Chapter 1
One day, Cozy woke up. She looked around, realizing this was not Grogar's lair. She remembered gathering the artifacts, defeating Starlight Glimmer. (Wait, she had defeated Starlight, the greatest mage of her generation? How? The memory wouldn't come.) She remembered Tartarus, but not a trial or being transported there. (And criminals always got trials! She remembered that from the plays she'd seen.) She remembered her cage, the tiny one next to Tirek. (But how had she gotten her meals? Or gone potty?) She'd made Tirek a friendship sculpture (with what?)
The tendrils of mist around her mind were fading, a deeper awareness coming. Then Grogar had teleported them (Grogar? From that storybook Grandpa had read to her? Didn't Grogar's voice sound like her grandpa's? And when Daddy had read to her the legend of Tirek, he'd made that growly voice that had made her squeal in fake fear). She'd met Chrysalis...everything was fading like the echoes of a far off dream.
Her eyes sprang completely open and she noted how soft the bed was. Four, white walls enclosed her, the severe whiteness mitigated by pictures of blue flowers decorating them. A hospital room, that's where she was. Was she sick?
The last clear memory she had was of gathering the artifacts. Then what? The door slid open and Starlight trotted inside, a smile spread across her face. "Good morning Cozy. Or closer to noon now." She sat across from her at the side of her bed, that comforting expression on her face. Cozy looked away, knowing that smile was fake. They all knew she was a monster now and they were going to lock her up in Tartarus cause that's where monsters belonged. Starlight pressed her cheek against Cozy's own. "Shhh, deep breaths, deep breaths. Calm down. Did you have a nightmare?"
Cozy stared up at the ceiling. "Are they going to send me to Tartarus now?"
Starlight gasped. "Cozy! That's awful! The princesses would never send a foal to Tartarus. Tartarus is for dangerous creatures." She booped her snout. "You are not a creature. If you did something wrong, the worst you'd get is community service or a paddling." She paused. "Why would you think that Cozy?"
Cozy fixed her gaze on a vase. "Golly gee, I don't know! Cause I tried to drain all the magic from Equestria?"
Starlight nodded. "Is that what you were trying to do? Twilight found you passed out in the catacombs. You don't-very few creatures-have the raw manna to cast a spell like that. You could have died. What were you thinking?"
Cozy studied the blue vase. "Gosh, I'm sorry. Pwease don't be mad at me." She pouted, pushing out her bottom lip, widening her eyes.
Starlight rolled her own. "That shtick's getting old, Young Filly. Why would you want to drain all the magic from Equestria? Tired of being able to sleep on clouds? Not enjoying the sun and moon rising?"
Cozy growled and drummed her back legs. "Don't make fun of me!"
Starlight chuckled. "A tantrum, Sweetheart? Filly, please. I'm the princess of tantrums." Cozy was silent. Starlight sighed. "Not going to lie. Misuse of magical artifacts could land you a long community service sentence and you can forget those friendship assistant privileges. Or you can explain what you were thinking." She shrugged. "Unless you like cleaning up the whole castle by yourself. Trust me, I didn't and I had my friends helping me."
Cozy cocked her head. "You got punished? For what?"
Starlight settled onto the bed. "Because I cast a mind control spell on my friends because I didn't understand how to make friends any other way." She shook her head. "They still helped me."
Cozy paused. "They still helped you? They weren't mad?"
"Oh they were peeved-do not repeat that word-but I did a bit of magic. I sincerely apologized. Has to be real, not fake."
Cozy shuffled a hoof. "I did it cause I was going to help everypony-everycreature-and they'd all want to be my friend and, um..." In the harsh light of searing sanity, the plan didn't make sense. What had she been trying to accomplish?"
"That's a little much just to make friends."
"Friendship is power."
"That it is. But you don't make friends by taking away what everyone needs to live."
Cozy turned her back. "Cause I'm a monster, a bad, terrible monster."
