//------------------------------// // Empress Cozy Glow // Story: There's More to Magic Than Friendship // by Haoryu Changer //------------------------------// Twenty Moons Later "Hot Chocolate! Extra chocolate! This instant!" "Yes, Empress Cozy Glow!" Applebloom said with a bow before quickly leaving the room in a hurry. The Empress leaned back into her throne with a very familiar star cutie mark at its head, accompanied by six other thrones and their respective symbols. Well... they would have been there, but Cozy had destroyed them so long ago, not wanting to be reminded of the annoying ones she defeated. With a sigh, she sat there waiting patiently for her hot chocolate, and it was then she noticed a chill coming from somewhere. Shivering a bit, she glared at the open window, where some light snow was falling through. She flew over to the window and looked outside. "It's my week." She said out loud, and lit up her horn, lowering the sun, and of course, raising the moon... with two ponies drawn onto its surface, one light, and the other darker. She smiled cheekily at her work. "Perfect!" And smirked at the moon, more notably the two figures shown on it. It wasn't, 'perfect,' however, but she didn't really care. Celestia and Luna always made sure the sun and moon gradually rose and set. But the filly didn't really have care about that. Whenever it was her week to raise and lower the sun and moon, she did it when she felt like the right time. Nine PM felt right today. She would always smile whenever she would notice the only other two that would be able to doing the same, or not caring at all. She, Chrysalis, and Tirek split apart after defeating Twilight Sparkle and succeeding in being the first evil creatures to ever conquer Equestria. Before they did, however, they had a long talk, more like a meeting, where they discussed who gets what, who does what, and all that. One of the things they agreed upon, was that the sun and moon still had to be moved, no matter how annoying it was going to be. Cozy was optimistic about her sleep and had a history of struggling to fall asleep during the day. Chrysalis and Tirek agreed with her after a quick thought and decided it would be best to lower and raise the sun and moon in Celestia and Luna's place. With their newfound power, it should be easy for them. They settled on taking turns, none of them wanting to have chores integrated into their new lives, but decided not to fight about it. Acting both as foals who didn't want to do the dishes, and mature adults, they decided to switch every week, taking turns to do the job. This week was obviously Cozy's, evident by the calender she had one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were now her top servants, highlight every third week neatly with a highlighter. It was a little pretty when she lowered the sun, she had to admit. Ponyville with white graceful snow gently falling and creating a giant white sheet floor with the various lamps and house lights illuminating the dark town. Closing the window gently, she made her way back to the throne, her throne, and she sat down and sighed, stretching her hind legs out a bit. After a moment, Applebloom rushed in with her steaming hot chocolate, being careful not to drop it for Cozy to get mad. "Here ya go, mam." She said, trying to sound enthusiastic but failing horribly, her eyes still colorless from getting her magic drained by Tirek years ago, and mane still frizzled from the stress of being forced to be a servant to the one filly she feared most. The filly on the throne furrowed her brows in frustration. "No!" Cozy yelled, slamming her hooves on the Friendship Map, which was now noticeably darker. "Not mam! Not, Princess, Lord, or Queen either! It's Empress!" She shouted in the Canterlot Voice she attained, shaking the entire room. Applebloom shook, looking terrified, and said in a shaking voice while shivering. "S-sorry, Empress Cozy! I'll never call yo-" Cozy picked her up with her magic, locking her forelegs to her sides, making sure to hold the hot chocolate with her magic as well, and brought traumatized filly close to her face. "Mess up one more time, and I'll make sure there's one less crusader wandering about. And I don't necessarily mean you." Applebloom thought she was used to her threats by now, but that one made her eyes widen and gulp. She really learned a thing or two from hanging out with Chrysalis back when "Grogar" was a thing. Cozy released her magic grip, dropping her to the floor. She picked herself up, shakily and with a few tears, and galloped out of the throne room as fast as she could. Sighing, Cozy took her hot chocolate, and went back to her throne, relaxing a bit in the pillow cushions. The throne was changed, long ago. One day Cozy simply realized she wasn't comfortable sitting on a chair made out of hard crystal, even though it looked like something even a Canterlot noble would dream of. "Their wealth means nothing now." Cozy whispered to herself at the thought, smirking on her fluffy cushioned throne. Why did the stupid tree even think that was a good idea? What pony liked to sit on hard crystal? The alicorn filly thought of one mare related to Pinkie, but that was it. Instead, Cozy asked around for the best pillows a filly could buy, er... rightfully take. When asking Sweetie Belle, the filly explained her sister always told her about the luxurious cloud pillows from Cloudsdale, and they were known to be the best pillows on the market! Because her best friend Tirek absorbed all of the pegasi magic in her kingdom, she was forced to go to Cloudsdale herself to retrieve the pillows reserved for