//------------------------------// // The Revolt of Ponyville Asylum // Story: Cozy // by ferret //------------------------------// The clouds were one with the breeze. It was perfectly quiet up here on a distant cloud. Cozy hadn’t meant to say that, when the cityscape of Cloudsdale floated serenely before them. It just slipped out. Paradise was going to kill her. Paradise was going to make her explain. Paradise was the most terrifying pony Cozy Glow had ever met in her entire life. Cozy soared away from the cloud again, zipping for the city in panic, as she heard Paradise flying up from behind saying, “Filly, what—” “No!” Cozy shouted angrily, “No no no! No more words! Not one more word! Not going to say anything about it not now not ever, so shut up and stop trying to break me, you stupid... ” Cozy shuddered in rage, trying not to just start screaming again. Ponies could see them from here. They must never know. “I’m fine!” she shouted imperiously, “Let’s just go see your stupid cloud city and then maybe you can leave me alone!” Paradise didn’t grab her, and Cozy didn’t wait for a reply. Cozy’s wings hurt, but she didn’t slow down until they dove into the heart of the city itself, with pegasi large as life all around, shielding Cozy from any cruel interrogations given under the false smiles and the guise of kindness: the worst, most evil Element of them all. Cozy landed, breathing hard, her wings stiff as she fought to fold them, and Paradise landed next to her. As they stood there on a path made out of clouds, Cozy’s panting breaths evened out, and then Cozy looked up at Paradise and said happily, “Oh I’m so excited we’re here! So, what are we gonna look at first?” Paradise visibly cringed at that, but fuck her. Everypony else thought Cozy was a perfectly normal filly. And with Rarity’s new hairstyle, they probably didn’t even realize she was Cozy Glow at all! “C’mon, Miss Paradise!” Cozy urged, rearing up against the mare, “You promised to show me the odds and ends store!” “Well we...” Paradise said in a conflicted tone, looking around at the other ponies who might’ve been watching them warily, if Cozy could afford to look anything but brightly expectant at her redheaded therapist. “...better get going then,” Paradise said with a weak smile Cozy’s way, “C’mon, it’s about three districts away.” That’d teach Paradise to try to not play games, Cozy thought smugly, as they trotted together thankfully not flying, heading through a bustling thoroughfare that would have been heart wrenchingly familiar to Cozy Glow, if everything in this city wasn’t made out of clouds somehow. Cloudsdale was not as impressive up close. It was... a city. Ponies living there, buying and selling stuff. It had a good bazaar, Cozy was told, since the city itself travelled all over Equestria, but a majority of the industry was (natch) weather making. Cozy didn’t get the grand tour or anything, but she found herself poking around the shops in utter curiosity. It had been so long since Cozy had had anyone sane to talk with, Paradise had to drag her away from eagerly interrogating the one shopkeeper about how you shape the decorative clouds inside the bottles. They stopped at one place called an “ice cream parlor” where they sold some sort of treat that Paradise seemed really keen on. Cozy didn’t exactly let Paradise know about her past, but she of course didn’t know what her favorite flavor was, so it wasn’t hard to tell. Plus when Paradise was the only one tall enough to even see what the tubs behind the counter contained, Cozy only saw them as odd cylinders. And Cozy may have asked what the pony behind the counter was going to be scooping. Paradise hustled her away from the counter then off to the side, and right in her face whispered to Cozy’s utter horror, “You’ve never had ice cream before?!” “Of course I...” Cozy said, cringing away, but there was no way Paradise was gonna believe her now. “No games,” Paradise repeated humorlessly. “So–so what if I haven’t?” Cozy replied resentfully, “I’ve never even been to Cloudsdale before. How would I know about their weird food?” Paradise’s stunned silence was even more horrifying. “I-i-it’s not weird if I don’t—I don’t want to talk about it I—!” Cozy started to angrily panic, but thankfully Paradise cut her off then, saying quietly, “You don’t have to tell me. Just don’t hide it from me. Ice cream is... frozen cream. They have flavors, in the tubs.” “Oh,” Cozy said faintly, looking around Paradise where the cylinders resolved to be tubs of something. “Okay.” Cozy still couldn’t choose though, because when she fluttered up she could see strawberry, and she liked strawberries, but why was it pink? And she liked chocolate, but she didn’t know what vanilla was, which ended up being another... unintended reveal. Of course every pony in all of Equestria would all know everything about all the ice cream flavors, even the weird ones like vanilla. Paradise didn’t press her advantage though. She just... bought Cozy a scoop of frozen cream flavored with vanilla, sat down with Cozy at one of the little tables, and watched with shining eyes as Cozy leaned forward and took a bite. Cozy Glow felt almost guilty as she grimaced at the syruppy concoction it kind of weirdly melted into. “It’s... sweet,” she admitted uncertainly. “Do you like it?” Paradise asked excitedly. “Well of course, why wouldn’t I like it?” Cozy asked defensively. “No games,” Paradise answered curtly. “How do you know I was playing a game!” Cozy shot back angrily. “It’s okay if you don’t like it,” Paradise said with a roll of her eyes, “Just be honest with me, okay?” How had Honesty ever helped Cozy get where she was today? Wait, Cozy hated where she was today. “I... I don’t know,” she replied, “It tasted weird.” Cozy went for another more significant bite and this one seemed like it was even sweeter than the last one! She thought about eating the whole big scoop, just to spite Paradise, but felt remarkably unenthusiastic about it. What good would that do? “It’s too sweet,” Cozy said cautiously, “I don’t like this flavor.” Cozy gave up after the next try, because even strawberry was sickly sweet. Strawberries were supposed to be sour! Cozy hated these ponies and their stupid super sweet foods that everypony loved and Cozy couldn’t handle, which made her look weird like a freak, or an outsider... or an alien. The ice cream parlor was the biggest scare she had that day though. Paradise didn’t talk about Cozy’s problems. They didn’t buy anything to take with, because obviously they weren’t going to let Cozy take this stuff back to the asylum. Cozy Glow