2: Releasing the Smallest Prisoner
"You're Cozy Glow's mother!?" Spike exclaimed, still in disbelief at the name he just heard.
"Well, i'm her guardian." Toasty explained. "I'm not really her mother, but she and I are family." She took a moment to look at how Twilight and Spike's expressions had become tense. "Your majesty, what happened?"
"How should I say this?" Twilight whispered to herself.
"What happened with her?" Toasty asked desperately. "Please, tell me!"
"You want the truth?" Twilight responded solemnly. "First, look to your right." She pointed Toasty towards the stained glass windows to the left of the throne.
Toasty turned right and gazed upon a row of beautiful, colourful illustrations depicting many great battles and events that took place over the past many moons of Equestria's history. She analyzed each of them. For a moment, she wasn't sure why she was told to look at these amazing glass pictures. Then she came to a stop at one particular image. It was the stained glass window illustration of a bunch of colourful symbols striking three figures with a white lightning bolt. Toasty instantly recognized the pinkish gray pony on the right.
"Th-that's her!" Toasty gasped. "What is she doing with... Tirek, and... the changeling queen?"
"It's a long story." said Twilight, approaching the window with Spike.
"Was she friends with those guys?" Toasty asked, growing fearful.
"In a loose sense." Spike replied, raising his shoulders.
"I know you're not going to like what you're about to hear, but you came all the way here for it, so..." said Twilight, clearing her throat. "Here's how it all began."
For the next several minutes, Twilight explained how a long time ago, a group of young ponies called the Cutie Mark Crusaders discovered Cozy Glow near their clubhouse and helped her with a few Friendship Tests. In the time after, she had gotten to know the other students and seemed to make some friends. At some point or another she discovered a cave beneath the School of Friendship, which was connected to the Tree of Harmony. It turned out Cozy Glow was infiltrating the school the entire time, and she took advantage of everyone, even the ones who trusted her, looked up to her, treated her with nothing but kindness and never held any mistakes against her. She trapped Twilight and her friends in Tartarus and almost sent all the magic in Equestria to another dimension. Only with the Tree of Harmony's help did they stop her, and for her crimes she was thrown in Tartarus to spend the rest of her days with the monstrous centaur she was conspiring with - Lord Tirek.
Toasty listened to the story with disbelief, never asking any questions throughout. When Twilight paused, Toasty finally spoke up.
"N-no. That can't be. Not my Cozy Glow." Toasty uttered in horror and disbelief, holding her head with her fore hooves.
"It's true." Spike confirmed. "She used everybody for the sake of power, because she didn't seem to think friendship was worth anything else."
"I'll admit she always wanted strength in her friends." said Toasty, thinking back to her own life with her pegasus child. "But to seek power like that?"
"And that's just the beginning." Twilight mentioned formally.
Several more minutes went by, and Toasty heard of how an ally of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Discord, the Lord of Chaos, busted Cozy Glow out of Tartarus and teamed her up with the former changeling queen, Chrysalis, Lord Tirek and King Sombra. Under the guise of Grogar, Equestria's first emperor, he tried to build up the villains up as a powerful adversary to Twilight Sparkle as a way to boost the princess' confidence. Unfortunately, Sombra set out on his own and Cozy, Tirek and Chrysalis played Discord for a fool after he sent them to get Grogar's Bewitching Bell on Mount Everhoof. With the Bell's power, Cozy and her group almost conquered Equestria and nearly destroyed it's greatest defenders. But the magic of friendship and togetherness came through, and the villains' plans came crashing to a halt. Their punishment was quite severe.
"Severe?!" Toasty shrieked, trembling. "But she's just a kid!"
"In the face of her crimes, Cozy's age is irrelevant." Twilight said sternly. "Anyone with enough of a mind to commit atrocities against their own people must face the dire consequences of their actions."
"Still, you couldn't have sent her somewhere to get rehabilitated?" Toasty suggested, shedding tears.
"With a cunning brain like hers, I doubt any detention centre would get her under control." said Spike. "And going by your story about getting stuck in another world with cacosaurs, sending her to you was out of the question."
"For the safety of our world, what was done, plain and simply, had to be done." Twilight affirmed.
"Is Cozy still around?" Toasty asked, putting her fore hooves together again. "I want to see her."
"Of course she is." Twilight assured. "But..."
"But what?" Toasty asked.
