Cozy Glow walked through a forest alone. She'd left everyone behind, and had even left her dress behind. Eventually she settled down in front of a calm lake. She held in her hoof the key Twilight gave her that would undo her restraints allow her to use her powerful alicorn magic again. She'd already used it to to unlock her horn to able to use magic, but the only spell she'd done was a teleportation spell to send her to the deep murkiest woods she could think of. Just some place far away from any pony at all. And that was the last spell she intended on doing for now. She went through the trouble of locking her horn and wings back up.
Her powerful magic was difficult to master. However, she managed to teleport away just fine. She thought about how she probably could've pulled off a pretty spectacular light show. When she pondered what every creature's reaction might've been, she had dramatic flashbacks to her final battle with Twilight Sparkle. Every creature in Equestria was so furious. Why would tonight have been any different? It wouldn't have, at least that's what Cozy thought.
"Please, even if I escape, I have nowhere to go now..." Cozy's voice echoed.
"Then you should have picked a side." Chrysalis' voice echoed.
"Now what? Whose side are you on now?" she wondered.
Cozy clenched the key in her hooves.
"I don't deserve these powers. If all I'll ever be as an alicorn is a threat, then I denounce my alicornship!"
Cozy tossed the key into a pond.
*errrgh*
*splash*
Cozy had worked so hard for her freedom, yet here she was throwing it away. There was no point in having power if she had no friends. Real friends or not, it felt like she had zero of either.
Cozy Glow was upset, so she leaned over and laid on her back in the dirt, in an attempt to connect with nature.
"Gee, this kind of reminds me of the time I cried outside the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. Except, this time, the tears are real..."
The powerful filly let the tears seep from her eyes and slide down her face, and into the soil.
.
.
.
It was refreshing to enjoy some time alone, except it became clear that Cozy was not alone. She heard some bustling in the bushes.
"Who's there!?" Cozy snarled.
The bushes rustled, and slowly emerged another filly.
"You?!" Cozy exclaimed. "What are you doing here?! Are you stalking me?!"
"What? No. You wandered into White Tail Woods, which just so happens to... I just so happened to already be camping here tonight." Diamond Tiara said.
"Well, I'm here because I thought of the deepest loneliest and murkiest place in Equestria to hideaway, and I wound up here. Figures I'd find the likes of you here." Cozy said.
"Is that so?" Diamond Tiara asked, irritated.
So much for Cozy's alone time. Now she was stuck with one of the most talkative fillies she knew.
"Why are you camping on the night of Twilight Sparkle's coronation anyway?" Cozy asked. "Isn't anypony who's anypony supposed to be there?"
"Nopony invited me or anyone from my family." Diamond Tiara replied. "Besides, I'm not very interested in politics. I didn't even know her coronation was today until Starlight mentioned it to me earlier."
"What could be more interesting than the coronation of a princess?" Cozy asked. "Besides, you know, everything."
"Plenty. I came out here to observe tonight's conjunction of planet 5, and planet 6. You see-" Diamond Tiara said.
Here we go. Cozy thought, while also rolling her eyes.
Diamond Tiara proceeded to geek out about planets, and the startling evidence that Equestria is a round planet. She may be a rich girl, but she was fascinated by nature. Both terrestrial, and beyond.
"So you're here observing a once in a lifetime planetary phenomena, rather than witness the coronation of a princess. Good call." Cozy admitted.
"So what about you? I was out here stargazing when I heard you crying. I was worried about you." Diamond Tiara said.
Cozy was embarrassed, and thought about how Diamond Tiara may have seen too much of her vulnerable self. She wondered how long exactly Diamond Tiara was spying on her.
"Worried about me? Pfft. Why bother?" Cozy asked.
"Well, you know, I'm actually kind of glad to see you here. I've been thinking about you lately. Worrying. And now that I've seen you, I have more questions..."
Diamond Tiara pointed to Cozy's horn, referencing the fact that she's now an alicorn.
