Celestia sat in her bedroom, bags under her bloodshot eyes, and several letters spread out on the floor in front of her. Regret and sadness shook her soul. Outside her window she could hear the roar of the ponies, and see the flicker of red that could only come from the light cast by fire. Ponies were rioting, and the few left that were still loyal to Celestia simply could not handle it. Equestria had fallen.
Everything had fallen apart.
Where had it gone wrong? Celestia knew. She knew only too well. It started with a single mare, with a large ambition and the wrong idea of how to accomplish it.
Cozy Glow.
No, Celestia told her self. Cozy Glow may have beeen the start, but it was not her fault everything had gone the way it had. No. The true reason everything had fallen apart had been Celestia’s decision to sentence a nine year old filly to Tartarus, right next to Tirek in fact.
From there, everything began. It started with, as it rightly should have Celestia supposed, Cozy Glow’s parents. They had been outraged that their daughter had been thrown into the most severe prison in Equestria, when the law clearly stated a minor could not be judged the same as an adult, and such judgments must be approved by their parents. Celestia had not consulted Cozy Glow’s parents.
Celestia had seen that the Elements of Harmony had acted, without the input of their bearers, to save Starlight Glimmer and restore magic. Celestia determined based on that alone that Cozy Glow could not be redeemed, and could only be imprisoned to protect Equestria. She had forgone the usual methods, and imprisoned the nine year old.
If Celestia had stopped to think, she would have realized that the Elements had done nothing to Cozy Glow herself, only saved magic and Starlight.
However, Celestia had not realized that until it was too late. She had made clear that her judgment was final and that the parents would not sway her. Criminals would be punished as they should be.
The parents had left, furious, and vowing to save their daughter from Celestia’s tyranny.
Then the newspapers had somehow gotten ahold of the story, from the parents, Celestia suspected.
Celestia looked at the first piece of paper in front of her. A newspaper clipping. The headline was as blunt as it could be.
FILLY SENTENCED TO TARTARUS. THE RESULT OF AMBITION?
It went on to describe the imprisonment of Cozy Glow, why she was imprisoned, and how Celestia had ignored due process based on the actions of artifacts that were not even sentient.
When Celestia saw that newspaper, it had been followed by nearly all of the castle staff turning in their resignations and leaving Equestria entirely, the vast majority going to the Crystal Empire. Luna had stormed into her room as well and began reading her the riot act, going about how she had warned Celestia that this had been too extreme of a punishment.
The argument had been long, and the end was not clean. Luna had thrown her crown at Celestia and stormed off. To this day Celestia had no idea where her sister had gone, only that she still moved the moon.
A few days later led to Twilight coming in and demanding to know what had possessed Celestia to lock up a filly.
Celestia remembered that conversation only too well.
---
“This is unacceptable.”
Celestia looked up from her paperwork, and found the puzzling sight of her former student, Twilight Sparkle, staring at her pretty harshly. “Twilight?”
Twilight pulled a piece of paper from the saddlebags she was wearing, and handed it to Celestia. “I will not abide by this, Princess,” she stated, perhaps a bit more angrilly than she intended.
Celestia, curious and concerned over what could possibly upset her fellow Princess this much, took the paper. It was a newspaper clipping, and the headline made her pale.
FILLY SENTENCED TO TARTARUS. THE RESULT OF AMBITION?
“I will not deny that Cozy Glow was very much in the wrong,” Twilight started, sounding far calmer than Celestia now believed she was. “But Tartarus is not the place to put a nine year old filly, regardless of the severity of their bad behaviour.”
“Twilight…”
“The Want-It Need-It incident,” Twilight interrupted, making Celestia wince. “Should have landed me in Tartarus. I took from ponies their ability to reason, a crime far more severe than a lack of magic in the world. Humanity on the other side of the mirror proved magic isn’t necessary to survive and thrive, so Cozy Glow’s actions can, at best, be described as extremist.”