"This next part is something you'll have to see to believe." said Twilight, scratching her head with her right fore hoof. Although she was in full agreement of Cozy's fate, she wasn't blind to the longing in Toasty's eyes. "She really means that much to you, doesn't she?"
"Absolutely! I was the only one there for Cozy Glow when nobody else was." Toasty replied, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Oh." Twilight said quietly. Toasty's words reminded the large alicorn of how she took care of Spike, a dragon who never met his parents and grew up among pony society.
"When she and I first met, she was wounded from an accident she had; that was the event that left her orphaned." Toasty started. In no time, she was reminiscing about some happy memories. "I took her in, helped her recover, taught her about creative thinking and mathematics and lived happily with her in the city. Every cold night, I would lay next to her and be her warmest blanket. Got her to sleep faster everytime. I don't understand how she could've used what she learned to commit all those terrible things, but wherever she is, she must need my warmth more than ever."
"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you." Spike commented in a deadpan tone, believing that Cozy was only waiting for an opportunity to return for revenge.
"What Spike means is that we have no idea what'll happen if we were to release her, given what she was doing just before her punishment." Twilight said, giving a quick, sharp look at Spike. "But don't worry, Toasty. I promise that you and Cozy shall be reunited. First thing's first, though, we need to make a call to the one who arranged Cozy's penalty: Discord." She then felt her own left fore hoof getting the silvery lilac unicorn's fore hooves wrapped around it.
"Thank you, Princess Twilight!" Toasty exclaimed with joy. "And i'll make sure to give her a talking to about the bad stuff she's done."
Toasty walked out of the throne room with Captain Gallus, and all of a sudden she felt weak again, nearly falling flat on her face.
"I think you're gonna need a walker, ma'am." Captain Gallus remarked, catching her.
"I could use a spot to lie down." said Toasty, weary from all her walking, now combined with the emotional stress she gained from hearing Twilight's explanations about Cozy Glow.
Later that day in the castle garden, Twilight was negotiating with Discord, a tall draconequus with yellow and red eyes of asymmetrical sizes, large eyebrows, a long fang sticking out of his upper lip, a flame-shaped beard growing out of his chin, a pony-like head with a deer antler and a goat horn on top, a lion's paw and an eagle's claw for hands, a goat's hoof and a lizard's foot for feet, and a serpentine dragon's tail with a white tuft of fur on the tip.
"Absolutely not!" Discord yelled, spreading his arms out with his hands wide open. "If that Toasty Blanket mare heard the stories and still wants that little demon out of my perfect, symbolic stone prison sculpture, she's a national crisis waiting to happen!"
"I was afraid you would have this attitude." Twilight said, gritting her teeth.
"The fact that she has the gall to demand a remorseless criminal's release is an offense in and of itself." said Discord, wagging the index finger on his eagle claw. "Send her to a detention centre before it's too late."
"I agreed to Toasty to have her reunited with Cozy, and it wouldn't be polite to deny her that." Twilight explained. "Besides, it's not like you'll have to reanimate the whole statue."
"Yeah, I know, i'm your guy for bringing stone statues back to life." Discord sarcastically remarked. "But wait, don't you and your friends have the Elements of Harmony? That'll work, just go and use that." He folded his arms and turned his back on Twilight.
"It's not my place to interfere with their busy lives for the sake of this one task!" Twilight snapped, putting her hoof down. "You're everywhere at once and never too busy with anything! I'm keeping a promise, and I require your cooperation!"
"How do you even know that this Toasty Blanket character isn't some kind of shady mastermind, coming to recruit Cozy Glow in a joint effort to rule the world?" Discord hypothesized.
"There's no proof against that." said Twilight. "Nor is there proof of it. You're no stranger to giving the benefit of a doubt, Discord. That's what Fluttershy gave you back in the day. You have my permission to do what you do if things go south, but until something like that occurs, give this poor mare a chance. Set Cozy free. Nobody deserves to be eternally separated from the ones they love."
"What are they gonna do for me, then?" Discord asked, turning his head slightly back towards the crowned alicorn.
"Those wise in friendship ask for no reward, no matter how much they may have earned it." Twilight answered, rolling her eyes. "Besides, you're the Lord of Chaos. What do you want?"
Just then, a rustling sound was heard in the bushes. Twilight and Discord paused for a moment.
"What was that?" Twilight whispered.
"I sense a presence." Discord stated. "It feels... not of this world. Whatever it is, though, it's not out for anybody."
"Then it's nothing to get distracted by." said Twilight. "Let's get down to business." Then she walked in a dignified manner.