was so exhausted, she kind of fell asleep mid-flight on the way back, but Paradise caught her, and carried her, and... Cozy didn’t even have the energy to protest at that point. She held back her feelings, and only once they got near the asylum did Cozy push off the mare unappreciatively, flying on her own the rest of the way back. Even then, it was just for show. Ponies would think she was okay with that sort of thing if they saw Cozy Glow actually riding on her therapist. Earlier that day, Starlight Glimmer was abso-freaking-lutely freaking the freak out. “Did you see them? On the monitors?” Starlight asked desperately, “I don’t think they’re anywhere in the asylum!” “Calm down, already,” the security mare told her testily, “I saw them right here, walking down the hallway and out the front doors a few hours ago.” “They wouldn’t go on a walk for hours though!” Starlight declared, staring at the image of Cozy Glow and her new therapist just walking calmly right out of the asylum as if Cozy wasn’t escaping to formulate her evil plans, “She’s probably done something terrible to Paradise, and we have to find them before it’s too late!” “That’s just a filly,” the security mare said uneasily, looking at the video feed again, “She can’t be that crazy, can she?” “It’s...” Starlight said, pausing entirely too suspiciously, “...complicated. Hold the fort I need to go speak with somepony.” Starlight Glimmer didn’t bother running the whole way, thanking her magic practice for once as she easily made the teleport herself, winking out mid-stride and reappearing on the steps of Twilight’s castle. Running through the double doors, she headed for the library, where the princess was no doubt moping about again. The events of the last few months had been so crazy, especially when Princess Celestia had to get involved. Starlight kind of envied her patients for not having to know about all that sort of drama and political upheaval. Her intuition was right though, and there in the library was the lilac princess herself, gazing distantly at books floating in front of her, before rearranging them and shelving them again, then pulling more books out from the tall bookshelves which Twilight’s castle had... er... grown. “Twilight!” Starlight declared in alarm, “I think Cozy Glow escaped!” “Escaped where?” Twilight asked, looking to Starlight and almost dropping her books, before settling them in a neat stack on a table. “You said that she knew she had nowhere to go!” “I don’t know!” Starlight declared, “All I know is she was last seen leaving the asylum with her new therapist, you know, that out of town pegasus? They could be anywhere by now!” “But why would she run away with Cozy?” Twilight asked in horror, sinking her star-marked rear to the ground. “I tried to warn her!” Starlight moaned in agitation, “I told Dr. Paradise what Cozy did to me, what happens when you trust her. Cozy was trying to... convince her I was lying somehow, and she must have succeeded. Paradise is probably trapped in a magical ball of doom even as we speak! Cozy must have stolen the artifacts somehow!” In response, Twilight vanished, and Starlight followed suit. They both winked in at Twilight’s destination, the secret basement vault containing various dangerous and forbidden things. Twilight and Starlight both performed their half of the unlocking spell, the light from their horn sinking into the complex lines and channels etched in a very ominous looking door. It slid open with a grinding of stone on stone, revealing an array of three crystal glass cases, in which was the Amulet of Aurora, the Talisman of Mirage, and Grover’s Crown, set on pedestals as if on display in a museum. This was certainly not a museum admissible by the general public. “I–I don’t understand,” Starlight said in shock, staring at the three quiescent items, “How could she be doing it, if she didn’t have all six artifacts?” “She must have found another way,” Twilight replied in a haunted tone, “Do you have a list of reading material she’s had access to?” “Just the books in her own room, I promise,” Starlight said earnestly. “Let’s go double check what’s in there.” They again wasted no time, and once the vault was sealed and locked again, the two winked from the secret basement to directly in front of the asylum. Starlight probably could have hit Cozy’s room directly, but she didn’t want to run into any traps the filly might have left there, if Cozy Glow truly was making her move. A few sounds of protest came from patients in some of the other rooms as the two mares noisily galloped down the hall, pushing the one way latch and pulling open the door to Cozy Glow’s room. It was remarkably unremarkable. There were no traps Starlight could find, magical or otherwise. The bed was unmade, but the skull was on its shelf. Next to the skull, and above it were a small armful of books, no more than a dozen or two. Starlight and Twilight immediately started looking through the journals and diaries Cozy had requested, laying them out haphazardly on the floor, searching for any clues the filly might have used to recreate her plans of malicious design. “Maybe Cozy figured out some way to take advantage of the Sapphire Statue,” Twilight said antihopefully, flipping through a Daring Do novel the filly had been reading. “Twilight,” Starlight said uneasily to the agitated alicorn, “You know the Daring Do novels are fictional, right?” “Actually they’re real for the most part,” Twilight said distractedly, going through the one about an immortality flower, “They’re only published as fictional to protect the identity of the adventurer.” “What??” Starlight exclaimed in outrage, “That’s ridiculous! There isn’t anything after Ring of Destiny that’s even remotely possible!” Twilight blinked, and paused, glancing at Starlight. Then her eyebrow raised. “A fan, I take it?” Twilight asked dryly. “No,” Starlight said resentfully, looking away, “I’m just... familiar with the series. Okay?” “The events after the Ring of Destiny were...” Twilight hissed through closed teeth, “Let’s just say that was when a certain friend of the author convinced her to try her quill at fiction. That’s why the... next book in the series sold so poorly. But everything from the Marked Thief of Marapore on was back to being based on historical events.” “Based on?” Starlight asked cautiously. “Well,” Twilight said fussing all fidgety, “Imagine if you were telling a story about something that actually happened to you. You wouldn’t get all the details right, would you?” Starlight gasped in astonishment, “A.K. Yearling is telling stories about herself?!” “OK! Why