Starlight Glimmer is a reformed cult leader who still struggles with social interaction.

Cozy Glow struggles to figure out this friendship business.

Who helps who?

(A/N-This is an AU take that plays with the idea that the Cozy from Marks For Effort was the real Cozy. School Raze never happened.)

Cozy Glow woke up cold and confused. The last thing she remembered was being turned into stone. Twilight has presented her with an offer, either she can try and be reformed back into a good filly. Or spend the rest of her days locked in the castle dungeons for the rest of her life. The mane six will each take Cozy Glow into their homes to try and reteach her about the magic of friendship.

Once again imprisoned within Tartarus; Tirek Chrysalis and Cozy Glow manage to free themselves from their cages. Seeking an alternative exit, they explore the deeper parts of Tartarus and cross paths with an ancient creature who has sat silent within the prison for countless years. Sensing the villains' intent to escape, the long lived prisoner seeks to offer his words to them in hope of seeing them free from more than just their physical confines.

Written for the No Author Left Unnoticed story contest.
Contest Folder

Being the smart one in a group of pony-hating creatures was a tough task for a little filly such as herself, but Cozy Glow was certain she had it handled. She just needed to sweet-talk them into seeing how much they needed her wits, and then make them like her enough to want to protect her from harm. That would be super easy.

The hard part was doing that while avoiding being singled out as a potential threat by Grogar, their clearly unhinged leader.

When Lord Tirek asks Cozy Glow what seems like a normal question, he has no idea the floodgates that will open... and how his relationship to the little villain might ultimately be changed.

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A small bit of villainous sweetness inspired by both the dynamic of the Evil Trio and the cover art by soundwavepie.

(Spoilers for the series finale)

Cozy Glow was supposed to be stripped of her phenomenal, cosmic power when she was defeated.

Instead, she just lost her memory. Having super powers and being pursued by the authorities, she comes to the only obvious conclusion a comic-reading child could:

She's clearly a superhero vigilante!

A trainwreck of idiotic decisions follows.

Part of the Cozy Hero continuity.

Freed from her entombment, Cozy Glow finds herself a student once more. At Twilight's behest, she embarks upon a new programme of friendship study, under the watchful (and suspicious) gaze of Twilight's protégé, Luster Dawn.

As she embarks upon her studies, Cozy Glow finds herself reconsidering everything she once took for granted, and Luster finds herself wondering what circumstances could have led the filly down the path of destruction she'd chosen. Yet Equestria seems far from ready to accept the filly who almost brought the empire to it's knees - Legion of Doom or not.

I wasn't the most consistent fan of My Little Pony, in all honesty. In fact that show wasn't the only thing on my list of interests. For a long while I had left those colorful ponies in the dust. I practically missed seasons 7-8 because I had gotten bored. However... it was the last season that drew me back in. I guess I now know a bit about the show, but not everything. I definitely knew of Cozy Glow however. She was hated by everyone. Well, except me. For some reason I liked her as the mischievous little filly she was. Her character interested me and I wanted to learn more. I wanted to see what kind of history she had. Why did she decide to turn evil? She was probably the only reason I went back to previous seasons.

You could guess how disappointed I was when the finale came up. Instead of helping her, they turned her to stone. Instead of trying to figure out the issue, they left her behind to be forgotten. Everyone cheered and laughed while Cozy, Chrysalis, and Tirek were turned into statues for the rest of eternity. I was displeased. Afterwards I drifted away and instead tried to focus on my work. I had to, after all. I was becoming an adult. I was growing up. Though the stress might pile up on me, I had to keep going. I had to get things done...

I could keep going... couldn't I?

It seems however that the universe had decided to drag me back into a world of rainbows and magic. Imagine my surprise when I suddenly woke up the next day inside a cage in the deepest, darkest chambers of Tartarus. Not only that but also as the small pink bundle of feathers that everyone loathed and despised. A billion questions rang through my head but the most prominent ones of all continuously pounded against my skull: What in the holy hell do I do from here?
And how do I stop what comes next?

Inspirations:
The Tirek Who Tolerated Me by Kotatsu Neko
&
An Unexpected Aftermath by Autumn Breeze

[Note: This is half a self-insert and half not really. This character is different from me but does have a few traits from me as well. Like cursing, I curse a lot, but there are some traits here and there I don't really have.]

"Psychopathy is a condition characterized by the absence of empathy and the blunting of other affective states. Callousness, detachment, and a lack of empathy enable psychopaths to be highly manipulative. Nevertheless, psychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot.

Psychopaths can appear normal, even charming. Underneath, they lack any semblance of conscience. Their antisocial nature inclines them often (but by no means always) to criminality.

Adult psychopathy is largely resistant to treatment, though programs exist to treat callous, unemotional youth in hopes of preventing them from maturing into psychopaths.

Brain anatomy, genetics, and a person’s environment may all contribute to the development of psychopathic traits."

So, this is just a random idea I had for another Anthology series, a bit less comedic, a bit more dramatic and dark. Mostly, it was because I've been in a mood for watching old school mysteries lately, like Agatha Christie and, yes, Sherlock Holmes. It also occurred to me that, in spite of her being my absolute favorite villain from the series, and a character that I love, for the fact that her backstory is an open ended question, I had never written anything about Cozy Glow. I've had ideas, and still do! But, this is the first time I've ever sat down and gotten any of them to a point where I could actually publish it.

Note that this story takes place several years after Cozy was freed from stone sleep, and she is now an adult of around nineteen.

I cannot remember who drew the cover art, so if anyone knows, please tell me, so I can give credit!

As such, and as always, I hope you enjoy! Harmonia Invictus!

In an alternative take on the grand finale, Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow betrayed the real Grogar. Overpowered and forced to team up with the Mane 6, they defeated the ancient wizard together. Tirek struggles with the memories of his brother and Cozy Glow questions her ideas of friendship and power. Together they travel to the land of centaurs to find answers to their problems and to understand friendship. Was Twilight right to let them free like that? And can they save Chrysalis from being consumed by self-doubt and lust for revenge?
(This is my first fic.)