that, down went she, flailing and turning in a state of pure madness as she dropped into the unknown chasm below, said to be a place of cold.

“It’s your own, personal wonderland,” the voice of Cloud Shaper, the deranged lunatic, echoed into the black oblivion.

She lands with a fabulous thud…

Not to mention cold, agonizing, and stinging, but fabulous nonetheless.

The first thing Cozy Glow realized was how intense the cold ramped up. She quickly stood up, caught her balance, and glanced around. She couldn’t see very eel in the darkness; it’d take a minute to adjust.

However, without looking, she could tell she was up to her hooves in snow. Red snow, in fact, due to the intense bleeding at her sides. Lucky enough for her, it was somehow very dull; an abnormality but she assumed it was the work of her captor, Cloud Shaper.

The chasm, as she realized upon adjusting her eyesight to the immense darkness, had a stone sky, however it stretched on into infinity it seemed. Endless, unbearable and undefined snow in all directions, alike to her desert situation she couldn’t even remember before this nightmare. Blank walls after blank walls, a poet would say.

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Cozy Glow murmured to herself. She didn’t know what to do about that, though. She didn’t have magic or wings. She was a mere earth pony now, only she was born without the strength akin to one.

After a while, she came to the conclusion that there’d be a cave or the snow would end after a long time of walking, but she didn’t have much faith in that.

With nothing else to do, she went on. She moved through the snow, lurked ever so slowly through the giant cavern to hopefully find something to grasp once more, only now suffering something subjectively far worse than loneliness: unending cold.

Author's Note

What will Cozy Glow do now? Wouldn’t you know it, she might find herself in the place you’d least expect next…