don’t we go look at the Journal of the Princesses again,” Twilight said loudly, tossing the Daring Do novel off behind her. Narrowing her eyes, Starlight asked, “What do you know about Daring—?” “Not up for discussion!” barked out the princess, “We are not here to talk about things that I may have been sworn to silence on. We need to focus on what happened to Cozy Glow.” “You’re... you’re right, we have to focus on Cozy,” Starlight admitted grimly, planning a full investigation on A.K. Yearling once she got some spare time, “I’ll check the crystal caverns for any sign of forbidden magic.” “I’ll go gather the girls,” Twilight said, “And if you’re not back here in an hour, we’ll come looking for you.” “That sounds like as good a plan as any,” Starlight replied, lighting up her horn to wink out once again. Several unproductive hours of searching later, including travelling to Canterlot and taking an armed contingent into the restricted section of the royal library, Starlight was ready to give up. On finding her. On saving Equestria. On life. Starlight wearily winked in on the steps that evening, and walked back into her asylum. Her head hung low as she shambled through the halls, thinking maybe she could find another clue in Cozy’s room that she’d missed. There were a couple of nurse ponies about, but Starlight didn’t bother talking to them again about somepony whose identity was technically supposed to be a protected state secret, if that stupid news exposé hadn’t announced Cozy’s release from Tartarus to all of Equestria. Starlight Glimmer passed Paradise on her way to Cozy’s room, and when the therapist said to her, “Oh, hello Starlight. I can—” “Not now, Paradise,” Starlight cut her off with a sigh, walking on past her, “Kind of busy at the moment.” “Oh, okay,” the redheaded pegasus said meekly, standing there as Starlight headed on down the hall to— “Where is she??” Starlight hissed desperately, wide-eyed, nose-to-nose with the therapist. “C-Cozy?” Paradise said nervously leaning back from the unicorn’s burning gaze, “I take full responsibility for—” “Where. Is she.” Starlight repeated, in a way that made it abundantly clear she was not going settle for anything other than a straight answer. “I just... let her in her room, just now,” Paradise squeaked, shrinking back from the furious unicorn in terror. “What?!” Starlight blurted out in horror, snapping her head around to look down the hall. “Who threw all my books on the floor?!” came the muffled shout of a little filly, from within Cozy Glow’s room. The books had all been cleaned up, and Cozy had finished laughing at the ponies who thought she was going to take over Equestria from inside her cell. Her skull was okay, and everything was fine, so why was Starlight coming to bother her now? “Hey there, Cozy!” Starlight declared from Cozy Glow’s door’s window. “What?” Cozy asked suspiciously, looking up from where she was reading something about foalhood development, “I know I’m too dangerous to be allowed to leave the asylum.” “Not too dangerous to come visit me in my office!” Starlight said, opening the door to Cozy’s room, “C’mon, I’d like a chance to explain and... apologize.” “Can’t you do that here?” Cozy whined. “My office is more private,” Starlight answered easily, “One of the nurse ponies might come to take one of the other patients on this floor to their appointments. You don’t want them to overhear.” “Who else is on this floor, anyway?” Cozy asked curiously. Starlight said, “Oh, um... Shutterbug, Green Arrow...” and two other names Cozy didn’t recognize. “Which one is Green Arrow’s?” Cozy asked curiously as she fluttered along after Starlight down the hall. “I’m not gonna let you go taunt her from her window, if that’s what you’re asking,” Starlight replied dryly. “No,” Cozy said, folding her forelegs and glancing away, “I was not.” Starlight’s office was as pleasant as ever. Cozy landed on the bean bag and massaged it with her hooves, turning in a circle to settle down, saying, “So, you wanted to apologize for getting all upset over Dr. Paradise taking me to Cloudsdale?” “Cozy, you have to admit that leaving unannounced was awfully suspicious,” Starlight said uneasily, “But I made a mistake. The fact is you were doing quite well, and the whole thing was Dr. Paradise’s idea.” “Is that what she told you?” Cozy asked, “How do you know I didn’t manipulate her into having that idea?” “I... don’t, but...” Starlight fussed, “She said you wanted to go to Hollow Shades, not Cloudsdale. So you know about the Well of Shade, huh?” “Of course I know about it. It’s all anypony would talk about when I...um... joined the school,” Cozy said. “Cozy, you can’t keep trying to take power over us,” Starlight said testily, “It wouldn’t go well for you.” “Oh, because you were gonna stop me?” Cozy suggested smugly. “No, because the shadow took over Stygian’s body, and trapped him inside an inky prison to sustain itself,” Starlight replied, “He tried to gain power... somehow via that place, and in the end he was begging us to save him!” Cozy opened her mouth and closed it again. “But I wouldn’t—” she started to say. “Wouldn’t you?” Starlight asked her, “You think you know more about that ancient place than Equestria’s foremost legends researcher over a thousand years ago, when the scar of the well was still fresh? You think he wasn’t prepared? It preyed on him, Cozy. It ate him alive, and what came out of that was more powerful, yes, but if Stygian hadn’t been able to give up his anger, forgive his friends, and beg the Elements of Harmony to save him... he’d be lost forever. Do you really think you could do that?” “No, but I... I was going to research it,” Cozy said in frustration, “But how was I supposed to ask for books on it without revealing... I–I mean I’m not trying to take over Equestria anymore, or... or anything. I’m just trying to get better, so I can be... reformed and stuff.” “The fact of the matter is that Paradise did not take you to Hollow Shades,” Starlight insisted, “She took you to Cloudsdale, and you wouldn’t have any reason to manipulate Paradise into taking you there. What were you going to do, shop Equestria into submission?” “I–I would’ve...” Cozy stammered self-consciously. “You did a good job, Cozy!” Starlight protested, “You displayed very good behavior the whole time. You went to Cloudsdale just because Paradise asked you to. You didn’t even know what it was and you still went there!” “Oh, she told you that, huh,” Cozy said, glancing dully downward. “Your sessions are confidential Cozy, but this is important information,” Starlight replied, fidgeting