• Published 7th Aug 2019
  • 6,060 Views, 40 Comments

A Fate Worse Than Tartarus - redandready45



Cozy Glow thought she was being sent to Tartarus. As it turns out, there is somepony in her life scarier than that.

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Young Mare, You've Got Some Explaining To Do (Edited 3/17/20)

Cozy Glow sat in a time-out room on the third floor of the School of Friendship, her wings bound to her body with velvet red straps to keep her from flying away.

The room was ridiculously juvenile in tone. It was full of bright colors, squeaky toys, boring puzzle games, and pictures of goofy-looking clowns that seemed to be mocking her. Cozy Glow glared at the clown pictures.

"I would love tear those stupid smiles off your faces", Cozy thought with annoyance.

On the walls were written dumb slogans like "believe in yourself" and "friends help friends". Its was like those idiot Bearers thought a few nice words could suddenly change a pony. It was enough to make Cozy sick.

But despite its cutesy appearance, the room had unusually effective security measures. Reinforced walls and an iron door to contain Earth ponies and other creatures with massive strength. Double-layer windows to prevent escape by airborne creatures, like pegasi and griffins. Magic-capturing charms built into the walls to block the use of magic by unicorns and other magic-wielding creatures.

This room was pretty powerful, despite its adorable appearance.

"Just like me," Cozy thought with some pride.

The reinforced door opened. Into the room trotted a Royal Guard, helmet and armor in all. He was a male Earth Pony stallion who was so large he looked like he could destroy a mountain with a stomp of his hoof. He had a light blue coat and bright green eyes. He removed his helmet, revealing a purple mane with streaks of blue running through it.

"Young mare," the stallion said in a stoic tone, "can you begin to understand the consequences your actions-"

"Oh, blah, blah, blah," Cozy said, interrupting the stallion, whose eyes moved slightly at the interruption. "I know what you're going to say: 'I violated the principles of Harmony', 'I misused the ideals of friendship', 'I broke everyone's trust'," she finished in a mocking tone. She let a smug grin form on her muzzle. "You're just jealous that this little filly did more in one week than you accomplished in your pointless little life."

If the stallion was annoyed at being belittled by the pink filly, he didn't reveal it. Most stallions would blow up at insults to their pride, but this one remained pretty calm, much to Cozy's surprise.

"These guards are pretty good with their emotions. I'll give them that," Cozy thought to herself.

"It is troubling that you consider the betrayal of your classmates and draining Equestria's magic to be an accomplishment," the guard said in a controlled tone. "My accomplishment is ensuring well-being of others. But then again, the well-being of others is something you never considered." Cozy rolled her eyes.

"Like I give a horseapple," Cozy said in a bored tone. She glared defiantly at the guard. "Go ahead. Make your dumb little speech about how I'll be punished and Harmony and all that junk. Anything to feel more important then you actually are. Then you can stick my not-sorry flank in Tartarus." This time, a ghost of a smile appeared on the stallion's face, before it returned to normal.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you," the guard said with some mockery, much to Cozy's annoyance. "You'd like us to stick you next to your good 'ol buddy Tirek. That way, you two can plan another takeover of Equestria. The Guards aren't foolish enough to do that. Besides, there are laws against imprisoning little fillies in Tartarus." Cozy Glow's eyes narrowed at the condescending way he used the word "little". "No, no," the guard said. "You don't get off that easily. Your punishment will be much more...severe."

"What could be worse then Tartarus," Cozy asked with amusement. "Oh let me guess," she said in a facetious tone. "I'm gonna have to write a three page friendship report about what I learned? No wait, I have to bake cookies and plan a party with the Pink Menace? No wait-," she paused her sarcastic tirade as a horrible thought came to her. Her arrogant demeanor was replaced by a more fearful expression.

"No, wait," Cozy said with some alarm. "Your not gonna-," she paused, seeing the guard's face. His silence said he would.

"Please don't do that," the filly said in a panic. The guard gave her an unimpressed frown. "Please don't do it!" The guard's eyes rolled. "Please don't tell her," she said, crying her eyes out. "I promise to be a good filly!" She let out sobs, but the stallion remained indifferent to her cries.

"Well as they say," he said, trotting out of the room, "if you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime." The door opened and slammed, leaving a panicking and shaken filly in the room.


