The Great Cozy Caper
Cozy Glow was boooooooooored. No no she was booooooooooooooooooored. She said so out loud, droning on in her room all by herself, with nothing to do and nothing to read. The books they gave her, Cozy had already read, and she was tired of drawing on the pictures with the set of nice, safe, nontoxic crayons she was given. She didn’t realize that something else was bothering her besides boredom, but boredom was the only reference frame she had, so she was bored. Bored bored bored. Bored bored bored bored bored bored...
Hoofsteps in the hall drew Cozy’s attention. Hopping off the bed, she fussed at her hair a little bit, still not sure she liked letting it loose around her shoulders like that. It was funny how that was okay around here. Cozy honestly hadn’t put much thought into it.
“Hey there, Cozy!” Starlight Glimmer said, peeking in through the window in the door. “How’d you like to get some exercise? Come on a walk with me?”
“Where?” Cozy asked, instead of saying hello. She didn’t trust that Starlight Glimmer one bit.
“Oh not anywhere in particular,” Starlight said dismissively, “I just wanted a chance to get to know you, and it seemed like you might be willing to humor me, if I give you a chance to stretch your legs. I know it’s... frustrating that you need to be escorted everywhere, but hey, it gets you out of the room, right?”
“We’re not going into town, are we?” Cozy asked uneasily, not wanting to be subject to the stares from those ponies for even one sec.
“There’s actually a pretty big forest near here, on the edge of the farmlands,” Starlight said, “It’s a deer principality, called the White Tail Woods. Lots of pretty nice deer trails, and you won’t see any deer staring at you. You might spot a few, though!”
“As long as they’re not dangerous, that’s fine with me,” Cozy said with some reservations.
Starlight laughed lightly, saying, “Dangerous? Don’t worry about that. I’m probably the most dangerous thing you’ll run into today.”
Cozy wasn’t sure what Starlight meant by that, but it did not make her feel particularly trusting of the strange unicorn. Starlight’s evil plan came clear, when the beautiful blue sky opened up above Cozy and the swaying wheat glowed golden as they passed. Cozy’s sullen walk turned into a trot, then an excited gallop as she felt so good for being outside, and being able to run. Her muscles ached to be used. Cozy ran down the dusty road, and Starlight galloped along with her at a slower pace, until Cozy was breathing hard and exhausted and stumbling to a halt, panting.
“Wow, filly,” Starlight said in an impressed tone as she cantered up, “I am so sorry we haven’t had a chance to get you outside yet. How are you feeling?”
“Ugh, tired,” Cozy panted, “Maybe I’ll just walk for now.”
Starlight walked with her again, and Cozy Glow wondered why she wasn’t even on a leash. There was no way for Cozy to escape into the air, because they clipped her wings, but maybe she could hide herself in the golden fields of wheat. It seemed like a bad idea though, because Starlight would suspect her then, and Cozy was sure that unicorn was ready to use her magic to capture Cozy Glow, if she tried to escape. So Cozy played along for now, and walked with her, and actually got tired before they even reached the woods.
Cozy Glow tried to ignore it, but it wasn’t long before her legs were like lead, as they passed into an endless wooded land of elm and ash, burbling creeks and singing birds. “I don’t suppose we could take a little break?” she asked politely.
“Sure, no problem!” Starlight said, stopping there on the trail. Cozy stopped, and felt immense relief in sitting on her haunches. Looking around, Starlight remarked, “Ponyville sure is a pretty part of Equestria.”
Cozy looked at her, unamused.
“You know, all these farms and woodlands?” Starlight said, “Plus you’ve seen how pretty the village is, even if we’re... not going there right now.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Cozy Glow said with a disapproving frown. At Starlight’s surprise, Cozy gleefully explained, “You’re just locking me up because it feels extra good to get out. But I’m always supervised when I do. I bet you think if I feel good every time I meet you, then I’ll start trusting you, and obeying you.”
“You’re obeying me because you don’t have any other choice,” Starlight said dryly, “I don’t have to trick you into doing it. You’re supervised because you almost destroyed all magic, and it’s the most I could get the princesses to agree to. And it’s okay to have problems, Cozy, but you’re not making the best decisions right now.”
Pouting, Cozy said, “I’m sorry, Starlight Glimmer. It really saddens me to know that you think I’m insane.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Starlight countered.
“What?” Cozy replied flatly.
“You looked very sad just now, but you’re not,” Starlight said, “You’re saying you’re sad when you’re not sad. And that is why you still need some help, and maybe supervision.”
“I’m saying it because I want you to feel sorry for what you’ve done to me,” Cozy corrected irritably. “I’m making fun of you, stupid.”
“Now you’re angry,” Starlight prompted, “Can you say that you’re angry?”
“...yes?” Cozy said cautiously.
“Try saying you’re angry,” Starlight insisted, “When you really are angry, it feels a lot different to say you’re angry, saying something that you’re not.”
“I...” Cozy trailed off disbelievingly, then huffed saying, “I’m not even angry anymore.” Standing up and turning away, she added, “Let’s just keep going.”
They walked further, and Cozy’s right rear hoof was really starting to hurt, but she ignored it because she wasn’t going to let Starlight Glimmer know about something like that. She’d probably try to put a bandaid on it or something stupid.
“Doesn’t look like we’ll see any deer today,” Starlight remarked, looking around, “They sleep during the middle of the day, did you know?”
“What are deer anyway?” Cozy asked, glancing around in half curiosity, “Are they some kind of monster, or something?”
Starlight stopped.
Cozy stumbled to a halt before running into the older pony, as Starlight looked back at her and asked,
“You don’t know what deer are?”
Flushing red, Cozy said defiantly, “I don’t have to know what every creature is in Equestria. I’m not a creature culler!”
“A what?” Starlight asked curiously.
“A... I mean an... animal pony, who... who is nice to... animals,” Cozy Glow said, glancing away.
“Oh, a creature caretaker,” Starlight realized, “Yeah, me neither, but everypony knows what deer are.”
Cozy Glow stiffened. “Well I guess not every pony knows. It’s not that strange not to know,” Cozy said defensively, “Why do you care so much about these deer anyway?”
Starlight took far too many seconds composing her reply, for that reply to be, “Eh, not a big deal really. I was just curious. You wanna head back?”
“I never want to go back there,” Cozy said acidly.
“...we can keep walking for a little,” Starlight admitted, as Cozy Glow inwardly facehooved. She was just trying to make Starlight feel bad, not actually keep from going back there! It was terrible in fact, because Cozy Glow was just wiped out. It wasn’t long before she was barely crawling at a snail’s pace. She couldn’t hide it from Starlight, who said, “Are you okay? You look really tired.”
“I’m... fine...” Cozy panted, “Maybe need a... little more break...”
As they sat together alongside the trail, Starlight remarked, “You haven’t been getting a lot of exercise for quite a while. Now that I think on it, I’m surprised you even made it this far. How are you feeling?”
“Oh, well, my hoof is hurting,” Cozy pouted, “And I think I’m getting a cramp in my leg. And all because you took me on this walk, Starlight Glimmer!”
Starlight pondered Cozy for a moment, before asking, “You wanna ride back?”
Cozy blinked at her, and Starlight shifted to sitting belly-down on the trail, “You’re not too big for pony rides!” Starlight declared, “No magic, don’t worry. Just... me and my back.”
