Love and Light

by Princess Starflight

Chapter 1

Cozy Glow was having the worst day of her life.

Ponies and other creatures were passing by her statue, as usual. Some gawked. Some felt empathy. And some took pictures. To be honest, Cozy liked being the center of attention. But she couldn’t move AT ALL. And not everypony was nice. Sometimes, angry fillies threw food at her and her frenemies. Hey, team up with two of the worst villains in Equestria and BAM, suddenly you’re paralyzed and humiliated forever.

She could hear Chrysalis and Tirek’s thoughts. Oh yes, we certainly are two of the worst villains in Equestria. And we can do things. But you’re just a little filly, and nopony’s afraid of you, Chrysalis was thinking.

Shut up. You're just burnt cheese! Cozy responded.

Then you're a salmon.

At least I can do something, unlike cheese!

At least ponies don’t eat me.

Ponies do eat cheese!

Not burnt cheese.

SHUT UP, you two! Tirek interrupted the argument. I’m getting a headache from all your complaining!

Talk about complaining, Cozy said.

You’re complaining right now, Tirek answered.

Well, at least I’m not sunburned everywhere like a certain beef boy I know.

Cozy smirked in her mind at Tirek’s silent rage. But her smugness soon faded, as she realized Tirek hadn’t gone silent because he was angry...it was because of something else. She followed Tirek’s mental gaze and almost gasped, despite being made of stone.

It was an alicorn, standing two feet away from the statue. Not that annoying Twilight Sparkle; this alicorn had a pinkish-white fur color with purple, blue, and pink curls. Her clear eyes were blue as well, and Cozy saw a look of determination on this alicorn’s face.

A terrible thought occurred to Cozy. Was this alicorn princess going to crush her statue to dust?! No, no, that couldn’t happen. It just couldn’t!

“Cozy Glow.” The alicorn addressed Cozy, who was filled with dread. “I’ve come to rescue you from your stone prison. I believe you deserve another chance, and you only.”

What? What does she mean, “you only?” came the thoughts of Tirek.

Stupid ponies, Chrysalis hissed. I’m going to blast her as soon as sh-

Suddenly, the alicorn raised her horn. She pointed it at Cozy, and a yellow blast of magic hit her in the face. Cozy Glow yelped.

Wait, what? Cozy couldn’t have been able to yelp as she was paralyzed. But…

Cozy’s mind processed what the hay was going on. Was the alicorn…freeing her? That would be the only explanation…and she started to feel the coldness of stone melting away, slowly but surely. Before she knew it, Cozy Glow was actually free.

“Ahh!” Cozy hit the ground hard and groaned. “Ow…”

The alicorn’s solemn look immediately disappeared. She jumped up and down three times. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes! I can’t believe the spell worked! I’ve gotta tell Mom, Aunt Twilight, and-”

She faltered when she realized Cozy was still there. “Oh…right. First things first. Cozy, I’m Flurry Heart. It’s nice to-”

“Flurry Heart? Isn’t she, like, a foal or something? I mean, you.”

“Uh, no, that was twelve years ago.” Flurry shifted uncomfortably.

“Twelve years ago...? I’ve been trapped in stone for more than a decade?! It only felt like a few months, tops!”

“Yes, but good news! You aged about half the speed that normal fillies age, so now we’re the same age, heheh!”

Cozy was in shock. Then her shock turned to fear. Flurry Heart seemed pretty friendly now, but Cozy knew how powerful alicorn magic was. After all, Flurry had just released her from stone a minute ago.

“W-what are you going to do with me? Why didn’t you crush my statue to dust? Are you going to kill me now that I’m made out of pony stuff instead of stone, so you can make it more violent?”

“What?! No! Why the hay would I do something like that?! Your mind is so dark,” Flurry exclaimed.

“Then…why did you free me?” Cozy said quietly. Despite herself, she had begun to cry silently. She missed her momma. She missed the School of Friendship. Mostly, she missed being a regular filly, an innocent filly. Deep in her heart, she knew she wasn’t really meant to be evil, but that little feeling was covered up by years of sadness and fear and anger.

