It was a major shake-up for most ponies: the loss of magic from Equestria. But for Cozy Glow, it just meant swapping her enchanted stone prison for a normal ball-and-chain one. Besides, that was ten years ago. What does she care of the humbled world outside? Or that it just delivered her an uppity new cellmate?
Luster Dawn cares. A lot. It's why she's here.
(Takes place between The Last Problem and Gen 5. AU Tag because these events are probably gonna get invalidated by canon someday.)
Second place winner of the 3rd Annual Cozy Glow Short Story Contest, double-dipping prompts with "Cozy's got a secret!" and "Cozy makes an unusual friend."
Chapters (5)
The cover looks nice
.............
what
WHAT???
Harmony crystals? what the hell is that?
OOOOOOH
They are called the Unity crystals.
Not Harmony crystals
Im so comfused right now.
What the hell is happening.
What the hell happened 10 years ago?
Ok
This ( I call ) virus is deadly to alicorns, but what makes it bad to unicorns?
I don't get it
11374214
i think the Virut is the name only, it affect everything
i guess the "name" is that virut first seen on Alicorn
She got out! Huzzah!
Good Job writing Cozy Glow by the way.
No emotional outbursts, and very few slip ups.
It felt like meeting Season 8 Cozy Glow all over again.
11374214
It affects all magic. As the ones who use it the most, Alicorns and Unicorns are the most in danger.
Huh. Where’d I read that before?
Hopefully they won't recapture Cozy Glow, ever. It's a shame that these characters devolved into such cruel people over the years.
11374209
Aw jeez, How did neither I nor my prereader catch that? Edited.
11374325
Some stories feature dueling geniuses. This story is about dueling actresses. Cozy's greatest adversary is, of course, another pony pulling the same tricks she does.
This is really good. I like it.
There are, however, a few typos here and there. You have to capitalize the word “Miss” when it’s used as a title, you have to add a coma before addressing someone someone by name or title (”Nice to see you, Warden”) and a few other things I’ve noticed.
But overall, this was a well-written story. Your descriptions were my favorite part, especially the whole the-cell-has-twelve-paces thing (especially how it’s at the beginning of three chapters). Though I do have a question: how many years after “The Last Problem” does this occur?
11374436
I burned five hours of midnight oil to finish this fic. You're right the wordage came out sloppy, so I just performed a re-read to fix all the grammar mistakes I could find. Lack of sleep is its own form of Destabilization Syndrome.
As for this fic's timeline, I was wanted open-ended wiggle room to fit it between The Last Problem and Gen 5. Alicorns have long lifespans, so "young" Warden Flurry Heart could realistically be any age. I did cast Luster in her early thirties though. That means she made the Unity Crystals around age twenty. Five or six years after we meet her in the show.
11374562
I see. Thanks for telling me.
To ’Favorite Adventures’ this goes!
Cozy Glow always finds a way to win at the end. Even gave Luster the solution to her problem even after discovering the ruse.
Go cozy! I’ve never seen the Gen 5 movie so I don’t know if those crystals are an actual thing or what they exactly do but I have a feeling this story bridges both gens pretty nicely.
She's ALSO a hit podcast host.
One chapter in and we're already flashing all your favorite headcanons- Giving ponies full names never ceases to amuse me.
First guess- Equestrian version of Sweet Tooth. Magic users, or at least alicorns, are dying out of a strange magic-borne sickness, leading Lustre to create some new breed of ponies who forgo magic entirely. Its a society-changing, SCP foundation solution, which is why i doubt its the case- your stories rarely rise to that level- but its the hat I'm throwing in. You and I have both already written countless stories treating the shift to G5 like a cosmic horror story.
Which is why she spends an entire paragraph thinking on two words. Like mentor like student.
Flashbacks to the Them series. There is indeed a sickness, and canon tells me Lustre will fail in her task.
Not the best at swearing, huh?
I've failed to comment on it thus far, but I like the idea that Cozy is... brittler than she once was. I could assume it to be some metaphor for her current condition, but I don't know WHAT her condition is- most likely she was broken out for good behavior.
The Crystal Empire is dead, Alicorns are dying, and society as a whole is indeed being reshaped as we speak. Equestria itself looks to be on the slow decline towards the stone age, to shakily rise back to something resembling its old heights by the time G5 rolls around.
I commend you for this route. Its a surprise from you.
"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it."