“Thank—um...” Cozy said, not sure how to process the situation, “Thank you—I mean—seriously? What are you, my mom?”
“I’m your friend,” Starlight said simply, “And I’m probably too young to be your mom, but I’m old enough that I could be kind of like a mom. So hop on, it’s no big deal.”
Cozy stood, and her hoof flashed with pain. “Okay, but only because you’re so insistent on it,” Cozy said, hobbling up to the sitting mare. She put a hoof out, and... Starlight Glimmer was so soft, and warm. Could Cozy really... she wasn’t sure if... “N-no problem, yep,” she said, tensing up then leaping onto Starlight Glimmer’s back.
Cozy felt her arms just naturally hook around Starlight Glimmer’s body as the unicorn stood up. The filly felt like she was sinking into that warmth radiating up through her belly. “There we go,” Starlight said practically, “Now let’s get back. And just to apologize for taking you back to my asylum, I’ll get you a snack okay?”
Cozy wasn’t... sure what was happening to her. She couldn’t say okay, but she couldn’t say anything other than that, so she just... sat there silently, until Starlight got moving. It was the movement that clarified things for her. Starlight’s flexing muscles underneath Cozy Glow were wonderful, and she couldn’t stop thinking of how much she loved this. It made Cozy’s eyes flood with tears and she couldn’t hold back from just sobbing like an idiot.
Cozy kicked off Starlight—who stopped in alarm at the filly’s distress—the filly who slid down the mare’s side to land harshly on the dirt. Cozy got mad at the dirt, and she got to her hooves, kicking it viciously, and of course that just made her hoof hurt more, which was absolutely infuriating. “I hate your back!” Cozy shouted at Starlight in tear-filled outrage, “You’re just trying to make me feel good! I hate your back, and I hate you, and I never want to touch you ever again!”
“...okay then,” Starlight said, giving her a look that Cozy Glow was sure was pitying and condescending and mocking, “We can just walk the rest of the way. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Cozy wanted it, but she couldn’t, so she just ignored the pain and walked stiffly beside Starlight Glimmer, herded all the way back to her prison in the insane asylum. It was like a bad dream. Her whole life was like a bad dream. Cozy couldn’t do anything but stand there silently in her room, and watch Starlight Glimmer close the door, locking her in.
“It’s okay to cry, you know,” Starlight Glimmer said through the little window.
“No,” Cozy replied dully, “No it’s not.”
Cozy felt... acceptably better eventually, and the days went as fast as they possibly could, when Cozy’s most exciting moments were getting taken by the nurse pony to do exercises, that weren’t even walking through the woods. Apparently Nurse Tenderheart knew another nurse pony who knew about... recovery, and this other nurse kept making Cozy walk with giant rubber bands between her hooves. She barely even crossed the exercise yard before she was exhausted, under this pink nurse’s attentions, though supposedly it was why she could take longer and longer walks with Starlight Glimmer.
Cozy spent a lot of time looking out her window, which faced the sprawling farmland the complex was centered in. She was on the second floor, so it felt like she could gaze out there forever. She liked watching the ponies who were working the fields, because they were something to look at at least, and because they were ponies, with interesting and complex means. Seeing them meticulously harvesting the crops let Cozy speculate on just what their strategy for that was.
Starlight kept trying to talk to Cozy, and learn the truth about her, or at least give Cozy Glow plenty of space to tell the truth if she wanted. Cozy did not, in the slightest, ever. She didn’t even want to think of what would happen if she did. But she humored Starlight, and the mare was quite willing to talk about other things, like events going on in Equestria, and stuff that Cozy might have been interested in.
But Cozy Glow wasn’t talking, and though the filly didn’t know it it was starting to drive Starlight Glimmer to her wit’s end.
“That’s it,” Starlight said, snapping the book shut, “That’s all the foals in Equestria with parents unaccounted-for in the age range of 10 to 12. Every single one. Every single salmon pink filly with aquamarine blue hair with thin white stripes and curls either has a foster parent, or is in an orphanage, and accounted for.”
“To be fair, it’s a pretty rare color combination,” Twilight Sparkle said, where she sat next to Starlight Glimmer in the castle library, both of them surrounded with records and rosters from orphanages all over Equestria.
“She must have run away from her parents,” Starlight said desperately, “But there are no missing foal reports that match her description at all. Something terrible happened to her, Twilight. I’ve never seen anything like it before! I don’t even know if I want to know, with how she’s been reacting. All I know is she absolutely hates unicorn magic, leashes, and pony rides.”
“It strongly implies that a unicorn used their magic to put Cozy Glow on a leash,” Twilight agreed, “But what’s the deal with pony rides? Wasn’t she okay with it at first?”
“She was, but then she freaked out about it, just like with the leash,” Starlight said. “And she isn’t telling anypony anything about what happened to her!”
“I don’t understand it either,” Twilight said frankly, “Honestly I’m probably not the best pony to ask about understanding it. Though that does give me an idea...”
Fluttershy sank in weariness as she stepped out of the classroom. It was so horrible, having to speak before all those ponies every day, but she had to help her friend. She had an obligation, because somehow Fluttershy had ended up being a pony who knew more about Kindness than anypony else! She didn’t feel like she knew though.
She felt like her life was out of control, and her only consolation is that she wasn’t Applejack, or Rarity, who were working themselves to the bone over all their occupations. Fluttershy fed the animals, then she went to teach a class. She had nothing to complain about other than those bored, angry, judgemental students who knew Fluttershy was terribly unqualified to teach anypony, but were too polite to say it.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight Sparkle said, trotting up to the mare, “Could I talk to you for a moment?”
“Oh of course,” Fluttershy said curiously, “What did you want to talk about?”
“I need you to talk with Starlight Glimmer about... Cozy Glow,” Twilight said. Fluttershy’s ears wilted even more. “Nopony is judging you,” Twilight assured her, “Starlight just needs your advice. Cozy’s been exhibiting some very strange behavior, that... you might be able to offer some insight on.”
“I really don’t know if Cozy Glow has anything to do with Kindness,” Fluttershy said reluctantly.
“Oh, it’s not Kindness,” Twilight said, “It’s just that Cozy Glow is being um... scared of ordinary things, and too shy about it to speak.”
Blinking, Fluttershy asked, “You want me to help her with being more assertive?” Her?
“I want you to help Starlight understand how Cozy feels,” Twilight said, “And... maybe something Starlight knows, you’ll recognize from your own um... personal journey.”
“It’s really very kind of you to think that I’m better than I... used to be,” Fluttershy said softly, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to see what I can do.”
“...so that’s the story,” Starlight Glimmer concluded.
“Oh, my,” Fluttershy replied.
“Do you think she’s being sincere?” Starlight asked unhappily, “Cozy’s too smart for her own good. I don’t know if she’s doing it on purpose or not. Cozy Glow hates unicorn magic, but I don’t know why she gets so infuriated by it! She gets angry about strange things, that shouldn’t even make her angry!”
“I think I know why Twilight sent me to speak with you,” Fluttershy said simply.
“Why, you know something?” Starlight asked hopefully.
“Have you ever seen me when I’m angry?” Fluttershy asked in calm reply.
“No, I... no!” Starlight said, “What?” grimacing at the pale yellow mare in confusion, “You don’t seem like the kind of pony who could get angry.”
“I... get angry,” Fluttershy admitted hesitantly, looking away, “Not so much anymore, but when I didn’t know how to deal with it... have you ever heard of the fight or flight reflex?”