"What? This? Heh. Well, let's just say I'm too awesome for Twilight to handle. So she wrapped me up with these rather crude restraints in an attempt to contain me." Cozy said.
"Yeah. I think I have an idea as to why Twilight would feel the need to contain you." Diamond Tiara said.
Diamond Tiara held out the foal free press. Cozy was offended when she saw the image of herself in the paper.
"Where'd you get that?" Cozy asked, irritated.
"It's a newspaper. Everypony's seen it." Diamond Tiara said.
"You just so happen to carry a newspaper around?" Cozy asked.
The front of it depicted Cozy Glow with Lord Tirek and Queen Chrysalis, in a fierce battle with Twilight and friends (even though that's not quite what happened this time around, it made for a nice artist rendition)
"How could you? Even after I warned you, you went ahead and tried to take over Equestria twice!" Diamond Tiara said. "Why'd you do it? Even after I warned you not to the first time, you went ahead and came up with an even crazier scheme!"
"Put that thing away right now!" Cozy exclaimed.
"Are you offended to see this? I just thought I ought to give you a taste of what everypony thinks about you. It reads: I had the fortunate to witness the final battle first hoof. I recall Princess Twilight Sparkle was trapped in a magic bubble with a deranged alicorn maniac. But with the collective strength of enough creatures, it went pop!"
*POP*
The moment Cozy Glow heard Diamond Tiara say the word pop, the sound of her magic bubble popping echoed through her head, and she had a flashback to the previous story's ending.
Twilight Sparkle and Spike huddled around a crying Cozy Glow, as every creature in Equestria fell around them.
"Uh. Heh heh. Don't worry every creature. I caught her. We win. Everything's just fine." Twilight said.
*stomp* Celestia and Luna stepped before Twilight and Cozy.
Every creature backed up to make way for royalty.
"There isn't a punishment worthy enough for what she's done!" Celestia said.
"No. No there isn't." Twilight said back to them. "It's highly unusual for a filly to commit treason of such a high level. I'd be very curious to find out what led her to do such a thing..."
Twilight held Cozy tight, and thought about what she'd said previously, and decided to act accordingly.
"Which is why I shall keep a watchful eye on this filly in the mean time. At least until a fitting and deserving punishment is decided." Twilight said.
"Isn't that right, Cozy?" Spike asked.
Cozy nodded without speaking.
Cozy felt... safe, in Twilight's grasp. A feeling she misses, sitting alone.
"But what of your coronation?" Celestia asked.
"It is fast approaching after all. You sure you would want to watch her yourself?" Luna asked. "She likely to be a hoof-full."
"I'm positive. I'll find the time." Twilight replied.
"Very well, Twilight. I trust you know best." Celestia said.
"There hasn't been any foe proven to be too irredeemable yet with enough coaxing. And Cozy Glow shall be no different different different...
Twilight's words faded slowly...
Back in the present, Cozy paused, and held back her tears.
"Is this the pony you want to be?" Diamond Tiara asked, pointing to the newspaper.
"It's the pony I wanted to be, at that time." Cozy replied. "With my new... teammates by my side, and access to so much power, it just felt so right to try to take over Equestria. But now I have no idea what I want to be, other than invisible honestly. Twilight Sparkle wants me to make friends the traditional way, but that's never worked for me! The only time anypony even pays attention to me, is when I lie to them. But now that everypony has seen the real me, they all hate me." Cozy said.
Cozy stared at her reflection in the lake, when she saw Diamond Tiara's reflection come closer.
"Well, I don't hate you." she said. "I don't think you're all bad. I think you're pretty neat."
Cozy continued to mope, and did not entertain Diamond Tiara .
"I know that that raging alicorn isn't you. You're better than that. I've seen you be better. I know you can do better."
Diamond Tiara sat close to Cozy, but surprisingly she didn't push back.