"Yet." Discord mockingly muttered. He had a gut feeling that there was something of great concern in the future, and it wasn't just the imminent release of Cozy Glow.
Later that same day, as the sun got lower in the sky, Princess Twilight, Spike, Discord, Captain Gallus and Toasty Blanket had joined up in the middle of the castle garden's labyrinth.
"Ah, the labyrinth." said Discord, spreading his arms out. "This place gives me a sharp rush of nostalgia."
"I'll never forget that wild goose chase." Twilight added, remembering how obnoxious it was to get stuck in the labyrinth, watching her friends getting corrupted into exact opposite versions of themselves.
"Did you have a good nap, Ms. Blanket?" asked Captain Gallus.
"Yeah." Toasty answered, stretching. "I had a dream, though."
"It was about her, wasn't it?" Captain Gallus guessed.
"Yeah. I was in this room filled with crystals, and there was this giant magical ball, and before I knew it, I tripped and got pulled into it." Toasty explained. "But I didn't just trip. I was pushed... by Cozy. She and I looked each other in the eyes, I reached my hoof out to her... and she just circled around the bubble, laughing. Her eyes became like dots on giant balls of light, her mouth stretched unnaturally and she grew a disgusting amount of extra teeth. She lost her mind, and she didn't even acknowledge me. It was like... I was nobody that mattered to her."
"Whoa." Captain Gallus said, feeling uneasy. "Now i'm getting a sharp rush of nostalgia, and not the good kind."
"Well, it was just a nightmare. Everyone's subconcious goes wild while they sleep." Twilight remarked, trying to comfort Toasty. The explanation of her dream, however, unnerved the princess. She could sense that as much as the silvery lilac unicorn wanted her adopted daughter back, she as well feared how Cozy was going to react, even in her guardian's presence.
"Alright, enough talk about hopes and dreams." Discord said impatiently. "Let's open up the gates."
Twilight and Discord cast a magical spell that opened a portal in the middle of the ground. Something big, hard and chiseled rose from it in a veil of black and violet magic. Before too long it was standing tall in the middle of the garden labyrinth on full display. This was a statue of Equestria's most evil villains. Standing frightened with his hooves on the base was Lord Tirek. Flying next to him in a rage was Queen Chrysalis.
"Here we go, one symbolic villain statue, straight from Tartarus." said Discord with an air of pride in his voice and gestures. "Their poses were perfectly timed, if I do say so myself."
"My goodness, it's them." Toasty commented in surprise. She gazed up at the large stone sculpture. She seemed impressed, amazed even to see two of the deadliest menaces in the world turned to stone.
"You know, for a time I wasn't too big on turning creatures into stone, but after these three made a fool out of me, the Lord of Chaos, petrifying their sorry hides was nothing short of cathartic." Discord confessed. "I got the idea to place them at the core of Tartarus, to serve as an example for all of it's future prisoners."
As Discord went on, Toasty got a good look at the top of the statue and saw the third creature. Floating above the other two villains, gritting her teeth and holding her fore hooves up to her head in complete horror was Cozy Glow. Toasty, recognizing the solidified form of her long-lost child, let out of the most shocked and horrified gasp that any creature could let out. She swiftly put her right hoof to her chest as if her heart had been poisoned, and collapsed.
Toasty was only out for a minute before being awoken by Captain Gallus.
"Oh, thank Twilight." said the blue griffin in relief.
"COZY!" Toasty screamed, her eyes once again getting teary. "MY BABY, HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!?" She looked to the draconequus and reached a breaking point in her anger. "YOU SCUM!!!"
"Look lady, she was a power-hungry, destruction-worshipping little foal!" Discord retorted, indignantly. "What was I supposed to do, put her in a corner!?" A small, magical beam from the angry Toasty's horn came at him. Reacting quickly, he blocked it with his right hand.
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THIS FAR!" Toasty yelled, shooting another beam at Discord, only for it to be blocked, too. "SO WHAT IF SHE HAD A BAD ATTITUDE!? WAS SHE REALLY A THREAT ANYMORE WHEN YOU... WHEN YOU MADE HER INTO THIS!?" She held her right hoof out to the statue as tears flowed like rain down her face.
"Well, I don't think she had any plans to surrender." Discord stated. Then he was hit with something sharp that poked him in his right foot. It was Toasty forming magic around her horn that made it look a sharp blade, and striking Discord while avoiding his vision as he talked. He howled and jumped back.