“Yyyyeah, and you’d definitely be ‘flight,’” Starlight said, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Fluttershy replied, glancing at her friend again, “But the reason they call it ‘fight or flight’ I was told is that fighting and fleeing are the same reaction.”
Starlight blinked.
“It’s like left, versus right, or hot and cold,” Fluttershy said, “When you’re faced with something ...terrifying, you can either run away, or try to fight it. But either way, you’re reacting to something you’re afraid of.”
“So what’s Cozy Glow trying to fight?” Starlight asked.
“I don’t think she is,” Fluttershy said, “If she’s getting so angry....” Fluttershy clutched her wings a little closer to herself. “I’ve had some... anger management problems in the past,” she said, looking at the floor, “The things I said to ponies, and the things I did were terrible.”
“Can’t have been that bad?” Starlight said uncertainly.
“Nothing seriously violent,” Fluttershy agreed, “But I felt ashamed for it nonetheless. When you... stand there eating your donuts, you just feel so ashamed that just a few minutes ago you were running around and attacking things and screaming, and you were just so mad that you couldn’t... get what you wanted. You didn’t even notice everypony running from you, or how much panic you were causing, and just a few minutes later, you can remember every moment, where you wish you had done something differently.”
“How... angry were you?” Starlight asked in disbelief.
Thinking a moment, Fluttershy said, “I think only the pony you’ve met who comes close to that is... um... the changeling queen.”
Fluttershy tactfully avoided saying “you.”
“Oh. ...yikes.”
“She never lets go of her anger ever,” Fluttershy explained, “It’s probably why she has so many holes eaten into her. I was only like that for five minutes, or an afternoon perhaps, before my friends would help me get over it. But what I want to explain is why I get so angry.”
Starlight kind of actually wanted to see that, if only to prove to herself that Fluttershy was capable of... complete arrogant bellowing rage.
“Most of the time, fight and flight seem like very different things,” Fluttershy said, “But when you are a creature like me, who always used to choose to flee, there are times when you can’t flee. When you run and run, and it only makes things worse, and scarier. You’ve at least heard of a cornered wolf?”
“Yeah, I have,” Starlight mused.
“You don’t even realize it’s changing,” Fluttershy related soberly, “One second you’re afraid that none of the cute cuddly animals will love you, and the next, you start getting... angry with them. You don’t talk to the postpony, you yell at the postpony, because you’re too scared to talk to them. But you have to do something, and once you feel like you can’t run away anymore... well, I’ve since learned that it’s not always a good idea to choose ‘flight.’ But I’m not sure about Cozy Glow.”
“Why’s that?” Starlight asked, “I still don’t get what she’s fleeing. There’s nothing endangering her.”
“I... I don’t know why she feels threatened,” Fluttershy said, “All I can really tell you is that filly sounds terribly, terribly afraid. Her rage, and I might be wrong, but it sounds like it’s because she’s terribly afraid of something she can’t run away from.”
“Of what, though?” Starlight asked, shaking her head, “Of being treated well? Of being cared for?”
“Maybe it would hurt her pride?” Fluttershy asked thoughtfully, “You could ask Rainbow Dash. She um... knows a thing or two about pride.”
“Just going right through the six of you, huh?” Starlight asked with a wry smirk.
“We’re six aspects of a single whole,” Fluttershy replied simply, “I try my best, but together, my friends and I can do things that none of us would ever be able to do alone. So yes, you may have to talk to all of us, to get the complete picture.”
“Well, it’s not going to be easy finding time, what with the new patients,” Starlight said critically, “But I can probably get to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie pretty easily. Applejack’s uh... a little busy, but you know how dependable she is.”
“She’s never let me down, at least,” Fluttershy said with a smile. A little more seriously though, she said, “But it sounds like Cozy might be... finding reasons to be angry about things. Somecreature once told me that was how to be assertive, and maybe he gave the same lesson to Cozy Glow.”
Looking off out the window to the blue sky beyond, Fluttershy said wistfully, “It felt so... freeing. To not have to be afraid. To not have to doubt myself, or hide, or be used as a doormat by uncaring ponies. When you can find something to be angry about, your fear just... washes away. I once dumped...”
Fluttershy tried poorly to conceal a giggle, saying, “I once dumped two whole carts of garbage onto some ponies, just because they wouldn’t get out of my way.”
Starlight stared stunned, and so (composing herself) Fluttershy added seriously, “And it was very wrong of me to do so. I sincerely regret what I did.”
With another giggle escaping her, Fluttershy concluded, “It sure was fun though.”
Cozy Glow followed the nurse pony, Sweetheart by name, out of her room and down the hall. Past another door that could be locked, down a stairwell, and through another door, that also could be locked. The door out was behind her, but Cozy didn’t see any reason to run through it. She was well on her way in pretending to recover from her terrible insanity, and she was very good at pretending to be a good pony.
She followed the nurse into the cafeteria like a good little filly, and it was still a cafeteria. Everything was a little bit unsettlingly white in this building, like a canvas without colors. Cozy walked up to the counter and waited, while the nurse went back and got her food, since they didn’t have a cafeteria pony yet. The fools were already trusting her too much, grown complacant and confident, leaving Cozy unwatched for minutes at a time. She took the chance to look around, seeing if there was anything in the room she could use to her advantage.
Oh, there was a... pony.
It wasn’t a particularly remarkable looking pony. A brown earth pony was about as plain as they come. She was an adult mare, sitting there munching on some hay, looking down at her tray. Cozy Glow knew exactly what to do. Approaching the mare Cozy started crying pitifully once she was in earshot, pretending her food was making her sad, because she could never ever escape from here.
Cozy’s thoughts of gaining this mare’s trust died when the mare didn’t even look up from her food. Was she deaf? They wouldn’t bring ponies here who didn’t have something really wrong with them.
Cozy didn’t want to cry louder or it might alert the nurses who brought her in here, so she stopped crying, looking over at the cafeteria. It was too late anyway though, because the nurse was coming out, so Cozy hurried over there to get her food, before returning to the brown mare. The portion they served was larger these days, because Cozy Glow had been good about not eating it too fast, but she couldn’t leave it, and she needed the time to work on this mare, so Cozy Glow ate as quickly as she could, without choking on anything. Once all her food was safely in her belly, the filly hopped off the little stool for her to reach the table top, and walked over to the mare.
To her surprise, the mare wasn’t totally unresponsive, or unaware of her approach. At the clip clop of Cozy Glow’s hooves, the mare said without looking her way, “Sorry that something was making you cry, but I really can’t... handle it right now, so please leave me alone.”
“Can’t handle what?” Cozy asked in confusion.
The mare actually looked at her then, and at least she had pretty blue eyes. “Whatever was making you sad,” she said dully, “I... really don’t want to hear about it, sorry.”
Cozy... had a bad feeling about this, but she said invitingly, “You don’t want to hear about how we can escape from here?”
Looking confused, the mare asked, “Why would I want to escape from here?”
“Because you were so wrongfully imprisoned, of course!” Cozy replied sympathetically, “But we both know you don’t really deserve to be here.”
The mare cringed back as if struck. “What?” Cozy asked in confusion, “I’m telling you, you deserve to be free!”
“Well maybe I don’t want to be free,” the mare replied angrily, turning to stare at her food again. Cozy just... complimented her?