Sweet Roll happily hummed to herself as she pulled the next trey of rolls out of the oven using her mouth. She then put whipped cream and cherries on them. She was a brown Earth Pony mare with pink eyes, a turquoise mane tied into a beehive, and she had a cutie mark with a baking pan.

"Here you are sweetums," Sweet Roll said in an overtly cheerful tone to a young pegasus colt at the register. "Here are your rolls, fresh from the oven."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Roll," the colt said happily, taking the rolls in a pink box. "You're as sweet as your rolls!"

"No, you're the sweet one," Sweet Roll said kindly. "Little foals are just the sweetest thing ever," she said to herself. She looked at the clock.

"Oh no," she said. "I have to get things ready for the sweetest little roll of all," she said kindly, glancing at the picture of her daughter Cozy on the counter. She glanced at her co-worker, a lime-green mare of sour disposition.

"Oh, she told me about how her Friendship project would change the world," she said to the green mare, who was collecting a tray of baked goods. "Did I tell you that?"

"80 times," the mare said with annoyed indifference, which Sweet Roll didn't notice.

"Anyways, got to get my house ready for my little Cozy."


Sweet Roll trotted down the dirt path that led to her house. All the while, her neighbors greeted her with genuine joy.

"Hello Sweet Roll," said one neighbor.

"Hi," she said, waving her foreleg in a friendly matter.

"Hey Sweet," said another neighbor. "How is your little filly?"

"As sweet as my pastries," she said. They both let out a friendly chuckle. As she got to her porch, she noticed something odd: Cozy Glow standing in front of her house, while being watched by a blue royal guard.

"Oh," Sweet Roll said to herself happily, "If a Royal Guard is here, she must've done something worth remembering." She trotted up to the house.

"Cozy baby," Sweet Roll said. "How-," she paused when her daughter looked at her, not with the cheerful "Hello" and the happy buzzing of her wings, but with fear and panic. She noticed her daughter's wings were bound. She turned to the Royal Guard, who noticed her approach.

"Are you Sweet Roll?" the guard asked.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Guard," she asked the royal guard. She looked at her daughter. "Cozy, what happened?"

"Your daughter would like to tell you something," the royal guard said. Cozy sat there silently, unable to face her own mother.

"Cozy, what did you do?" Sweet Roll asked her daughter, her eyes narrowed. Cozy looked away. "Young mare, do you want to tell me what you did, or would you like me to find out myself?" Sweet Roll warned. Cozy Glow struggled to tell the truth.

"I-I," Cozy stammered. "I betrayed the School of Friendship and tried to takeover Equestria," she said and flinched, expecting a reaction. Instead all her mom did was give her a cold stare.

"You...you...did what," her mom belted out in a quiet tone. Her voice was like the gentle breeze that came before a brutal storm. Cozy knew when her mom was like this, you really screwed up. Cozy felt panic grow within her. She barely noticed the guard pulling off the straps that bound her wings.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this ma'am," the Royal Guard said, betraying a lot of sympathy for the mare. "There are discipline programs if you're interested".

"I'll keep that in mind," Sweet Roll uttered, still giving her daughter a cold look.

"Good day ma'am," the guard said, before trotting away. He gave a cold look at Cozy. "And you keep out of trouble." He turned around and trotted away. Cozy Glow gave an awkward laugh.

"So, uh, mom," Cozy asked her uneasily with a sheepish smile. "How..are..thing-,"

"Quiet," Sweet Roll said to her daughter, who swallowed fearfully. The mare silently pointed to the opened door. Without a word, Cozy Glow trotted to the house in shame, her mother quietly shadowing her.

Cozy Glow got into the house, and then turned toward her mother, who silently closed the door. Her house and her mom normally gave her comfort, but now she felt scared and trapped.

"I can explain. I-,"

"You tried to overthrow the kingdom, committed treason, and lied to all of those nice ponies," Sweet Roll growled. Cozy Glow backing away, forgetting she could fly."What do you have to say for yourself, young mare?"

"I'm...sorry," Cozy Glow uttered, hoping it would help soothe her mother's anger.

"Well sorry isn't good enough," Sweet Roll said. "This time, I'm putting my hoof down." Cozy Glow shook, awaiting her punishment. "For one week...no Sapphire Shores records." Cozy Glow looked horrified by that.

"But mom," Cozy protested. "I love-"

"Do you want to make it two weeks," Sweet Roll warned. Cozy's protest died in her throat.

