//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: My Filly From Tartarus // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// It was the ceremony for Princess Twilight Sparkle's coronation. Everypony gathered in the Canterlot garden to witness the coronation of Twilight Sparkle, the new crowned leader of Equestria. There she stood, on the balcony, in her lovely princess dress. It was an exciting moment. Truly a turning point in history. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna gently lowered onto Twilight's head a new crown, officially ringing her in as their successor. There was a massive applause in the crowd as they welcomed their new leader. And then there was Cozy Glow, who stood in a dark corner, dressed in a beautiful hoof stitched dress, yet was hidden from everypony else. Nopony was expecting her to be here, except for Twilight and Spike, who knew of the plan. The plan was that at a particular part of Twilight's speech, Cozy Glow would appear, and dazzle everypony with her magic. Thus winning over anypony who doubted her sincerity, and just overall setting a good mood for the future of Equestria. But what if it went wrong? This was far from a foalproof plan. Even if Cozy didn't mean harm at this time, her magic was unpredictable, and could cause harm. And even the slightest mishap could send her flank back to Tartarus. "Together, all creatures untied, will build something stronger." Twilight's speech went on in the background as Cozy Glow went through some difficult thoughts, such as the thoughts listed above, and some more written below. It was impossible to separate the idea of her using magic, with her being evil. No matter how much she wanted to change. Did she want to change? Even if she did, would other ponies believe she wanted to change? If they didn't believe she could be good, then why would she believe? "Okay, Cozy. Think. Positives. This could be your best chance to change what everypony thinks of you. If this goes well, then everypony will love you. At least, I think they will." she said to herself. "You'll have lots of friends again, right?" But then Cozy thought of something. "Twilight said she didn't trust me. Why would she trust me to use my magic now? And during her coronation? The most important moment of her life! Unless she really doesn't trust me after all..." What if this was an intentional trap set up by Twilight, in order to send Cozy back to Tartarus after she allegedly attacks the coronation? Cozy had lost her carefree evil attitude. Before, she enjoyed being manipulative, and working her way to the top. But now that Equestria's leaders have seen how far she'll go, and reacted in such a drastic way, she couldn't not think about the consequences of butting heads with Equestria's leaders once again. If she was caught being a threat again, what would her next punishment be? How do you top an eternity in stone? Stone was now outlawed anyway, but there were no rules against banishing ponies to the moon (as far as Cozy was aware). For these reasons and several others, Cozy, ultimately decided, that the responsibility was too much to bear. *sigh* "I can't..." Cozy said to herself. Cozy Glow could have unlocked herself and unleashed her magic and derailed Twilight's coronation. But for some reason, it didn't feel right. "I don't deserve these powers..." Cozy said to herself, weeping. Twilight's speech was almost done, but Cozy had decided to go forward with her own plan instead. Cozy used the key and unlocked herself, allowing her to finally stretch her wings, and use her horn without supervision under Twilight. "You want magic? I'll give you magic!" Cozy said. "I'll use my magic to give everypony what they want!" "Send this filly to where she belongs!" *ZAP* Back on the balcony, Twilight Sparkle was just about finished with her speech. The crowd watched in amazement, about to welcome their new ruler. "And now to usher in a new beginning, I give you..." Twilight had reached the end of her speech, and gave a nice long pause for Cozy to appear, but the key words were met with no response, leaving only an awkward pause in the air. The crowd started to chatter, wondering about the awkward pause. *ahem* "...I give you all my commitment to ensure safety for all creatures." Twilight finished her speech, somewhat awkwardly. "What happened, Twilight? Where's Cozy Glow?" Spike whispered. "I don't know." Twilight replied, in a whisper. As a backup plan, Twilight lit up her horn, and sent a little orb of purple magic into the air. It