Flurry sensed Cozy’s emotions. She might’ve looked twelve on the outside, but on the inside she was still a lost and scared filly, needing somepony’s friendship. So Flurry said, “Cozy, listen. I know you were a villain and I can agree that your past was not very pretty, but some ponies can change. Like Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, Discord, Trixie, Tempest Shadow…well, you get the idea. I have a feeling that there’s still hope for you. So….” Flurry extended a hoof to Cozy. “Cozy Glow, do you accept my friendship?”

Cozy looked at Flurry for a while. Could she really trust somepony like this? She knew Flurry could easily blast her if she wanted to, or even worse, turn her back to stone. And it had been so long since she had trusted anypony.

But what better choice did she have? If Flurry was being honest, she actually wanted to help Cozy become a better pony. And maybe it was because Cozy hadn’t gotten one since the School of Friendship, but Flurry Heart’s kind smile seemed genuine. And Cozy hadn’t ever had a real friend…

So she smiled back at Flurry and said, “I do.” Instead of taking the alicorn’s hoof, Cozy Glow pulled Flurry into a hug. When she pulled away, she was worried that Flurry didn’t like hugs. But her uneasiness disappeared when the princess smiled and returned the hug.

“So…now what?” Cozy asked.

Flurry smiled. “Now it’s time to meet somepony.”

---

Diamond Tiara was having a picnic with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And she was not enjoying it.

“Y’all want some more apples?” Apple Bloom asked, holding a barrel full of apples. How could there possibly be more? Diamond had already eaten more than a hundred of those cursed apples. Not that they tasted bad, but Diamond felt like vomiting. She was so full, she didn’t have room for anything else, not even water.

“Uh, no thanks,” Scootaloo said.

“I’ll pass,” said Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t want to make you starve, Apple Bloom,” Diamond said. “But thanks for your generosity.”

“Oh, girls, we have a million more apples to share!” Apple Bloom said happily. “Besides, y’all are helpin’ by eating our apples. We have way too many to eat and sell!”

Scootaloo gagged. Sweetie looked away, and Diamond grimaced.

“Why are y’all doin’ that? Somethin’ wrong with the apples?” Apple Bloom said.

“Uh…it’s not that, just, well,” Scootaloo said. She looked at Diamond and Sweetie with a help help help! expression.

“Um…” Diamond started to say, but just then, the ponies heard a noise. They turned around and were met with a dirty-looking Flurry Heart and a scratched and filthy...Cozy Glow?

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened to the size of an apple. “Cozy Glow?! Flurry Heart, what the hay are ya doin’ with one of Equestria’s worst villains?!”

Sweetie Belle screamed. “Ahh! Cozy Glow’s back! She’s going to attack us! She’s going to attack Flurry! Equestria will fall! And I’ll never taste an apple again! AHHH!”

Cozy’s ears drooped. “Actually…”

“Sweetie Belle, calm down! I freed Cozy Glow, and she’s a good pony now! I took her here to meet Diamond Tiara, and I think she’d like to say something to you, Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Flurry Heart said.

Diamond Tiara eyed Cozy. She looked innocent enough, but wasn’t she known for her manipulation and deception? She decided to hear what Cozy had to say, but not let her guard down.

Cozy Glow’s eyes were darting around nervously. “Flurry, do I really have to talk to them? They probably hate me for manipulating them all those years ago,” she said.

“I’m sure they’ll have the heart to forgive you once you apologize,” Flurry assured her.

Cozy took a deep breath. “I-I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry for using you and taking our friendship for granted. I understand if you don’t ever want to talk to me again. I was a terrible pony, and I still am.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Diamond Tiara looked at Cozy for a few seconds. Then Apple Bloom spoke up. “It’s okay, Cozy. Ah forgive you.”

Cozy’s head shot up in surprise. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Is it seriously that simple? Am I actually forgiven, just like that?”

“Yep!”

“I forgive you too,” Sweetie said.

“Me too,” Scootaloo agreed.

“But why? There’s no reason to think I’m not manipulating you right now, though I’m pretty sure I’m not,” Cozy said. Then she slapped her face with her hoof. “Oh, golly. That sounded so stupid.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re manipulating anypony right now. Or else you wouldn’t say what you just said,” Flurry said.