“Hello?” Cozy said irritably, “I’m complimenting you, not putting you down!”
“Maybe you should,” the mare grumbled, still not looking Cozy’s way. Ugggh why wouldn’t she look at her?
“Well okay then,” Cozy said pleasantly, “What have you done that’s so terribly wrong, that it’s okay to imprison you here?”
The mare looked at her again, at least, but pleadingly this time?
“Please don’t try to get them to make me leave,” the mare begged to the filly next to her, “I don’t have anywhere to go!”
“Neither do I, but why would that stop you?” Cozy replied utterly confused.
“Are you listening to yourself, filly?” the mare declares incredulously, “They feed me here, and I—I have my own room now!”
“Yeah, but you can get those somewhere else, where they’re not locking you in your room!” Cozy replied in frustration.
The mare stared at her speechlessly, then turned back to face her food, saying quietly, “No, I cannot.”
“What are you talking about?” Cozy asked skeptically, checking out that mare’s ass, “You can just...woah, you’re a blank flank?”
“Shut up!” the mare shouted, sending Cozy scrambling back, but the mare still got in Cozy’s face! “There is nothing wrong with me, the doctors told me all about it! I don’t have to let a little filly act like she’s better than—”
“Oh horsefeathers, who let you both in the cafeteria at the same time?!” the nurse pony shouted, bounding through the door to the kitchen, to put herself between Cozy and the mare, protecting the mare as she stared at Cozy Glow angrily. “Don’t you say anything nasty to her now!” the nurse scolded the bewildered filly.
“I didn’t say anything!” Cozy protested, “She was the one who started shouting!”
Behind the nurse, the mare had sank to her belly gasping out, “It was my fault I’m sorry” over and over again.
“You’re... not supposed to be with the other patients,” the nurse told Cozy sternly. “You leave the... patienting to us. I think it’s time you returned to your room.”
“Whaaat?!” Cozy declared in outrage, “But lunch isn’t even over!”
A second nurse pony was coming in to speak in soothing tones to the downed mare, as the angry one told Cozy, “Fine, you can finish your lunch. But I’m gonna be watching you!”
“You should watch yourself if you’re going to say that to me!” Cozy growled threateningly.
The nurse wasn’t even looking at her. “You—you finished your lunch!” she declared, looking at Cozy Glow’s empty lunch tray. “You already finished it! That’s it, you’re going to your room right nOWWWW!”
Cozy Glow wondered if it would be possible to find a way to grow fangs.
After that nurse was thorougly disciplined, Cozy was forced to stop disciplining her and thrown (bodily) into her room. The door shut, but she screamed and kicked at it anyway. Then Cozy sat on her bed, hitting her own head going, “Stupid, stupid! They’ll never believe I’m getting better if I keep losing my cool!”
Then she sank, face down in her bed, mumbling something that could’ve sounded like, “Who am I kidding...”
Cozy was doomed, beyond doomed. They were gonna show her any day just how nice ponies could be when they knew you were a monster. That nurse was the tip of the iceberg. It was all falling apart again, and Cozy Glow couldn’t think of any way to pull it back together again! Why wasn’t she Empress of Friendship, now? It should have worked! They hadn’t suspected a thing. She had everypony’s trust, and love, and respect, but before she could take power, Cozy lost everything.
Now that ponies knew what an ugly, unlovable filly she was, it was going to be just like before, and she didn’t even know how she escaped from that, much less whether it could happen again. Cozy Glow wished... she wasn’t the only one who had escaped. No! No she didn’t! She grabbed all the three books they gave her, and pulled them off the bookshelf, throwing them around, then went around and attacked her own stupid, broken, crippled feathers. With a sharp wrench she yanked one out, spitting out the half-pinion, just standing there gritting her teeth against the pain.
This was all Starlight’s fault.
“This is all my fault,” Starlight moaned, snout first into her desk at an office that would probably never be used because she was a failure, and her whole idea was a failure.
“What do you mean your fault?” the soft pink Nurse Sweetheart said in confusion, “I just told you that Cozy Glow—”
“Isn’t in her right mind,” Starlight Glimmer interrupted, “Gets angry over everything, and is having a hard enough time controlling herself, without ponies who were supposed to be taking care of her getting angry with her for not doing so!”
“Are you saying it’s my fault that she—” Sweetheart started to say in outrage, but Starlight interrupted again, saying,
“No, it’s my fault. I didn’t realize that these ponies could be bad influences on each other. We made a—a communal cafeteria, because it would be easier to feed everypony that way while still being able to monitor them all. But you’re only one of two nurses who aren’t volunteering, and the rest have to spend time working at the real hospital! We just don’t have enough ponies to manage even a half dozen of these mental cases.”
Sinking her cheeks into her hooves, Starlight moaned, “We should have made separate buildings or... or something. That’s what I should have done, but no I had to try something new, and now Cozy Glow’s gotten so angry that...”
Starlight Glimmer’s horn alighted, and floating in her bluish magic, three pink feathers lifted up off her desk. All were sliced neatly in half, with the upper part of the feather missing. They rotated in the air, framing the troubled unicorn’s expression, as Nurse Sweetheart said in confusion, “Feathers? I don’t understand. She shed her feathers?”
“She hasn’t let anypony look at her wings, but these feathers have blood on the ends,” Starlight explained, “I think she’s been pulling them out by the roots.”
“T-those are pinions!” Nurse Sweetheart protested, “You can’t just pull out a pegasus’s pinions!”
“Not without a lot of pain, at least,” Starlight agrees, lowering the feathers to her desk again, “Cozy resents her... wings being clipped, but she never did this before.”
“You mean I—!” the nurse yelped in shock.
“Yes, Nurse Coldheart found these in Cozy’s room, shortly after the... cafeteria incident, which was not entirely your fault,” Starlight said in both despair and reassurance, “She can’t be doing it for the attention. Cozy tried to hide them behind her bookshelf. I need to get her talking about why she’s... she’s doing this, and I need your help to do so.”
“You want me to apologize?” the nurse pony said with a guilty look at those feathers.
“No, I want you to be even meaner to her,” Starlight replied, and to the shocked nurse, Starlight murmured eagerly, “So here’s what we’re gonna do...”
Cozy Glow was in the cafeteria with another pony. Why was Cozy Glow in the cafeteria with another pony?! After the last time, she couldn’t imagine why they’d want to do this to her, unless they were trying to trick her into losing her cool again. Cozy wasn’t about to let them do that, but she was faced with a problem there. A problem that this was probably the most annoying lunatic in all of Equestria.
Cozy Glow tried to be good, and eat her food, but this time the other mare came over and just... stood behind her, right where it made Cozy most nervous. Not looking Cozy’s way, but just standing there. Cozy was fine with that. She just ate her alfalfa and pretended the mare wasn’t there.
“Can you believe they put me here?” the purple mare said in aggravation. Cozy tensed up. “It just goes to show,” the mare said, “Some ponies will stab you in the back when you thought they were on your side.”
As the pony who would, Cozy Glow could in theory respect this mare’s wisdom, if she didn’t just keep on talking at her for no reason!
“You probably don’t know me,” the mare said, “At least not yet. Or maybe not ever, if they try to keep me here. They’re going to fail of course. It’s sad really, such small minded ponies who think they can hold me down. Well they can’t, because mark my words it’s only a matter of time at this point. I bet my followers are going to break me out of here any day now, and have this whole place shut down for being an illegitimate institution!”