Starlight stroked her shoulder. "Don't say that about yourself. You're a filly who made a mistake."
"I'm so bad I made my daddy leave me."
Starlight's breath caught in her throat. "Cozy, parents are supposed to stay with their children. Tell me what happened."
Cozy lapsed into an eerie silence, broken suddenly by a keening wail, Cozy throwing her face into the pillow and unabashedly weeping. Starlight wrapped her up in an embrace, Cozy still turned away from her. "Listen, this isn't about punishment. I want to help you, but I can't help you if you won't tell me what's wrong."
Cozy sniffled. "What would have happened if I had done it?"
Starlight held her a little tighter. "You'd have been sent to a special sort of hospital where they would try to figure out why you'd done it and how to help you not do it again."
"You mean a nuthouse."
"That's not a nice word, Cozy."
Cozy snorted. "I'm not a nice filly. Don't they clip your wings at those places?"
Starlight caressed her mane. "Sometimes they have to. It's painless and the feathers grow back." She continued running her hoof down Cozy's curls watching Cozy's shoulders relax. "Ponies and other creatures can get sick in their mind and that sickness can make them try to hurt someone or themselves so they can't be allowed out. You can keep a Pegasus locked up, but that just makes the sickness worse so they at least need to be allowed outside. Most of them have enclosures, but a very sick Pegasus might try to bash themselves against it. Nopony's ever found a better way."
Cozy shifted. "You think I'm crazy."
"I think you're hurting and and you're acting out because you think it will make the pain disappear."
Cozy nestled into Starlight's stomach. "I think I'm sick and that's why Daddy..."She broke off into sobs.
Starlight nickered, rested her chin on Cozy's head. "Go on, you can tell me." She nickered again, a way of saying "you're safe."
Her cries tapered off. "I broke a vase once. I knew not to throw balls in the house so Mommy yelled at me and sent me to bed early."
Starlight waited for her to continue, occasionally stroking her head. Cozy wiped at her eyes with a brush of a feather. "Daddy came home and I heard him yelling then Mommy yelled at him. Then he left and..." She whimpered. "It's because I broke the vase. That's why Daddy left."
Starlight slowed the stroking while Cozy turned around to face her, her cheeks awash in tears which Starlight licked away. "Is that why you wanted all that power? So no one would ever leave you again?"
Cozy drew away. "That's dumb. You're dumb."
Starlight pulled her close. Cozy struggled, but then gave in to the affection. "You're right. I am a dumb Pony and I've done dumb things-like try to get rid of Cutie Marks cause my best friend moved away. But we all do dumb things. Look, you're daddy leaving wasn't your fault."
Cozy shook her head against Starlight's chest. "Then how come Mommy won't talk to me anymore?"
"What do you mean?"
"W-when I go home..." She shuddered. "Mommy doesn't talk to me. She just sits on that...that damned couch drinking from her bottles."
Starlight closed her eyes. "Maybe she's sad because your daddy left."
Cozy looked up at her. "She's mad at me. She knows it was my fault."
Starlight lifted Cozy's chin. "I want you to listen to me, Cozy. Listen to me good. Daddies and mommies are supposed to stay with their children. Trust me, I did things worse than breaking the occasional vase and my daddy never left me."
She buried her head into Starlight's fur. "Th-then why? It must have been me, why else..?"
"I don't know Cozy, you'd have to ask him. They fought a lot?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe he was tired of fighting. Sometimes Ponies can be..." She paused, struggling for a word. "Sometimes Ponies get scared and then they run."
Cozy shuffled, flapping her wings. "I'm hungry."
Starlight allowed her to go and she hopped down onto the ground, Starlight striding off of the bed after her. "Cozy? I want you to come and talk to me every day. I'll schedule you in for one-o'clock right after lunch. Can you do that for me?"