*sigh* "You know, when I tried to warn you not to pursue anything mischievous, I never could have imagined the scope of your ambition. From depleting all the magic, to now harnessing all this magic for yourself, it really goes above and beyond what any other filly could ever do. But that's what I like about you. You aim high. I only tried to warn you because I knew that any sort of evil plan you could come up with, whether you were successful or not, would eventually result in your own misery.
"You don't know half of the misery. I narrowly escaped an eternity of infinite suffering..." Cozy said.
"I don't like to see you in pain. I'm glad you're here, but you're in pain right now anyway. I can tell, even if you don't tell me. I used to be a lot like you. Manipulating everypony to do what I wanted. I thought I was happy having everypony doing my bidding. But, it wasn't sustainable. Even my best friend Silver Spoon turned on me when I mistreated her. I was devastated, but then the Cutie Mark Crusaders reached their hooves out during my moment of greatest sorrow, and it worked. Despite all the horrible things I did to them, they were willing to be my friend."
Cozy Glow tried to not let her emotions show.
"I take it you're in a similar boat. You want ponies to like you, but you're scared everypony hates you after what you did." Diamond Tiara said.
"Humph. I could care less what everypony thinks." Cozy said.
"Maybe so, but you do care what they do to you." Diamond Tiara said. "You're still hurt from the incident. You almost had nopony reach out to you. If Twilight Sparkle didn't miraculously reach out in the midst of battle, then you probably wouldn't be here right now..."
Cozy's nerves tensed up as Diamond Tiara poked deep into her.
"So what? What difference does it make if I'm here or not..." Cozy said. "Equestria seemed just fine without me. They'd be fine for another 1,000 years without me..."
"Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here." she said.
*sniff* "You are?" Cozy asked, choked up. "You're not lying, are you?"
Diamond Tiara nodded affirmatively. "I wouldn't want anything bad happening to you again. I care about you, Cozy." she said.
"Well, that's nice I guess..." Cozy said.
It became harder and harder to suppress her feelings. Cozy looked at Diamond Tiara. Cozy's eyes shimmered when she looked at Diamond Tiara.
"I hope I'm not being too bothersome. I'm not here to boss you around. I'm here to listen to you." she said.
"Well, okay. I hope you're ready to listen. It's just, they put me in Tartarus. Then They were going to turn me to stone for a very long time. I was so close to a terrible fate, that I thought I'd never see Equestria again. *sniff* Why are you the lucky one? Why'd they help you but not me?" Cozy cried.
"Well, I didn't do anything catastrophic or world ending, but uh, you have a point. I'm not sure what kind of pills Celestia and Luna have been taking lately, but you're lucky that Twilight is helping you at all. But I think a few more friends couldn't hurt."
"Heh. Finally, some creature that gets me that isn't some horrifying world ending demon." Cozy said. "But uh... no offense to Lord Tirek or Queen Chrysalis of course."
*giggle* "You're so funny, Cozy." Diamond Tiara said.
Cozy Glow was starting to ease up.
The two fillies laid on their backs and looked up through a clearing in the forest, and watched the stars.
"Ah... I love coming out here and viewing the stars. You may not know this, but I am a bit of a nature conservationist at heart. I used to love spending time at my Great-Grandma's old cabin out here."
Normally Cozy would be bored by such tales, but she was starting to get into it.
"You know, they say these woods are enchanted. Protected by the Spirit of the forest, or at least, that's what my Great-Grandma used to tell me and my dad." Diamond Tiara said.
"Neat, I guess." Cozy replied.
"So what do you think of tonight, Cozy?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Well, if you asked me while I was in Tartarus what I missed about the outside world, the stars wouldn't have been on the top of my list at the time, but it feels nice to see them again." Cozy said, amazed.
"The stars are very nice. And they look just like they did when I was a little filly." Diamond Tiara said.
"Yeah, stars don't change much over time, but they do change based on geography. And you know what? The stars look so different here than they do..." Cozy said.