the best. After a grand entrance, cute looks, and maybe a silent threat or two. She got some of the pegasi to show her where new pillows were, and after getting them to bring them back to Ponyville, and adding them to her physical Subjects List, she made the throne ten times better with the clouds that only the rich could afford! And one of those same ponies entered the throne room. "Stop!" Another filly's voice said behind the stallion entering. The filly ran in front of him and blocked his path, eagerly trying to get him to turn around. "You have to have an appointment scheduled to-" Sweetie Belle was cut off as the stallion's hoof pushed her muzzle away from his side. Cozy raised a brow, looking unimpressed and bored, still holding her hot chocolate. "Cozy Glow!" The stallion boomed. The pink filly took a sip of her hot chocolate and rested her head on a hoof, looking unamused. "I am Prince Blueblood! Nephew of Princess Celestia herself!" He said, the pride and snootiness basically reeking off of him. Cozy didn't reply, still holding her bored expression. She hated these types of Ponies. They were like worse versions of King Sombra, at least he was a cool dude. Most of the rich only cared about themselves, they only had their eyes on money and power. Always thinking they're so much better than others, and what made it worse was that most were born into rich families, like Blueblood, and they didn't have to work for any of their wealth they were boasting so much about. The ones who worked hard to get rich weren't any better. If they used their brains so much for money they absolutely could have also used them for kindness or generosity. Too bad Fluttershy and Rarity could never teach this particular snob anything. But the one thing Cozy hated most about these rich snobs, was that it reminded her so much of her own dad. Blueblood continued. "After you destroyed our homes in Canterlot, the higher class ponies, such as myself, were forced to move here with you lower-class ponies! I demand new houses that even mildly satisfy Canterlot's ponies to be built, the roads to be flattened and polished, and a properly working equestrian economy so I can have the power you stole so rightfully returned to me once more! This instant!" *Zap* "It's 'Empress Cozy Glow'." She said casually. After getting hit with a pink beam, Blueblood was turned to stone. During that whole rant, the once rich stallion prince didn't notice Cozy charging a spell with her horn. The spell in question wasn't an easy one to cast, but with time, Cozy learned how to use it, even if it used a lot of magic and had to be on a less powerful pony. "...And why is he asking me to fix stuff?!" She yelled, glaring at Blueblood who was now a statue. "Shouldn't a stupid prince know how this works?!" "Well, uh... Empress Cozy Glow." Sweetie started. "Royals used to be the ones to use their wealth to fix Canterlot all the time. I guess that's where he's coming from my Empress." "Meh." Staring at the now stonecold Blueblood, Cozy got up from her throne and flew in the air, looking at her servant. "Sweetie Belle, would you kindly take that stupid colt out of my throne room?" Sweetie bowed, not entirely caring for Blueblood but still being horrified at the sight. "Right away, Empress Cozy Glow." The Empress turned and fled to the back of the throne room and up the stairs, leaving the nearly finished hot chocolate on the Cutie Map table and Sweetie Belle struggling to push Cozy's new statue both physically and magically, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushing in to help the small unicorn shortly after. The Empress, meanwhile, went to her bedroom at the top of the castle, intending to rest for a bit. Before doing anything, the alicorn filly cast a spell, a spell that wouldn't let her get assassinated. It became a routine after she was forced to send Daring Doo and Dr. Caballeron to Chrysalis's new hive. One night while she was sleeping she had been woken up when she heard the two on a lower floor when Caballeron knocked over a glass of water someone left lying around. When she confronted them they had some kind of sleeping potion. She knew it was for her, so she simply defeated them in battle. It wasn't difficult, she was now an alicorn after all. The spell would jolt her nerves whenever something entered her room or the hallway outside. It didn't have the greatest radius, since creating a huge one would use a lot of magic, even for her. But it was still better than nothing. With her spell complete, she reminded herself to cast a simple shield spell around her fur later before heading off to bed. Cozy only had a few options for rooms in the Friendship Castle. The master bedroom, which was most definitely Twilight's, was okay, but a little too nerdy and boring with all the bookshelves. Most of the other rooms were empty, so she took the best one left off, not really caring enough to move everything to Twilight's room. But before sleep, she eyed a certain book on the bookshelf to the left of her bed. Taking it in her magic, she plopped onto the bed and got herself comfy. She read the cover, "Power Ponies," and turned to the page she was last at, marked by the purple and green bookmark. Last she remembered, the heroes were all caught when their sidekick tripped an alarm in the main antagonist's home. "Hum Drum really needs to get his head into the game." She whispered to herself, before starting to read. Hours passed, faster than usual for Cozy. And soon enough, it was two hours past midnight. She was at a great part of the story, where the villains from different issues all decided they enjoyed each other's