My instinct is, of course, to compare this to as much as possible. Sweet Tooth, Lord of the Rings, Them- but this is YOUR story. And it makes me feel relieved I never wrote my Assassin Cozy Glow story, one that could never match up to this art piece.
A morbid part of me loves stories about societal collapse- not only quick and apocalyptic, but agonizingly slow, that make the characters realize what is going to happen and prepare for it. Here we get a story set after a long utopia for Equestria, brought crashing down by elements outside their control, and our once happy characters falling apart- save the one who had already fallen apart, and is now feeling fuller than ever. Cozy, like a Hannibal Lectre character should, forcibly wrenched the flow of the story around her until her escape became the primary priority higher than saving the world. She forced herself into the main character spot and leaves Lustre, who once thought herself a protagonist, to fumble with fate for another few years or so until we reach the inevitable conclusion- one where Xenophobia returns, cities and towns crumble, and Equestria once again becomes a collection of small racially divided towns who refuse to talk to each other.
Much like the period between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, we know the last story and the next one have happy endings. What it forces us to confront is the idea that no happy ending lasts forever- and between those brief utopias, people who may have been very different were it not for chance suffer.
caught a typo, luster dawn mentions earth ponies twice when talking about the crystals
11374213
Allow me to explain.
Ten years ago, a disease known as Destabilization Syndrome spread across the land. It affected Alicorns first and was very dangerous. To cure it, Luster Dawn decided it would be better to suppress all magic in Equestria, and thus created the Harmony Crystals. When magic disappeared, Cozy Glow’s stone prison fell, so they transferred her to Manehattan Penitentiary in a padded cell.
When magic disappeared, the Crystal Empire succumbed to the frozen north since the Crystal Heart stopped working. Flurry Heart lost her kingdom and title as princess. Hence, why she’s so resentful of Lustrt and calls her “antimagic mare”.
Does that help?
No it wasn't. Cozy's end goal was to manipulate people into making her rule Equestria, and she removed magic only to lock the Mane6 in Tartarus. And, of course, also get rid of all that overpowered stuff which could be used to overthrow her overthrow in a moment.
So I hope it isn't one of the strawman apologetic fics and you have a completely different character under the name Cozy Glow. Oh wait, it is even Cozetta Glasgow, as if for some unknown reason ponies must follow the naming conventions you meet in real life.
11375291
Me? Portray Cozy as a misunderstood heroine? Perish the thought. Of course she’s a delusional egomaniac. So delusional she’ll lie to herself and say she’s perfectly happy being “retired.” No worries, this fic is about Cozy rediscovering how much she loves freedom and manipulating people.
You’re under no obligation to read it, of course. Just wanted to reassure you so you don’t walk away disappointed.
As for the “Cozetta” mention, it was a cheap way to foreshadow that Warden Flurry Heart has scared Cozy into submission. Like a misbehaving child who knows things are serious when the parent uses their full name.
Omg I can't wait for the next chapter!
11375483
Then I'll see to it.
Though average Cozy apologetic is not about her being good, but about her being not evil enough to deserve her punishments. Like, you know, a lost lonely orphan filly who got manipulated into Tirek's revenge plan and totally did not yell "FRIENDSHIP IS POWER!!!" like crazy to explain her motivation. Don't even know now how did I took changing her goal for a sign of this.
11375574
Hey, you see how this story is marked "Complete", and has been since it was uploaded?
Not bad.
11375668
eeyup
11375623
Well the punishment remains possibly overly cruel and completely stupid.
Petrifying someone forever make little sense when you have alternatives... they can be depetrified... So if they were aware they have probably gone full crazy otherwise they are just EXACTLY like they were before being petrified... Now... If you want it as a permanent solution just behead them. [or break the statues in itty bitty pieces]
great story! Cozy Glow is the only interesting character. She's the best pony!
Heck, maybe Cozy will found some far-off city, call it Zephyr Heights, and declare herself Queen as the last flying pegasus.
This was a fun read, I liked the idea that magic had to be sealed away for behaving almost like some form of plague. As well as the understandably mixed feelings all would have about that, even if it was for their own good.
Also, I really enjoyed the way Luster was written: sharp, but not a cardboard cutout of Twilight. She actually pulled off that deception pretty well and wound up getting Cozy to tell her exactly what she needed to know.
Great story, thank you for writing it
xD jajaja!!!