"Alright," Cozy Glow said, begrudgingly accepted her somewhat harsh punishment.

"Now go upstairs and think about what you did," Sweet Roll said, gesturing with her forehoof. Without a word, the Pegasus filly flew to her room, too ashamed to look at her mother.


Cozy Glow sat in her bed, stewing in her own guilt, when her mom burst in and sat down in her bed. Gone was the cold disappointment she showed earlier, but she was still annoyed. Still, Cozy didn't have to shrink away from her?

"Cozy," her mom said, her voice unhappy but not unforgiving, "can you tell me what you did wrong?"

"I lied to and manipulated everypony, tried to overthrow the government, and... trapped innocent ponies in Tartarus," Cozy Glow said.

"And," Sweet Roll said, lowering her left eyebrow.

"I tried to steal the magic of Equestria in my bid for absolute power," Cozy said uneasily.

"And?"

"I don't know?"

"It was the worst thing you did," Sweet Roll said.

"What could be worse than all that?" Cozy Glow asked.

"You embarrassed me!" Sweet Roll said in a shriek. Cozy Glow jumped at the tone. "How does it look when you arrive with your wings bound a Royal Guard? Huh. What do the neighbors think?" Cozy Glow pondered her words carefully, and her eyes watered.

"Mom," Cozy said, sounding genuinely remorseful. "I didn't know..."

"Because I'm your mom, everything you do reflects on me," Sweet Roll said, sounding even sadder. "Soon, everypony will be saying 'there's the mother of the filly who nearly conquered Equestria.' They'll say 'she was a terrible mommy'. I won't be able go anywhere now without somepony looking at me funny." Cozy Glow let out a few tears.

"Mom, I'm sorry," Cozy Glow, whimpering a bit. "I just thought ruling the world and destroying everypony would make you proud of me."

"I was already proud of you," Sweet Roll said. "But right now I am disappointed." Cozy Glow looked down in shame. Sweet Roll gently lifted up Cozy's head to face her.

"Just promise me you'll never try to subvert the political structure ever again," Sweet Roll said gently.

"I'll, I'll try," Cozy said.

"That's all I ask," Sweet Roll said. She then gave her little filly a hug, which Cozy promptly returned.


Cozy Glow sat at the kitchen table, packing up her saddlebag, getting ready to go back to the School of Friendship. She looked at her Mom with gratitude.

"Thanks for getting me back into the school," Cozy said.

"You'd be surprised how far a few delicious rolls and an apology can go," Sweet Roll said. She glanced at the clock. "OK, little filly time to go to school."

"By Mom," Cozy said, hovering out of her chair, and getting ready to leave the house.

"Wait," Sweet Roll said suspiciously. "I saw a red glow coming from your bag."

"What are you talking about," Cozy said with a fake smile. Sweet Roll just narrowed her eyes.

"Let me see your bag," Sweet Roll said firmly. Cozy forked over the saddlebag. Sweet Roll opened the bag, and a black amulet with a red gem fell out.

"What is this," Sweet Roll asked in a sly tone. Cozy considered a lie.

"It was a raffle prize," Cozy said. Sweet Roll narrowed her eyes more. "It is the...Alicorn Amulet."

"You weren't planning on using this for world domination, were you," Sweet Roll asked slyly.

"Got me again, Mom," Cozy said, before letting out a deep laugh. Sweet Roll herself began laughing too, and swept up her filly in a hug.

"You're such a silly filly," Sweet Roll said sweetly to her daughter. "Such a silly little filly."

Comments ( 40 )

:rainbowlaugh:Wonderful! Simply wonderful! I love parent stories with Cozy!

adorable...

"You embarrassed me," Sweet Roll said in a shriek. Cozy Glow jumped at the tone. "How does it look when you arrive with your wings bound a Royal Guard? Huh. What do the neighbors think?" Cozy Glow pondered her words carefully, and her eyes watered.

Yeah, that would be embarrassing for any parent:rainbowlaugh:!!!

A funny, yet adorable story all the while:twilightsmile::heart:.

*wheeze*
Oh boy.

9769966

Wonderful! Simply wonderful! I love parent stories with Cozy!

I wondered what kind of family Cozy had, and why they wouldn't object to their daughter being dumped into Pony Hell. I felt giving Glow a ridiculously nice mom would be more surreal, and giving her a mean family would be too cliché.