company and had just started to work together. Cozy wasn't oblivious to the fact that the same song was being sung with her Tirek and Chrysalis. After the three split apart, she slowly started to get lonely, but never realized it. She was too busy ruling over the residents of Ponyville and Canterlot with an iron fist to notice. She had actual power, along with responsibilities now. She never thought of it before, but ruling all alone wasn't the greatest thing one could ever dream of. In hindsight, she wouldn't have minded at all if she ruled along Chrysalis and Tirek: like the two heavily denied they ever wanted to do. Or... she would even admit she wouldn't resent if she hadn't taken the position as Empress after all, and instead decided to hang out with the other two more often as good friends. But she knew that would never be possible. She didn't know the full truth for their reasons, but Chrysalis and Tirek would never want that. The Queen didn't want to be tainted with the disease called "Friendship." And The Lord had once told her that his brother betrayed him long ago. Cozy suspected that had an impact on his trust issues. She noticed the time on her clock, looking away from her comic, after her thoughts dwindled, and found herself yawning. "Golly, I better get to bed." She smiled with lidded eyes, she really loved having no one telling her when her bedtime was. After putting her comic away and getting into her silky sky blue nightgown, she snuggled up in her blankets and tried to let slumber take her. Unfortunately, somepony was running in the halls interrupting the silence. Glaring at the ceiling, Cozy shouted, "You have to try harder than that if you want to take me down!" She charged her horn and jumped out of bed, flapping her wings full of adrenaline, her nightgown flowing. The door was slammed open by the 'intruder', and Cozy stopped glaring when she noticed it was another one of her friends. "Empress!" Scootaloo yelled, here eyes also lost of color and mane frizzled. She looked distressed and horrified. "There's an Ursa Major heading towards Ponyville! You have to stop it before somepony gets hurt!" "I swear, if this is some trick-" Cozy was interrupted by a loud roar from outside, shaking the entire castle and room the two were standing in. The shake was powerful enough to rattle and toss a vase with some scented flowers on one of Cozy's nightstands, shattering it and spilling the water and flowers from inside. "Oh..." She said, shocked that something was actually happening for once. "Huh, would you look at that." She smiled. "Have no fear! Your Empress will take care of this!" Then she flew off out the window after tossing her nightgown off, missing Scoot's eye roll, but coming back to quickly tell the pegasus to clean up the broken vase. It wasn't a surprise that Cozy was this excited, the last fun thing she ever got to do with her alicorn powers was defeat the rest of the Equestrian ponies that posed any sort of threat. Cozy saw it as soon as she left the castle. Huge, as big as the Friendship Castle itself, standing under the falling snow with purple space skin, long sharp claws and teeth that looked dangerous, with a star in its forehead. She dodged and flew fast past buildings, a bit blinded by the snowfall, and slowly hearing the cries of ponies closing in. She saw the beast roar at the retreating ponies, all running away fearfully from the beast. "Don't worry everypony! Your Empress has arrived!" She boasted, landing in front of Derpy and Dinky, and barely projecting a shield in time to block a claw coming down on the two helpless ponies, confusion the Ursa Major. As she kept the shield up, she looked behind her to see the two she just saved looking at her in shock and awe. "I know, I know. Alicorns are awesome!" She said before suddenly glaring. "Now get going before you're eaten alive!" The two didn't complain and ran off as fast as they could, leaving Cozy and the Ursa Major alone in the Ponyville Town Square. "Finally! I get to do something!" Cozy said happily before her shield was shattered and the Ursa Major reached out to her. Dodging its claw with a flap of her wings, she rose high in the air and after spinning elegantly, she fired a beam at the Ursa Major's chest, pushing it far back away from the town square and more towards the edge of the small village. Under the dark sky with beautiful stars, the alicorn filly shot forward with a burst, decreasing the distance between her and the beast, who was knocked off its legs from the previous magic beam. She fired another beam, this time aiming for its head, but this time the Ursa Major blocked it with a claw. Pushing the beam aside, the Ursa slapped Cozy away like a fly, sending her into the side of a building, breaking part of the wall in a small pony shape. Gritting her teeth and sounding frustrated. The filly blasted the wall she came crashing into with her magic. And growled as she flew back towards the beast. The Ursa also roared, looking equally as angry as the tiny filly, and pounced forward, intending on grabbing her. Cozy flapped her wings once again, this time going downwards, dodging the Ursa's claw which uselessly grabbed air, and landing below its feet. She knew the creature was far too heavy to lift with her magic, so instead, she counted on using a different kind of force. Charging her horn once again, she blasted the beast from below, sending it soaring high in the air. She chased after the beast, who was now roaring in anger. She caught up to him in seconds, all thanks to the flight training to be nearly as fast as Rainbow Dash but not quite. The only reason a filly like