"LET HER OUT THIS INSTANT!" Toasty demanded, her eyes having now turned red and her teeth gritting like mad. "LET HER OUT, OR I'LL MAKE YOU..."
"CALM YOURSELF, TOASTY!" Twilight called out. This was enough for Toasty to ease up. "The release of Cozy Glow shall go as planned. Discord, set her free." she said in her regular tone of voice.
"Just so you know, Toasty, i'm on to you." Discord said darkly. "And this will not look good for the statue. You do not get a good pose like that on purpose. Am I not right, princess?"
"Just do it!" Twilight yelled in a commanding, impatient volume.
"OK. But the moment she starts doing that sweet-talking routine with the overly saccharine face, i'm reverting her back." said Discord warningly. "I'm not going to be tricked by that twerp again." He took one more quick look at Toasty, who stared at Discord with a look that said "You better watch it, buddy."
"None of us are." Captain Gallus assured him.
"Well, this is it." said Spike. "I better have my guard up." He took a battle-ready stance, anticipating any sudden moves that Cozy might make when she's finally released.
Everyone looked at the statue. Discord looked at the petrified pegasus filly through a square made from his hands. Then he extended the little claw on his right hand, shooting a small bolt of lightning at Cozy. Twilight, Captain Gallus and Spike stared and stood cautiously as the smallest prisoner of the sculpture was enveloped in electric shocks. It began to crack. Toasty grew a look of worry and quickly covered her eyes as the cracks got bigger. Then at last, the stone surrounding the little pegasus exploded into countless pieces. Cozy Glow was restored to her regular self, pinkish gray with a curly, pale, light grayish arctic blue mane and tail, plus a red chess rook for a cutie mark. Maintaining her horrified expression, she noiselessly fell to the ground in front of the statue's base.
"Cozy!" Toasty squealed as she uncovered her eyes. She ran as fast as she could to the pegasus filly. She put her left fore hoof on her body and shook it a little. "Cozy, speak to me!" Then she rolled the little one over so that she was on her back, and she could look into her eyes.
Just like that, without warning, Cozy let out a great gasp. Her movements were frantic, and she kept inhaling and exhaling. "AH!" she yelped, frightened out of her mind. "WHERE AM I!? WHAT MOON ARE WE ON!? IS TWILIGHT SPARKLE PRINCESS!?"
"Cozy!" Toasty called out. "It's me!"
"NO, PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME!" Cozy shrieked. "I SURRENDER! I DON'T WANNA..."
"Please, come into my hooves!" Toasty demanded firmly.
Twilight, Spike and Captain Gallus looked on at Cozy like they were seeing something bizarre. Cozy Glow wasn't having a triumphant release from her stone prison, but instead, she seemed scared and confused. Discord looked at Cozy's current actions thinking "what is this all about?".
"Come here, little one." said Toasty, crying over the feeling of reuniting with her lost child, and expanding her fore hooves.
"PLEASE DON'T TIE ME DOWN AGAIN!" Cozy cried, crawling backwards on the ground. "GO AWAY! DON'T LET ME BACK IN THE DARK!"
"Relax, baby girl." Toasty said soothingly. She wrapped her hooves around the pinkish gray filly and held on tight, covering her up like a blanket. "You're going to be OK."
"AH!!!" Cozy screamed. "HELP! I CAN'T BREATHE!" Soon, her screaming was replaced with choking sounds. Tears rolled down her face and she coughed. "I DON'T WANNA... IT'S DARK... IT'S COLD... I'M SCARED..." she continued, until she slowed down, laid there and began to feel warmer. She felt a nice, comforting sensation that was familiar to her. Her anxiety began to mellow, and her breathing relaxed until it was barely audible. She nestled in quietly and remained motionless for a quarter of a minute.
Now in a calmer state, Cozy looked up at the pony who was giving her that pleasant embrace. "Mama?" she said, recognizing the adult unicorn hugging her tightly.
"Sorry I kept you waiting." said Toasty kindly.
"You came for me." Cozy murmured. "You remembered me." She put her left hoof up to Toasty's face.
"I'd never forget the filly I raised as my own." Toasty stated lovingly. "I thought of you every single day for the past many moons."
The silvery lilac unicorn and pinkish gray pegasus had a deeply affectionate hug, sharing a tender, wholesome moment between adoptive mother and adoptive daughter. Twilight, Spike and Captain Gallus looked on at the two, realizing that what they were witnessing was true familial love. Discord watched on in surprise.