self-consciously with the bracelet on her hoof, “And Paradise specifically told you there was going to be no therapizing, no sessions, only poking around up there for odds and ends. Cozy, I won’t use my knowledge for anything you wouldn’t be comfortable with, knowing about you and Cloudsdale. I’m going to keep you safe. And everything’s going to be—” The bracelet around Starlight’s foreleg started buzzing and glowing, then. “Whoops, looks like one of the nurses needs me to help with Screwball,” Starlight said, looking at it. Looking up at Cozy she said, “So I just want to say I’m sorry for thinking you were doing evil. You were doing a good job, and I’ll try to help you... function more outside of this asylum. That might not be the only time you get to—” The bracelet buzzed again, and Starlight hastily concluded, “Okay, so let’s get you to your room then. I really have to get this.” Starlight teleported over to her office door, opening it and saying to the pony there, “Okay Nurse Tenderheart. I’m done talking with Cozy, and she needs to get back to her room.” “Well, it’s actually about time for her to visit the exercise yard,” Tenderheart said, eyeing Starlight uncertainly. “Great! Exercise yard it is,” Starlight said, “Now I have to go make sure one of our patients didn’t set anything on fire this time. Call me if you need me!” Starlight’s horn glowed brightly then, and she winked out with a burst of sparkly blue magic. “Sorry, filly, she’s really—” the nurse said sympathetically behind Cozy Glow. “Busy, yeah, I know,” Cozy said darkly, “Not like I actually wanted to be around her or anything.” “Let’s just go to the exercise yard,” Nurse Tenderheart said pleadingly, “I don’t know what to tell you about... Starlight.” “At least it means Starlight Glimmer has to start being my therapist again,” Cozy said somewhat smugly to herself, trotting after the nurse to head in that direction, “There’s no way she’ll let Dr. Paradise keep counselling me, after that stunt she pulled.” “You want me to keep seeing her?” Paradise asked in disbelief, “After I started an outright pony hunt?” “It was technically illegal, but it was the right thing to do,” Starlight admitted guiltily, “I’ve been trying to think of how to get her out of the asylum without stepping on any royal commandments, and the fact that she had a relatively normal day with you really lends weight to my argument. And... I think you’re not going to be repeating that, without letting anypony know.” “I certainly don’t plan on it,” Paradise said with a sheepish blush, “I had to show her I was sincere, and I was afraid you’d—” “No, no you’re right. I would have said you can’t do it,” Starlight chided her gently, “I’d be in huge trouble if I said it was okay for you to just fly off with her like that. I think in this case it’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.” “If you insist,” Paradise said, fidgeting shyly on her hooves. “Plus you found more about her than I’ve found out in months,” Starlight said in amazement, “That she’s never had ice cream, or seen Cloudsdale, either she grew up in abject poverty, or she isn’t from around here.” “I don’t think we should push her on that,” Paradise said uneasily, “Cozy isn’t ready to confront whatever happened to her, and she really values her privacy.” “Yes, I... I know,” Starlight said unhappily, glancing away, “All too well.” Before Paradise could ask, Starlight looked at her again, saying, “So, you understand her needs, and your... therapy methods seem to be getting her to open up a little bit. I’m not going to even worry about any trouble you put us through, because you’re right. Cozy can trust you. And she can’t trust me. So right now, I think you’re the best pony who could possibly counsel Cozy and I’d really just like to forget about that miscommunication we had. I’ll do what I can to make sure you can take Cozy places legitimately, and you’ll keep using the trust you’ve earned to uh...” Paradise just gave Starlight an unapproving look at that, until the other mare said, “Right, i-it’s not like trust is something you use for your own gain, heh. I’m just trying to say I think you might be in a unique position to help her.” With a grateful smile, Starlight concluded, “So your punishment is going to be that you aren’t allowed to leave the asylum with Cozy until further notice. She can only go outside accompanied by me, or one of the nurse ponies who knows her well.” Paradise blinked. “So, you’re punishing me out of gratitude?” she asked in total confusion. “Oh! No, that’s just to show Cozy that you were willing to stick your neck out,” Starlight said with a genuine laugh, “Can you imagine if I just gave you a slap on the wrist? Cozy would never believe we hadn’t planned the whole thing together to trick her into making you look good!” Paradise... did not understand that line of reasoning, but more in a sense of she simply could not comprehend it, than she thought it was wrong. “I suppose you’re right,” she said conservatively, “I can keep having sessions with her though, can’t I?” “Yup! You don’t even have to change your schedule,” Starlight said cheerfully, “Though we might have another psychologist coming in next week so things will get all mixed up again. But until then, you’re free to talk all you want with Cozy Glow!” Starlight’s smile thinned, as she added, “Just don’t go anywhere with her.” Paradise sighed, saying, “That’s fair. Thank you for being so understanding, Starlight. I’ll look forward to my next session with her then, and continue seeing the other... less criminal patients too.” Paradise as it turns out did look forward to it, and she wasn’t even disappointed! Routine settled back into the asylum, thick snow covered all the land, and Cozy continued to be frustrating, but not in a way Paradise couldn’t deal with. Paradise just wished she knew what to do to actually help Cozy Glow. “They want you to keep seeing me?” Cozy Glow asked in disbelief. “You don’t have to sound so shocked,” Paradise grumbled. So therapy with Paradise resumed, they never repeated their Cloudsdale fiasco, and one day Cozy Glow was lazing about, reading about medicinal plants of Equestria, when she heard a bunch of hooves clipclopping up to her door. it was quiet then, followed by a stray hoof thudding against her door, and a filly crying out in protest. Then Cozy’s window opened, and oh Grogar, no. It was them. “Hi!” Apple Bloom said with a smile, peeking in through the window in Cozy’s door. Cozy shut her book, then just glared at Apple Bloom silently. She did not want these three to ruin all that she had worked for here. Because that’s