The serpent stares down at me, “WHAT? And just why would I want to be YOUR friend, Cozy Glow? You’re a selfish little brat!”
“Am I though?”
He points down at me with his eagle talon, “YES!”
I nod, “You accuse me of these things, with no basis! And now, I’ve restored Equestria to it’s former glory and you’re still saying that I’m selfish? You’ve got nothing, Discord!”
His eyes narrow, “Oh, do I though? If you didn’t have Twilight Sparkle and a loving home, you wouldn’t be so good!”
“Well, what difference should that make?”
His eyes widen, “What?”
I nod again, “I mean, you’re speaking hypothetically here, Discord! The fact is, I do have a loving mother and friends now and they will help me be a better pony and stay true to myself! You know, that’s that whole ‘magic of friendship’ thing that my mom keeps talking about, right? It doesn’t matter what I would do in a different situation because this situation is not different! It’s like this!”
He frowns his snaggle-toothed mouth and sighs, “Uh, actually, you have a point there Cozy…”
I widen my eyes as I really wasn’t expecting him to give up, like that, “Oh, golly! I do?”
He smiles at me, “Why, yes Cozy! You see, you’re in this situation now and you’re taken care of! You have no reason to be evil anymore and so, you won’t do it! I think everything is under control!” before vanishing in a fluff of confetti and popcorn!
I stare at the now empty air and blink my eyes… “That was way too easy!”
<*****>
The purple alicorn on the other side of the table frowns at me, “Well, probably not! Knowing Discord, we’ll see him again soon!”
I frantically answer her, “Well, what can we do?”
She nods and sighs, “Well, there’s really not much we can do until he shows up!” she widens her eyes, “Believe me! You can’t prepare for every conceivable possibility and until he actually shows up again, there’s really nothing we can do… “
I stare at her intently as she smiles blankly back at me… I can tell she’s just trying to make me not worry... I hate being able to figure out other ponies’ intentions sometimes! “He said that I’m selfish… “
She stares at me carefully herself, “Well, do you believe you’re selfish, Cozy?”
I frown as I didn’t think about that! My eyes go skyward, “Um, I don’t think so?”
“Well, what did he say?”
My eyes go back to her and I lean forward and slightly vibrate, “Well, not much. He just said I was a brat and that I was selfish!”
She nods, “Sounds about right! Discord was always one to call out ponies for their past sins…”
I nod back, “Well, okay! But uh, I changed and I’m better now!”
“Then you have nothing to worry about!”
I frown… “Wait! Why does this Discord guy get to test ponies, anyway? Who does he think he is?”
“The Lord of Chaos?”
“Okay, yeah! I get that, but what does that have to do with testing ponies, anyway? I’m just saying, you wouldn’t think that office or title or whatever, would involve that sort of thing!” *
She grimaces when her mind begins to process my words, “I uh, never really thought about it like that Cozy!”
Suddenly, I hear a familiar male sleazy voice from behind me, “When you have eternal life, there’s really not much else to do! Since I am so evolved, I take it upon myself as my duty to test the ponies of Equestria to make sure they’re well behaved…”
I widen my eyes, “Well, I guess that would make sense to an arrogant tool, yeah!”
“You don’t like me, do you Cozy?”
“Would you?”
“Okay, granted! But I don’t have to be your enemy here, Cozy!”
I continue to stare blankly forward after adjusting my gaze, “Well, gee! Guy who makes me doubt myself and tests my convictions! How the golly hay could you ever be my friend?”
The voice is silent…
I smile, “Oh, yeah! Mommy told me all about you, Discord!”
My mom smiles at me from the other side of the table…
“Oh? And just what did she tell you, anyway Cozy? Did she tell you how inept she was as a ruler?”
I see mom grimacing again, “Discord! You have no idea what I did earlier as Princess of Friendship!”
“I know I saw her adopt an evil little monster who basically destroyed the country!”
Twilight frowns in defiance at what I’m guessing is Discord, floating in the air behind me, “She’s not evil anymore! She’s changed!”
“Oh, really?” I hear the smarmy voice reply before my vision is suddenly consumed in blinding white light!
<*****>
My vision returns and I see myself, once again, in the antechamber to the School of Friendship with a golden crown on my head as I look up and say, “And now, time for your COMPLETE DESTRUCTION!” I yell at the six ponies I have imprisoned in the floating blue bubble! I move my forehooves to the left side of my body and make a cute face, “Doesn’t that sound fun?”
Twilight Sparkle looks at me from where she’s trapped in the bubble with her five friends, “Cozy Glow! Eat a Venus Bar!” before I look down and notice a neatly wrapped candy bar sitting on the chamber floor just 5 feet in front of me…
I frown and ask, “What? Why?”