9769986

adorable...

Tirek might disagree.

9770030

Yeah, that would be embarrassing for any parent!!!

A funny, yet adorable story all the while.

When kids act out, parents can get mad for this very reason: not for doing whatever stunt they pulled, but for doing it in a way that embarrassed them.

I'm stunned I could make someone find Cozy Glow adorable and lovable, despite still behaving like a conniving villain.

*wheeze*
Oh boy.

Cozy Glow does tend to bring out this reaction.

9770665

When kids act out, parents can get mad for this very reason: not for doing whatever stunt they pulled, but for doing it in a way that embarrassed them.

Eeyup:eeyup:.

I'm stunned I could make someone find Cozy Glow adorable and lovable, despite still behaving like a conniving villain.

No matter how evil she is, CG will always be adorable in many eyes, including mine:rainbowkiss:!!!

9770665
That's a good and unique idea. I understood the serve for her crime but sending a child to Tartattus was always...unfitting for me

Hell hath no fury like a disappointed mother.

9770670

That's a good and unique idea. I understood the serve for her crime but sending a child to Tartattus was always...unfitting for me

Unfitting is a bit of an understatement: What Cozy did was awful, and she wasn't exactly repentant. But she was punished harder then a lot of other bad guys that have done worse, despite being a minor.

Starlight Glimmer attacked the very essence of ponies. And then she tried to prevent the revival of the Elements of Harmony, essentially dooming Equestria to war AT best, and subjugation at worse. And she got a slap on the wrist.

Discord repaid Fluttershy's trust for letting him out of his stone castle by betraying the ponies and siding with Tirek!

I found them punishing Cozy to be ridiculous.

9770692
Exactly I found it strange and unsuiting that a child gets punished like that in a kids show. I mean, Starlight tried to alter time, that's way worse compared to Cozy and she got another chance.

"It was the worst thing you did," Sweet Roll said.

I honestly thought she was going to say, "You got caught."

9772131

That would only work if Sweet Roll was just as evil as Cozy.

But what would've been funnier? My story where Cozy's mom is ridiculously nice, or a story where Cozy's mom is also a secretly devious supervillain who genuinely loves her daughter, but wants her to be evil.

yeah, When I first watched that episode, My thoughts were... WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS

9778463

In most fantasy shows, parents often have a suspicious absence/slash ignorance of what their kids do.

MLP is a good exception.

9781236
well, you know how the fandom is.. I'm sure they're already making "Orphaned Cozy Glow headcanons", In cozy Glow's defense though, I feel like who ever was delivering the letters she was writing to Tirek, should maybe have screened them, Then again, it may have been :derpyderp2: delivering, soo..
(Side fact, I read the title in a bad Cuba accent)

9781285

That was a cliché I was trying to avoid, since it leads to a lot of dumb "Freudian Excuse" type stories.

I thought giving Cozy a kind, if oblivious, mom was funny. And that her treating Cozy's actions as being like pranking a teacher would be even funnier.

9781307
I'm not arguing with that...

"Oh, blah, blah, blah," Cozy said, interrupting the stallion, whose eyes moved slightly at the interruption. "I know what you're going to say: 'I violated the principles of Harmony', 'I misused the ideals of friendship', 'I broke everyone's trust'," she finished in a mocking tone. She let a smug grin form on her muzzle. "You're just jealous that this little filly did more in one week then (than) you accomplished in your miserable life."

then = time

"You tried to overthrow the kingdom, commited ((committed) treason, and lied to all of those nice ponies," Sweet Roll growled. Cozy Glow backing away, forgetting she could fly. Not that she could outfly her own mother. "What do you have to say for yourself, young mare?"

Her mother was specified as being an Earth Pony, so ordinarily she could

Cozy Glow sat in her bed, stewing in her own guilt, when her mom burst in and sat down in her bed. Gone was the cold disappointment she showed earlier, but she was still annoyed. Still, Cozy didn't have to shirk (shrink?) away from her.

"You weren't planning on using this for world domination, were you,"....(question mark)…. Sweet Roll asked slyly.