"This was unexpected." the draconequus spoke under his breath. He felt dissatisfied that he got caught off-guard again by Cozy anyway, though not in the way he predicted.
A moment later, Toasty and Cozy released each other. The former turned to Twilight and Discord.
"Thank you for letting me see my little girl again." said Toasty, bowing before the princess.
"Thank you for setting me free." said Cozy in genuine gratitude. "I was all alone in a cold, black limbo. I've never felt more fear in my life. And golly, how much time has passed?"
"Quite a number of moons have gone by since your imprisonment." Twilight confirmed. "Equestria has changed. A lot."
"Remember me?" Captain Gallus asked, turning Cozy's attention to him.
"Gallus?" Cozy presumed, recognizing the blue colour of the armoured griffin. "You're all grown up."
"So are all the other kids from the School of Friendship." Captain Gallus mentioned.
"Oh, why did I ever think being a villain was "cool"?" Cozy moaned, showing regret. "I got made into a monument, and everyone I ever knew has come of age without me."
"Speaking of which..." said Toasty. Her soft, motherly smile became a stern frown as she focused her gaze on her daughter. "We have some catching up to do, Cozy. I want a word with you about... what you've been doing in my absence."
"They've told you, huh?" Cozy guessed softly. "I understand. I'm ready for whatever punishment i'll receive." She looked back at the others. Twilight, Spike and Captain Gallus, all smiling, gestured Toasty and Cozy to go ahead and deal with their family business, while Discord, with a neutral expression, pointed his right claws to his eyes, and then to Toasty and Cozy.
Toasty Blanket and Cozy Glow walked into the labyrinth, intending to leave the garden. The former ignited the magic in her horn and disappeared from sight in a flash of light with the latter.
In the hedge walls, some figures were watching the events undetected. It was the dragon girl, griffin girl and yak boy from earlier that were playing with the Crystal Ball.
"If Discord planned to keep those lowlives as a statue, why not smash it to pieces?" said the dragon girl. "Can you believe this, Duster?"
"I have a feeling it's because he had a little pity for Little Miss Sunspot." Duster, the griffin girl, assumed. "Great big adults wouldn't shatter a child, Scrape. But other children could. Wouldn't you say, Rolly?"
"Rolly want to see how fast cute pegasus can fly." said Rolly, the yak boy.
"Well, i'll be darned if we let that little beast walk around and stir up trouble with her suspect relative." Scrape, the dragon girl, declared. "It's up to us to expose them for what they are, and have them sent to Tartarus together." Duster and Rolly nodded in agreement.
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Are Tirek and Chrysalis going to play a role in this story too?
honestly, I doubt she had an easy time in Tartus wouldn't be surprised if she had PTSD for her accident and her time in the cage and stone
maybe there more ponies like cozy glow? I just think of starlight glimmer village and her path that started it at such a young age
"
Good job, Twilight, this is your teaching.
Cozy Glow was not wrong, friendship is like religion here, you are OK if you want to be friends with her, but you get killed or tortured if you don't want.
While This story does have a lot going for it, there are a lot of things holding it back. There are a few grammar issues here and there, along with one of the most severe cases of lavender unicorn syndrome and purple prose I've ever seen. You don't need to describe every single character in intricate detail, especially the ones we already know.
Second, the plot seems a little rushed. Things go by a little too quickly and easily. This is compounded by some characters being OOC (out of character). Discord is far too serious. He needs to be a bit more comically annoying. As for Cozy, while the initial panic is believable, I have a hard time believing her second reaction. There are a lot of possible reactions I could expect, but genuine remorse is not one of them even with her mother figure present.
Overall, I just can't get into this. However, it's considered disrespectful to leave a downvote on a story without explaining why. Thus, I have explained the problems in the hope that it will help you improve in the future.
I agree with the points the guy below me raised, but I do want to know the rest of the story. Please don't leave us hanging!
9965685
I feel that this one falls squarely upon Princess Celestia and her own methods of ruling Equestria. As revealed in a post by Faust, she had the power to release Luna from the Moon since DAY ONE, yet choose to leave her trapped for 1000 years, plus there is the fact that pretty much EVERYTHING regarding Lunas' fall to darkness was all Celestias' own damn fault; and as revealed in the series premiere she is not sorry for doing it at all to her only family.
Great start to an interesting story. I do hope you plan to come back to it someday. As far as I know, this is the first looking into Cozy’s past, be it canon or not.