Cozy bounded towards the door propelled either by her stomach or her desire to flee from the conversation. She pushed the door open and crossed into the School of Friendship's hallway, nearly bouncing right into Twilight who suddenly swept her into a hug. "Cozy! You're alright!" Cozy leaned into her. After a while, Twilight released her from the embrace. "I don't know what I'd do without my little friendship assistant." Her expression turned more serious. "However, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take away your archive privileges. You're no longer allowed down there by yourself. What were you trying to do anyway?"
The filly hesitated. "I...I'm not sure. It made sense at the time, but now I can't remember. Golly, I'm sorry for worrying you. I just..." She rubbed her forehead, pain splitting her skull.
Twilight frowned, glanced at Starlight.
Starlight shook her head. "Counselor confidentiality, but she has mandatory counseling sessions with me."
She nodded. "I see. Well, if you ever feel anything jogging your memory you can tell me. You also have a three page essay on the importance of caring for magical artifacts properly."
Cozy looked down. "I understand. Double space?"
"Single space." She nuzzled her again. "I am glad you're alright."
Cozy reciprocated the nuzzle. "I sure am hungry."
"I imagine you are, but we're going to run a few tests just to make you're not still hurt anywhere." Twilight patted her back. "Why don't you go get some breakfast?"
Cozy nodded and scampered away towards the breakfast hall. Twilight turned her attention to Starlight. "How worried should I be about her?"
"Worried." Starlight trotted alongside her as they made their way to the headmare's office. Twilight opened the door, sat down at her desk. Starlight took a seat in the brown chair across from Twilight. "She has severe issues. I won't tell you why she was using the artifacts-that'd break her trust in me."
"That's well within your rights as counselor and I won't make you tell me. But what's going on with her?"
Starlight sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Her dad left her and her mom is probably an alcoholic. Cozy blames herself for the divorce. Thinks her dad left because she broke a vase-you know that thing that every kid in the world does at some point." Her voice shook. "She thinks she's a monster, Twilight. She dreamed she was in Tartarus."
Twilight bit her lip. "No wonder she's always trying so hard. So no one will leave her again if she does something wrong, but this is a pretty big slip-up. I guess when she does misbehave she goes all out. I do hope she tells me what she was up to. I imagine she's afraid of how I'll react. Won't you let her know I just want to know so I can understand what was going on? So I can help her?"
"Will do, but right now it's all about gaining her trust. Any luck contacting her parents?"
"Her mom is a drunk. She's actually in jail right now, beat someone up at the bar. Multiple witnesses say she initiated a fight. She'll be out once she can pay the fine-or at least part of it. Her dad's whereabouts are unknown."
Starlight rubbed her temples. "Well then. Looks like that kid just has us."
Twilight reached over, grasped her hoof. "We're in this together. We can do it."
Starlight squeezed back, smiled at her mentor. "At least we're here for her. That's the most important part."
The door opened with a creak and Cozy peeked her head in. "Miss Starlight?"
Both mares ushered the filly inside. Suddenly Cozy rushed to Starlight, throwing her forelegs around her. Starlight picked her up in her lap, held her. "Something wrong?"
"N-no. Just, thank you." She leaned into her. "Thank you for listening."
Starlight patted her back. "We're here for you Cozy. Everything's going to be alright."
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Have you ever seen a child try to steal all the magic from the world? That would stop the sun and moon in place, which would be bad in any orientation. The punishment must match the crime, and no matter how you look at it, planetary genocide is a pretty high crime. Straight to Tartarus regardless of age.
You sir (or Ma'am ^^;) deserved the watch/upvoted/Favorited the story and you from yours truly X3
9815917
You're wrong. YOU'RE WRONG YOU LIAR!!!
Uh, even though that's all a dream to her (in this story) or not, she's not the first crazy child character I encounter nor the last.
9815917
I believe I pointed out the logistical impossibilities of Cozy even managing to pull this off.
9815917
So Cozy is less redeemable than Luna who committed a similar crime? Why was Luna offered forgiveness, but Cozy not sent to an institution to be given the mental healthcare she desperately needs?