Start about 2 minutes in

9770692
That's one of the many problems the writers made without ever fixing. Somehow it feels as if the show says "Every crime can be forgiven with a hug. Except of course you're a male villain/evil king who enslaves ponies. The you have to be killed. (The Storm King once and King Sombra twice)". Well, luckily there are fanfics like this, who are making more fitting punishments that the writers of G4:pinkiehappy:

As much as I love FiM, the writers messed up the whole "punishment for doing a crime" system big time. I wouldn't even be surprised if they even reform Grogar at the end of the show. Good thing that, at least that to me, season 8 is the real ending of the show. Season 9's main story is just messed up times 10:rainbowlaugh:

9793236

Again, they are not particularly consistent in how ponies approach punishment.

9770670 9770692 9781285 9781307 9793236
laughs/cries in spoilers

Yikes. This story will need a AU tag after the finale airs in the US lol.

9828471
My bad didnt see it at first. Do you plan on doing anymore stories centered around this?

9828477

Not in the near future no.

But, since you asked, I might think up some new ideas.

9828498
I would love to see your interpretation of the events for cozy glow that take place after the series finale. I understand that it will be awhile to wait for it though since it hasnt officially aired yet. In any case I look forward to whatever you might write next.

So...what would Cozy have to do to get a month restriction? Double homicide? Great story, btw. It'd been funny if the end of School Raze had ended with Cozy's mom showing up and dragging her off by her ear.

9890120

So...what would Cozy have to do to get a month restriction? Double homicide? Great story, btw. It'd been funny if the end of School Raze had ended with Cozy's mom showing up and dragging her off by her ear.

No....it would be leaving the door open for the fifth time in a row. :pinkiesmile:

I figure that taking over the world is so common in Equestria, that the authorities ought to treat it like some punk was vandalizing someone's house with paintballs: something that does get punishment, but is written off as "boys will boys". I mean, Sunset Shimmer tried to pull the same stunt, and her direct punishment (aside from becoming an outcast) was cleanup work outside of the school.

Based on that logic, the idea of Cozy's mom yanking Cozy by her ear is something I can see as canon. But I figured making her ridiculously nice would be even more silly.


9828584

Now that I've seen the series finale, I have a new idea brewing in my head for a sequel.

9910733
"I'm sorry Cozy, but I'm going to have to smack your hoof."

this outcome was not what i was expecting xD
you got me xD

This was both fluffy and hilarious. I loved the "No Sapphire Shores records for a week!":rainbowlaugh:

And to think, instead of having something like this for Cozy Glow, we got:

Sweet Roll trotted down the dirt path that led to her house. All the while, her neighbors greeted her with genuine joy.

Every time i See her name, i can only think of one line of dialog or another from The Edler Scrolls involving sweet rolls, even the parodies.
"So, I took that sweet roll-"
"-and burned the whole city to the ground!"

9910733
To be fair, Sunset was remorseful for her actions and willing to change while Cozy proved herself a sociopath unable to see anything wrong with her attempted takeover and attempted murder and unwilling to stop trying again.

10545596

Well yeah...but...

Remember, Chrysalis had been immediately offered friendship by Starlight after her defeat, despite being (technically) an adult.

So had Luna and the others.

But with Cozy, no one made an effort to even TRY and teach her the error of her ways. They just thought "little filly needs to be in a cage."

10546061
I personally think Cozy kinda got what she deserved because she displayed clearly that she wasn't going to accept any attempts to redeem or befriend her.

She was just evil for no reason other than she enjoyed it and only cared about power and she had already rejected real friendship.

I admit the writers could have presented and handled it a lot better, but unless the show was willing to go into a look at clinical sociopathy and psychology then I don't think the show was fully set to tackle the issue. Because something was very screwed up about that filly's mind on a fundamental level in the same way that violent criminals are screwed up.

Bottom line, while I don't have the same problem with Cozy Glow's fate I'm currently thinking the ultimate solution would have been to just not make the sociopathic villain a child. Because that can of worms just ended up being too divisive and not a matter the show was able to fully tackle and examine.

10546506
if they already know she wasn't going to accept friendship no matter what, then they should kill her already.

10546506
Yeah, leave the amazingly at least somewhat accurate (or more?) depiction of sociopathy (or was he a psychopath?) to"Frozen". :twilightoops: (At least according to TVTropes....CAUTION: Used TVTropes responsibly, may result in loss of time.).

The one thing that can reform cozy?
HER MOTHER

10546506
Yet all of that
And id still try
I believe in time will help her

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