//------------------------------// // The Child, Part 3 // Story: Who We Choose To Be // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Princess Twilight descended the stone steps into the lower levels of Canterlot Castle, well below the ground level of most of the city, saddlebags securely fastened just beneath her wings. Just outside the Canterlot E.U.P. barracks, a unicorn in a white overcoat stood and waited for her. "Doctor Graymare," the princess greeted. "Princess Twilight, your majesty. If I may be so bold, part of me is starting to wonder if it was the best idea to accept this assignment." Graymare stated, as they descended yet another flight of stairs deeper into the mountain limestone. "Doctor, I believe my invitation was quite clear." "Your invitation said I was to keep her unharmed. But if you are expecting me to deny her sedatives for some of the pain she's feeling... I believe more than one interpretation would have that as violating my Hayppocratic Oath, your majesty." "Doctor, if we lessen this pain she is in, it will do more harm than good. Now, did you get to her in time? What did she do?" Twilight asked as they began walking down the corridor. "She bashed her head against the back wall. After that, all sides of her cell are now shielded and dampened; the enchantment will last a week before the spell needs recharging. She got a cut on the side of her head, I cleaned it up as best I could. Other than that... Loss of appetite, chest and stomach pains, nearly constant crying... None of it places her in immediate danger. But I still must state my objections for the record." Graymare told her before the corridor took a ninety degree turn, where they stopped. "Your objections are hereby noted, and will be recorded in the official report. Unless you are offering your resignation from this assignment, I'll take it from here for now. Resume your hourly wellness checks when I leave." Princess Twilight replied. Doctor Graymare gave her the most reserved disapproving look he could, but nodded, and turned around and walked back the way they had come, while Twilight continued around the corner. This was the dungeon's solitary wing, and it was almost always empty. Save, now, for one. A soft whimper increased in volume as Twilight moved down the dimly lit hall. She passed the half dozen empty cells, and slowly walked up to the last one, and gazed into the cell, where a pink pegasus filly was curled up on the stone floor, shuddering. She heard the approaching hoofsteps, and turned to look; dried blood staining a spot on her head just below her left ear. The bows in her mane and tail had been taken out, and her usually neat curls were messy and tangled. "What have you done to me?!?" Cozy Glow screamed as she glared at the princess, getting to her hooves. "I've given you the one thing you've lacked your entire life. Empathy. A conscience." "Why?!" The pegasus demanded, eyes red and swollen from hours upon hours of crying. "Because it's the one choice I could live with. I couldn't bring myself to end the life of a child, nor did I want you to spend an indefinite amount of time in stone, believing you did no wrong." "And, how, exactly, is this pain, this hurting, any better?" "So you can get an idea of the pain you caused others. Of the lives you ended or ruined, like your mother, your brother, and your father. You caused that fire, didn't you?" Cozy Glow winced in pain, which was all the affirmation that the princess needed. "So leaving me in stone wasn't enough? You have to see me like this? Then you're no better than the monster that I am..." Cozy cried. "You think I figured out a way to heal your psychopathy, and enlisted the help of my most powerful friends because I wanted to torture you with a conscience? Is that what you think the Princess of Friendship would do?" Cozy didn't answer, doubling over at another guilt-induced stomach cramp. "No. I did what I did because of how young you are. Because I believe that with enough time, you can take this conscience, and learn how to cope with what you did, learn to accept it, and find a way to move on from there, and still have a life to live. In the meantime, this pain and guilt you are suffering through will be the punishment for everything you have done. It's up to you to find a way through it. Because I'm not going to let you starve or smash your brains against the wall for an easy way out." Twilight paused, and looked down at the weeping filly in the cell in front of her. "Because of what we've done for you, you can find a way to not be a monster anymore." "And how do you know this is going to get any better?" Cozy asked through gritted teeth, tears falling down her already matted cheeks. "I don't. I can only hope. Hope that you can take what we've given you, and fix yourself; heal yourself, and become a better pony." Twilight's words brought another pang of guilt into Cozy's chest, which she clutched in pain. "I hope that helps you sleep at night seven stories up..." Cozy wheezed. "Your father has relinquished all responsibility for you. I've taken legal custody of you, Cozy Glow. I am literally all you have right now. So you know what? When it comes to you and your very uncertain future, that hope absolutely does help me sleep at night." Twilight firmly told her. Cozy said nothing intelligible, and instead let out a painful wail as she turned away from the princess and curled up on the cold stone floor. "Best of luck." Twilight said, barely hearing herself over the filly's cries, before she turned and walked uneasily back down the hall that she had come down, with Cozy Glow's wailing echoing off the stones and walls of the otherwise empty hallway.