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Idyll


T

It had been nearly a decade since Cozy Glow was freed from the binds of her petrification. Still at large, and at the tail end of a visit to Kludgetown, she stumbles across a battered up filly who had just escaped some nasty creatures.

Chapters (20)
Comments ( 114 )

So how is this not an AU? Putting aside there's no way that this is Luster's backstory, Cozy being freed just adds to it. Should be fun to watch though.

Comment posted by MatTheBook deleted Jun 5th, 2023

Seems pretty good so far

We’re not even talking storm bucks, we’re talking bits—offered by the Crystal Empire! I can handle trouble, but I don’t know why I even bothered to come back for you! Hmph!” She turned her head, inadvertently revealing red spots caused by Luster’s prodding.

Its pages detailed Cozy’s various defeats—all vandalized by highlights, ‘corrections’, and crude scribbles, with such maturity as giving the heroes potbellies, angry eyebrows, and marking out the ‘lurry He” in Princess Flurry Heart’s name, in—every—single—page! Even though the technical quality of the scribbles was actually pretty impressive, Luster’s face held a constant expression of an unimpressed ‘really?’ This was the first time she’d read about the stories that passed from beak to muzzle around her old dorm, but if she had to read another Cozy-written paragraph ‘proving’ Twilight’s hypocrisy, her eyes would probably roll out of her sockets.

Look like this Cozy is hiding something. When she talks about her bounty, she talks about the Bits offer from the Crystal Empire but does not mention Equestria. That means for some reason Crystal Empire wants her head more than Equestria. Cozy is also hates Flurry Heart, they might have some history with each other given that Cozy and Flurry Heart never meet in Cozy pre-stoned time

I'm sure that with time, Cozy will earn Luster's trust. After all, Luster has no one else to depend on, Glad to see Cozy to have several tricks up her hooves.

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I'm not sure if this count as AU, everything in here happened after the finale, and no event in the story so far does not match the show information.
Luster Dawn and Flurry Heart? we know nothing about them. Cozy Glow also didn't appear in the future so we also don't know her fate too

Interesting take on Luster here, and Cozy. I wonder who Cozy has connections with because she clearly does. I quite like this so far and would love to see more.

This was the first time she’d read about the stories that passed from beak to muzzle around her old dorm, but if she had to read another Cozy-written paragraph ‘proving’ Twilight’s hypocrisy, her eyes would probably roll out of her sockets.

Well, Twilight is kind of a hypocrite

“What in Tartarus possessed you to do any of that?! That cloak was a birthday gift, and costs more than everything you’ve ever made in your entire life—put together!”

I wonder who gave it to her.

I feel like I know what Cozy was going to end her sentence with: "How will Discord handle that Fluttershy will die one day"?
Pretty damn funny that she implicated Flurry in having a crush on Cozy. The fandom is strong in this one.

At this point I do believe that Cozy has adopted Flurry. she even prepared a pamphlet for her, and that's not to talk to Luna!

What’s the violence tag for?

Quite an escape, I wonder if Georgia will be expanded upon?

“You idiots are going to make sure all the young creatures in this facility are safely evacuated out of here! I don’t care where, and I don’t care how! If I don’t hear about a massive in-surge of escapees in the papers, as Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire, I will have both of your conscious, petrified remains thrown to Sea of Clouds—where this rathole dumps all their trash! Tell that to everyone who gets in your way! Got it!”

Nice, cover the track.
I have a feeling when Cozy threatens them with petrification instead of death is because Cozy have been through this before and she think this is worse than death

“Sooo, we should probably finish this before Fluttershy runs out of tea!”

Better do it quiet and fast before Equestria Global Police Element of Harmony notice some powerful Magic happening in KTown

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Mostly to be safe, I don't trust myself to gauge whether something is violent but I did describe Luster's injuries and a Kludgetown sweatshop...
I intend to keep it (mostly) lighthearted

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Added an AU tag. My reasoning was that they never showed Luster's parents or Cozy's fate afterwards, but the tag does aid with a general gist of what people are in for

Another great chapter! I really like how clever Cozy is here, somehow getting that artifact and preparing for any attacks be it from Crystal Empire troops or Discord. I'm really excited to see what comes next.

Skimming through the tags of the many folders, she levitated the few that piqued her interest, and flipped through each one. With only occasional dwellings, it only took a minute before she filtered out around twenty of the documents that went straight into her satchel.

I wonder what those are. Maybe info on Luster?

"I’m Princess Flurry Heart! I’m not stupid like some griffon, or mule, or,” her eyes searched the room, “—whatever it is you two-legged freaks call yourselves! There’s a reason Princess Twilight owns a pet dragon, and why she had to open an entire school just to teach your savage kinds the most basic lessons of friendship! I mean—it’s not called ‘Equestria’ for no reason! If we ever do meet again don’t you ever dare mention the fact that Cozy Glow was here, or any of this, unless you want a slow execution! But feel free to ask me why I have a massive crush on her! And if a certain draconequus comes along, ask him how he deals with the fact that Fluttershy will—”

Cozy really likes trolling Flurry, doesn't she? I wonder if Flurry here acts similarly to this.