Cozy Glow frantically tried to finish the alfalfa in her mouth as the pony continued, “You probably don’t know me, but you will. They’re trying to keep you from knowing about me, because they’re afraid of what I represent. The future! I’m actually a famous inventor did you know? I invented a doll that could really move, but they took it off the market because they didn’t want ponies to know about me. They were worried after my debut in Canterlot that I’d become too influential, and that’s why they put me here. As if I’d ever take over Equestria! No I’m fine with letting the rulers go about ruling their little kingdom while I keep everything working. Ponies know who their real ruler is, even if they think you need a horn and wings to raise the sun. I bet I could do it. It’s foal’s play really. But I let them—”
“Shut up! Shut up!!” Cozy Glow snapped at the mare, “For the love of Grogar, shut up! Why are you talking to me? Are you stupid? You’re just a stupid lunatic who can’t even feed herself, probably! You’re too stupid, and crazy to even realize that everypony just thinks you’re an idiot!”
“You—you’re one of them!” the mare declared in alarm, stepping back from the angry filly, “You aren’t even supposed to be here! They planted you here, to try to undermine me and break my spirit!”
Attacking her?! “Oh I’ll break your spirit,” Cozy fumed, “They don’t care about you. Nopony sent me because nopony cares about you. You keep talking and talking, and you waited until my mouth was full so you could talk more, because you’re just a pitiful insignificant little weakling that nopony cares about and nopony will ever love.”
That did it. The mare couldn’t even answer her in words. A big, grownup, older mare, and she just fled from the filly, tears flooding her eyes. The purple mare cowered there sobbing against the wall all the way on the other end of the cafeteria as Cozy Glow went back to eating as if nothing had happened. Damn that felt good.
That was when the nurse pony on the other side of Cozy Glow cleared her throat.
The lunch tray clattered to the floor as Cozy Glow frantically tried to grab something from it while the nurse was grabbing her, and roughly hustling her out of the cafeteria. Cozy had to miss her lunch because of this stupid nurse, who got right in her face and shouted, “You little demon, do you even know what is wrong with that mare?!”
“Nopony cares about her, nopony will ever love her, and she doesn’t wanna admit it!” Cozy shot back, afraid to show fear, “So what? It’s your fault for putting me in the same room with her!”
The big pink nurse pony balked for a moment, for some reason, then angrily retorted, “How dare you accuse me, when you’re the one who is such an evil little monster that nopony can even be in the same room as her!”
“Well how is that my fault?!” Cozy fussed as the mare shoved her down the hall, “Maybe if you could do your job then you’d have known better!”
“Don’t think your little tricks are going to work on me, filly,” the nurse said haughtily, “That mare was mentally disturbed, not—”
“Is this what you enjoy, picking on bad little fillies?” Cozy seethed, glaring up at the nurse pony, “You don’t even have to feel bad, because I’m a ‘little monster.’ You’re such a good pony now that you only bully others when you can pretend that it’s for their own good!”
This time the nurse pony’s hesitation was entirely expected, as the hefty mare said, “S-shut up, you don’t say one more word or I’ll... I’ll put a bridle on you!”
“Oh, did I touch a nerve?” Cozy said smugly trotting ahead of the mare.
“You don’t get dinner tonight, if you say anything else!” the nurse retorted.
“Anything else,” Cozy replied sweetly.
The deed was done, and Nurse Sweetheart made her way into Starlight Glimmer’s office, saying uncertainly, “I don’t know about this. Are we doing the right thing here?”
“It’s important to set clear boundaries,” Starlight insisted, “You said she doesn’t get any dinner, so she doesn’t get any dinner. It shouldn’t trigger her... eating problems in the past. The opposite, really!”
“Yes, but I...” the nurse glanced downward, saying, “I wasn’t... the nicest pony, when I was a filly.”
Starlight’s confidence faded to concern as the nurse continued, saying, “I learned my lesson, and I became a nurse because I like helping ponies, but... but maybe I shouldn’t be working here.”
“What? Why not?” Starlight asked in alarm.
“I like making ponies feel better, and... doing things that are for their own good,” Sweetheart said dismally, “Am I just looking for ways to... bully ponies, that I can still feel good about?”
Starlight was speechless.
“I tell ponies what to do all the time!” Sweetheart protested, “And they just have to listen to me, because I’m the big, smart nurse pony, who knows what they need to get better, and they’ll thank me for it in the end. It... it feels... I just don’t know how I feel about... being a nurse pony anymore. I just need some... time to think about things.”
“I really need you to help me finish this though,” Starlight said fearfully, “If you just disappear, it’ll give the filly a seriously wrong impression!”
“Oh, yeah I mean... maybe after that,” the nurse said in surprise, “No, I wasn’t backing out or anything. I mean... I might as well put my... skills to work, right? It’ll work out in the end.”
“I hope so,” Starlight said, sighing and staring over the edge of her desk, “I think a little fibbing won’t bother Cozy too much, if I establish a rapport first. She’s very mean, but she’s... surprisingly forgiving of other ponies.”
“Really?” the nurse asked, tilting her head as she tried to imagine that.
“Ten to one, Cozy won’t even care that you sent her to her room without dinner,” Starlight said dryly, “She’ll try to use it to make you feel bad, but it won’t bother her at all.”
“Okay, but... but after this, I don’t wanna do this anymore,” Nurse Sweetheart said, her head woefully held low.
“You’re only the second full time nurse I’ve managed to hire,” Starlight said worriedly, “It won’t be easy to find another right away. How about you just... take a few days off, with pay, and we can talk about it next Friday.”
Nurse Sweetheart smiled gratefully at that, saying, “It really is a wonderful thing you’re doing here, Miss Glimmer. A lot of us nurse ponies have had a... hard time with some ponies, who really can’t take care of themselves. Getting them out of the hospitals and somewhere where we have... facilities for them is just really nice. I don’t have to deal with patients escaping into the halls here and causing mayhem. I’ll uh... I’ll be back on Friday.”
With that, the nurse pony made her leave, and Starlight buried her head in her hooves moaning, “Who is that filly?”
Cozy Glow lifted her head as somepony trotted down the hall. Ugh, it was that mean and nasty nurse pony again, the big pink one, whatever her name is. “They said I had to take you to breakfast,” the nurse pony grumbled, giving Cozy a resentful look through the window in her door. “So we’re gonna go to breakfast, nice and easy. Put this on.”
The meal slot opened in Cozy Glow’s door, and through it, the nurse kicked... Cozy froze. It was a leash. A leash and a sturdy looking black collar slid into her room.
The slot closed.
...
“I haven’t got all day, you know,” the nurse said from the window in the door again.
“I’m not eating breakfast today,” Cozy said carefully, not looking away from that leash, “Go away.”
“You think you have a choice, filly?” the nurse griped, leading Cozy to look up at her in a panic, “Put on the collar!”
“...no,” Cozy said, bumping into her bed as she retreated from the door, staring at it.
“Put it on, or I’ll have to come in there and put it on for you!” the nurse retorted, “And trust me, you won’t like that one teeny bit!”
“You’re just a—” Cozy fought back the tears very successfully, “You’re just being a bully. Do you do this to your own foals? Because you must have a ton of them if you’re that—”
“Well gosh, thanks for telling me I’m a bully,” the nurse said sarcastically, as the latch clicked and the door began to open. “That means you know I can do whatever I want to you, and nopony’s gonna bat an eye,” she continued, sidling in through the door, and pulling it shut with her tail, “All I have to tell ‘em is you’re just an evil little filly,” she said smugly, “And this’s for your own good.”