“True.” Cozy smiled.

“So, wanna be friends again?” Apple Bloom said. She and the Cutie Mark Crusaders held out their hooves.

“I’d love to.” Cozy Glow shook their hooves and hugged them. Diamond smiled. It made her happy to see the girls together again.

After the hugging, Cozy Glow turned to Diamond Tiara. “Hi, I don’t think I know you,” she said.

“I’m Diamond Dazzle Tiara, but you can call me Diamond or Diamond Tiara,” Diamond said.

“Oh, okay. So why did you think I should meet Diamond?” Cozy asked Flurry.

“I’ve heard from the Cutie Mark Crusaders that Diamond was a bully when they were fillies. Uh, no offense, Diamond.”

“None taken.”

Flurry continued. “According to the CMC, Diamond Tiara had similar experiences to you, Cozy. So I thought it would be nice for you to meet somepony who understands you, and share your experiences.”

“That sounds great,” Cozy said. “But I’m not sure I want to share what evil things I did and how I did them.”

“That’s okay, I’ll share first,” Diamond said. “So…before I ‘reformed,’ I was a big bully. Everypony hated me and feared me. I liked to bully the Cutie Mark Crusaders mostly, because their reactions were so silly.”

“Very different experience from mine,” Cozy said. “Everypony loved me before they found out about my evil plan.”

“Oh, really? Well, I was more of a pony who shared her ‘evil plans.’ Everypony was too scared of me to tell an adult pony anyway,” Diamond said. “I was technically the boss of the school. Everypony listened to me rather than Ms. Cheerilee.”

“Oh! Ha, me too! Twilight left me in charge of a ton of things, and the ponies were so easy to manipulate,” Cozy said with a smirk. “Not that I would manipulate anypony right now,” she added quickly.

“We know you wouldn’t,” Diamond said.

“So can you tell me what you did to other ponies? I really wanna know!” Cozy Glow said eagerly.

Diamond smiled slightly. “Okay. One time, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were helping Pipsqueak become class president. It was working, and I was not happy about that. So I told everypony about how I was rich and could ‘help’ them do anything with my money. Of course, ponies were afraid of me, but about half of the class voted for Pip. I think it was because the Cutie Mark Crusaders were there, but anyway, I lost by only one vote. I realized my best friend Silver Spoon didn’t vote for me because I yelled at her. And I was so mad, I screamed and ran off.”

“What happened next?” Cozy asked, leaning closer.

Just then, Flurry Heart cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think I’d better tell my parents and Aunt Twilight about Cozy. Don’t worry! I’ll tell them about your reformation and stuff,” she said. “Gotta go, see you!”

“Okay,” the girls said as Flurry flew off.

“I better get going too. I might be late for Silver Spoon’s tea party,” Diamond said. “I’m sorry. We’ll continue the story next time, Cozy.”

“Oh…okay!” Cozy said. “Bye!”

“Guess it’s just us now,” said Scootaloo.

“Oh well, four ponies is still good for a picnic,” Sweetie said.

“Y’all still want those apples?” Apple Bloom asked.

“No thank you!!!” the girls exclaimed in unison.

Author's Note:

I hope you like the first chapter of my first fanfiction. 💕

Comments

[Starlight Glimmer1]

Sweetie Belle screamed. “Ahh! Cozy Glow’s back! She’s going to attack us! She’s going to attack Flurry! Equestria will fall! And I’ll never taste an apple again! AHHH!”

I’d say this is the overreaction of the century but we all saw how the Earth Ponies reacted to Izzy.

[AllenVth]

Now this is real harmony, giving Cozy Glow a chance after the big bad have been defeated. We all know that Flurry is OP.

Also, Cozy Heart? Is Flurry really thinking of marrying Cozy?

[Starlight Glimmer1]

10973445
Cozy Heart is the name of the ship.

[zx29b]

Dang, Cozy's reformation was more instantaneous than Luna's.

[Princess Starflight]

11005471
Yyyyyyyyeah...

I was lazy, so I rushed I always like to rush to the big part, so uhm......sorry about that

[hmaf43]

i see, a deadbeat cozy.