• Published 25th Sep 2022
  • 872 Views, 28 Comments

Cozy’s New Friend - DeathToPonies



Cozy Glow’s first day of school is dampened by a weird girl who won’t leave her alone and insists on becoming friends.

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[Meta] Author's Notes and Image Credits

Author's Note:

An "Atahsaia" is a cannibalistic demon that eats skin. The inspiration was Skinwalkers, but I wanted a more mystical type name that could also be shortened into a real name (Saia).

When brainstorming the Cozy Glow contest, I initially didn't want to do an origin story. I feel like they're overplayed - it's super tempting to try and come up with motivations and reasoning behind one of the most left-field reveals of the show. In the end, I came up with a really interesting idea that not only explains the villany, but also Twilight's immediate dismissal of her first to Tartarus and then to a stone prison without question.

I hope you enjoyed. Also, if you’ve read this far, did you notice what I did with the eye colors?

The monster was generated by Dall-E mini. Here is the full list of image credits:

https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2047727?q=cozy+glow%2C+vector
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2509958?q=filly%2C+excited%2C+vector
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/1798780?q=school+of+friendship%2C+background
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/1689266?q=school+of+friendship%2C+screencap
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2579684?q=filly%2C+base
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2846578?q=cozy+glow%2C+vector
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/1689277?q=school+of+friendship%2C+screencap
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/298751?q=filly%2C+smiling%2C+vector
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/1858779?q=mean+twilight%2C+death%2C+screencap
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2793054?q=cozy+glow%2C+screencap%2C+confused
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/1195673?q=room%2C+background
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2784472?q=cozy+glow%2C+cute%2C+screencap
https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2516418?q=school+of+friendship%2C+background

Comments ( 21 )

So Golly wasn't the real Golly after all? That's an interesting take (even though I prefer her to be a regular pony).

11374372
As explained in the author’s notes, my goal was explaining a reason that not only would she be sent to Tartarus, but Twilight wouldn’t even want to consider it. They even extended a hoof to Chrysalis in season 6, and Cozy was presumably just a filly.

11374399
Check out the following author’s notes!

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

They sound similar to "Skinwalkers", which is also from native folklore of the region.

11374426
Correct! Those monsters were the inspiration for this story, but I wanted an exotic sounding name that could also be shortener into a more normal name.

Welp if you're going to explain away Cozy Glow's punishment, this was the best way to do it.

I'm surprised it didn't just jump ship to a more powerful body though.

Actually how would it's shtick work without magic anyway?:unsuresweetie:

11374484
11374563

This monster’s goal is to rule. Given it’s speech right before eating Cozy, it understands the strange power friendship seems to have in Equestria (even surpassing magic on several occasions in the show). This is in line with Cozy in School Raze, who seems to see friendship as a “power” she needs to harness in order to rule Equestria. This is also in line with Cozy’s first appearance with the CMC, as well as in What Lies Beneath - learning more about friendship for her own benefit, and finding the location of a source of power to drain Equestria of natural magic.

11374571
True. But wouldn't it still need to feed or something? Can it still utilize it's skin swapping abilities without magic?

It's a quandary. Either way good story. Some pretty awful implications though.

Twilight failed to protect her students by letting a literal demon into her school.

She also covered up it's existence, ensuring that it's species would continue to be a threat to other ponies.

11374681
Disclaimer - I’m spitballing here. None of this was in my original notes (as unfortunately this story itself was a bit of a rush job!)

>Why doesn’t it change forms? Doesn’t it need to?

The eating is not some kind of need for survival, its similar to a changeling. It’s not entirely skin “swapping”, as it needs to devour its victims. As for why it never switched off Cozy? It may have feared the full might of Equestria (which is, in canon, what it took to take it down). Despite its grotesque appearance, this creature is not rabid or insane - it is cold and calculating, aiming for Equestrian domination as the Empress of Friendship. It chose Cozy because she was a bitter orphan with no connections who was already making enemies for herself, and would believably desire to learn more about friendship.

>Why did Twilight hide this?

The story implies she and Celestia discovered the monster’s true nature at the end of School Raze. Twilight’s school was new - letting an actual demon slip into the school would have destroyed her credibility. Thinking a public excecution too harsh, they instead sent it to Tartarus, not expecting to ever have to deal with it again. When it returned, Twilight and the princesses took no chances, killing (petrifying) on sight.

11374754
They WOULDN’T be happy - exactly why they kept it a secret. We can assume other major leaders like Discord and Luna knew, since they were a part of who turned Cozy to stone. The only real defense here I have is that this creature is so terrifying that they simply did not want anypony to even consider their existence.

If it helps your headcanon, maybe after this incident, Discord went on a multi dimensional search to find and neutralize every single one as part of the cover up, out of a paranoia to protect Fluttershy! That way, they could be sure the issue would never come up again. Of course, if this was a movie franchise, this is where we’d get that after credits scene of the egg hatching…

By the way, I have to seriously thank you and 11374484 and 11374563 . I’ve never had such a lore intensive discussion in the comments - while this is really exciting to me that I’ve created a story people want to talk about, it’s also helping me realize that, even under a crunch, I should focus more on these bigger picture elements. You guys are making me want to make a follow up to this random one-shot just to answer any plot holes.

11374851

You guys are making me want to make a follow up to this random one-shot just to answer any plot holes.

Honestly I would love to see a horror sequel to this. I don't expect it, but it would be pretty cool.

And maybe if the truth came out, the orginal Cozy Glow can get her name cleared.

It's kinda of sad, that the people who knew her, think a genuinely innocent filly to be this awful monster.

11374878
Personally, what I think is even sadder is how Cozy had just time enough to think she had genuinely found a much needed friend...just before said "friend" literally ate her alive. One can only hope it was quick enough that Cozy didn't have the chance to realize the betrayal.

11375035
Too late to do anything about that sadly. Unless they bust out a time travel spell.

that creepy book but great book

i like saia if she normal but no monster

11375057
she’s actually a recolor of an apple family member!

https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2509958?q=filly%2C+excited%2C+vector

it’s a cute character for sure ^_^

11375057
It's even sadder, because the implication is that she was a normal filly at some point, and then this thing took her skin.

11375493
you weren't kidding she was good characters and now thing kill her

11378035 cool story also I think that twilight should find out what happened to the real cozy and give cozy the peace that she deserves

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