The filly stared up at the ceiling and said, “The funny thing is, I don’t even want power anymore!”
I nodded from the chair across the room, “Well, right! But in this dream, Twilight made you Empress of Friendship and rather than destroy and tyrannize, you…”
She cuts me off, “I led Equestria to a new golden age!” she sighs… “Did I mention I don’t really want power?”
“Do you think that’s possible, though? If you were made Empress of Friendship, do you believe you’d do good now?”
“No!” She cuts me off again! “It’s just a stupid dream and doesn’t mean anything!”
I lower my gaze, “You’re sure?”
“Yes!”
“Okay Cozy Glow… So uh, weird dreams aside, how are you holding up?”
The filly continued to sit on the couch staring up at the ceiling with her wide brown eyes, “You know I haven’t seen the sun in about three days now?”
I reclined on the chair across the room and turn my gaze right to her, “Well, do you miss it?”
She frowns, “Not really? No, I think what I miss most is just being free to live my life…”
“What do you mean?”
She sighs, “I mean, just life, you know?” she smiles. “Seeing friends and doing things and living each and every day…”
“Well, what are you doing now, Cozy?”
She smiles wider, “Talking to one of my new mommies while on the couch!”
“Does that make you feel good?”
Her mouth normalizes, “Um, I think so?”
“Cozy Glow?”
She starts and stares back up, “Uh, yes?”
“I love you…”
Her smile raises and she giggles and squeals, “Stop it!”
I get off the chair and turn my body to her and stare at her, “I love you Cozy Glow!”
She giggles some more as she fidgets slightly, “I love you too mom!”
I smile as that’s the first time she’s ever called me that and trot over to her and look down, “Yes, my dearest sweet foal! Now, The Crusaders will be over soon! You should prepare…”
She stares at me with her enormous auburn pupils as she mouthed the words, “Oh, golly! Uh, mom? Do the Crusaders HAVE to come over? Uh, I kinda just want to be alone right now…“
I frown, “Is something wrong?”
She frowns as well, “I don’t think so?”
“So, why don’t you want your new friends to come over?”
She grimaces, “And just who said they were my friends, anyway?”
“Don’t you want friends Cozy?”
She blinks, “Well, of course I want friends!” she blinks as she starts in my direction. “But, them?”
“Well, why not the Crusaders?”
She sighs, “Well, I’m really not sure you’d get it?”
“Cozy, the first step to forgiving yourself is to make amends with those you’ve wronged… That includes the Crusaders…”
She nods, “I-I know that! It’s just that, um, well, that’s not the problem!”
“Well, just what is the problem dear sweet Cozy Glow?”
She opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling for a moment before finally saying, “I just don’t know if I’m ready?”
By this point, I can tell she’s just stalling, “If not now, then when, Cozy Glow?”
She turns her head back towards me, “I don’t know, okay? I just… I just don’t know if I’m ready now?”
“Cozy Glow?”
She stares up at me with her immense eyes, “Um, yes mom?”
I smile down at her, “You’re not alone…”
She grins back at me, “Y-yeah… I guess not, huh?”
“Absolutely not, dear little one!” I nod as I reassuringly continue. “Now, we’ll take this nice and slow, okay?”
Her smile widens as she takes in more air with her nostrils, “Um, o-okay mom! Uh, sure thing!”
I continue, “Now, I think we probably have about an hour before they come?”
She gazes at me, “Oh, golly! So um, what do you want to do now?”
I sigh and finally speak the burning question on my mind, “Well, I kinda wanted to talk to you about Tirek?”
She gulps and frowns as she stretches her neck to the left my direction, “Again? Um, okay mom… What about him?”
I stare at the filly and say words that I never thought I would utter to anypony, “Cozy Glow, there’s a better way than being bad…”
She sighs out her mouth, “Oh, golly gee mom! I already said I was gonna try being good! What more do you want?”
I sigh, “No, what I mean is, um, Cozy Glow?”
She blinks at me, “Um, yes mom?”
“You know what he told you was not correct, right?”
She grimaces at me, “Oh, golly mom! I’m not an idiot! I know good from evil!”
I smile and nod, “Okay, good! Now, just behave yourself and don’t do anything evil, okay?”
She smiles back at me as she snort-laughs through her nose, “Uh huh! Okay! Sure thing, mom! I’ll try my hardest!”
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door!
I widen my gaze at the filly, “Or, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are here right now!”
Her eyes widen, “You know, that was a really short hour!” as I begin trotting my way to the red door on the other end of the foyer with it’s small windows with radiant sunlight coming out of them onto the path.