exploded into a nice little pretty burst. The crowd was dazzled, and everypony cheered for Twilight Sparkle. Their new leader. "You worried, Twilight?" Spike whispered. "Maybe just a little." Twilight replied. After the ceremony, it was time for festivities in the Canterlot courtyard! Everypony was enjoying Pinkie Pie's after party party. A royal sized party if you will. Everypony except for Twilight, who in between meet and greets with old friends, was a moping mess. "So, I guess she decided to just quit. We gave her an escape route, and she took it. Now she's off, potentially posing danger to Equestria again." Spike said. "I sure hope not." Twilight said. "If she's out there causing havoc, then, I guess I did misread her all along... How foolish of me..." Twilight said, looking down. "Congratulations, Twilight!" her Canterlot friends exclaimed. The greeting startled her, and snapped her to normal. Twilight's Canterlot friends were comprised of Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Moondancer, and Lyra with her fiancée Bon Bon. "We've been trying to tell everpony here that we've known you since you were your old grumpy isolated self-" Twinkleshine started. "-But nopony will believe us!" Minuette exclaimed. "Yeah. It's amazing how far we go back. After all we... what adjectives did you use to describe me?" Twilight asked. "It's just, you were notorious for always pushing other ponies away. Myself included of course. You rarely had any creature besides Spike by your side. And that's only because, you know, he's your family." Moondancer said. "Not that we mean any offense." Lemon Hearts said. "Not that that matters anyway! You've come so far! You're so good at making friends!" Twinkleshine said. "I am I guess..." Twilight said, sounding sad. "You make friends with just about anyone! Even those baddies who tried to divide Equestria! You didn't even think twice. How bold of you to show friendship to even Equestria's most formidable foes!" Moondancer said. *gulp* Twilight gulped, and had a flashback to her battle with Cozy Glow. In which, Cozy altered time to show Twilight the bleak future where she allowed Discord turns Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow to stone for a long time. "Yep. *nervous chuckle* making friends just comes soooo natural to me." Twilight said, anxiously. "I mean, look around, even creatures you wouldn't expect are good now. From Gilda, to Garble, even "fictional" characters like Caballeron, and Ahuizotl as seen in the final Daring Do book are good now! Is there even a sour soul left in Equestria!? HAHAHAHA!" The end of Twilight's laughter left an awkward silence in the air. "I haven't finished reading the last Daring Do book. Thanks for giving me a preview..." Moondancer said. "Anyhoo, I know you'll do a great job ruling Equestria!" Lyra said. "Alone..." Twilight added. "...You'll do a great job ruling Equestria!" Lyra repeated. "But I just said-" Twilight tried to say. "Shh... nopony likes a pessimist." Lemon Hearts said. "I'm sorry it's just-" Twilight started, but was interrupted. "Yeah yeah, we can talk about it later. Smile! You're on camera!" Minuette exclaimed. *snap* Twilight and her friends took a load of pictures together. One of the pictures showed Minuette wearing a "I've known her before she was a Princess" shirt. "Oh, by the way, we brought you gifts!" Lyra exclaimed. Lyra and Bon Bon handed Twilight a couple boxes. "Imported oats?" Twilight asked. "Expensive imported oats." Bon Bon specified. "Savor them." Moondancer said. "Savor the flavor! AH HAHA!" Minuette exclaimed. Her friends all laughed together. *giggle* Twilight laughed nervously once again. Hours went by. Slowly as time went on, the crowd got smaller as ponies went home. But still no sign of Cozy Glow. Spike looked at Twilight. She looked miserable. Seemingly not happy about her coronation. "Um, Twilight. Maybe this isn't the best time to bring it up, but didn't you say earlier that you didn't even want to accept the crown?" Spike asked. "Does that have anything to do with why you're uh..." Twilight took a deep breath before she explained. "So, here's the thing about that, Spike. I almost didn't want to inherit the duty to rule Equestria. Not after I saw what my rule would potentially look like. However, Celestia and Luna were pretty adamant about retiring, and I already told them I'd do it. I don't think they'd appreciate me backpedaling. Even still, I wouldn't have accepted the responsibility if I didn't think I was capable of helping