what they did. Ruin everything. Swaying in place as though she were standing on the back of another pony, Apple Bloom said, “On behalf of th’ Cutie Mark Crusaders, we wish to offer you a formal...” then she turned and whispered, “A formal what? “A formal apology!” Apple Bloom declared to Cozy, “For thinkin’ you were evil, when you were atchally just misunderstood.” Cozy Glow turned away, and gazed at the little window outside the wall of the asylum, hoping that showing them nothing but her butt would belay the inevitable. Tried to think of just what they were going to do wrong. “And in that misunderstandin’ we would like ta extend our aid to aid in...” Apple Bloom paused and whispered aside again, then said, “To aid in your understandin’ of your role in Equestria.” At least they were as dumb as ever. “Golly, Apple Bloom. Why are you the one speaking?” Cozy remarked curiously, “And not you know... the orange one. Scootawho?” “Scootaloo!” came Scootaloo’s voice calling out from beyond the window. “As honorary president of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it is mah duty to—” Apple Bloom started to say, as Scootaloo interrupted and said, “Hey! Who said you get to be the president?” “Somepony gots to be the president!” Apple Bloom called down, “Why not meh?” “Because you can’t speak clearly?” Cozy offered, looking over her shoulder their way with a note of sweet concern, “How is anypony supposed to understand you, if all they can hear is that cowpony accent?” “Who says ah have a cowpony accent?” Apple Bloom retorted angrily, followed by Scootaloo calling out, “She’s right! I’m the one who speaks better. I should be the one speaking!” “You don’t speak better!” Apple Bloom called down, “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with no cowpony accent, so stop your hollerin’!” “My hollering? You stop your hollering!” “Ah’m only hollerin’ onna counta you—” “On account of you’re president! I never voted for you!” “It’s a honorary thang! Just let me do the talkin—” “No, let me talk to her!” Scootaloo shouted, climbing up and pushing Apple Bloom away to get at the window. “Get outta mah face!” Apple Bloom declared. “You’re supposed to say my face, not mah face!” Scootaloo protested, “Are you talking about your mom’s face?” “Girls!” squeaked a very strained unicorn filly’s voice, “You’re too heavy!” Cozy Glow turned fully to face the window again. This was too good to miss. “You get down Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom declared angrily, fighting with her, “Cain’t you see Sweetie cain’t hold us both up?” “Why don’t you get down?” Scootaloo shot back, “As president of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who can’t even say can’t!” At a sparkly bursting sound, they both gave a surprised squeal and dropped out from view of the window, hooves scrabbling against Cozy’s door as they went down, and one of them must have hit the release mechanism, because the door clicked, and fell open, as an orange sort-of pegasus and a yellow and red apple pony went down fighting with each other saying intelligent stuff like “You!” “No, you!” “Oh no! She’s loose!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, standing behind the other two and looking in through Cozy’s open door in horror. “Oh no!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom declared at the same time, struggling to separate and stand up, only to trip and fall as their hooves landed on a bunch of pieces of junk that had gotten scattered with a clatter when they started fighting. They made it up to standing though, and hurriedly pushed Cozy’s door shut, pulling out the junk that got caught in the doorjam, and then pulling it shut again. Cozy Glow went back to reading her book. “We gotta pick all this stuff up now!” came a muffled voice through the door. “No, you pick it up!” “Ah don’t care who picks it up! Help me get these in th’ box.” ... Some time later, Scootaloo’s face came in the window. “Ahem,” she said clearly, “We are here to assist you in finding out what your cutie mark really means to you!” Cozy Glow knew Rainbow Dash still hated Cozy, so there was no way Dash knew about this little intervention here, or she’d be dragging Scootaloo bodily away right about now. Applejack hadn’t even talked to Cozy, so there’s no way she would have let Apple Bloom do so. And Sweetie Belle... hm. “What do you mean?” Cozy asked the ponies outside her room testily, “I already know what my cutie mark means to me.” Sweetie Belle climbed up beside Scootaloo, declaring urgently, “Rarity said you don’t like to play chess!” Oh. What? When did Cozy tell that mare...? Cozy Glow couldn’t recall. They didn’t talk about anything really. Rarity just came every week or so, for some reason, and helped Cozy take care of her fur, and mane, and just... making her feel pampered in general. It was dumb and Cozy hadn’t understood why, but now she was guessing that Rarity’s regular visits were just a sneaky way to get information out of her. Cozy would definitely have to start feeding Rarity false information, if the dressmaker kept insisting on coming to try to poke her nose into somepony else’s business. Cozy still wouldn’t mind having somepony around now and again to help brush the loose fur off her back, between her wings where she couldn’t reach. Sweetie and Scootaloo didn’t fall, sensibly enough considering their new weight distribution. Scootaloo still pushed against Sweetie’s cheek fighting for the window, saying, “So we came here to help you learn what your (Sweetie, stop!) special talent really is!” “And how are you going to do that?” Cozy asked with a bored expression on her face. “We brought a chessboard!” Apple Bloom called out from below as Cozy’s face fell in revulsion, “We’re gonna play a whole buncha chess with you, to see why you have a chess cutie mark!” Cozy needed to get out of this. She was not going to play chess just because these three wanted her to be good at it. She had an idea, but it would take some doing. So stepping down from her bed to the floor, she stood there asking them mockingly, “And how are you going to play chess with me, through a locked door?” There was a pause for the three to whisper together, and Cozy let that go on a bit, before she deliberately sank her shoulders in defeat, saying, “I guess you figured it out.” At their curious looks, Cozy gazed downwards, admitting, “Starlight Glimmer put an enchantment on me, so that I can never leave the asylum without her permission. I might be able to play with you on the chess tables out back in the exercise yard, but I can’t go any farther than