Celestia wilted under the scrutiny of her fellow Princess. “I understand how you feel, Twilight, but…”
“No!” Twilight snapped off loudly, startling her once mentor into silence. “You seem to not understand the consequences here, Celestia! The most minor result of this is Cozy Glow’s parents lobbying to have the Diarchy removed from the throne for clear abuse of authority and disregard for the law! Do you have any idea how many parents across Equestria now believe us to be dictators that will do anything to maintain the status quo?!” she roared.
Celestia wilted further.
“And that’s only the minor thing! Ponies who once happily tried to accomplish their dreams are now terrified of stepping out of line, thinking if they get too ambitious they’ll be locked up as well! And then there’s the diplomatic repercussions!” Twilight pulled out more newspaper clippings.
EQUESTRIA LOCKS UP FILLY FOR AMBITIOUS DREAMS.
DIARCHY OF EQUESTRIA NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
TRADE WITH EQUESTRIA SUSPENDED.
“Cadence has sent a formal letter to the Diarchy that the Crystal Empire is no longer permitting interaction with Equestria. She’s terrified you’ll lock up Flurry Heart because of her powerful magic outbursts. Nevermind the furious letter Shining sent me!” Twilight once more reached into her saddlebag, and pulled out a scroll. She tossed it onto Celestia’s desk. “And I’m in agreement. You need to fix this Celestia, and until you do Ponyville is officially separating itself as a micronation until then. I will be having the town relocated to the edge of the Crystal Empire within the next week. Luna has already signed all of the necessary paperwork.”
Twilight turned to leave, but stopped at the door and looked at Celestia over her shoulder. “I once respected you as a kind and righteous ruler. I didn’t think you could do any wrong. I’ve learned since then that you aren’t perfect, but that you are at least trying. Or I thought you were.” Twilight shook her head. “Goodbye Celestia. Do not contact me or my family.”
---
That had perhaps been the moment that Celestia realized she had made a grave mistake. Twilight was the living embodiment of Friendship, and she had forgiven quite a lot. To have Twilight so thoroughly up in arms over this pointed out to Celestia that the Elements of Harmony did not approve.
Worse, Twilight had succeeded in her promise. Not a week after Twilight’s visit, the town of Ponyville had simply vanished. It was as if the town had never existed. Not even the apple orchard was there anymore. It nailed home to Celestia, not for the first time, just how ludicrously powerful Twilight was.
And, as Twilight said, the town of Ponyville now sat on the other end of the Crystal Empire from Equestria.
Celestia had tried to visit, but had been confronted by three Alicorns, an entire royal guard, and many Thestrals that were willing to go to war if she tried to interact with anyone from the Crystal Empire.
Celestia sighed, wishing not for the first time that she had not skipped due process when it came to Cozy Glow.
As for Cozy Glow herself, Luna had taken the filly from Tartarus and, with her parents permission, instead made her the first inmate of a softer jail, where doctors would attempt to determine the cause of Cozy’s maniacal behaviour. Celestia had tried to visit, to understand what they were doing, but had once again been chased away.
Not long after the rift that formed between the Princesses, Equestria began to revolt against the throne in outrage. The demand was that Celestia step down and enter banishment from Equestria, allowing a council to take over. Nopony wanted that kind of power in the hooves of only one pony, not after this.
That’s what led to today.
Canterlot was empty, there were very few soldiers who remained with Celestia, and a mob stood at the entrance of the castle.
A choice must be made.
Celestia eventually stood and made her way from the room. It was time to put an end to this.
The aftermath of Cozy Glow’s plan really needs to be addressed next season. She stripped away the magic of nearly everyone in Equestria and was in communication with a know enemy of the state without anyone being aware.
Yes she is shown to have several screws loose but there was so much about her that wasn't covered it looks like she was meant to become the next major villain. Still the point is when the Elements activated through the actions of the student 6 that Harmony it self judged her as severely lacking.
Tartarus, as we've seen it is less the pony version of hell, where one is eternally punished for sins, and more or a maximum security prison for monsters and serious offenders. Children who commit crimes can and do go to prison after being tried as adults when the crime is severe enough. I think think that she should have had some sort of trial, jailing her is far from inexcusable. Of course, if she had gone to trial, she would have walked. If Cozy Glow could hold a princess in the frog of her hoof, she'd win a jury's heart before opening statements. In a regular prison or a psych ward, what's stopping her from lying and coaxing the guards to let her go?