"...Than they do where?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"...Than they do at my birth home." Cozy replied. "I'm from far away. Nopony practiced friendship where I'm from. So I enrolled myself into Twilight Sparkle's school to learn what this friendship stuff was about. But when I got there, the school was just teeming with magic, and uh... I made my own avenue... as you might've heard about."
"Anyway, stars. Since my home was at a different latitude than here, so these stars are strangers to me." Cozy said.
"Well, I'll be your guide to all things unfamiliar." Diamond Tiara said, affirmatively.
Diamond Tiara's openness made Cozy... smile.
"I didn't really expect us to connect on any level, but you know what, it's nice speaking to another powerful filly." Cozy said.
"Me? Powerful? Come on. The power I have compared you is miniscule!" Diamond Tiara said.
"Oh please, you're rich. Money is plenty powerful. You should know that." Cozy said.
"Can money persuade ponies to bend to your will? Can money overthrow Equestria? Can money... Oh, I guess it can do all those things. hehe." Diamond Tiara said.
The two fillies shared a playful laughter.
"I can tell the two of us are gonna get along just fine..." Cozy said, laid back and relaxed.
"Yeah. I think I'm a much better match for you than Pipsqueak. Frankly I'm surprised you dated Pipsqueak for as long as you did." Diamond Tiara said.
"Heh, right. My boyfriend Pip. We were never really a thing. I just sort of really felt bad for the loser, that I couldn't help but give him some attention. I don't even really know if he really thought of me as anything. I certainly never felt much for him." Cozy explained.
Cozy relaxed some more, but the more she thought about what Diamond Tiara said, she realized something.
"...Wait. What do you mean when you say a better match?" Cozy asked.
"Uh... I just meant, uh you know, I don't know why you bothered dating him if you didn't like him. Not that I'd ever think to, do anything like that with you heh..." Diamond Tiara said, nervously.
Cozy looked at Diamond Tiara, strangely.
The two fillies laid back and relaxed, and enjoyed their company. She felt good. It felt good to be with a friend, but she had the sinking suspicion Diamond Tiara wanted something more... and her suspicions were soon backed up by what happened next. (except not really)
Her tranquility was interrupted by someone breathing into her face.
*groan* "Would you take a step back?! Is this what you really wanted from me?! HUH!? And quit breathing and drooling on me! We barely know each other!" Cozy exclaimed.
"Cozy! That isn't me!" Diamond Tiara said. Her voice was clearly not emanating from the source of the breathing. So what was it?
Cozy opened her eyes and saw-
"Oh." Cozy said, unsurprised.
*ROAR* A vicious Timberwolf was suddenly directly above Cozy. It had roared in Cozy's face.
"Golly, a Timberwolf!" Cozy said, sarcastically.
"In the White Tail Woods?!" Diamond Tiara asked.
The Timberwolf turned and and roared at Diamond Tiara.
"AAHH!" Diamond Tiara screamed.
Diamond Tiara's scream caught the attention of the Timberwolf.
"Get away from me! AH!" she screamed.
"Look out!" Cozy exclaimed.
Cozy pushed Diamond Tiara out of the way, and put herself in the Timberwolf's sight
"Get your claws away from her!" Cozy exclaimed.
Cozy smacked the Timberwolf with her hooves, which made it very angry.
"Cozy Glow!" Diamond Tiara screamed.
"AAHHH!"
*gulp*
Cozy Glow was swallowed whole by the Timberwolf.
"COZY!" she screamed.
Suddenly Diamond Tiara was surrounded by multiple Timberwolves. They circled around her and trapped her at the scene.
"Somepony help!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Cozy sat in the belly of the wooden beast, unable to use her own magic to escape.
"Humph. Yeah, some protector of the forest." Cozy sassed. "Good job, Spirit! You caught the worst filly in Equestria. You saved the day. Woo hoo..."