that. Glancing up, she added, “Starlight did give you permission to do this, right?” With a blush, Scootaloo stated, “We’re official,” Sweetie Belle butted in, adding, “Cutie Mark Consultants!” “As official Cutie Mark Consultants,” Scootaloo said, pushing into the window again. “We (enfh) have the authority to (hnfh)” Sweetie said, fighting with Scootaloo, who stuck her nose in and said, “Consult you about your cutie mark.” “Well, I’m afraid I can’t leave the asylum at all, then,” Cozy said with an inward relief, “But you know... I think you might be right.” Looking up at them hopefully, the blue and pink filly said, “I always thought I was bad at chess, but maybe if I really gave it a good try, I could find something about myself that I never knew! Do you really think I can do that?” “You sure cain, Cozy!” Apple Bloom called out encouragingly from below, adding, “Now get offa me you two, aind stop fightin’. You keep steppin’ on mah ears!” “Wait!” Scootaloo said, dangling from the window and fluttering her wings mightily. “How do we know we can trust you?” she called out vaguely in Cozy’s direction. “You opened the door once, and I didn’t escape,” Cozy pointed out as Scootaloo fell heavily earthward outside, “Believe me, I tried to escape a million times. That mean old enchantment just doesn’t even let me think about leaving!” A few whispers behind the door, and with a click, it opened again. “Awful sorry to hear that Cozy,” Apple Bloom said sympathetically, inching into the room enough to push the door wide open, “Ah wish you didn’t have to put up with that. Must be terrible frustratin’” Cozy had to ignore a little bit of chest pain at that. Apple Bloom really didn’t know anything about Cozy Glow, if she could just care about her so easily. “It’s okay,” Cozy said in sincere sounding repentance, “I deserve it, for what I did. I only hope ponies can trust me again, someday.” “Well, we can trust you,” Scootaloo said happily, poking her head around the open door, “So let’s go play some chess. You said there were chess tables outside?” “Oh, that’s a good idea!” Cozy agreed, “They’re right outside, back in the exercise yard, down on the first floor. I can show you, even!” “Well what’re we waitin’ for?” Apple Bloom asked, leading Cozy out. As they headed first floorwards, the other foals were bouncily excited, even as the candy maned unicorn filly struggled to balance the box of (ugh) chess pieces on her rear. Cozy kept a sharp eye out, but she didn’t see any nurses as she descended the stairwell, picking the stairwell that came out closest to the door to the exercise yard on the first floor. It wasn’t right after a meal, so it didn’t look like there were many ponies out there at all. Good. “The chess tables are right out here!” Cozy said, pointing at the glass doors leading out back, “Can you open the doors? I’m not allowed to.” “Can do, Cozy!” Apple Bloom said amiably, pushing open the glass door enough for Cozy Glow to scurry out, and then take off into the air. “You are all so pitiful!” she gloated down the foals crowding out the door, with utter blackness in her voice and a cruel expression on her face, “You really thought they could enchant me? You fools opened all the doors, breaking all the magical wards Starlight put in place on my imprisonment, and now at last, I’m free to conquer all of Equestria!” “Oh no!” Sweetie Belle squeaked in horror as the box of chess pieces slid off her rump and clattered to the ground, spilling chess pieces everywhere again. “Oh, yes!” Cozy declared in vehement triumph, “And there’s no way you’ll be able to stop the fire I set in the basement from burning the whole hospital down to ash!” The three gasped at that, as Apple Bloom shouted, “How dare you! You evil little filly!” “Those poor crazy ponies,” Cozy replied in a mocking tone, still hovering there out of reach, “All trapped in their rooms with no way out, and it’s all your fault, because I have a lot to do if I’m going to destroy all the magic, so I can’t be bothered to help you save them from their fiery doom. So long, suckers!” Then Cozy Glow flew up into the air, hoping there wasn’t a nurse nearby to hear what she told the three in relatively level tones. Of course she wasn’t followed, because Apple Bloom couldn’t even fly. Cozy flew behind a cloud, then circled around the building, fluttering down to land on the roof of the Asylum. There was roof access up here, but it really was locked most of the time, to keep patients with any funny ideas from coming up here. Cozy was pretty sure if she had to kill herself, it wouldn’t be from falling of a tall building. That just didn’t work in the heads of all but the craziest of pegasi, and the only one of those here couldn’t fly, so the roof was well and truly inaccessible to him. Cozy Glow sat there alone, relaxing in the breeze as she started to hear screams of panic and loud crashes echoing below her. They found the fire alarm at one point, but they probably didn’t expect the automatic sprinklers in the hallways that came on when you hit it. Cozy watched from above as wet ponies came streaming out of the asylum, with nurse ponies trying to corral the crazy ponies, and the CMC running about on the front lawn like headless chickens. Starlight Glimmer teleported in front of them then, and they all screeched to a halt at her hooves. Cozy didn’t look any longer, on the off chance that somepony would look upward and see her up here looking down. She just quickly flew down into the now emptied exercise yard, since everypony was gathering out front. She closed her eyes, and pushed her way into the building, where she found herself quickly soaked head to hoof from the sprinklers still going overhead. Running up the stairwell to her hall, Cozy found Nurse Coldheart standing there talking with Sea Swirl. “What happened?” Cozy asked the nurse in alarm, running up to her, “Somepony opened my door and the fire alarm came on!” “We need you both outside, hurry!” the nurse said, “Go see Nurse Tenderheart, and wait right beside her. I need to make sure everypony is out of the hospital!” Then thankfully not exchanging a word in edgewise, Cozy Glow and Sea Swirl went hurrying down the stairs, galloping for the front entrance, currently unlocked, unbarred and wide open for the unannounced fire drill. Once outside, Cozy Glow shook hard to try and get the water off her, right around the time the older mare beside her followed suit. Then the damp and scraggly pink filly trotted with Sea Swirl meekly over to Nurse Tenderheart, whereupon Sea Swirl started telling the tale of how she saved Cozy from the fire, but everypony knew that was Sea Swirl being Sea Swirl. Cozy stood there by Nurse Tenderheart in a crowd of other crazy ponies, watching Nurse Sweetheart chasing around Crackpot and Screwball, who were both going like caffeinated chipmunks at this point. Then suddenly appearing before Nurse Tenderheart, the unicorn Starlight Glimmer declared tremulously, “I don’t mean to alarm you, but I think Cozy Glow may have...” Starlight glanced down at Cozy Glow. Cozy tilted her head, asking in confusion, “...what?