I glance at the filly-turned-freshman in the seat next to mine. Her gaze is fixed on the floor, but I can see tears in her crimson red eyes. I sigh and look out the window of the cab as the scenery whizzes by. Cozy may have just shot down my attempt at reforming her, but yet at the same time, she’s somehow shown me that she’s not completely evil. There are real, honest emotions underneath those bouncy curls and that insincere smile. She doesn’t have a heart of stone, and she doesn’t deserve to have a body of stone, either.

“Cozy Glow, I’m so sorry.”

My words hang in the air like a heavy storm cloud. I swallow hard and fix my own gaze on the floor. Why didn’t I think about the fact that it might have been confusing for Cozy to meet the human world counterparts of her parents? Why didn’t it occur to me to explain things to her first, before she became reunited with the people she missed the most—only to find that they weren’t really the people she missed the most?

“Honestly, Cozy, I’m so sorry. I should’ve thought things through better,” I say, softly placing my hand on her shoulder. She jerks away, but not before I’m overwhelmed by a flood of Cozy’s memories.

I see a young filly celebrating a somber cute-ceañera by herself, to celebrate the cutie mark that she earned playing chess against herself. I see a stack of burnt pancakes with a sulking Cozy behind them, as she cries because she’ll never be able to make pancakes as good as her dad’s. I see a deep purple sweater being thrown across a room because “it doesn’t smell like her perfume anymore,” according to an angry Cozy with tears running down her face.

I can’t help but blink back tears of my own, in spite of myself.

“You must miss them so much, Cozy,” I say.

“I do miss them.” Cozy curls her hand into a fist and dashes away the tears in her eyes. “I won’t lie to you about that.”

“I’m so, so sorry I took you there. Really, I am. I didn’t think through the fact that your parents might be there. Or that it could be so hard on you. I just thought it might be nice for you to have someone you could talk to who thinks the same way you do.”

“You’re talking about my duplicate, right?” Cozy asks dryly.

“How do you know you’re not her duplicate?” I reply, but the look on Cozy’s face tells me that this is not the time for jokes. “Yes. I meant your human counterpart. I thought maybe having someone who gets you could help you work through some of the things you were struggling with.”

“Right. Because a girl who lives a perfect life with her loving, caring parents is the perfect girl to sympathize with me about trying to rule Equestria and being turned to stone,” Cozy replies as she folds her arms across her chest and rolls her eyes up towards the ceiling.

I can’t help but chuckle, despite the tragic situation. “Fair point,” I say, smiling sadly at her so she knows I’m not trying to be disrespectful by laughing. “I guess that I, of all people, should’ve known that just because you and that other Cozy have so much in common doesn’t mean that you’re the same person.”

Cozy sniffs and wipes away another batch of tears. “Why does she still have her parents, and I don’t? It’s not fair.”

I know the obvious answer. It’s that her parents died in a magic-related accident, and there isn’t as much magic in this world. Or, at least, not the same kind of magic. But something tells me that’s not the answer Cozy’s looking for. After all, magic or no, Cozy is right: it isn’t fair. But I can’t explain why fate works the way it does. I can’t explain why some villains get reformed and some get turned to stone, why some friendships fade and some last forever, why some people lose the ones they love…and some people don’t.

“I don’t know, Cozy,” I answer honestly.

The young girl sobs harder, and I can only imagine the memories running through her mind at the moment.

The car comes to a stop in front of CHS, and I suddenly realize that Cozy and I just had that entire conversation in front of our Uber driver. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. He tells me how much I owe him, and I pay him what he’s due before Cozy and I step out of the car and walk onto the school grounds.

The portal is silhouetted against the flaming sunset sky. My heart aches as Cozy walks toward it, probably to return to Equestria and ask Twilight to turn her back to stone. I can’t let that happen.

“Cozy, wait!” I cry, and she stops in her tracks.

“What do you want?” Cozy Glow asks, turning around to meet my eyes.

“I don’t want you to get turned back to stone, Cozy. You’ve shown me today that you don’t deserve that.” I take a deep breath. “I don’t think you’re really evil at heart, Cozy. And even if you were, well, who would I be to judge? I used to be the most awful girl at Canterlot High. I wanted power and popularity, and I would stop at nothing to make sure I achieved it.” I shudder just thinking about how awful the Old Me was. “But Twilight and her friends gave me a second chance, and now I’d like to give you that same thing. If you want it, that is.”

Cozy cocks her head to one side. “I didn’t know you used to be evil.”

“The evil-est.”

“And now you’re friends with Twilight Sparkle?”

I chuckle. “I’m friends with so many people and ponies now. And it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Cozy bites her lip, and I see something starting to click in her brain. Like maybe someone is finally getting through to her. Like maybe someone finally gets her—or, at least, some of her.

“You’ve been really nice to me this whole time,” Cozy states as she looks at me with a blank expression on her face, like she’s trying to understand why I would do such a thing.

“I’ve tried,” I reply. I smile at her. “Everypony deserves kindness, Cozy Glow, no matter how many times they’ve tried to conquer Equestria.”

Cozy frowns. She looks like she’s thinking this over.

“If you want it, I’d like to be your friend,” I offer.

She gives me a halfhearted smile. “I’d like to be your friend, too,” she says. Then she pauses. “After all, friendship is power.”

“Cozy,” I say warningly, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Kidding,” she says, giggling behind her hand. Then her expression becomes serious. “So…if I choose to take you up on your offer and be your friend, I don’t have to go back to Equestria and get turned to stone?”

I shake my head. “You can stay at my place, if you want. I have a guest room you can sleep in.”

Cozy’s eyes fill with tears. “Well, thanks,” she says softly, wiping her eyes with her hands.

I want to walk over to her and give her a hug to let her know everything is okay, but I’m not sure if the gesture would seem friendly or threatening. Instead, I point to my legs. “Think you’ve gotten used to these enough that you can walk home with me? I’m going to go broke if I keep calling cabs.”

Cozy takes an experimental step forward. “I think I can handle it,” she says.

And with that, we begin our walk home.

I don’t know how things will work out for Cozy from here. I guess it’s up to her, really. But I do know that the magic of friendship is a powerful thing. After all, making a friend is all it took for me to reform. I don’t know what it’ll take for Cozy Glow, but I have faith that it will work out for her in the end.

Author's Note

Hopefully this new ending to the story is more satisfying than the original. In any case, it's a lot happier .

As always, constructive criticism is welcome, but please be kind.