Lowered Expectations
Citrus Vanilla dropped the letter to floor, raising her trembling hooves to cover her face. Drop by drop, the tears began to stream down her forelegs, splashing onto the granite kitchen countertop. The pile of envelopes of the rest of the day's mail remained unopened.
"My baby," she cried, her shoulders shaking in restrained despair. "My sweet, precious foal ... in Tartarus!"
"We can appeal," offered Hickory Kindling, hugging her from behind. "It said we can appeal. We've got thirty days. Remember Bullhorn, my lawyer friend from back in Baltimare? I'll talk to him. He can get our Cozy back. Down Chester!" he kicked the family dog away. "Not now."
"She's gone," Citrus wailed. She pulled away from Hickory's embrace. "It was a Royal Decree. The Princesses don't change their minds." She swept the letter up and held it to her chest as if it were her daughter returned to her. "She's burning, now. She's suffering with the disgusting Monsters, and who knows what they're doing to her, and it's all our fault!"
"She's not a Monster," whispered Hickory. He went to the cupboard and pulled out a tall glass bottle.
Citrus glared at him with fire in her eyes. "Sending her to the School of Friendship was supposed to help her. All the doctors agreed, didn't they? 'Send her to Twilight Sparkle' they said. 'Move to Ponyville to be close to her if she needs you' they said. And now look! It made her worse! And now she's ..."
"Maybe dad was right," said Hickory. "Maybe I should have stropped her more. She always laughed when I ... when I ..."
"She needed help!" Citrus screamed, pounding the countertop. "She was sick! Our poor pegasus angel!" She sank to her knees and began biting her foreleg. The dog loped over and sniffed at her as she rocked back and forth.
"Oh honey, don't start," Hickory begged. He gulped the thin brown liquid from the bottle. "It's like you're not here when you do that. I can't deal with this alone." Turning back to the counter, he studied his reflection in the wavering surface of the drink. The house was quiet.
No pony was going to help them, he thought. They had moved only two months ago, and hadn't made friends. It had been impossible, juggling his fireplace restoration business and all the orders for Citrus's candles. No time at all. And Cozy had never been an easy child. Boarding school had seemed like the perfect way to lighten the load.
He took another pull at the bottle. Citrus always took the doctors' view of things. They had pegged Cozy as some kind of loony, like any filly that perfect and sweet could be sick in the head, and said that only way to plant the seeds of empathy was to get her out meeting other colts and fillies her age. So here they were, and look where all that mumbo jumbo had gotten them.
He sighed. What a child needs, he had always been taught, is strict discipline. It had worked fine for him. It seemed he just hadn't done his job, though the stars knew he'd tried. No, no pony was going to help them. They would be shunned after the trouble Cozy had caused. Now there was nothing left for it but to look at the pieces and plan his next move. Try to see even further into the game, and if there was a chance, come out the winner. Or at least stay in control.
The sound of his wife's crying grew louder. Chester began to whine, joining her. Otherwise, the house was quiet.
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9161808
Frankly, I saw her as little more than an expy of Darla Timple from Cats Don´t Dance
9161991
SHE IS A CHILD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
9162006
So, scare 'em straight?
Cozy Glow didn't need friendship lessons. She needed a strait jacket, a padded room, and a therapist. And even then she probably wouldn't have gotten any better.
9161970
Because you think she's too young for such a punishment?
9162142
Yes and also Friendship is power duh! Who doesn’t want to have more friends then Twilight
9162157
But she gained friendship through unethical means.
They should, at the very least, write back to Celestia and Luna and tell them the doctors suggested she be sent to the Friendship School, and who runs that place. And then perhaps where the court can shove that "personal opinion" of theirs.
Isn't tartarus unfitting as Punishment for a Child? That was my First thought After seeing her fate.
I wanna read more about this.
Well while finale portray her as the most enigmatic and unsettling villain in franchise so far, I have a feeling that she will get some crappy backstory and reformation next season.
P.S. What I really didn't like in the episode, is that this world is fragile as house of cards - you can get read of all magic in three days with use of six no-name relics, not all of which even look like magical artifacts. This is really stupid.
To the parents,
YOU FUCKED UP, YOU HAVE FUCKED UP NOW
In all seriousness though, either her parents are incompetent beyond all reasoning or Cozy was VERY good at getting away with everything and looking like an angel to the majority.
I was mostly jarred by how suddenly it cut from her being apprehended to being dropped in Tartarus. No friendship lecture, not even an attempt to dig into any backstory or where she got her crazy "friendship = power" ideology like Starlight and Tempest got. Didn't look like they bothered with any kind of trial, much less consider an attempt at counseling and reformation, just jumped straight to dropping her off in hell.
And I mean, it's not like she's a god like entity with power that can't be contained in any other way. She doesn't even have magic! You're saying there's no mental hospital, or some kind of juvenile facility to put her in while she's given friendship counseling? Is this pegasus filly really such a security risk that nothing short of Tartarus can contain her?
