//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: A New Prison 
// Story: Chronicles of the Reformed 
// by The_Darker_Fonts 
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Cozy Glow slowly opened her eyes, wary of what might be waiting when she did.  Either the face of an enemy or being blinded by the lights of whatever room she was in, she was cautious.  The room was still bright, but not blindingly so, allowing her to take in more of the room she currently inhabited.  
It was a nice room, at the very least, with a very spacious feel to it without looking or being empty, and almost felt as if it were intended for pegasi, based on closets in places that the normal pony couldn’t reach without a ladder or magic of some sort.  With a small grunt of effort, she pushed herself into a sitting position, continuing to look around.  Her body still felt so incredibly weak, but at least now she was able to move around without exhausting herself.  There was satisfaction in knowing that she was no longer completely reliant on others’ help.  
Cozy saw that she was situated on a luxurious bed, red and black patterned stripes lining the sheets and blankets like some sort of sketchboard.  After a brief moment, she checked under the sheets, attempting to see exactly what kind of mattress she was lying on, but red covers blocked her from telling exactly.  With another grunt, she leaned forward and fell onto her front legs, pulling herself out of the tightly tucked in blankets that had held her hostage as much as they had kept her comfortable.  Shaking herself out, she flexed her sore wings out, feeling every muscle taught and painful, almost like she’d flown without rest across the world.  
Grimacing, she knew that they would be too weak to fly for at least a week.  So the escape was to be on hoof then.  Fine, she could be handy with those cumbersome limbs, as long as they could support her weight while moving.  Speaking of which…
Without a second thought, she lept from her bed, landing on the carpeted floor beneath.  Her weight crushed onto her legs, which were still too weak to support the sudden transition, and collapsed beneath her like paper.  She fell flat to the floor, her face pushing disgracefully into the red carpet that covered the entirety of the room’s floor.  With a disgruntled growl, and a great deal of effort, she pushed herself into standing position, and nearly fell back down from the dizziness she was experiencing.  
Stumbling back a few steps until she was able to balance herself against the bedpost, she watched her vision spin all around her.  She forced her eyes back shut regretfully.  Apparently she had overestimated her strength, as she now barely was able to keep herself stable against the bed.  Even with her eyes closed, or maybe especially because of it, she felt completely off balance, swaying against her support.  She wondered briefly if she was about to pass out, but the dizziness began to subside as she sat down on the carpet floor.  Huffing frustratedly, she hit the ground, only jarring her hoof in the process.  Right, along with this fatigued weakness, pegasi bodies were already the weakest, which didn’t help at all.
Reopening her eyes, she scouted out the room better, despite being sat on the floor now.  The door out was just to the right and in front of her, situated by a pair of what looked like sliding doors, presumably a closet.  The majority of the light didn't come from light bulbs or lanterns. But instead from large windows with closed curtains over them.  Whether they were to block her view of the outside or the light from coming in, she was uncertain.  Either way, that was probably the main reason why she could look around without being completely blinded.  Underneath the windows were some empty bookcases, though they actually looked quite clean for being unoccupied.  
With a grimace, she forced herself to stand up and walk slowly in the direction of the windows, her head continuing to spin, though at a lesser degree than before.  Taking her time with each step, she slowly approached the covered windows, glimpsing the light that filtered through the satin.  Raising a hoof, she cautiously pushed it aside, squinting against the flood of sunlight, wincing as the back of her head stung dully.  The pain was lesser however, almost just reactionary memory, to the light, but it was otherwise… normal.  With a slight laugh of satisfaction at her rapidly regaining strength, she looked out of the window.  
