//------------------------------//
// The Wily Filly 
// Story: Three Second Chances 
// by TCC56 
//------------------------------//

The last of the stone cracked away, releasing the small pegasus filly. She dropped to the plinth and into a pile of pillows that had been prepared for this moment. 

In a panic, she scrambled to her hooves and attempted to take off. Approximately six feet later the dog's leash she was tied with ran out of space and brought Cozy Glow back to the ground. 

Patiently, Discord waited for the panic to pass and his last charge to get a hold of herself. 

Her rapid panting gradually slowed - and she spun around to him with wide eyes and an innocent smile. "Oh dear! Why did a cute lil' filly like me get left by a mean ol' draconequus like you for so long?" She batted her eyelashes, hoping that someone else was nearby to defend her against Discord. 

There was not. 

Discord was more than happy to respond, however. "Oh! I know this one!" He reached into the air and pulled down a chart. It handily organized things on a moral scale with Discord at the top, Princess Twilight right below him, and then a long list. Cozy Glow herself was at the very bottom, ranked right under Pinkie Pie's Baked Bads. "It's because you're the worst!"

Predictably, Cozy Glow's saccharine expression morphed into wild-eyed anger. "The worst? How am I the worst, you dumb old goat?"

"Because you're a pony." Discord teleported a few feet away, picking up the end of the leash. "Chrysalis was a monster who led a race of emotion-consuming habitual liars. Tirek was a musclehead who's closest buddy was his brother a thousand years before. But you?" He jerked the leash, pulling Cozy to him. The filly hovered eye to eye with the draconequus. "You're a pony. You were born into friendship. You spent your entire life surrounded by it and understanding it. Unlike those other two, you rejected it." Discord released the leash and dispelled it with a snap. "That's why you're the worst. They were ignorant - you chose this."

Cozy stared at Discord for a few long heartbeats. Then - her lower lip trembled. And she burst into tears. "But-- but-- but you make it sound like I'm evil or somethin'!" She snuffled loudly, cowering on the pillow-covered plinth. "I'm just--" 

"An innocent little filly who never learned better and needs a helping hoof to blah blah blah blah." Discord held up a poorly-made Cozy Glow sock puppet to mimic her sob story. "But on the plus side, that's why this is going to be the easy one. You already know friendship so I just have to show you it's value! Plus I already know all your tricks."

A sly little smile crossed Cozy's lips. "Not aaaaaall of them."

Discord squinted at the tiny pegasus.

"I mean, um." Cozy Glow beamed. "I can hardly wait for you to teach me about friendship, Mister Discord!"

"You're not fooling me one bit." The draconequus glowered at her.

Cozy Glow smiled impossibly wider and fluttered her eyelashes at him. 

"....Fine, we'll start." And then - he snapped. 





"Your problem," Discord commented as they crossed the town, "Is that you understand friendship but you only see how it benefits you. It's a tool to get what you want, and you don't care about what happens to or what it costs others."

Cozy flitted alongside him, simply looking confused. "So you brought me to... a book store?"

Discord waggled a finger. "Not just any book store." 

The bell over the door rang as they entered - and a half-dozen others looked their way. The group was clustered around the table with a pile of books and papers. The gang's leader peered up from behind a cardboard barrier that proudly displayed the Ogres & Oubliettes logo and squinted at Cozy. "Discord, when you said you were bringing something small? I didn't think you meant somepony small." 

"Ah ah! You know you're not supposed to call me Discord." He reached down and yanked upwards - pulling off the draconequus skin to reveal the green tunic and blonde hair underneath. "But Captain Wuzz the XVIIth admits that he may have mis-spoke slightly."

Cozy Glow gawked in disbelief that this was actually Discord's plan.





"So my character's name is Princess Pricilla Rosegold, and she's a half-griffin half-hippogriff who's five hundred years old and--"

The teenage mare sitting on Cozy's other side leaned over. "You're a level one bard."

Cozy pouted. 





"And now that I've incapacitated the rest of the party, I swear fealty to the commander of the Kraken Guard in exchange for the gold and access to the Sphere of Nightmares!" Cozy continued to beam happily, even after having betrayed the entire rest of the table to their arch-nemesis. 

The party was silent, unsure at first how to respond to the new player at the table doing this. Then, they understood. And as a group they all turned and glared at Discord. 

Sheepishly, the flaxen-haired draconequus shrugged and shrunk into his chair. "Um. Oops?"





"Okay," Discord admitted as they walked away from the game store, "Maybe cooperative non-zero-sum games wasn't the best way to start."