9162258
This. Twilight and Equestria in general have a bad habit of leaving extremely powerful magic items just lying around in the open for anyone to find and use. I remember bringing this up back during the whole Starlight brainwashes her friends episode with the fact that Twilight apparently just has those spellbooks sitting out on the shelf for anyone to read through instead of locked away somewhere secure.
This whole plot was essentially the equivalent of a highly talented but unstable 12 year old nearly setting off a bunch of nukes as part of a plan to become class president (thinking that was somehow a stepping stone to real president). Yeah, there should definitely be some severe consequences (along with the attention of some mental health professionals), but there should be a lot more attention paid to how the hell a 12 year old got the nuclear codes, and who left them out on the counter.
Personally, either Cozy Glow is an orphan or had come from a really bad family situation. Because I don't think she has any parents who care about her.
9162006
Because Equestria doesn't have any more prisons, specially for underaged fillies.
9162258
The Magical artifacts were all described in-depth throught the season. There's the Helm of Yksler and the Crown of King Grover among others. And Cozy will not be getting a chance at reformation. I can tell you that much already. I can't be certain about BugMum, however.
9162469
In Every Little Thing She Does, Starlight achieves the brainwashing spell by mixing three spells from three seperate books in a very ambiguous way. Nopony could have predicted that a brainwashing spell could have been created with the grafting of three seemingly unrelated spells, and as far as we can see, Starlight and Sunburst are the only ones who know how to actually graft magic like that. Sunburst understands the spells more, and obviously that rubbed off on her. Your analogy about the 12-year-old getting access to the nuclear codes is completely ludicrous, and it shows your lack of critical thinking, despite this thinking being applied to a world where colourful cartoon ponies run around and defeat evil using the magic of friendship.
Now, I'm not defending this horribly flawed excuse for a character here, far from it. I'm just pointing out some rather shocking fallacies in your argument that I hope you can correct.
Pretty sad story, but it does answer a question most likely on a lot of fan's minds. Very well written too.
I highly doubt we have seen the last of Cozy. So my theory is that she will finally be reformed. And then if you feel like it, you might write a sequel about her and her parents finally being reunited.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments and favorites!
9162603
Except all three of those spells she combined had horrifyingly mind control themed names if you have any grasp of Latin roots. They translate to "compel trust", "oblige", and "persuade". None of which sound like spells that should be left out in the open for anyone to pick out and browse through. She mixed three similar spells together into one extra strong one.
And your completely unbacked assertion to the contrary, the analogy is completely apt. Cozy Glow's drain all magic -> Trap Mane 6 in Tartarus -> take over school -> something something take over Equestria because she's the best at friendship plan is ridiculous but makes sense from the perspective of a deranged child with no concept of the wider consequences beyond their immediate goal (like the wrecking of the entire economy, the disruption of night and day, etc.). The drain all magic ritual is only possible using several extremely powerful magical artifacts, which Twilight happens to leave just laying around in an unlocked open chest in her office. Yeah, she got some directions on how to put it all together from Tirek (she's able to communicate with him so easily is another question), but I'm saying people have fucked up if it's that easy to nearly wreck the entire world. I guess an even closer analogy would be a kid 3D printing her own nuke based on pattern easily obtained on the internet and arming it with a bunch of high grade plutonium found sitting in an unlocked cabinet at school.
9163856
And you know they were in an unlocked chest in the first place how? As much as the writers need to dumb down the show for kids, there's no evidence to prove that the chest was unlocked. Besides, it's in Twilights Office for a reason. A better analogy would be one of the people responsible for handling the launch codes betraying the country and launching the nukes regardless.
9163904
The fact that we see it in previous episodes sitting open in her office with the artifact haphazardly thrown in? Not to mention casually using them as items in a scavenger hunt. It indicates an incredibly lax attitude towards security regarding what are supposedly very important national treasures.
9161877 That was a perfect example of how a child villain would naturally be treated by anyone with common sense: the thing is NOT a child, it's something wearing the skin of a child! KILL IT WITH HATRED!!
9161878 But the problem is, not a single protagonist seemed to even notice that A CHILD HAS APPARENTLY REACHED THE TOP OF EVIL.
And no one bothered to ask questions?
That't just bad, friggin'. writing.
Again, I can point to "Gravity Falls" as to how to do a child villain RIGHT, with Lil' Gideon. He wasn't perfect. Bill used him and spit him out. But we SAW the evidence at just the right times, we SAW him being possessed and then deceived. And we saw him realize it when confronted with the truth.
Cozy Glow has NONE OF THIS. She's just a shell of a person.
9161969 Darla had the foibles of a child. We also had a backstory for her, and her experience from a young age in the movie industry.
What do we have for Cozy Glow to explain her knowing ANYTHING?
We have NOTHING. Nuff said.