Surprisingly, there weren’t bars, or even real locks to prevent her from trying to escape and fly away.  The only thing keeping her in the room was a piece of glass she could simply slide to the side and fly out of.  She was half tempted to try right then and there, but her previous physical performance discouraged her from trying it.  Besides, hadn’t she just told herself a week before her wings could actually handle the test of flight?  Foolish, she scorned herself.  She needed to be careful not to be so hasty and brash about everything while she was in the enemy’s territory.  Speaking of which…
Actually looking out of the window, she could see distinctly that wherever she was, it was most definitely not Canterlot or Ponyville, the two places she expected she'd end up.  Instead, she was firmly planted in the middle of a large forest, the evergreen trees just barely beneath the windowsill allowing her to see trees extending for miles around, until they climbed the gentle slopes of a nearby mountain range, too small to be the one that Canterlot sat on.  
Where was she, and more importantly, why was she here, and who was actually in charge of watching over her.  It couldn’t have been the School of Friendship’s former counselor, right?  She was too busy to deal with her right now, and besides, she’d be in the room, leering over her, taking notes and making nerdy calculations.  Perhaps when she’d seen “Starlight”, it had merely been some sort of illusion from the fear that the mare was the one taking care of her.  Most likely, it was indeed a mare that looked like Starlight, but wasn’t, and in her delusional state she simply panicked and had seen the mare wrong.  Or worse, she hadn’t even woken up and that all had been a nightmare of some sort.
No, she knew she had to have woken up, seeing as she could still faintly taste the fruity grain stuff she’d been fed, and the fact that she wasn’t hungry.  There was somepony who had come in to help her with that incredible pain, and there was somepony who had been there to feed her, and somepony had definitely tucker her in after she’d initially awoken.  But where that pony was, she didn't know, and whether Cozy actually wanted to escape from them was all still uncertain, much like the rest of her situation.  
After shrinking for a brief second, she pressed her face against the warm glass of the window, looking out on either side to measure up the dimensions to which the building she was currently residing in extended.  She was able to see that she was on the third floor of wherever she was, this floor extending another four windows before dropping to the roof of the second floor, and ended a bit later.  From her guess, she had to think that she was in somepony’s private mansion, probably some rich snob from Canterlot who’d lended it over.  Briefly, she considered the possible insinuations for her being in a rich pony’s manor, but she ruled out intimate relations near instantly.  Unless that pig boy Blueblood had some very interesting kinks, she couldn’t name a single noble that would stoop so low, and especially for somepony so young.  
Grunting, she pushed herself away from the window, glancing over to the bed.  She could lay down and wait for somepony to come and check in on her, or she could do it her own way and wander around, and possibly out, of the mansion.  Even as she considered the option, however, she realized that her legs were shaking from exertion already.  With a disappointed sigh, she opted to walk over to the bed and climb back into the bed, tucking herself in neatly.  Despite the warmth of the sunlight now streaming in, she still felt stone cold to her very bones.  Ironic, she bitterly thought, rolling over on her side and wrapping the blankets around her wings, which she’d wrapped around herself.  Oh boy was this pathetic, having to wait for somepony to come and see how she was doing.
Huffing once again in anger and annoyance, she tucked in, attempting to dispel the inner cold.  Now that she wasn’t hurting or having trouble seeing anything, and since her belly was full, her body seemed to realize that it was frigid, shivering even under ten pounds of blankets.  Shifting slightly, Cozy felt herself sink a little deeper into the mattress, and finally, felt the warmth on her skin.  With a comfortable smile, she nestled in against herself and took a deep breath, a yawn escaping her as she let it out.  Maybe a little more sleep would do alright for her.  After all, who knew how long until the pony came to check in on her… 
The creaking of the door instantly caused her to tense up, and she resisted the urge to instantly turn around and check to see who was there.  She mentally cursed herself for leaving the windows open, letting whoever came in that she had been awake and moving around.  
“Huh, guess she got up then,” the pony noted, obviously seeing the curtains drawn open.  The pony was indeed a female, and she could already tell that her voice was uncomfortably recognizable.  The carpet kept her from telling how close the mare was getting based on her hoofsteps, but she could very faintly hear the swish of her tail getting nearer.  With a slow, light knocking on her bedpost, the pony called softly, “Cozy Glow, are you awake?”
After hesitating for a second on whether to respond or not, she muttered sharply, “Yeah.”