Next to Luster was a griffon; her feathers were colored gray-to-navy, except for her crest and tip of her tail which was closer to a greenish-black. Her irises and beak were yellow, and had one of her gray hooves over Luster’s back as they talked.

I wonder if this is the griffon we see Luster go to at the s9 epilogue.

Cozy has the talent to earn the ire of alicorns from the looks of it, even new ones.

It didn't take long for Luster to be open to the idea of being Cozy's daughter. I wonder if this will lead to the ending where Twilight is mentoring Luster.

Yeah discord is definitely tracking them

Hope cozy successful gave luster a flexible morale. Fuck the princess for allowing slavery to exist on their backyard.

Another great chapter. Very interesting reason for Flurry to be so obsessed. She seems rather petty and immature to be honest. Luster was, as usual, adorable and I really like Cozy's depiction as a mom here. She certainly mellowed out, but has that villainous edge to her.

Each of Luster’s individual ribs were discernible from her chest, and not to mention she still had a hardened cast around her front leg hoof.

I'm surprised that hasn't gained any suspicion.

“I mean—that’s wonderful! What she did! Defeating Tirek! And if Luna wasn’t there to petrify him, he would’ve… So, I’m guessing Chrysalis is next, huh?”

So the trio escaped together? I'm guessing Chrysalis is still out there somewhere, but she would never be found unless she reveals herself anyway. Shame about Tirek though.

“It would’ve... But somepony got cold hooves!”

Cold hooves? Makes me wonder what the actual plan was.

“You know how to treat ponies really nicely—well, when you want to. I know you’ll be perfect! Mom !”

Quite fast acceptance from Luster. Then again, its not like she had any adults in her life being so nice to her.

Already super excited for the next chapter!

I wonder if Cozy's life in this small village will be the new status quo. I hope she and Luster isn't forced to leave too early. They need their rests. The interaction between Cozy and Luster after the fire was very cute. I wonder if Cozy will become genuine friends with Autumn later down the line. All in all, another great chapter.

The house Cozy bought was a cottage

I wonder where Cozy got the money to buy her things, including a cottage of all things.

“That is so distasteful! How can anypony be allowed to do that!”

And how anyone could allow it.

“A few tiny burns, but I’m friends with a very talented doctor”

I wonder who that doctor is. Cozy seems to have a lot of connections, but I wonder if they are anyone we already know.

None of them will ever know what dread is like when you’re a filly ossified, unable to twitch or blink, to inhale or exhale. Watching the world pass you by with eyes cataracted by a layer of rock. To be unable to shield your ears from the blaring party music afterwards, impossible for your auditory cells to ever die whilst preserved. No part of her could die. She couldn’t even beg Luna for death—statues didn’t need sleep, nor could they. Perhaps with some luck she could’ve been shattered like the Storm King, but would that even kill her? Or would she just become a haunted jigsaw of parts? A tethered soul who had to hope or trick some fool into reassembling her—or wait for the total annihilation of all magic, forever—but Twilight would never let that happen!

Nice to see that Cozy isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Sure, she mellowed out, but she still has that edge to her, and frankly, she deserves to be angry. Equestria was willing to essentially torture her as a filly, after all. Makes sense that she would be traumatized.

"If it weren't for you , she'd still be locked up in Tartarus!"

Of course the Princess of Love would not object to putting a child in Tartarus for the rest of her life.

“But if we were, let's not neglect the fact that Flurry was the one who freed those three from my petrification spell!"

Ooh, interesting. So Flurry did have the right idea. I wonder how it went wrong.

"She was just a filly."

"Cozy was just a filly."

"She had good intentions!"

“ I had good intentions!"

Its like their trying to make themselves look like hypocrites.

Constantly excited for new chapters of this story. It's quickly becoming one of my favorites. I can't wait for more!

Cozy and Luster making proper friends, even if the former wasn't planning on it. Hopefully they can make true friendship before Candence comes and ruins on their lifes.

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None of them will ever know what dread is like when you’re a filly ossified, unable to twitch or blink, to inhale or exhale. Watching the world pass you by with eyes cataracted by a layer of rock. To be unable to shield your ears from the blaring party music afterwards, impossible for your auditory cells to ever die whilst preserved. No part of her could die. She couldn’t even beg Luna for death—statues didn’t need sleep, nor could they. Perhaps with some luck she could’ve been shattered like the Storm King, but would that even kill her? Or would she just become a haunted jigsaw of parts? A tethered soul who had to hope or trick some fool into reassembling her—or wait for the total annihilation of all magic, forever—but Twilight would never let that happen!

True, I always think this punishment is too harsh, feels like one of our torture in real life: The White torture .Only immortal like Discord can survive being in stoned without going insane. Cozy must have a strong mind to go for that long

A tethered soul who had to hope or trick some fool into reassembling her—or wait for the total annihilation of all magic, forever—but Twilight would never let that happen!

:trixieshiftright: :trixieshiftright:

They reappeared at the site, a desolate building save for a few opportunistic looters and the owner's own investigators, with overlap between those groups. Discord snapped police tape around the premises and the stallion who owned the factory was brought in front of them.

