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// The Day She Finds Out The Truth 
// Story: The Days She Spent 
// by Frazzle2Dazzle 
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Cozy yawned as she woke up in her bed.

Cozy froze mid stretch after she woke up in her bed.

Cozy's eyes bugged out as her mind flashed back to what she was doing before she woke up in her bed.

"Aaaaaand, good morning, Cozy."

And Cozy flinched as she turned to see the small crystal dragon she had been trying to kill was sitting to the side of where she woke up in her bed.

"I don't think you should do that again," Armin said, taking a sip from a cup of cocoa, dozens of marshmallows sitting in it, "Breakfast is ready for you, by the way."

She didn't want to give in to the urge to glance away, some small fear keeping her eyes rooted on the strange being next to her, but the smell of roasted hay after a couple months of nothing but cake and ice, she only felt mildly guilty for giving in.

She turned her head.

And what a sight it was.

Sitting on the desk across the room was a platter full of hay fries and flowers of all kinds, things she hadn't seen since before the windigoes had arrived in Equestria, and right next to it was another mug with steam rising from it.

That... That was evil.

And she didn't care.

She didn't waste any time throwing off the covers, darting across the room to the platter, the fries shoved into her mouth as she cried out in delight.

"I thought you might like that," the crystal dragon chuckled, "We can talk more after you eat."

The next couple minutes went by in a blur as she ate, filling her belly with the delicious salty fries, the sweet flowers with their rainbow of different flavors, and the nice bittersweet chocolate milk steaming in the mug washed it all down her throat, filling her with warmth and energy. She felt more whole than she had in months after eating it all!

But all good moments come to an end...

She left the platter on the desk, empty of food with a mug empty of drink, and turned back to the menace that had brought it.

"...Why?" was the first thing out of her mouth.

"Why... Give you food? Since you know who I am, I thought I'd be courteous this time when talking to you."

"No, why are you here? I tried to kill you!" 

Armin sighed into his mug, taking a sip before responding, "Because there's still good in you, Cozy. You're not a monster."

Cozy growled, "Well maybe I want to be a monster! Maybe I don't want to pretend that friendship is some kind of magic!"

"And where has that gotten you?"

"It let me take over Equestria, and- and..." Cozy trailed off, silent for a moment. What had being a monster gotten her? "...And nopony can touch me anymore! I've got all the power, I'm the strongest, and I'll be the best! When I fix all this, they'll all need me!"

"But you won't fix this."

Cozy paused, glaring at the dragon as he took another sip. He looked so... Arrogant.

"You don't know that!"

"I do know that. Are you familiar with time travel?"

Cozy was about to yell at him, saying he was crazy, but caught herself as the words pinged something in her head. She did know of it, and what the stupid councilor had done with it.

"Ten, twenty, thirty years from now, Equestria is still the same," Armin gestured around the room, as if to point at the world outside, "Covered in snow, lifeless, devoid of life. Every time in the future is the same thing... You can't win, Cozy."

"I- So what! I'll do this as long as it takes!" she felt her position slipping, but stood her ground in the argument. She didn't want to lose to whatever the buck this crystal dragon of harmony was!

"Even if it takes a hundred years? A thousand?" Cozy didn't answer that, shifting her sight away, "Cozy... Please... I know this is hard to swallow, but you're not going to win this time. You won't get what you want."

Cozy glared at the dragon, like she was trying to drill him out of her sight with her stare alone, but couldn't come up with any words to say in answer. What could she say?

"I have a way out of all this, though..." Armin set the mug to the side and raised both arms, claws spread open. Light began pouring from each of his digits, crafting a scene Cozy wishes she were back to.

Equestria, green and beautiful, ponies playing, laughing, working, eating, drinking, singing... Everycreature was alive and well, every plant and animal in its right place.

"I come from an Equestria where the windigoes never came back. Where Equestria isn't covered in snow, and everypony is alive and well."

His claws closed and the lights faded, leaving Armin staring back at Cozy.

"I just need to prove that you're a pony worth bringing back."

Cozy... Didn't know what to say.

Worth bringing back? Could she... Would she even be willing to go with him?

This Equestria was the only one she ever knew. It was her home, it was the place she conquered, the place she had spent so much time in. It wasn't just that... It was hers. She owned it.

But going with him... She'd have to give up ruling. She'd have to give up being a monster, give up being a villain. She'd have to be good.

But it was an Equestria full of life, full of ponies, full of food and water. It would be warm, and she could actually live instead of spending her days lingering in a broken Canterlot, trying over and over again to get rid of the windigoes.

But... "What's the catch?"

"The catch?"

Cozy rolled her eyes, "Whenever somepony needs to redeem themselves, they need to give something up. So will it just be Equestria? Will I lose all memories of being bad? Maybe you'll make me be Twilight's assistant, blegh."

"Well... There is one thing," he shrugged his shoulders, "You'd have to give up the stolen magic. You'd no longer be an alicorn when we went there."

Cozy glared at him, "Give up the only power I've ever had?!"

"And get back to an Equestria that isn't dead. Yes."

Cozy... Hesitated.

Could she do that? Would she do that?

Even if she lost the power… Maybe she could get it back?

She didn’t want to return to how powerless she used to be. She didn’t want to be shoved around by other ponies, to never get her own way.

But maybe… She could give it a chance.

“…Fine. You win.”

She decided. She made her choice.