“Oh, good,” the mare responded with a sickeningly cheerful tone.  “Well, I brought you some fruit and nuts in case you were hungry, and more of that medicine if you were hurting anymore.  Do you want any?”
“No,” she bitterly answered, refusing to let her sudden hunger show its face.  Why was she so hungry now?  Hadn’t she just felt so full?  Probably something to do with the fact that her body hasn’t needed food for Celestia knows how long, she logically told herself.  
“Well, I’ll leave the bowl next to your bed if you change your mind,” the mare informed her, followed by the light tap of her setting the bowl down.  There was a brief silence between them before she heard the mare sigh.  “Look, Cozy, I’m-”
“Don’t call me Cozy,” she commanded her sharply without looking at the mare.  She was too scared to confirm the truth to see if it was even possible.
“Okay, Cozy Glow, I’m sorry about what happened to you,” the mare behind her apologized, sounding at least a little genuine.  “We… we never wanted you specifically to be encased as well as the others, but there was almost no other way in the moment than to catch all three of you.”  Well, identity confirmed then.  “We tried though, we tried so hard to tell the three of you that there was another way than the evil you chose, but you didn’t listen!  I never wanted to hurt anypony like that, and it hurt me to see you in the stone, but what could I do?”
“Well, something, apparently,” Cozy stated obviously with a venomous tinge.  “Just took you so long.”
“It did,” Starlight agreed mournfully.  “But it did work.  Please, let me try to help you recover at the very least.  From there, we can do whatever you legally want to get you back to normal, everyday life!”
“So no taking over Equestria,” she tested.
“That’s not legal, unless it’s by election, but considering that most ponies do actually see you as nothing but evil in a filly’s body, I doubt you wouldn’t be a very popular candidate,” Starlight answered.  “Besides, only Twilight and I know that you’ve been released from your imprisonment, and we want to keep it that way for as long as possible.  Not many ponies would take too kindly to the filly that nearly destroyed Equestria being shown mercy, let alone living among them.”
“Go figures,” she said grumpily.  “Wonders what they’ll think when they find out I’m living with you.”  After another moment of silence, she asked, “So, you trying to get all mushy with me so you can get me to open up about my sad and troubled life that led me to becoming the embodiment of child evilness?”
“If it would work, then yes,” Starlight responded truthfully.  There was movement on the bed as she felt the mare try to sit on the bed.  After a failed attempt, she remained standing and said, “Would you at least like some water or something.  Your body isn’t completely used to itself yet, and while it might not sound like it to you, your voice is scratchier than an old stallion’s.  Besides, before today you hadn’t drunk anything for four months, which certainly can’t be healthy for you.”
“Fine, I’ll have some water,” Cozy begrudgingly replied.  In truth, she hadn’t noticed that her throat and voice were scratchy, and still didn’t quite recognize it as such.  “Don’t try to trick me into drinking some sort of happy juice, though!  I prefer to enjoy this ‘angry at everything’ for as long as possible before you make me into the perfect example of a bad filly gone good.”
“I won’t force you to do anything besides the rules of this house, and none of them require you to become a goody two-shoes,” Starlight assured her.  “My job right now is to take care of you and help you recover, and depending on how you act, try and make sure you don’t go ‘Empress of Friendship’ on us again.  Anything beyond that is beyond my jurisdiction, and you can feel free to call me out on it if you ever feel repressed or subjugated.”
“You sound like you’re reading me a law,” Cozy grumbled.  
“Well, I’m telling you the unspoken law Twilight made me,” Starlight explained.  After a second, she questioningly began, “So, about that water…”
“Yeah yeah,” the pegasus muttered in compliance, rolling over without thought.  Immediately, she wanted to roll back away from Starlight, but it was too late.  Refusing to show her shock in seeing her, in spite of knowing she had been there all along, Cozy let the unicorn mare know how disgusted she was with her by snatching the water with a scowl.  The stupid mare only smiled at her, watching her drink the water gratefully.  Once Cozy had started, however, she couldn’t stop.  The water was cool and tasted better than the food that she’d been provided earlier, and she downed the entire glass in one long gulp.  
