//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Cozy’s New Friend 
// by DeathToPonies 
//------------------------------//

Fluttershy was on short-term vacation to Canterlot. It was a nice day, so she had gone for a walk with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Even after a decade, the ruler of Equestria always made time for her friends.

After only an hour, the calm breeze had led them behind the castle, near the royal hedge maze. As they passed near the entrance, Twilight continued forward, while Fluttershy paused for a moment. Something had caught her attention - in place of Discord’s statue, the garden had become the final resting place of the eternal statue of Tirek, Chrysalis, and…Cozy Glow.

“That’s funny,” Fluttershy said, her face a neutral, thinking expression, her eyes wide with a slight curiosity, “I didn’t know this was here.”

Twilight stoped dead in her tracks before turning around, having walked several meters from Fluttershy. She twitched a bit - as if she was thinking about something she hadn't thought about for a long time.

“It seems like forever ago,” Fluttershy continued, looking over to Twilight, noting the distance between them as well as the odd silence, choosing to fill it with words.

“Indeed, it was,” Twilight finally spoke, “nearly an entire generation.”

The two turned back to face the statue, staring at it a bit longer. After what she deemed to be a significant amount of time, Twilight began turning to leave. Good, she thought. Maybe she wouldn’t- 

“Twilight, why did they turn them to stone?” Fluttershy asked innocently.

-darn.

Twilight took a deep sigh before speaking. “A fitting punishment for multiple attempts to rule Equestria…each.”

The princess’s voice surprised Fluttershy. There was a hint of cold; an almost uncharacteristically cynical twinge.

“Well, I get it with Tirek and Chrysalis,” she continued, not knowing that she was digging right down the line of conversation that Twilight was trying to avoid, “but why Cozy Glow? And, while I’m asking, why did you send her to Tartarus?”

She turned to face Twilight as she finished speaking. She was taken aback by how serious the princess’s expression had gotten. 

Twilight winced. She and Celestia had run the tests, of course. They knew. They knew a long time ago - since she overthrew the school. 

What they had found, they decided, was best kept secret.

“I…I didn’t mean to offend your judgement, Twilight,” Fluttershy stuttered - though she was concerned she had gone too far, she still continued, “But she was just…just a filly! How come we didn’t give her a chance? Try to help her?”

“We won’t be discussing this, Fluttershy. But just so you know…she wasn’t,” sighed Twilight, turning away, leaving it at that.

“She wasn’t…what?” asked Fluttershy, confused.

“She wasn’t a filly.”

Equestria would never know how close they came to an Atahsaia.