9163929
Yes, because at a school of friendship, where one of the big values is honesty, trust in students who have demonstrated all the core values AND MORE is completely ludicrous.
Cosy Glow is also incredibly trusted, as Twilight literally calls her her Right-Hoof Mare in the episode. Besides, to do any real damage you not only need the motive and the opportunity, but you also need the means. Cozy got the means by communicating with Tirek. Now, this raises many questions about how she got into correspondence with him, but that's another matter entirely.
wow and they say north Korea is bad! like damn!
Man... This would actually be something good to put in an episode.
This fic may have been short, but I am still giving it a 10/10.
Beautifully written story! It's actually quite amazing and believable! If or when she gets reformed/released in the show, I would love to see a sequel of this story with Cozy Glow confronted by her parents for turning evil, hurting her best friends (including the CMC), nearly ruining the boarding school, destroying her chances of being a normal, law-abiding citizen and the family's chances getting a job or a friend; as well as ruining all three of their lives. In this AU, I would also like to see her parents forgive her, but not without a huge punishment, friendship therapy, and lecture first.
I can't wait to see this story get 1,000 views.
!
9162460
I'm of the mind that Celestia only cares about Starlight and Tempest because they're unicorns and thus can use magic. Hell, her entire reasoning for risking ALL of Equestria's safety to reform Discord was "He could be of great use to us" XD
Dammit, she just needed to drink the empathy cocoa!!
This chapter was more my taste, even if I hope it would go long enough to get a more satisfying end.
9165246
oh you just made me happy, I had to image Starlights face again
9161970
I wil help
9162006
9162025
Hhhmm I like this option more than to isolate her, not exactly sure what she should learn this way, it's not as if she seems to have an age in which you can hardly change her point of view anymore. Without trying to give a big explanation, I have the feeling that they have a bigger chance to try to change the kid instead of changing an isolated and crazy adult Cowzy Glow.
9162096
I agree with half of it. Her ideals are rooted deeply it seems, but i still see a change that she starts to understand her wrongdoings enough to stop trying to take over the world. I have no interesst in trying to change her 100%, just 60% maybe?
Like with Starlight, at the beginning I didn't exactly liked it what they did with her, but Starlight still turned out good enough for me in the end. I mean after she started to become 100% apologetic and good, I didn't liked it at first.
9162142
I think so too, at least this type of punishment.
They could have thrown her at least in a different prison.
9162191
had the same reaction.
9162258
Haven't thought about it, but I guess I can agree with that.
I kind of hope they don't make her into a happy hippo, so that she is acting like the born child of the tree of harmony itself if that tree could creat a child somehow.
9162460
That's the thing, if the people guarding her aren't stupid, she isn't just going to kill them and walk out into the world if they would try to help her in a mental facility or something like that. I had to laugh after finally reading a comment like that, because I got those thoughts a few times while reading some other comments. I also agree with them just throwing her in there was weird and while it was understandable, it also looked weird how they suddenly all cornered her as if she was a battle hardened Villain.
9162528
They probably have something else than Tartarus, she can't just escape if they aren't stupid and listening if she says she is a good girl now.
9164923
I agree with the punishment as long as she get's out of Tartarus instead of getting both.
9165161
Hey, someone make a dark story about this. That skull Cozy talked to was her mother.
9165512 And that's the problem. How did she become a liar that fooled so many adults AND learn about all these magical things? AND be absolutely A-OK chatting with a monster who stole all the pony magic previously and is now stuck in Pony Hell?
Nothing about her makes sense. We needed at least a clue. Now she just feels like a bad OC from someone who doesn't know how to write convincing child villains.
9165530
Yeah, that is a little odd.
9165912
i don't think it was the first time we didn't got every detail right away and
exactly, that is why Tartarus was to much and why they could have looked what's wrong with her in the first place.
If we take it really, really simple then she could just have been influenced and have learned that this is the right way to think or stuff like that. I'm not ready to let a missing background that we probably get in the other season ruin the fun for me.
9164059
I don't want to be "that guy", but can I please have some proof that Darla has a backstory?
9165564
Really? Where can I read it?
9167648 She's a selfish, spoiled child actor with a number of successful appearances under her belt.
It's a simple backstory, but it explains everything we need to know about her to accept her behavior in the film.
9165530
"I kind of hope they don't make her into a happy hippo so that she is acting like the born child of the tree of harmony itself if that tree could create a child somehow."
XD, I want to see a story about this now! LOL
Yay, the story got featured! Can't WAIT to see it hit 1,000 reads/views! :D
If I’m being honest, Tartarus always struck me as more of a holding area for baddies they can’t contain elsewhere until they figure out what to do with them.
Maybe Cozy still has a shot. Just saying.
9191330
Right. She's pure evil. There's no helping her or turning her good.
9165564
I think I started that with my YouTube comment. Maybe I'll do it.
9191357
Meh I guess it "could" mean that, but it doesn't have to.
This bitch needs a serious backstory.