“See, you did need that water,” Starlight gloated lightly, to which Cozy increased her scowl and turned back over.  “Oh come now, don’t be like that.  You aren’t a foal, despite your appearance.”
How did she- 
“I mean, you clearly have a whole lot of life ahead of you, and are very young, but you seem to know what you’re doing,” Starlight glamoured her.  With a cheerful half laugh, she told her, “You’re probably better off than I was when I had to accept that I was wrong with what I was doing.” 
“Yeah?  Well, you weren’t turned to stone with the entire world hating you for trying to use what you were taught,” Cozy bitterly spat.  
She could practically hear the wince in Starlight’s voice as she responded, “Yes, well, the process you took to being controlled was a lot more difficult than mine, to be sure, but you’re still young.  You have plenty of time to gradually realize where you went wrong and why what you did was bad, as well as how to fix it.  You’re not even half of my age!”
“Yeah, plenty of time to be brainwashed of my individuality,” Cozy sharply retorted.  “Sound familiar?”
There was a distinct silence after that remark as Cozy let the satisfaction of the blow sink into Starlight.  Suddenly, she felt a weight on the bed, before it transferred over her.  Starlight laid down right beside her, her face only a few inches away from her glaring eyes.  Starlight’s eyes, however, looked genuinely hurt, but also understanding.  
“I know that you're bitter about this, but also that you’re hurt by this all too, and more than physically,” Starlight told her, completely ignoring the verbal jab.  “I can understand why you’re taking it out on me, and if that’s how you need to cope, then fine, I can be your verbal punching bag.  I don’t really mind.  What I do need you to realize is that, even though we were the ones who put you in that terrible place, but realize that at the moment we were focused on helping the many.  Now that they’ve been helped, we can focus on helping you.  So please, now that you are the priority, let me help you.”
The request sounded genuine, and so sweet, but poison is best hidden by sugar.  Still, sometimes sugar was just sugar.  With a begrudging sigh, she looked away from the mare’s eyes and mumbled, “I guess I don’t have much of a choice, then.”
“Of course you do,” Starlight informed her.  “You just might not have the one you would prefer.”
Cozy snorted and rolled over, facing the open side of the bed.  There was a desk right beside her bed that she hadn’t noticed before, where the food Starlight had brought in was placed.  With a resigned sigh, she let go of her pride for a moment and reached out to the bowl, pushing her muzzle into it and chewing on some of the strawberries within.  Sweet Celestia, it tasted so… beyond good.
Cozy Glow moaned at the delicious flavor, not caring for what the mare behind her might think.  It was too good not to verbally appreciate in some way.  Even before her banishment, delicious foodstuffs like fruit were a very rare commodity among the Legion of Doom, or at least her and Tirek, and they would often fight over it.  Given his dominant size and magic, he would always win and greedily hoard a whole bushel of the fruits for himself ,taunting her as he ate them.  The memory of the injustice made Cozy bristle angrily and enjoy these strawberries that much more.  Stupid goat was still stuck in stone, she thought with satisfaction, while she was here gorging herself on strawberries, and very soon, sunflower seeds.
She giggled maniacally to herself at the thought, and she felt Starlight shift uncomfortably behind her before completely getting off of the bed completely.  Which only made her giggle become full one laughter.  Slowly, her laughter trickled off into a cough as her dry throat resisted so much movement.  Once again, she found Starlight in front of her, holding out a hoof.
When Cozy’s coughing had subsided some, she told her, “There isn’t any water left, but we can head down to the kitchen together to get some, if you want.”
Eyes watering slightly, Cozy asked skeptically, “Wait, you’d let me out of the room so soon?  Aren’t I your prisoner?”
“What, no, of course you aren’t a prisoner,” Starlight exclaimed in authentic surprise.  “I mean, you aren’t really allowed to leave the house without me there, but otherwise almost every room in this mansion is open to you.”