Despite the catastrophe of an O&O session they had just endured, Cozy still seemed quite pleased with herself. "Gee Mister Discord, I didn't think it went that badly."

"They banned me for a month," Discord sourly noted. 

"And not a year!" Cozy cheerfully no-sold Discord's angry glare. "I'm sure you'll have fun when you get back there. Anyway, bye!" And she flapped away. 

She made it about twenty feet before Discord used a giant magnet to pull her back. "And just where do you think you're going?"

The mask cracked again as Cozy raged. "Oh come ON! You told the other two that after you made your attempt they could go free! So I'm leaving! And you can't stop me!" 

Discord glanced from Cozy over to the magnet that was holding her and back again. "Yes I can," he confirmed. "And I'm not done with you." Then Discord tapped his chin in thought as Cozy flailed and swore and struggled. "How can I show you that you should work together with others and not just use them for personal gain. So maybe if I... Oh yes, let's start with the basics." 





In a snap, the two were in a plain beige room with no features beyond a chair for Cozy, a panel with two buttons and a small slot in the wall. 

"Now I'll make this quick since I can already feel this room eating my soul." Discord pointed to the buttons and their labels of TRUST and BETRAY. "This is a classic called The Prisoner's Dilemma that Twilight's lectured about too many times. You have those two buttons, and somepony in the other room has an identical pair. Each round, you pick one without knowing what the other is picking. If you both pick Trust, that slot over there? You each get a piece of candy. If you Betray and they Trust? The one that Betrays gets two and the Truster gets none. If you both Betray, nopony gets anything." A shudder ran across Discord's body as the room's bland mundanity started to dis-incorporate small parts of his chaotic form. "I'll be back in an hour, bye!" 





"One hundred and thirty seven times," Discord said with disbelief. "You chose Betray one hundred and thirty-seven times in a row."

Cozy popped another butterscotch candy into her mouth. "Yuppers! And the other pony kept choosing to Trust me!" Even with her childish mask on, she couldn't fully hold back an evil chuckle. 

"Twilight insisted this was basic math. That anypony with even the slightest bit of intelligence would see that both choosing Trust was the only long-term viable option." Discord could feel himself crumbling, and not just because of the room. 

"Well," Cozy helpfully pointed out, "That just meant I could rely on the other pony to pick Trust so I could win the most." She dug briefly in her candy pile before finding another peppermint and tossing it aside. "Besides, why did you think this was gonna be good to teach me about friendship, Mr. Discord? I can't be friends with somebody I don't know and can't communicate with." She jovially held a piece of her candy pile out to offer Discord - it was black licorice. 





Slumped over in the palace's kitchen, Discord cradled his tea. Singing ginseng - he needed the comfort. "I just don't understand why it's not working, Twilight. Cozy Glow was supposed to be the easy one. Everypony kept saying that she's just a foal and misguided. Even I thought it wouldn't be this hard - she gave up friendship, so it shouldn't be too hard for her to take it back. I just needed to find something to show her that she could get those rewards by working with friends instead of using them." 

Twilight sipped her cocoa. She knew she had to listen to Discord and help him through this, because otherwise he wouldn't get out of her kitchen and let her go to bed. "And it isn't so easy."

"No," was the gloomy response. "It really isn't."





"So you're saying that six different actors of yours all broke limbs in freak accidents, leading to Cozy Glow performing all of the play's roles herself? And that then she hired a lawyer to get the pay for all the different parts?"





"How could she bet against the buckball team she was playing for? They're not even professionals! She's a foal, why did anypony let her gamble in the first place?"





"And while Cozy was acting as the teacher's assistant, she swayed the students to her side, promised them rewards and overthrew the teacher? She led a proletarian revolution in a schoolhouse?"





"It really, really isn't." The Lord of Chaos fell back onto a vintage fainting couch that gave Twilight a nostalgic pang. "The worst part is that every time I think I'm making some progress, it turns out to be one of her plans! I thought I could see them coming, but she blindsides me every time!" A train roared in out of nowhere, slamming into Discord while he wasn't looking.

The Princess sipped her cocoa. "I understand, Discord. I really do. What you're going through now is a lot like what I did when Cozy was at the School. I tried everything - all of the girls did. But none of us were able to get through to her, and that's how we got to this sad state."

It was quiet in the kitchen, and for a moment Twilight hoped Discord was done. Then his head turned into a lightbulb. She shielded her eyes with the mug.