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders never came to visit her again. At last, the asylum was thoroughly dry, and Paradise was done with Morning Glory’s session for today, feeling relieved at the relative ease of that mare’s troubles as the redheaded psychologist chatted in the asylum’s staff lounge. Morning was getting better day by day, and Paradise didn’t want to say she was going to be 100% any time soon, but it seemed like the mare was past those dark hopeless days when she thought that nothing would ever be better again. But of course, the conversation Paradise was currently in eventually turned towards Cozy Glow. Paradise was speaking with one of the other psychologists who had been hired this year. Doctor Moore was a handsome stallion who seemed so soft spoken, yet with such power in his carefully chosen words. Emotionally shielded in his own way, staying calm and using reason to ground himself in the here and now, that was pretty standard fare among professionals who had to deal with troubled ponies. “Her past haunts her,” Paradise said in resigned frustration, “I know it does. If only she could talk about it.” “Sometimes you have to approach things indirectly,” the stallion told her with his precise enunciation, “Perhaps Cozy Glow can approach a metaphor of what she doesn’t want to confront directly. Something she relates to, but doesn’t need to feel like she’s exposing herself to emotional harm.” “Sure, I’ll just get her a doll, and ask her to point at where the stallion touched her,” Paradise said glumly without thinking, then blushed heavily, telling the doctor, “That is, I mean...” “No offense taken, Dr. Skies,” Dr. Moore said politely, “That is one kind of abuse that somepony like her may have suffered. You may be on the right track, in fact! Didn’t you say that Cozy was fond of puppets at one time?” “Only as a...” Paradise rubbed hoof under her chin, “As a metaphor for her domination over the Elements of Harmony. So you think a puppet of her... fears somehow, would allow her to share how she feels with me, without having to talk about any specific events?” “That seems like a very reasonable idea,” the powder blue stallion replied happily, “It certainly is better than doing nothing.” “How would I know what kind of a puppet would represent what happened to her in the past, if she doesn’t want to talk about it?” Paradise wondered morosely. “Why don’t you ask her?” Dr. Moore suggested. Ears perking up, Paradise said, “Yes, I certainly wouldn’t make the decision to go forward with that, without asking her. If I told her she could use a puppet to represent what the source of her sadness is, without telling me anything specific... Cozy likes to be in control, you see.” “I wish you luck, Dr. Skies,” Dr. Moore said in his usual noncommital manner, “But I don’t think you’ll need it. You are a very competent mare in your field, and I believe you already know what’s best for her.” “Oh please,” Paradise said, shyly looking aside, “Dr. Skies sounds so formal. You can just call me Paradise.” “That’s fine, as long as it doesn’t extend both ways,” he said with a wry ear tilt, “I’m not sure how I would react if you started calling me by the name of ‘Pony.’” “What about Dr. Pony?” Paradise asked thoughtfully. “I feel like that’s... even worse,” the stallion said with a wince, “Best just stick to Dr. Moore for now.” “Roger that,” Paradise replied easily, “Dr. Moore it is then.” “Okay, Cozy,” Paradise said too cautiously for Cozy’s liking, “I’m going to try something a little different, so don’t feel like you can’t stop me if it’s going too far. I know you don’t want to talk about your past, even though it has been bothering you, and I want to ask if... it would be any easier to talk about a puppet, or a doll?” “Why would I care about talking about a puppet or a doll?” Cozy asked skeptically. “If I got you a doll that represented the source of your problems, you could use it to talk to me about them,” Paradise explained, “You wouldn’t have to talk about your past, just the doll.” “So, what, I’m supposed to point at the doll to say where the stallion touched me?” Cozy asked with a raised eyebrow. “If...” Paradise blushed, “...that is what happened to you, then yes, we can get a Cozy Glow doll, and you can talk about where the stallion touched you. I don’t think that’s your problem though.” “No, it isn’t,” Cozy said, wilting a bit. She didn’t even get what the problem was with a stallion touching her like that, just because she hadn’t had estrus. Wouldn’t estrus make it worse to be touched there? It was probably just another thing these weak little ponies couldn’t put up with, like prostitution or beef. “You don’t have to tell me what it is,” Paradise reassured her, “All I’m asking is if there were a doll to represent what caused all your problems, can you tell me what kind of doll you would choose? I’ll bring it in to the session, and you can even get angry at the doll, or ...physical with it, and I won’t ask why. I just want to know how you feel about the source of your pain.” Cozy’s ears went back at that, but Paradise persisted saying, “I know you’re in pain, Cozy, and that’s alright. Something bad happened to you, and you don’t have to tell me about it. I just want to know what...kind of doll you’d want. You don’t even have to tell me if the doll has anything to do with your past.” “...can you get a sheep?” Cozy asked, feeling like she was asking for her skull again. This would go horribly wrong she knew it, but nothing she was doing was working, and just the thought of stomping on... “A pretty sturdy one,” Cozy made sure to add, “And not a girl sheep either it has to be a ram.” Paradise sounded surprised, as she said, “Yes, I can do that.” “And...” Cozy asked, hesitating to say it, but how would the ponies possibly know about him? “Can you make it... dark blue?” Paradise took down directions, and it was all well and good, and Cozy hoped this wasn’t some way to trick her into revealing her secrets. But how would they possibly know of that cursed blue ram? It was safe, she figured, revealing that much. Not like they