Getting into the castle wasn't hard. It was pretty clear most ponies wouldn't come here willingly, anyway, so the couple of guards I saw – would they really try to protect the queen in an emergency? I doubted it – let me pass when I put on a convincingly frightened face and said I'd been ordered to come here.
Probably just here to keep her from being disturbed by rabble. Well, too bad.
There really was a fake day-and-night cycle in the palace. It was disturbing, actually; the fake daytime wasn't any match for the real one I remembered, but I pushed it out of my mind and let myself appreciate the tremendous work of architecture involved. Somepony very talented had clearly put good work into this, and I did appreciate good, clever work.
Unlike some ponies.
I passed through the great doors to the court of Canterlot. I'd expected to see a Celestia-like figure lounging imperiously on her throne as she was fanned by servants and had grapes dropped into her mouth, or something.
Instead, what I got was a blue-grey mare with a frazzled green mane that reminded me somewhat of the maneiac from the Power Ponies comics, though she looked far less menacing and far more... terrified?
She clutched a golden scepter to her as I walked in.
"W-who is that?! Who are you?!"
I stared at her as the door shut behind me, scarcely able to believe it.
This is the evil queen ruling over Equestria with an iron hoof?
I sighed.
Even the villains suck in this era.
"I'm Cozy Glow."
"Huh? What was that?! Speak up! Or I'll...!"
I realized I'd spoken very softly, and raised my voice a bit to carry across the huge room.
"My name is Cozy Glow!"
I was careful not to sound angry, though I couldn't keep a faint hint of irritation out of my voice. The mare blinked a few times, seeming uncertain of what to do. I trotted up closer, and she recoiled at that.
"D-don't come closer! You're here to take the scepter, aren't you?! What are you planning?!"
She leveled the scepter at me. I made sure to project my voice as I walked. "I wanted to talk with you. That's all."
Her eyes narrowed, but at least she didn't blast me as I got closer. "Talk? Talk about what?"
I stopped when I reached the edge of the dais. "I'm... new here. So I don't really know much about how Equestria works. But I heard you're in charge, and I just wanted to ask you some things. Okay?"
I tempered my voice carefully to be comforting and reassuring, nonthreatening. It seemed to have the desired effect. The queen visibly started breathing more easily, and resumed clutching the scepter at her side rather than pointing it at me. She glanced around nervously, but on not seeing anything amiss, she calmed down further.
"O-okay. I think. Ask. Ask your questions."
"... Why do you want to be queen? You seem miserable."
Her eyes darted to me, looking for signs of treacherous intent. But I gave her the same semi-lidded stare the caretaker almost always gave me; neutral, maybe a little bored. Maybe a little... pitying?
"Wh-why do you ask? You want to take over, that it?"
"No." I said firmly, with a conviction that even surprised myself. "Look at yourself. What pony would want this? That's... what I wanted to find out. And that's what I'm asking: Why?"
The queen paused and looked herself over, and sighed. I was surprised to see her force back tears.
Whoa, guess I hit on a nerve, there.
"I... I don't want this. It's terrible. But this way I can at least keep anypony else from using the scepter. On me or my family."
Huh. Does she actually care about somepony other than herself? Or maybe it's just a sense of responsibility? Well, whatever.
"Couldn't you just huck the scepter in a lake, or something, and accomplish the same thing?"
She shook her head rapidly. "No. Nono. I thought about it. But the riots and fighting would be worse. Somepony has to be in charge, unquestionably. Then everypony else stays in line, at least. Whenever there's a fight over the scepter it's awful; without it things would be even worse."
I thought about that in silence for a second, considering the attitudes and behaviors of the ponies I'd met.
Then a groaned and rubbed my head.
"Oh good grief, you're right. These ponies are idiots."
We shared a moment of silence at that, and she let out a deep sigh.
"It wasn't so bad, you know? At f-first, I mean. I was a lot more laid-back than the last queen, so ponies were fine with letting me keep the scepter. I had p-parties and stuff. But then the attempts started, and..."
She gestured at the empty room.
"I sent everypony out. I only let a f-few ponies I don't find scary around me now."
I stared at the floor for a while, then, thinking it over.
"So that's how it is. Even if you wanted to make things better, you can't, because the ponies around you are so mean now."
"Ponies take advantage."
I looked up at that, and saw she was actually crying now. She chewed her lip a bit before continuing.
"D-don't tell anypony, but I tried to make things better. What's the point otherwise, right? Everything else gets boring. Parties get boring. B-but ponies take advantage when you're nice to them. It's just another opening. A weakness."
I bit back my first reply. I had been about to object, but hadn't I preyed on that exact vulnerability? Instead, I thought it over carefully.
"It's a weakness... so you need to be stronger to do it safely. Make up for it."
She cocked her head at that, and looked at me with desperation.
"How? How do I get stronger?"
I sighed. "With friends."
She laughed. It was such a miserable sound I winced.
"Friends? That's just more vulnerabilities!"
I shook my head. "I mean real friends. But I guess that's just another old, dead idea."
I huffed, shaking my head, and turned to leave. "Sorry for taking up your time."
I had gotten halfway across the room when her voice carried over to me.
"W-wait. Please..."
I paused and turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. She looked around nervously, like she was about to whisper a secret to me.
"Could you... stay for lunch? Please?"
I realized she could have ordered me to do it, if she wanted. Threatened me. But she wanted me to stay for her, willingly. Maybe more than anything in the world, at that moment.
And honestly, maybe it was just the fact that it could have easily been me up there, but the whole idea of her situation just hurt me.
"... Sure."