“You get all maniacal and evil when you’re hungry!”
I slowly trot to the candy bar with the crown still on my head and pick it up with my right forehoof and tear open the wrapper with my teeth before taking that first scrumptious bite!
“Better?” Twilight asks with a frown on her face.
I swallow and look up at the purple alicorn with a big smile on my face, “Better!”
I then hear Discord’s voice coming from nowhere, “You turn into somepony different when you’re hungry! Venus satisfies!”
I flatten my mouth and ask the obvious question, “Wait! What am I doing here? Why do I have a candy bar?”
Discord suddenly shows up floating on my left and I look up at him, “This is your life, Cozy! We’re going to be talking about your life and why you’re the way you are, now!”
I look back down at the Venus Bar and take another bite…
“Cozy, are you listening to me?”
I look back up at Discord as I finish chewing and swallow, “Oh, yeah! Sure Discordy, ol’ buddy ol’ pal!” before looking back down at my candy bar and taking another bite…
He narrows his eyes before flicking his eagle talon in the air…
My vision is once again, overcome by a blinding white light… When it returns, I then see where this truly all began… I see the front of my old cottage, just north of the Everfree Forest… “Why are we here?” I ask before taking another bite… You know, it wouldn’t be my first choice, but the price was right!
He narrows his eyes to me, “You seem so calm about this? This is where you were raised, Cozy! This is your home!”
I turn back to the tan brick building with that familiar red door that used to haunt my nightmares, “No! This used to be my home! It burned down, remember!” before looking back down at my bar and taking one of the final bites after pushing it up from the wrapper… **
“Well, don’t you want to go inside, Cozy?”
I push the last bit from the wrapper and eat the final remaining bits of the candy bar and just toss the wrapper on the ground as I chew and swallow my bite before staring up at the draconequus, “No Discord! I actually don’t! I have no business here anymore!” before turning and squatting to take off with my wings! I begin flapping hard and heading back towards the forest! ***
<*****>
“Cozy Glow!” I suddenly hear my adopted mother screaming at me from across the table!
I snap to attention and stare back at her, “Y-yeah?”
She frowns, “Discord disappeared and then you kinda went into a haze for a few minutes, Cozy! Are you alright?”
“You can’t run from your past!” I hear Discord’s voice in my head say…
I shake my head and stare at her, “Oh uh, I’m fine mom! I’m just dandy! Yes!” and smile at her…
She stares at me intently for a moment… “Cozy Glow, what happened?”
I sigh and look down, before adjusting my gaze back to the purple alicorn and doing something I still haven’t quite gotten used to doing just yet… I told her the truth! “Discord showed me the home where I grew up in!”
She keeps the frown on her face, “Oh? Well, what about it Cozy Glow? Where exactly did you grow up, anyway?”
I put my own frown on my muzzle, “Well, I lived in a cottage, just north of the Everfree Forest!”
She nods, “Okay, Cozy! What did you do there?”
“Well, it was in the middle of nowhere and there weren’t many fillies to play with! So I spent a lot of time by myself!”
“That would explain the antisocial behavior!” She says analytically, “But that still doesn’t explain why you’re evil!”
I stared at the other alicorn carefully… Somehow, I knew this would one day come up, but I kinda wanted it to be later, rather than sooner... I gulped and I stared at her carefully before doing something incredibly brave… I bravely teleported to my friend’s house in the Everfree marshlands!
<*****>
I see Bill there at a table, looking down his brown snout at some cards on a rustic looking unvarnished table in the shack, with a lantern glowing overhead to light everything…
I look around and see the familiar place, his kitchen area, the bookshelf, and his nice recliner… I’m guessing he sleeps in there? He finally looks up from his cards, “Oh, hiya Empress Cozy! What brings you back to my shack?”
I stare at him, “Wait! You know who I am?”
“Well, even if I live here, I still read the news sometimes, y’know?”
I stare at him intently… “Do you still want to be my friend?”
He smile, “Aw, shucks! You probly didn’t tell me who y’where cause you thought I’d look at ya differently, am-aright?”
I blink and think to myself that he’s actually not wrong! “Well um, yeah!”
He frowns, “Well, guess what?” his eyes widen, “I really don’t! Now git up here, Empress Cozy! I’m gittin tired a solitaire and I’d like a buddy to play gin with!”
I suddenly wonder why I can’t just have a normal week, before giving him a toothy grin, “Sure, ol’ buddy ol’ pal! Ya got any coffee?”
(To be continued… )