Additionally, we don't know what her Tartarus sentence is. It could be for a century, for a decade, or for life or for a week.
(And even then, she doesn't seem that unhappy to be there. It wouldn't surprise me if it had been her endgame the whole time)
Cozy 100% knew what she was doing every step of the way. She wasn't misled, and she wasn't unaware of the consequences of her actions. It's possible that she operates under a differing opinion of what right and wrong look like, and it's more likely that she simply didn't care.
Also:
You mean the side of the mirror where the sun naturally raises on its own, weather isn't made in a factory, and plants aren't cultivated by earth ponies?
Anyone crazy enough to support Cozy Glow has no business near power
Thank you! Do citizens of Equestria not have Habeus Corpus?
Good Sun Butt is getting her ass handed to her for what she did. Good Job
I like it, half of the future downvotes will probably come from those who think it's right to put her there.
9282771
I agree with that opinion.
I just like that, no matter if it's really your opinion or if I agree with everything Twilight said, it just sounds right enough right enough to take it as one of the possible truth people will want to see.
Oh and even if it is a bad situation for her, good job to actually let Celestia act like that. I really have not seen enough stories where she isn't exactly the best and does only the right thing and probably have still only seen 1/4 of the same amount that usually shows her as perfect.
(I hope that makes sense, I'm not so sure about that last sentence.)
I mean if I try to think about the other stories I mentioned, I can only think about celestia doing something extreme that I would call an as***** move.
Okay as much as I like it that looked even slightly odd to me, then again if when I try to see this out of this Twilights and Cadance eyes, I can understand a bit off that fear.
Does she not want to have anything to do with her anymore or just till she fix it? I guess some news would let Twilight guess if it is under control again.
Wow, I'm still on their side here, but in the last sentences it somehow got out of hand.
That sounds like something some of us Cowzy Glow supporters/defenders ?, thought of in the first place.
I remember writing about that in a youtube comment and getting at least a few positive comments on that.
Well I saw the episode in english instead of german but I still got the impression they could have tried to "help" her instead like you mentioned it here, so evereything seems fine to me.
There are just some people who already like to call her a demon and that she should die or whatever I have heard so far.
It's kind of the same as when I saw the tree melting the fake main six which depending on how you look on it, were still living, had a live in that moment and got killed.
Your reasons even without having watched the episode, sound pretty similar to my own point of view.
I'm not so sure what to think about that or if I remember it right, but I guess in the show she is still kind of kissing Celestias feet no matter what she does so meh...
I like what you did here however, it's nice to see her in a different position no matter what the reason is.
Like I mentioned it already, it sometimes even rubs the the wrong way sometimes how she is written in some stories which makes me liking this much more.
edit: you would get an upvote from me.
9282968
and they should be allowed to vote it. The premise of a story affects it's quality
Will there be a follow up story to this?
If Luna and Twilight protest the plan, then what did they do in canon? Luna officially locked up Cozy Glow, and Twilight states implications that the didn't object. Unless this is an AU?
Well their be a squeal
9301066
Considering this was just a method to vent my frustration with the season finale? Probably not, but who knows. I may come up with an idea one day.
9301090
As I said to the above User, this was just a means for me to vent my frustration with that episode. That said, this is not strictly an AU, and can technically be considered adherence to canon.
Luna may have delivered Cozy Glow to Tartarus, but we never saw a scene of her thoughts on the matter. For all we know she did it under protest and because she currently lacked a better idea.
I'm not gonna say that's actually the case, but yeah. It's kinda a headcanon in my head. Luna protested but ultimately wasn't sure what else to do, especially with the memories of the last time she went against Celestia still troubling her. Even if she forgave herself, I imagine she may find it very difficult to justify in her own mind defying Celestia.
9301185
There has to be.