“Almost,” Cozy questioned with a raised eyebrow.  “Why almost.”
“Well, my room is off limits for obvious reasons,” Starlight droned, “And I’m gonna say that the basement that connects to the kitchen is also off limits because it was never finished being built, so there’s a lot of dangerous equipment and stuff lying around that I don’t want you to get hurt by.”
“Oh, well, guess that makes sense,” Cozy dully gave, shooting the hoof a suspicious glance.  Starlight continued to hold it out, however, and after a second thought, and a sore twinge in her throat, she set down the bowl of food and she took it, pulling herself out of bed.  Even with the support, she nearly stumbled, instead leaning into Starlight for support.  
She was caught by surprise when the mare pushed into and wrapped a hoof around her, securing her in a standing position.  The warmth of her body felt strangely familiar, and she had an instinctual feeling to stay leaned against her.  However, the comfort was both strange and uncomfortable, and she wasn’t able to handle the strange mixture of comfort, discomfort, and warmth.  She pulled away quickly, looking away from the mare, hating the comforting, warm feeling she found herself missing.  It was disturbingly haunting, and she knew internally why she was so perturbed by the situation.  Shuddering, she took a few steps forward, feeling too awkward to wait for Starlight to guide her out of the room, all the while feeling her keeper’s warm smile on the back of her head.  
“The stairs are to the right of this door,” she informed Cozy.  “They’ll take you right down to the foyer, and from there it’s down the left hall to get into the dining area, which feeds right on into the kitchen.  I think you’ll find the house to be very open in its design.  It was my grandmother’s and she was a pegasus too.  Left it to my father, who gave it to me after he became the mayor of our hometown, Sire’s Hollow.  I haven’t used it since then, but I figured it’d be the perfect place for us to live while we got you used to being back in everyday life.”
“Hm, well, it seems nice enough,” Cozy admitted.  “Though it does look like some sort of fancy prison still.  I mean, it is painted gray on the outside.”
“Ah, yes, well, that’s in remembrance of my grandfather.  He died when my dad was only twelve or so, and to remember how good of a stallion he was, she painted the mansion the same color of his mane.  I think that, despite its rather dreary look, it’s a sweet sentiment,” Starlight elaborated in an almost philosophical tone.  So she still was a professor at heart.
“Hey… Why are you here trying to brainwash me and not somepony else?  Shouldn’t you be principal of Twilight’s goody-goody School of Friendship and whatnot?”
“Well, I actually handed off the whole principal spiel to Sunburst, because, with Flurry growing older, he can begin to take her around with him, and he’s been dying to move to Ponyville ever since his first real winter in the Crystal Empire,” Starlight explained.  Then, with a quick, airy laugh, she joked, “They may have a magical barrier, but that doesn’t stop good old Mother Nature from freezing everypony’s tails stiff!”
“Uh-huh,” Cozy agreed, unamused.  By now they were descending the stairwell, which had been put in the exact center of the third story.  From the way the hallway looked, the story mirrored itself, with the stairwell serving as the imaginary mirror.  The entire inside of the house was decorated with deep red rugs and black with cream colored wallpaper.  The two had a strange, contrasting style to it, reminding her slightly of a velvet chocolate cake.  Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn’t finished the nuts and fruit, and that it was still very empty, in spite of the snacking and meal from before. 
“Guess we’ll have to grab some food while we’re in the kitchen too, huh,” Starlight lightly teased, to which Cozy shot her an unimpressed look.  “Or I guess we won’t,” she suggested.  Another growl of Cozy’s stomach gave her away, and she swore she heard the mare behind her chuckle before she commented, “I stand corrected.”
Cozy was going to die here, she swore.  If she didn’t find a way to escape from this place, either the sickening sweetness of Starlight or the sheer pressure of the mare trying to reform her was going to suffocate her.  With a frustrated huff, she hopped the last two steps and turned left, where the kitchen lay, as Starlight had said.  She needed to escape here before the week was out, or Celestia help her, there was going to be blood.