“I–I’ll bite!!” Cozy said desperately as the nurse picked up the collar in her teeth.
“I’ll bite harder,” the evil pink nurse pony growled, looming over Cozy Glow as she inexorably approached. The nurse reached for her suddenly then, and Cozy scrambled back in a panic, climbing over her bed and up the wall. The nurse leapt at her, to drag her down, but Cozy darted out of the mare’s grasp, running across the nurse’s broad pink backside to leap for the... the door that was locked! Cozy frantically pushed on it. It had to be open, or the nurse couldn’t leave either! It was opening! Cozy could escape! Cozy could escape, she could lock the nurse in the room and be safe. But before Cozy could even squeeze out the door, the nurse grabbed her and she screamed.
Dragged away from the door, Cozy screamed in panic then bit the nurse’s arm, only to get a face full of hoof as the nurse stuffed her hoof in Cozy’s mouth, making her teeth clack jarringly on the stiff nail. Cozy screamed again as the nurse tried to get the collar around her neck, sticking her foreleg in it trying to force it away from her. She bit again, but the leash was in the way, so Cozy tried to tear the leash in half with only her teeth, and it was too strong, and her hind leg was twisted painfully in the nurse’s grip as she tried to struggle away and she screamed and Starlight Glimmer appeared in a burst of cyan light, declaring angrily, “What the hay are you doing?!”
Cozy wasn’t doing anything!! The nurse’s grip slackened, and Cozy zipped out, diving for her bed and it was too low to crawl under so she burrowed under the blankets, covering and hiding herself and curling up into a shivering ball in the corner hating herself for being so weak and helpless, knowing it was going to do no good, that they were going to get her now, and hurt her.
Starlight Glimmer said imperiously, “First you try to make a malnourished filly skip meals? And then when I tell you that’s unacceptable, you think it’s perfectly alright to attack her, and force her to come to breakfast?!” and what? Cozy Glow wasn’t in trouble? What?
“I was... j-just trying to discipline her—”
“She does not need to be disciplined!” Starlight spoke over the nurse pony’s protest, “She needs to be treated with respect! I’m starting to think it wasn’t her fault what happened in the cafeteria yesterday. Why were those two left together unsupervised?”
“They weren’t unsuperv—”
“Oh, sure, they weren’t,” Starlight said sarcastically, as Cozy Glow, cautiously peeked out from under the covers. The nurse pony was practically cowering from the lavender unicorn, as Starlight said, “You made sure to supervise them after Cozy lost her temper, and apparently it was all her fault then, huh?”
“N-no! I swear she was... she was yelling at me! And calling me a bully!” the nurse pony protested feebly.
“How many times have I told you that it’s not her fault!” Starlight said, “Cozy has trouble with her temper, and you’re trying to blame her for it? That’s just making her feel terrible!”
Cozy couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t stop hoarsely breathing, struggling to keep down her... feelings, as Starlight continued, saying, “Did you know that Morning Glory apologized? That she was the one who blew up at Cozy Glow? Cozy doesn’t need supervision to stop her from being bad. Cozy needs supervision so that somepony can look out for her, and help her when she needs it.”
Starlight briefly glanced Cozy’s way, then back to the nurse, saying, “And for another thing— wait, is that a leash?!” Starlight’s horn lit up, levitating the collar and leash in her cyan magic. “Did you even read Cozy’s file?” Starlight asked shrilly, “That says no collars, and no leashes?”
“I–I thought it would be good... for disciplining her,” the nurse said uselessly, as Starlight just growled a shout in exasperation, and with a flare of her magic, the leash and collar disintegrated in midair.
“Meet me in my office,” Starlight said curtly, her horn flickering out, “We’re going to have to talk about your future employment here.”
The nurse pony left with her head low, and Starlight Glimmer walked out thereafter, but before she did, she turned to the pile of blankets that was Cozy Glow, saying, “You can eat breakfast in your room today. Just try to relax for a while, and... maybe we can talk later.”
Starlight Glimmer left without waiting for an answer, and the door shut tight behind her with a loud click.
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Methinks.... The leash was not part of the plan....
Things gettin’ real.
I wonder if Starlight's plan is to try to make Cozy feel empathy towards other patients. Great chapter.
Starlight, Stahp!
That's what I really wanted to see, it's a great chapter. However, the good cop-bad cop is a bit radical, and I wonder if it won't backfire on Starlight - getting through mental defenses with manipulation is dangerous, especially when you expect trust from someone who is so insecure and afraid as Cozy. I hope it was just that one time, since Cozy is a very special case, because if Starlight will continue it, it's possible that Cozy will find out about that. It will crush completely her trust and hopes to get better.
You definitely improved with characters reactions, Starlight and Fluttershy were really 'themselves'.
Is Morning Glory the homeless pony from the cardboard box? A few years ago I created some pictures with her, we had a pretty fun thread with good stories featuring her.
I keep my fingers crossed for Cozy, since she is one of a few villains from MLP:FiM who truly deserves help and reformation. Can't wait for the next chapter!
Hrm, looks like Starlight is manipulating Cozy just like Cozy said she would. Wouldn’t it be funny if Starlight ended up as a full blown sociopath by the end of the story in trying to help Cozy.
I don't think Starlight knows what she's doing :v
bad caretakers or those who slip in mental care with vulnerable patients always give me anxiety I get the feeling cozy might be dealing with that problem again scary being that hated and vulnerable.
nice to see the main six learning about mental health
9792700
>I hope it was just that one time
No.
There is not "just this one time".
As a person who was involved with helping troubled and depressed kids, playing good/bad cop is a big, huge no-no, it's a nopposite of helping them. This technique could work with crimminals to get some valuable info, or for people who keep hostages to let them go, but NOT for abused kids!
>if Starlight will continue it, it's possible that Cozy will find out about that. It will crush completely her trust and hopes to get better
And you get it here! This is why you NEVER, EVER act as an abusive guy, to make the kid get close to "more nice" people. Even if it will work, it's very likely the kid will learn about the truth - and this means closing and running away from any help, keeping distance from anyone... or finding the kid next morning with veins cut open.
After this chapter I have very mixed feelings. The first part was really good and heartwarming, but Starlight's plan was a big "NOPE". I'm not really a big fan of including OCs to be a part of the story, but if it was just one-shots to show Cozy "it's okay to accept help", then it's perfectly fine.
9792981
I must say that after re-reading the chapter and your comment, I completely agree with you. As someone who has no experience with depressed children I can only imagine how devastating it can be to manipulate their feelings, or play on their bigges fears, even if the goal is to help them.
And yes, you're right, now I have mixed feelings too - sadly, Starlight acted very, very in character for her, but before she was reformed.
Her plan is so wrong that makes me wonder how do you plan to make this work. Right now the only way to justify it is the fact that Cozy hurt herself, so Starlight didn't want to take risk and let her hurt herself even more. Nevertheless, I think you created a pretty big challange for yourself. Cozy did a bad thing, but Starlight was not really better than her in this chapter.
Erm, I don't understand, what kind of institution Starlight built here - mental hospital or asylum?
No animal is born liking leashes. Just quietly accepting having a noose wrapped around her neck would be a bigger red flag than refusing it.