First enjoy the story very much. An interesting what-if. Heck, could be argued that what Cozy experienced was the Tree of Harmony showing her what would happen if she continued down the path she was on. Let her see how she would have ended up.
Now then, as for the show and how Cozy is treated, I have a theory about this and I am shocked the show never went with this:
Cozy's not a filly
Cozy is a mare.
She is Baby Doll from Batman: The Animated Series. She has Hypopituitarism that makes her look like a filly and she behaves as one purely to get into the school for her evil plan. The cutsey talking, the innocent look... its all an act. Cozy isn't even her real name... she chose it to sound more innocent.
EDIT: looking up information on her Cutie Mark to discuss this further, and the symbolism of the Rook and Castling (to rapidly change positions suddenly) I found this tweet that confirms my theory. She is based on Baby Doll from Batman: The Animated Series.
Now, I can't say for sure, but I could see MLP realizing after they had set her up as the villain that having a middle-age mare pretending to be a child... hanging out with children... was a VERY bad idea, as that gets very pedeophile. So they had to take the lesser of two evils and just never reveal the truth. But the staff all but confirm she is based on Baby Doll and most likely is an adult.
9815989
Good reference. I’m surprised someone knows Babydoll, even I felt so sorry for her for being trapped to look like a child.
–George Harrison
In all seriousness, that Author's Note near-singlehandely slaughtered any good will I had towards this story.
9816002
There is something else to support this. But it is a spoiler so I am not only spoiler tagging it but also putting a massive space so no one highlights it by accident
Last chance
We see both Cozy and Pinkie get the full might of Discord's powers. Pinkie just grows huge. Cozy grows huge... and looks like an adult. The most adult pony form the show has shown, namely Celestia's style. Why? Could it be Cozy's desire to actually look like an adult, like the Baby Doll episode clip you posted?
Spacing to avoid spoiler tag for others.
Nothing in the main storyline has made sense ever since season 7 ended. This show is all about forgiveness and understanding, and oh I'm so pissed off. I also watched the rest of the final season and I literally just want to cry. And it's NOT from being sad that the show ended...
9816054
Well said. And why didn't they do more with the Pillars? Especially Flash Magnus. (What'd you think of the story?)
9815984
You think that was Luna? Oh, you poor, pitiful fool. That was Nightmare Moon. Completely different.
9816065
Actually, Celestia stated in a recent episode that she defeated Luna-and Luna looked briefly ashamed before accepting Celestia's comfort. Luna WAS Nightmare Moon. (I actually had an idea of Cozy ripping into Luna and saying "maybe I should just call myself Bad Dream Saturn and dye my fur darker!")
9816060
One-dimensional characters to fill out the roster because the writers were out of ideas for the main characters. Just like the student 6. There was some merit in them showing more of Equestrias history and their impact on it, but after their return they were just wasted. And I've never seen someone get character assassinated as fast as Starswirl. He was supposed to be the great hero of his time, genious of friendship and understanding... Yet what he turned out to be was an egotistic, rude and a plethora of other bad words.
And he still made more sense than Crazy Glue.
9816078
God I wish they'd done more with the Pillars.
9816078
Agree and wished that his greatest accomplishments with the pillars turned into their ultimate mistakes. My example the Sirens, what if banishing them was a spark for a war against the entire race of Sirens and the Hippogriffs can’t do anything to stop them since the ocean of the world is the Sirens’s Territory to their one small area.
As much as I love Cozy as a character and villain, she deserved her fate.
And that is all I have to say on the matter.
Very nice! I always found it unfitting as Punishment for a Child. I mean, what starlight did, altering the past, is Way worse and she was forgiven.
9816078
Yeah there was so much they could have done with just Starswirl alone if they had actually bothered to use him. Like take Starlight under his wing. I still see her as this generations Starswirl, the same way Twilight is the new Celestia.