I open it to the left with my mouth and see a blue unicorn there! She’s wearing a cheesy purple magician’s hat that goes to a bent point, now crooked and pointing behind her with many gold stars and moons and various galactic shapes adorning it, along with a matching cape that neatly flows on her back. Her eyes are violet and her mane a long stringy white as she smiles at me haughtily and says in a smarmy feminine voice, “Is Starlight Glimmer home?”
I widen my eyes, “Oh, no she’s at work right now! I’ll tell her you came by though! Who are you exactly?”
Her eyes widen as she brazenly declares, “Prepare to stare in awe, dear mortal, for you gaze upon The Great and Powerful Trixie!” and stands proudly on her haunches so that her cape flies towards her back! She then returns to all fours…
The name rings a bell and it searches in my mind somewhere desperately trying to find something to connect with as I smile and say, “So uh, Trixie was it? Alright, very well then! I’ll let her know you came by! Now, unless there is something else?”
She frowns, “You seriously don’t recognize me, Crystal? Really?”
I frown as well before lying, “UGH! Of course I recognize you Trixie! Now, I’m very busy, so if you don’t mind?”
She sighs and rolls her eyes, “Very well then! I shall return!” Before reaching into her saddlebags on the left with her mouth and throwing down some smoke bombs from there onto the pavement a foot in front of her and visibly turning around to gallop away as I stand there and wonder exactly when this is supposed to get impressive?”
I trot back into the foyer where the pink filly sitting on the red chair beyond me stares at me and asks, “Oh, golly mom! Who was that?”
I shake my head, “Oh, nopony important! So, like I was saying, the Crusaders will be here in an hour!”
She frowns at me as she eyes me carefully, “Why do I get the feeling that this will be important later?”
Suddenly, there’s yet another knock on the door! I roll my eyes and mutter to myself, “For goodness sake!” before adjusting them back to the filly. “Hang on Cozy! I’ll go see who that is!”
She stares up at me with her wide brunette eyes, “You know, I could answer the door too, right?”
I smile when I realize that my filly wants to help too! “Are you sure you’ll be okay if it’s the Crusaders?”
She looks at me carefully, “Well, golly gee mom! I’m gonna face them soon anyway! Why not right now?”
I grin wider, “Very well then Cozy! Go answer the door!”
She turns her body around to all fours on the couch while saying, “Gee! It’s like pulling teeth!” before squatting and taking off to fly through the foyer and towards the red front door. She lands and trots over before opening it to the left with her right forehoof and staring at the other three fillies on the other side of the door and smiling blankly, as if she was about to get hit by a train, “Oh, hiya Crusaders! Golly, it’s just so swell to see you here! Why don’t you come in?”
I hear a raspy foalish voice say, “Is she gonna close the door this time?”
And a feminine young sing-song voice say, “Maybe we should jump her again? That was fun!”
I notice Cozy’s eyes widen as I hear a young female voice say with a country twang, “Now y’all, we’re tryin’ ta be nice here! We don’t wanna crush her now!”
“Um, oh golly! You know, I kinda really want to shut the door again now, but I’m not gonna…” she breathes in and out through her nose. “No, I’m gonna say something important to you three fillies instead…” she smiles dimly. “You know, it’s kinda weird… You’d think the forgiveness of you three would be what’s most important, but now I realize that it’s not… No, what I need to do is to forgive myself… I did a lot of bad things back there and I think it’s time I come to terms with that…”
The country voice speaks, “Well, do you need any help with that?”
The sing-song voice adds, “Yeah, cause we’re here to help you Cozy!”
The raspy voice adds, “You’ll be forgiving yourself in no time! You’ll forgive yourself for things you didn’t even do!”
Sing-song voice says, “Isn’t that kinda pointless?”
Raspy voice responds, “I don’t know? Maybe?”
Cozy stares at them and interjects, “Look! I locked you three in a closet back there because I wanted you out of the way… And now after all this time, I think that that was wrong and that I shouldn’t have done it…”
Raspy voice says, “Well, locking us three away was only because of what you were trying to do… You were trying do something much worse…” *
Cozy flatly replies, “You mean trying to take over Equestria?”
Country voice says, “Well, right! But hey! You’re forgiven and we’re ready put all that ugliness behind us, okay friend?”
Raspy voice says, “Yeah, we can totally do this again!”
And the sing-song voice, “Whaddaya say?”
The pink filly breaths slowly, in and out of her snout, “Well, golly gee! Where do we start? The choices are endless!”
The country voice calmly replies, “Well, why don’t we start at the beginnin? Tell us Cozy, why did you want power?”
Cozy stares back wide-eyed and gulps, “Oh, golly!”
(To be continued...)