But, but, muh panopticon :(
I think the easiest way to fix the whole chapter is just to completely remove the fragment where Starlight tells Sweetheart to be mean to Cozy.
It would switch the situation from "Stalight Glimmer has her own mental problems and it can ruin fixing a depressed filly", to "Starlight Glimmer is completely new to managing the asylum and she should pay more attention to how nurses treat the patients".
Switching the blame on a random, mean nurse with her own issues, who's been assigned to Cozy and Starlight actually BEING a protective guardian who saved her, would be much, much better, natural.
Starlight is reaaaaally not good at this.
That kind of deception and causing that kind of mental anguish is not the way to help a troubled soul. Should be interesting to see what happens next.
9792535
But how else would Starlight torture a little filly?
9792541
That leg doesn't look so good...
9792546
I'm sure it is eventually!
9792619
Starlight, go!
9792700
It's certainly not what I would have done. I figured Starlight isn't exactly the most prudent pony out there though, and in the show at least that's been both her greatest weakness and her greatest strength.
Oh good. I was worried Fluttershy came off as too Jojo.
Starlight may or may not be trying to save every single pony on the fringe of Equestrian society!
Well, thanks for that. You weren't the one who coined the word "fulltime" were you?
I think that still remains to be seen, in this story at least. I just wanted the good guys to be actual good guys; helping and reforming Cozy Glow is not necessarily part of that.
9792831
Pff, naw, Starlight Glimmer can't become what she's been all along!
9792937
What? But she has two whole patients, and several months of experience, as well as a whole year working as a school guidance counselor!
9792941
It is a tough problem, because you can't help but sympathize with those caretakers. Sure what they do to their patients can be absolutely reprehensible, but then you realize that they have to work at an insane asylum, cleaning up bodily fluids, changing diapers, getting attacked, and living with so many people who are hurt and suffering and often entirely beyond anyone's ability to help. That can break even the strongest of us, and if the caretakers themselves are traumatized, how can anyone blame them for lashing out?
9792981
So she should do it again?
Well, technically Cozy Glow is a criminal, with some valuable info, but I agree this isn't exactly helping her, even if it does make her more willing to open up to Starlight Glimmer.
Oh don't be silly. They aren't allowed any sharp implements!
You know that thing where you go on the roller coaster when you're scared of roller coasters, and you know you're not having fun at all, but you still loudly laugh and pretend you're having fun, and then after the third time around you're having a ton of fun and not scared at all? Really the only problem with that good cop/bad cop thing is if there is no good cop, and the lie must be perpetuated. But even criminals who suspect what's going on can be affected by it. It is pretty extreme, but it's a powerful brainwashing technique if properly used, so the biggest question in my mind is what is Starlight trying to get Cozy to believe? That she's on her side? Or... something else?
On that note, I'm quite interested in suggestions as to what crazy ponies out there might populate Starlight's asylum. Or suggestions as to what not-crazy ponies might work there.
>implying she was ever reformed
Seems to be working out well enough so far, but then again I'm not writing a sadfic next chapter where Cozy's swinging from the rafters while Starlight guilts all over the page, so maybe I'll put off any readers who lost loved ones to the mismanagement of their psychiatric care, and didn't want to see the same mistake result in anything but tragedy. It is a challenge, but it seemed like something Starlight might do in response to a crisis like that, and it was a lot of fun to write, so hopefully I won't disappoint. Thanks for your input, certainly! Even if I don't go the way you want in this story, I'll certainly consider my choices a lot more seriously before taking an alternate route.
An asylum is a kind of mental hospital? They don't provide outpatient care.
I suppose, but it doesn't seem like Cozy Glow's particular mental problems would lead her to quietly accepting to be leashed.
But... Starlight does have her own mental problems, and Cozy Glow's not depressed. You think Sweetheart should just... spontaneously start being cruel to Cozy Glow? Admittedly that would make Starlight Glimmer a pure and noble squeaky clean shining beacon of justice in her intervention, but...
That doesn't seem fair to the nurse.
9793214
Definitely not directly! Thanks and I'll try not to disappoint, but I might not think of things in the same way you do, so I apologize in advance if there's anything I leave unaddressed.
Wow, this chapter was... Something. Starlight should prepare for unforeseen consequences.
9793061
Relevant. pics.me.me/stop-pulling-on-your-leash-youre-choking-vourselfl-dont-kink-32601521.png
Something tell me Starlight plan is going to backfire
9793371
Hope it wasn't bad. I didn't think it would be that worrisome!
9793433
Everyone knows pet harnesses are better.
9793751
As if it's possible for Cozy to trust her any less!
She may be bad at it, but kudos to Starlight for at least trying to improve mental health care in Equestria. Reminds me of visiting the reconstructed "public hospital" in Williamsburg VA. Inside is an exhibit showing the progression of treatment in the hospital from the 18th into the 19th century. The beginning is basically more of a jail, not too unlike Tartarus here. Later this improved a bit with nicer rooms etc, but treatment was still a mystery with a lot of questionable practices because frankly nobody really knew how to handle it. So that seems to be about where Starlight is at this point since there hasn't been anything like this in Equestria before. Unfortunately that makes Cozy and the other patients the lab rats while they try to figure out what works.
Holy shit the last part was really intense- I-Im speechles, this is sooo good and, and I feel so bad for Cozy! (Well, she is one of my favourite characters after all...) Your writing skills are amazing, really
Starlight is also a little manipulator, huh? I wonder if this little plan of hers is going to backfire... Oh, and also, I cried again during the part with self harm, I just can't stand seeing Cozy do such things to herself. She doesn't deserve it, no one deserves issues with self harm! Anyway, I hope you are going to finish this fanfiction, and I'm impatiently waiting for the new chapters to come!
9794929
Hopefully Equestria won't go through a penitentiary phase, where they dress up torturing poor people as allowing them to atone for their crime (of being poor). I do think it's safe to say that I'm entirely incapable of writing an even slightly believable scenario more cruel than the onset of the modern penal system. It's even a struggle for me to imagine how cruel and two-faced people really were about it back then.
9794974
Gosh, thanks...
Well, she's certainly a manipulator, that much is clear! A pretty successful one too, until Twilight and her friends ruined EVERYTH—until she was shown the error of her ways.
At least she did something, instead of letting it all turn inward and dying inside.
Like all my stories, it's exploding into an vast epic that will take many decades to complete, but hopefully I'll avoid that sort of idiocy and complete this story within a dozen chapters or so. I've already got the middle, and most of the end worked out, so... it should be good.
Cozy is going to be out chess mastered.
9798271
Starlight's highly proficient in children's card games.
And now we know the fate of Cozy from the show. Kids don't deserve this. Please give her a better ending than that official one.
9799821
No spoilers!
I wish I could fix that show's plot, I really do. Unfortunately, when you account for legal issues, and the fact that I'm a talentless hack, writing a fanfic is about the best I can do.
9800455
should had been hired for the show as a writer then
jokes aside I’m really liking this story. Starlight pulling off a 4D chess move on cozy glow and the mention of good ol box pone. Although jeez I’m already starting to get a image of cozy’s past based on the little tidbits and it ain’t pretty...
9800455
>I'm a talentless hack
At this point I'm more interested in your version than in what they created. Consider it as a sign that you can write better than these show creator cretins. Even if your story wouldn't be rated TV-Y, even if it has some grimdark elements, it's much better than canon. Ironically, your characters are more in-character than the official ones.