would actually give her a doll like that at any rate. But it was okay, and Paradise didn’t even give Cozy too hard a time questioning her about her past that day. Cozy liked it better when Paradise would spend their sessions just taking her flying. Under much stricter supervision and reporting to Starlight Glimmer of course. And of course flying risked revealing yet another one of those stupid secrets that Cozy couldn’t seem to keep. The kind where she would say too much and have to just stop talking, because there was nothing she could say that wouldn’t risk... the worst possible thing. But once Paradise understood that Cozy had never flown much higher than most buildings before, the therapist was really patient with Cozy Glow. Cozy wasn’t exactly going to get flying lessons from some kind of wildly talented stunt pony, but Paradise knew enough about flying to teach her about the thinner air up above the clouds, and how to follow the warmer air currents upwards. Cozy was gliding along with Paradise up there on a pretty clear day, grumbling about how the warm air currents were still cold, when she noticed... everything below her. An unimaginable distance down, yet still possible to ascend with practice and the wings to do so, was all of Equestria. It was madness to think individual ponies could be seen, but there was the golden city of Canterlot, over there on that mountain. They were at the height of Cloudsdale, but the cloud city was far in the distance, recognizable only by its rainbow showers. Down below them was Ponyville, only a little spot down there surrounded by farms and bare trees dotting a landscape covered with snow. All around as far as the eye could see were distant mountains, serene fields, and dense forests of evergreen pines. Cozy Glow could just barely see the perpetually snowless deserts to the south, and the oceans were also out of sight. But it was all so breathtaking just how much land there was. It just went on forever, seemingly farther than a pegasus could fly, and all of it was brightly lit and safe. It was no wonder ponies were so stupid in a land like this, but Cozy Glow couldn’t deny the ache in her heart that rose at its beauty and magnitude. She wanted it all. She wanted it so bad. But until she took care of that old goat, it could all be taken away from her by nothing more than the stupidity of the ponies who lived here. Later, Cozy was having a nice plain, uneventful dinner, sitting with Sea Swirl this time, and everything was going according to plan... sort of. Cozy was sure the older pony was starting to understand that her need to be superior was holding her back, but Sea Swirl wasn’t quite there yet. The other blue haired, pink furred pony, who happened to be a unicorn, wasn’t exactly the most popular here, not even among the crazy inmates. Sea Swirl didn’t seem satisfied with them either, which of course made her even more desperate for Cozy’s company. “I’m going to write to the princesses,” Sea Swirl claimed smugly around eating her fescue salad, “I’ll tell them they can’t keep you locked up like this, and I’ll also write to the newspapers so if they try and stop me, everypony will know about the princesses’ lies.” “Let’s table that one for now,” Cozy Glow said with a wince, still struggling to find out how this pony could possibly be helpful to her with Sea Swirl having such an inflated ego. Cozy knew Sea Swirl was just trying to cover up feeling useless and hopeless, but she wasn’t sure how to fix that useless and hopelessness. Doing so would hopefully stop Sea Swirl from trying to help Cozy so much that they sent Cozy Glow to Double Tartarus, but how to do it... “So what’s your plan?” Sea Swirl asked in a conspiratorial tone of voice, “How are we going to get them to let us out of the asylum?” That’s the other reason Cozy tolerated Sea Swirl more than the others, because as annoyingly self absorbed as she was, Sea Swirl had done... some dangerous things in her quest to become famous and may have hurt some ponies, so she had to wear a suppressor ring on her horn, and like Cozy Glow, wasn’t allowed to leave without supervision. Ponies like Morning Glory more pleasant to be around, but there was always that... divide between them and Cozy Glow. The door that didn’t open from the inside, which Sea Swirl could understand. “I have a plan,” Cozy Glow murmured back to Sea Swirl’s delight. “But I’m going to need your help for it to work,” she added even more to Sea Swirl’s delight. “I need you to make Nurse Bonesaw like you.” And just like that, Sea Swirl’s face fell to panicked despair. “Are you crazy?” she whispered to Cozy Glow, “You know I can’t do that! Nopony likes me!” “And why do you think that is?” Cozy prompted slyly. “Because they’re idiots,” Sea Swirl replied angrily, “I’ve tried so hard to get anyone to even so much as notice me. And what do they do? Put me in here, so they can forget about me!” “Even idiots can like ponies though,” Cozy Glow persisted, “Even some grumpy puss like Nurse Bonesaw has ponies she likes a whole lot.” “Yes, but those ponies aren’t me,” Sea Swirl growled, “Why can’t anypony like me for once? Just once!” Cozy Glow judiciously decided not to tell Sea Swirl that there were ponies who liked her, already. This mare needed to feel like she was under attack from all sides. How else could she stop from blaming herself? Not that it was her fault, but Cozy was pretty sure a less crazy pony would start blaming themselves. Because ponies are stupid. “That’s what we’re going to figure out,” Cozy assured the older mare, “Why don’t ponies like you, and what do you really have to do to become famous?” “Get lucky and have all music everywhere be your talent, and still just wasting it on stupid E.D.M.—” Sea Swirl started to rant, but Cozy said, “Wait, wait hold on I’m being serious here. I think there’s a way for you to become famous, without getting lucky at all.” Eyeing her in disbelief, the pink unicorn remarked, “And I thought I was the crazy one.” “Okay, you might need to be a little lucky,” Cozy admitted with a wince, “But don’t you want to improve your chances? You wouldn’t want to miss your only chance to become famous, because you were doing something wrong?” “No, no I wouldn’t!” Sea Swirl said in genuine alarm, “Why would you even say that? I don’t want to miss my only chance! I–I did miss my only chance! How am I supposed to change that?” “Even if you only have one more chance to become famous, this’s what I think you need to do,” Cozy Glow said, leaning closer to whisper into Sea Swirl’s ear. Perhaps some day, Sea Swirl would even come to follow this advice.