9816516
Not really, considering she, at first, had well intentions (her methods, were not), and accepted Twilight's offer to become friends
9816633
Starlight's ideology, while flawed, DID kind of make sense when looked at from certain perspectives. It was only after she lost everything she had that she went crazy, which, again, is understandable.
Cozy Glow, though, was crazy from the start.
Plus, it doesn't matter what Cozy's backstory was, there is no good reason to try to rid Equestria of all magic just to gain power.
9816646
Cozy Glow wasn't going to give them the chance.
Plus, we don't know how long they were actually going to keep her in Tartarus.
For all we know, they were going to eventually try to reform her, but they couldn't take any risks, so Tartarus would have served as a temporary holding facility.
But then Beginning of the End happened.
9816716
Considering Cozy Glow was likely the first child villain they encountered that could do something on that level, it's likely they didn't have a place set up for her.
Cozy literally says, "Honesty? Loyalty? Generosity? Blah-blah-blah! I can make more friends without using any of them! And if I can't do it here, I'll do it somewhere else!"
And then she tried to flee the scene.
Or she's just a sociopath.
9816716
I don't care what your opinion of the show may be, but that language is absolutely uncalled for.
At worst, the writers didn't take as much time as they should've to think through their implications.
Just wait for the Season 9 finale. It's gonna be far worse. XD
9816805
Thanks.
And for my part, I'm sorry if I came off as one of those "#triggered" types. I happen to have a clinically diagnosed mental disorder, so I can get a bit more worked up about that stuff than I probably have any real right to. It strikes a little too close to home sometimes, y'know?
Looking back, I probably could've worded that original comment a little better. My bad.
Cozy Glow is an unrepentent little monster you idiot. Have you not seen what she does in season 9? That does not scream she was sorry about anything.
9816453
The US law code is barbarous. A poor man gets sent to jail for life for stealing fifty bucks while a rapists gets off because he's "from a good family,"
https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-spent-36-years-prison-stealing-50-bakery/story?id=65264675
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/453629-judge-who-said-accused-teen-rapist-came-from-good-family
It must not have a been a very good family-it produced a rapist!
They gave Cozy a chance to explain herself. Cozy was the one who said she did it all for power. Then she cackled, said she would do it all again somewhere else, and tried to escape. Without any remorse.
So you can't really say they didn't give her a chance.
9816065
Oh, is that why Luna says to Twilight she took away "our dark powers"? Because it wasn't actually Luna?
Makes perfect sense!
9817315
9817039
9816667
Yeah, Twilight asked why Cozy Glow did what she did, and she flew into a rant about it being about power. As for Starlight, Twilight didn't really get a chance to dig into her motivations until the season finale, where it became clear that it wasn't because she's just a power-hungry psychopath, and either way, the thought of Equestria being destroyed started the process of her having a breakdown, was in denial at first.
Cozy Glow literally heard Rainbow Dash say they barely caught everypony in time on that field trip (which Cozy had helped arrange, because she got Rainbow Dash to cover for Twilight), and did she start faltering? No. She'd heard that she'd almost gotten others killed, and she didn't care, just like Lightning Dust, except worse.
Cozy Glow was actually a good student. The only test she was ever shown failing was done intentionally, and the students respected her. Twilight trusted her. She was appreciated, and she repaid Twilight and her friends by tricking them into Tartarus, betraying them like they meant nothing to her, because they didn't. If you can sit through friendship school, pass tests flawlessly, help others do it, and then turn around and twist those ideals for your own gain, without even the slightest hint that it was for any reason beyond ambition? You're a lost cause. She knew the words, but not the music, and she'd heard the music so many times, but it wasn't enough, and it never would be.
As for some future S9 spoilers... Cozy Glow was eagerly taunting prisoners with the prospect of them being murdered. Oh, and she had zero objections to Chrysalis threatening to rip off Spike's wings, even had a smile on her face, didn't she?