9301507
She didn't exactly look reluctant, but it works for me
The major problem I have with Twilight in this story is that she actually is wrong in a lot of it her needed wanted spell only infected a town not an entire country or world. Also cozy glow is literally insane sociopath she barely sees friends as tools to just throw away after they're not useful anymore cuz in her own words there's always more people out there in the world. And while she may be a Philly she's obviously too far gone to help her from evil in my opinion she's the opposite of Discord where Discord had no friends she had friends and yet she found them more as tools while Discord values his friends. so I think cozy glow being in Tartarus is quite the fitting punishment for her she just shouldn't have had her cage so close to tirek's cage. In the end cozy glow is evil through and through and this is the writers trying to prove evil can come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Also quite a few pegasi probably died from falling from a great height as a result of them not having their magic. The whole point is at cozy glow has committed several cases of murder and they don't want people trying to defend her she's an evil little child she's basically like a mini Hitler.
9301800
Never said her actions should be defended. I won't even argue with the sociopath comment. You're right. She did something that had severe consequences, like you said, and deserves to be punished... but the fact remains that she's a child, and children don't have the necessary development to know when they are wrong, leading to the fact that they can't be held to the same sense of responsibility as an adult.
My bone with the whole thing is that Cozy was treated as an adult criminal instead of a child criminal. Maximum security prison, next to the person who enabled a lot of her actions, wasn't the answer. She should have been put in a high security mental hospital to try and help her become a better pony, as well as serve the time necessary.
Most of all, her parents, the ones who have absolute authority over her in most cases, should have been looked at as well. Either because they needed to be involved in the decision regarding her punishment, or because they may very well be a part of the problem.
9301871
They charged her as an adult because that was the severity of her crime and she knew full well what she was doing she knew the power of friendship and she manipulated it. Don't hide behind the child claws there are children that are tried as adults no matter how young they are it's the crime that matters. Also bring me up the human world it is just b******* literally you go and bring up the human world but you forget a big part of it they didn't have magic originally equestrians always had magic in other words I really don't think Equestria could survive without magic. What cozy was doing was quite possibly dooming their entire world. I honestly think that would pretty much guarantee you being tried as an adult.
9301985
Look, it's clear to me we aren't going to agree on this. So instead I'm just going to walk away before this turns into a fight. I'm sorry if I antagonized you somehow. That was not my intention.
9302097
We may not agree but you have to understand I really don't like her I didn't like her when I first saw her on screen she gave me this I don't know how to describe it but she just didn't feel right I mean. I mean she just felt wrong to me as if she didn't belong in the MLP universe and she came off as a psychopath I really don't think she be in any other place other than Tartarus for what she's done but I agree we won't agree on this. To me she just feels like one of those characters that literally cannot be redeemed even if she is a child.
A bit heavy-handed here, but still a story we needed.
I agree with you. I thought sending a kid to a prison in hell is messed up. But should of the episode reveal the dark side of the magic of friendship. It can corrupt others, should that be a warning that villains can be created by friendship.
9316082
This.
The author completely missed the theme of the entire season : friendship can make good people to do bad things.
Starlight goes camping even though she hates it cause the Mane 6 are her friends. Twilight tries to cover up Celestia’s bad acting skills cause she’s her friend. And how did Cozy Glow beat Neighsay and the Young 6? Superpowers? Ambushing them? No, she simply convinced her friends that it was the right thing to do. The only plot hole is how she beat Starlight and that can be waved away as necessary due to time constraints.
Cozy Glow was right. Friendship is magic. Who needs powers when people will do what you want them to do willingly?
9302101
Don't mistake "Youthful Selfishness" for "Genuine Malice". Nobody isn't kind-of-an-Asshole by their early Twenties. And if they actually weren't: they were probably Sociopaths. -Alucard, Hellsing Abridged
Except that many things that happen automatically in the human world, like the day/night cycle and the change of seasons, are done manually in Equestria, almost always with some form of magic. Also, magic is most likely what's keeping Cloudsdale together, and the magic of the Crystal Heart is preventing the Crystal Empire from freezing over.