creatures of Equestria." Twilight said. "But, I clearly didn't help Cozy. Even after I tried once again to show her compassion. I couldn't change Cozy alone, and now I'm expected to change Equestria alone? I don't know if I... if I..." Twilight's melodramatic moping was interrupted by a familiar fiery maned unicorn. "Congrats, congrats, congrats!" said an excited unicorn with a red mane and coat. *gasp* "Sunset Shimmer!" Twilight and Spike exclaimed. "What a surprise to see you here!" Twilight said, excited. "I had to come as soon as I heard! Oh my goodness, this is great!" Sunset exclaimed. "You're like, in charge of everything now!" "I know. Celestia and Luna put their utmost faith in my ability to lead Equestria." Twilight said. "What an honor. You deserve it, Twilight. You earned it." Sunset said. "So what happens to Celestia and Luna next?" Sunset asked. "That's a very good question." Spike replied. "I see. Well, anyway, we have so much to catch up on!" Sunset said, excited. Sunset's excited demeanor was a bit overbearing during Twilight's difficult time. "Indeed we do, but uh... I don't mean to come across as pushy but, let's save the deeper talk for later." Twilight said. "Understood. You need time to process everything." Sunset said. "Well, I'll be enjoying the festivities. It's been so long since I've just spent some quality time in Equestria." "It's always a pleasure to see you, Sunset." Twilight said. "Same here. And by the way, I have something exciting to show you later. I think you'll be pleased." Sunset grinned. "Of course. I have no doubt anything you show me ought to be... exciting." Twilight said, unsure. "Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I was wondering if I could ask you..." Twilight said, "Yes, Twilight?" Sunset asked. Twilight paused. "...Uh, never mind! Lost my train of thought! Enjoy the party." Sunset went off to partake in festivities. "What did you want to ask her, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Something that probably would have offended her if I actually asked." Twilight replied. "Now if I can just get some peace and quiet." Twilight said, harkening back to Pinkie's party from episode one. Everyone was celebrating, but Twilight wanted quiet. And speaking of Pinkie... "Now presenting, Princess Princess Twilight Sparkle!!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Twilight was surprised as she was swiftly approached by her friends. "Princess Princess?" Twilight asked. "A bit of a redundant title." Rarity said. "Why not just Queen at that point?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight had a flashback to Cozy's customized chess board. The image of the Queen piece with Twilight's wings haunted her. "Queen's uh... too commanding sounding. I prefer Princess... Thanks, girls." Twilight said. "You alright, Twilight?" Applejack asked. "Is all of the attention too much to handle?" Fluttershy asked. "No. It's not the attention. I'm flattered by it actually. It's just..." Twilight paused. "This evening hasn't gone exactly how I expected..." Starlight had a hunch she knew what was troubling her, judging by a certain filly's absence. "Where's Cozy Glow?" Starlight asked. *sigh* "She couldn't make it." Twilight replied, looking down. "She um... wasn't ready to appear I guess..." Twilight didn't want to lie, so she just didn't tell the complete truth. The truth that Cozy was supposed to appear, but chose not to. Instead she made it seem like she never came in the first place. "We're terribly sorry to hear that, Twilight." Rarity said. "No no. No need to apologize. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised..." Twilight said, as her heart clouded up. Spike and friends patted Twilight on the back. The Cozy Glow thing was a bust, however, that was only part one of Twilight's important things to take care of tonight. Twilight took a deep breath, and had remembered what she wanted to ask her friends. "Remind me girls. After everyone goes home from this party, there's something important I need to ask you." Twilight said. "Very well, Princess. But until then, I have something very important to ask you now!" Pinkie said. *gulp* "What is it, Pinkie?" Twilight asked, worried. "Mind if I snack on some of those imported oats?" she asked. "Help yourself." Twilight replied. "Many thanks." Pinkie thanked. Pinkie Pie proceeded to chow down on Lyra's imported oats. They're your closest friends. Of course they'd want to join you in Canterlot, right? Twilight thought. I'll ask them when everyone leaves.