She mostly has excuses made for her because she's both a kid, and female, especially the former. She's more than precocious enough to possess moral agency.
9820032
You're making unfounded assumptions on her backstory. There's no evidence she was coerced into doing anything in S8 and beyond, via the influence of her backstory.
You're probably meant to believe that Cozy Glow doesn't have some mitigating backstory along the lines of "it's all she knows," because there hasn't been one. Anything to the contrary is pure fanon. We don't know anything about what her parents are like, and she sought out Tirek's advice of her own free will.
You know who else doesn't have a backstory even remotely mitigating/explaining their actions? Chrysalis, and she'd sung that her army attacking Canterlot was "The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small". Cozy Glow is a version of Chrysalis who'd gotten around to being a megalomaniac as a child.
Sometimes, people are just inherently empty. Loving, morally upstanding parents might not matter in some cases.
You can't teach a psychopath to feel empathy. As for a solution, magical mind-control is the only thing I could think of that could conceivably work, but that's rather... unethical, isn't it?
Ask yourself this: would S8's finale have happened the way it did if the writers had it in their heads that "poor Cozy Glow was indoctrinated and Twilight didn't even try to help her?" If you think the answer is yes, then I don't know what to tell you.
9819915
Too dark for my tastes-I'm skipping the finale.
9820747
I take it you havent seen the finale yet? Cozy Glow is one of the most vile, evil unrepentant beings in the series and that made her such an awesome villain. She is encased in stone with chrysalis and tirek for all eternity for her crimes and I wouldnt have it any other way.
9815989
...Wow. I've said before that Cozy reminded me of Darla Dimple with much higher career aspirations, but this? This blasts it completely out of the water.
Not a bad fic, but a little confusing when it deviate from the 'dream' to explain Cozy life...
9929367
Thanks for commenting. Anything in particular?
9930338
Anything in particular about what?
9930418
Anything particularly confusing about the story?
9930459
Maybe confusing is not the right word... But it's only semantics, not sure why Cozy suddenly began to talk about the past... Seems more like a fix-fic that other things
9816423
And on that note, does anyone who saw season 8's A Matter of Principles and season 9's The Ending Of The End really think Discord's reformation is genuine? Really?
9985394
I don't count anything past season 7 as cannon.
9985448
Fair enough.
9815917
If a child were to somehow get a hold of a device that could wipe out all life, let alone build one by themselves with no one finding out until it is nearly too late, most sensible people are not going to condemn the child. They are going to want to know how a child managed to get their hands on that device in the first place. If a student at any school, anywhere, were to build themselves a thermonuclear bomb at school and no one noticed until it was nearly too late, sure, they are going to put that child in either juvenile detention or that wing of the hospital no one gets into without a key, and then demand the heads of everyone who allowed it to happen. Shy of certain countries who would have rewarded her for her contribution. If Equestria was anything like the real world, Cozy would have gone to a care facility and Twilight's school would have been shut down pending an investigation. Considering the teachers are all Twilight's friends and not a one has teaching credentials, The schools not accredited, and we saw things like Applejack indoctrinating students into the way of the apple, I wouldn't give that school much of a chance of reopening.
How did Cozy Glow know how to build that device? If the plans were in the library, why are the plans for such a dangerous device in the library?! And for that matter how was she a pen pall to someone locked up in Tartarus?
In the Ending of the End Cozy Glow is clearly being used as a patsy by Discord. Discord brought back King Sombra, broke Cozy and Tirek out of Tartarus, forcibly enlists Chrysalis who up to that point had been perfectly happy finding new and interesting ways to make Twilight's life miserable.
They sent a child who could not fully comprehend the potential outcome of her actions to Tartarus, and yet the worst villein of the lot gets off scot-free.
I enjoyed this take on that episode. I was also imagining how things might progress if Discord was bound and determined to continue with his plan to 'test' Twilight.
Do Timberwolves dream of electric sheep?
Season 7 Finals! For me!