I peeked at your site and I must say just one thing - you made some really great choices, especially how you handled the Sweetheart incident. It's actually the best what could happen, but I doubted you'll implement it.
Grab two more pics, even if they're very losely based on your story (since Cozy seems to be more cooperative), I felt inspired by it. Keep going and don't stop!
is2.4chan.org/mlp/1566692679705.png
is2.4chan.org/mlp/1566781156567.png
After seeing the grim fate that awaits Cozy Glow, I appreciate this story all the more.
Cool story!
9801269
The only thing more fun than a chessmaster is two chessmasters!
Reference ALL the pony memes!
...yeah.
9801676
Thanks for visiting my site! <== *** <== \ o / hint hint <=== There are usually more up-to-date things there, and stories I haven't managed to post, but it's also a bit more volatile and prone to change. Plus I can't figure out how to get it so people can comment on it.
I sure hope so!
Aww, thanks. It's mostly a joke. I know I'm pretty good at writing. What I really fall flat on is anything involving executive functions, so following a schedule, meeting deadlines, not getting in trouble with authorities, pacing myself, not spending all my time on terrible trivium, stuff like that.
Those are adorable, thanks!
Cozy is a sad
9801903
...thank you for spoiling spoilers.
This is gonna be another season finale that I can't bear to watch alone, isn't it. I still haven't had a chance to watch the season 4 finale with anyone!
9804287
I've always found the season 4 finale hard to take.
I really love how you write Cozy. She can make someone rethink their entire lives with a few words lol. Man, I always celebrate when I see a new chapter. I must say, I'm interested in seeing what happens. What Starlight pulled was most heinous with the best intentions. Will she be punished? Will Cozy Glow find out and lose all of her trust in the ponies around her?
9804287
Let's say that DBZ finale of season 4 was fun, family friendly and educational, compared to season 9 finale.
Minor spoilers that don't spoil details:
/mlp/ is currently at the full meltdown stage for what the show creators did to Cozy and Big Jim ran away from Twitter because he received a copious amount of threats from enraged people.
The worst part is the drama was not caused by what they planned for protagonists, but what they did to antagonists. This was a disturbing, sickening negation of what Lauren Faust, M. A. Larson and others who cared about the show tried to teach us.
That's why some people actually consider your story as the ending that should happen to Cozy .
Godspeed, man.
9793321
Rarity
9804623
Thanks! Working on it. Just need to get the middle part figured out...
9804685
9804853
Cozy didn't get to keep the scissors. Anyway it's a miracle Rarity didn't get cut. Not a good idea to approach a filly like that with scissors.
9805566
I checked your RetroShare link on your site and it looks like it doesn't work. I tried copying the key into the contact invitation window, but it says the certificate is invalid. Could you share the certificate? I think it's the String in Preferences/Node menu.
9801676
I hope you're not blaming the show's creators for what was done to it after they were gone.
9810964
Not the original creators, like Faust or Larson, they cared about the show, but the crew from S8 and S9. They pushed writing ponies acting out of character to the point, where you look at villains and say - "Who is good and who is bad now, I don't even."
9810306
Still working on it, sorry! I just found out that those links are actually not currently working because of a bug, which I fixed, but it's up to them to accept the patch. Lemme just finish that explanation thingy and I'll change my page format, one sec.
9811461
I don't mind that they did it, so much as I'm surprised that they did. It's possible to chalk it up to incompetence, but... well, it serves my purposes at least. So I'm not ungrateful that it's harder to tell who is good and who is bad.
I'm the last person who should complain about their heroes being portrayed in shades of grey.
9812441
>heroes being portrayed in shades of grey
This is perfectly fine (your Starlight Glimmer and her own small issues is the best example), but as long as the setup doesn't imply that the "bad things" done by protagonists are actually great and justified.
Like, imagine if there was an episode, where Rainbow Dash decides to bully, punch and abuse Scootaloo for 23 minutes, because "she wants to be a better big sister, and, of course - some sisters are jerks!". That would end with Rainbow saying "I'm sorry, but you should've been more assertive too, Scoots", and then everyone was laughing. This is the level of writing I disrespect, and it happened a few times in the actual, canon show.
Nevertheless, it would be great to see the RetroShare working, and of course I can't wait to read more of your great story.
9812495
Well, as far as Rainbow Dash knows...
But I get your point. There's still some appeal to crapsack worlds where everything's adorably wrong, but you don't get many creators capable of pulling it off. Petirep's Rainbow Dash Presents is one of those happy exceptions, in my opinion at least. That and Friendship is Witchcraft ♥
I try to post a new chapter every Tuesday... is what I told myself last Tuesday. Whoops. But with that important chapter of Magnificent off my shoulders, I should be able to do it.
Also does this help in regards to RetroShare? That's what I've been trying to make so I can link to it.
9812800
>Also does this help in regards to RetroShare? That's what I've been trying to make so I can link to it.
I think I managed to add you, I've sent a testing message.
9813603
I think I added you, but it doesn't show you connecting, and my message to you's still sitting in the Outbox, trying to be sent. That's assuming you're 6eca82576c4ad7a78bab51f04238ab0a, so I'm just guessing at that.
9815548
Oh I know. Sea Swirl suffers so much...
9818861
Well, it looks like I suffer from the same thing. It seems you are offline and my message can't be sent... at least through the chat. Maybe we have to be online to receive and send them?
I've sent you a testing message by mail.
Love this story.
I suspected the brown Earth Pony was poor, abused Morning Glory before the nurse confirmed it. You have excellent taste in OCs.
Dunno who the insecure purple narcissist was, though.
9818861
RetroShare is very wonky when it comes to communication, I have problems sending broadcast messages and chatting, I think only mail works properly... Nevertheless, I'll play with options and maybe at some point it will work.
Can't wait for the next chapter! Every few hours I smash F5 on the contents site, check chapters and the Sneak Peek.
I must say today's update was very heartwarming and amusing - I KNEW Cozy will have issues with growing up if the story will reach Spring time. The execution, even if it's just a short fragment, is very sweet and makes the reader smile. Not even to mention she will be more comfortable riding on Starlight's back, or flying around without hiding her regained ability to fly. I can't wait to see how the story will reach this point!
By the way, I feel familiar vibes coming from your story - have you read Three Gems and a scooter ?
9822797
Thanks!
9825238
Thank you! I found it surprisingly hard to pick out ones who would make good nutcases though.
What? How could you not know about her? She's going to be famous!
9829364
Yeah... as soon as I find something that works better, I'll let you know. I certainly have been compiling a long list of problems Retroshare has. I do prefer mail to chatting though, so it's not as huge of an issue with me.
Oh nooooo now you know all my secrets!
If you're interested in the moment-to-moment changes, it is possible to use Git to view them. Clone the repository and you can see what changed when and how in the git log. It's probably way too much trouble though, plus it tracks changes in the ".hish" files I actually write, not the html files my story generator program creates from them. So you see "<i>italic</i>" for instance instead of in your browser where it's just italicized.
Hitting F5 works too, though. That contents page is derived from the git log, at least if I wrote my other program correctly. It just doesn't show exactly which words and/or lines changed, nor will it show any changes in the spoiler-warning extra "bits" sections.
I'm still mystified why Firefox will not support regularly checking bookmarks to see if the page changed, then listing the recently changed bookmarks.