"I think I get it," he proclaimed. "And it means Tirek was right!" 

Twilight reached out with her magic and turned Discord's head off so she could see again. "You're going to have to explain that one." 

Cheerfully, Discord snapped and turned into an off-color copy of Tirek. "And the Lord of Chaos actually admits there's something he isn't capable of. I never thought I'd see the day you had personal growth." Then he was himself again in a snap. "Do you remember when you freed me, Twilight? And tried to teach me friendship? You couldn't. Celestia and Luna couldn't. Your friends couldn't." An involuntary smile came to Discord's snaggletoothed lips. "Only Fluttershy could."

The Princess considered - then nodded. "You can't do it."

Discord smirked. "But I know who can."





It was a statement on how things were going that Cozy Glow was looking outright smug as they walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle. She didn't even feel the need to put on her cutesy game face anymore. 

If she had been smarter, the fact that Discord looked just as smug would have been a tip-off. 

Passing by the guards, Discord led the little filly into a disused hallway. One without ornamentation and ending abruptly in a rather solid door. Whatever was behind it pulsed gently with hints of magenta light. And the draconequus smiled. "Here we are. Last stop." 

Only at that moment did Cozy's self-superiority crack. Her expression faltered before - true to herself - she put on her best look of innocence. "Golly Mister Discord, what do you mean by that?"

Discord leaned in, putting his face right up to hers. "This is is where we part ways, Cozy. I've gone as far as I can and I've failed. You've got a choice - go back into stone, or go through that door. Princess' orders." 

Cozy didn't hesitate this time and flew off as fast as she could. Like every other time she'd attempted it, she didn't get far. Cause of capture this time: butterfly net. She cowered in it as Discord pulled her back. "W--w--what's through the door?"

"Far better than you deserve." Discord plopped her out of the net and pulled out a weird-looking mechanical gadget. He pointed it down the hallway away from the door - it beeped rapidly and loudly. Then at the door - and it was silent. "Through there is just the sort of world you tried to create with your little stunt, Cozy. One without magic. I've got a friend there who can help you - someone who understands you and might be able to do what I can't." He paused. "The downside is that this is one-way for you. If you go through, you don't get to come back to Equestria. But that might be a good thing."

He opened the door to a blinding magenta wall of energy. Cozy looked at the draconequus and considered her options. Only one had any appeal - and so she gloomily flitted through the doorway. 





Slowly, Cozy Glow rose up again. Everything felt so weird. Passing through that door made it feel like her entire body had been yanked and pulled and shifted in ways that weren't painful but certainly weren't pleasant. 

That thought processed just enough for her to open her eyes and look at her hooves. Which weren't hooves anymore. A scream of terror rose in Cozy's throat - and was only stopped because somepony spoke up first. 

"Hey." 

The filly looked up to the speaker, even as fear rampaged through her. It was some sort of weird minotaur - bipedal and freakish - who was leaning over her. An amber claw (?) reached down to Cozy. 

Cyan eyes in a flat face framed by red-gold hair peered down to her. "You must be Cozy Glow. Hi - I'm Sunset Shimmer."

Cozy looked at the claw and at the one at the end of her own foreleg. "Are you my jailor?"

And Sunset Shimmer shook her head. "No. I'm someone who was a lot like you once. And hopefully your friend."





"Mail call, your Highness."

Princess Twilight nodded, taking the envelopes and package in her magic. Most were set aside - some for official action, others to give an autograph or two - but the package was a priority. She recognized the return address (not necessary but certainly cheeky) as being on the other side of the mirror portal.

Tearing away the brown paper, Twilight found the latest gift from her friend: a Canterlot High yearbook. 

On page 53 was the picture she had been hoping to see. The Canterlot High Big Brothers/Big Sisters club. And sitting on the right side of the group was Sunset Shimmer beside a smiling pale pink girl with baby-blue ringlets. Under that was written in red pen: 'Second chances aren't easy, but they are worth it'. And in red and blue they had signed - Sunset + Cozy Shimmer.

Princess Twilight Sparkle allowed herself a minute of quiet, smiling tears.





"Dad?" The colt tugged at his father's saddlebag. "What's that statue supposed to mean?" 

The stallion turned and smiled. "That, son? That one's titled Love Will Set You Free. It's the Caretaker's favorite." 

Moving closer, the colt examined it. He didn't see anything to suggest freedom in it. It was just a pegasus mare laying curled up with the Caretaker, both of them asleep. "I don't get it." 

Leaning close, father hugged his son. "Some day, I hope you will."