her could be as fast as one of the best flyers in pony history was of course of Grogar's bell. It made her wonder what sort of things it did to the other two that had used its power. Now under the beast, who by now noticed her tiny form, she dodged another swipe from its right claw and landing on it, giving her wings a rest by galloping up the beast's right arm. The Ursa used its left claw to try and flick Cozy off himself, but to no avail. The filly blasted the left claw away and took flight once again after a hop, getting to be above the creature. She twisted her head back, magic surging through her horn, and with no remorse, she blasted the Ursa Major back down to the surface, snow flying from the impact, creating a large crater and smokescreen one would think a meteor would have caused at the edge of Ponyville. At the edge of the crater, Cozy gently landed and shook the snow off her body as a pet dog would. She watched the large hole surrounded by snow, satisfied with her work. She couldn't see the Ursa Major because of the smokescreen though, so it had a chance to grab her without her reacting fast enough, pinning her to the bottom of the crater, making cracks as it did so. Growling, with a lot of drool coming out of the furious kaiju's mouth, it angrily but more so hungrily stared into the trapped filly's eyes. Cozy tried to shake out of the stern grip but did not escape. Lighting her horn, the tried to escape once again, but the Ursa Major was smarter than she initially thought and flicked her horn to stop the magic being formed. It then took a hold of her horn with two fingers, now trying to snap it off. A surge a pain entered Cozy's forehead as she screamed in agony. Her horn was close to snapping, and if she weren't an all-powerful alicorn at that moment, it would have. Turning her pain and newfound anger into power she lit up her horn again, blasting the Ursa's claws away, and then creating a shield around her body. The claw smashed against the new defense, not yet cracking it. Picking herself up slowly, Cozy groaned and shook her head, shaking when a claw smashed down at her shield again. Turning to glare at the creature, she expanded the shield, making it grow slowly. First, it surpassed the size of a tall stallion, then the size of a little hut, and soon the Ponyville buildings. The shield also changed shape, into an alicorn, and now, it was the same size as the Ursa itself, with the being who cast this new form floating in the center. Meanwhile, the Ponyville residents stared at the scene in front of them. Some wanted the Ursa to win, while others could admit they didn't want the Empress to die, but everyone had the same opinion when it came to what Cozy just pulled with her huge projected alicorn. It was frightening to see how little they were compared to her. All hope to take back Equestria for themselves were slowly dwindling down. Cozy once again put her magic into use, punching the air to make her alicorn projection punch the enraged Ursa, stunning it for a second. Then, with magic flowing in the projection's horn, she beamed the creature straight forward, but this time, the creature couldn't push it back with it being too big, so the magic beam pushed the Ursa far into and past the Everfree forest, until it could only be seen as tiny if one looked close enough. Panting heavily, still in her projected alicorn, Cozy beamed. "Did you see that Tirek ol' buddy! I destroyed that thi-" Then she realized what she was doing. Looking around, she stared at the various Ponyville debris under the night sky, some burning in flames almost dead, and the ground with some mini craters along with the huge crater made by the Ursa Major. Laughing sheepishly, she said out loud with a shaking voice. "Oh yeah... he's long gone." Before her magic dissipated, making her let out a soft sound when she started to fall. Slowing her decent, she landed in front of the crater. Dropping on her rump, she sighed in peace. "That was fun." She then heard several hoofsteps behind her. Getting up and turning around. She yelled at the crowd, consisting of ponies from both Ponuville and Canterlot, creatures that were apart of Twilight's School of Friendship, and some other creatures weren't apart of the school, "Don't worry, everypony! Your Empress has saved you!" Looking prideful, she waited for the cheers of her 'friends,' but none came. The crowd just stared at her for a few seconds, before some started to leave, causing the rest of the crowd to slowly journey back to their own homes as well. Scootaloo even whispered loud enough for the crusaders beside her to listen, although it was only thoughts spoken out loud. "If only you could save us from yourself." She harshly said. "Oh come on! Have a little appreciation of me!" She shouted at the crowd, to which no one turned their heads to. She dropped on her rump again, shivering when it hit the snowy ground. She was once again alone with only the aftermath of the great battle she had around her. Sighing, she finally realized it, and finally admitted to herself that she was alone and that she missed some creatures she wished she could see again. "Heh." She laughed, with a sad smile. She's always been alone, even in her act when she was apart of Twilight's friendship school. Even when she was pretending to be friends to everyone for power. The only time she could remember not being alone was before her father finally... "...Well," She said, breathing through her nose. "I can't complain of ruling a quadrant of Equestria now can I?" She felt really tired. Picking herself up, she trotted back to her castle, intending on catching up on sleep.