Damn, they really are Global Police isn't it, looks like every land now under Equestria influence, something can happen across the globe and they still know

"She had good intentions!"

“ I had good intentions!"

Discord, your "good intentions" is to make people suffer, even if your plan "works", you will throw away your villains like nothing

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Thanks! Also thanks for the other comments! Glad people are engaged. This chapter was a bit long but I wanted to get it out of the way because the next few are a 3-4 parter and might require a new tag!

Loving this story. It's just soooo unique, creative, and funny. I'm completely enamored with this fic! What can I say, I'm a sucker for golly stories.

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Damn, they really are Global Police isn't it, looks like every land now under Equestria influence, something can happen across the globe and they still know

This Equestrian Secret Service is lagging behind quite a bit. Hopefully "she" will quicken the pace. ;) Can't wait when Cozy has a stand-off with them.

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But they don't know about a whole city with slave trade lol.

Hope is the doctor Cozy knows? I can't say I expected that, but with that Sombra revival thing Cozy was supposedly tried to do when she poisoned Flurry, it does make sense. I take Hope was the one who got cold hooves over it? Either way, its interesting to see them together. Let's hope nothing bad will happen while the two go hiking.

“The vast majority of unicorns can’t teleport. It’s like doing a back-flip, or breaking the sound barrier if you’re a pegasus pony! It took Cozy a lot of training to be able to do that (latter one).”

So Cozy can break the sound barrier? Does that mean she's a Rainbow Dash tier flyer? I can only imagine just how much she practiced to get that good.

"Well, actually I planned to take her to Manehatten over the weekend. I'll do it there. I need to visit Suri after somepony tore my cloak!" Cozy whispered beneath her wing: "If you can figure out her favorite color, type, puffiness, accessories, et cetera, I'd sure appreciate it!" Cozy winked.

So That's where she got the cloak from! Another character I did not expect. I wonder if Suri knows Cozy or if Cozy only appeared to her in a disguise. I wonder how well Hope knows her.

"She does have Silly Filly Syndrome! Don't you Lustie?"

Considering where Hope is from, she would reasonably believe that.

As always, can't wait for more!

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Only the most talented doctor for Luster! I'll try to get another chapter out by this week, but next week will be less dry.

And the family has grown even bigger! Damn, hope is an amazing doctor.

Cross fingers that nothing happens to Lustie, and I noticed that the little filly only likes to be called that by her new Mother.

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The thing with Flurry is that we have literally nothing to go on with her personality when she's older from canon. You'd think with who her family is, Flurry would be less of a brat.

But apparently not.

Amazing work. Keep it up!

i hope what actually happened clears up next chapter

More Cozy past revealed!
I have a feeling that Flurry Heart wants to destroy the metro that Cozy built but can't do it because the crystal Ponies like it LMAO
Mailing Starlight the pass is unexpected but I get it, sometimes you need to make friends with the enemy so they will go easy on you

“And–you can’t see it–but around there is the Crystal Empire, where Mommy ruled alongside Sombra for an entire month! Of course, he and Hope always vetoed all my big plans like–” Cozy stared at her unicorn daughter’s horn, and cleared her throat. “Nevermind… But it was fun! I built a tram and a metro, and I dragon-mailed Starlight a lifetime pass that I know she still secretly uses! I had friends that followed me around, wrote whatever I said, and agreed with me on everything! And it’s all thanks to Flurry Heart! I might’ve never been motivated to do any of it if it weren’t for her! I accomplished nearly everything she wanted to do–better–and I made sure she knew it!” Cozy tightened her hug. “It took nearly a year of hard work, but I don’t have a single regret!”

I still can’t believe Celestia had the gall to mark my grave as a park! Unredeemable fillies should at least be treated as some sort of tragedy…

Sorry but Equestria likes putting their trophies in public for everyone to see it

What a cliffhanger! Cozy and Luster have some incredibly bad luck to suddenly have to deal with changelings. I wonder if Chrysalis sent those as they are unreformed. If so, what does she want with Cozy? Maybe they are messengers? Very keen to see where this goes.

Is Hope disguised as a changeling as well? Because earlier, she was sent to check on Luster and later she was with Cozy and fake Luster. Or did she find Luster on the way to the house and just pick her up? Because she would have noticed the changeling problem otherwise if she actually teleported back to check on Luster.

“Well, he is a valuable member of the Legion, and I really do need all the help I can get to fix the—umm, ‘Princess’ problem,” Cozy stressed those quotes. “And I don’t mean white, black or purple…”

It seems that there is a full on villain team going on. I wonder if they have a unified plan or if their just purely doing their own thing while staying in touch.

“She has a crush on me and won’t admit it.”

I wonder if Cozy's right or if Flurry just holds a normal grudge. If it was a crush, I'm sure Cadence would notice it.

Light bulb! What if I just burnt it, Luster wondered. I’m in a bathroom, what could go wrong?

Cozy really needs to teach Luster some magic safety.

“...I didn’t expect this place to be so—crowded,” Hope replied.

Is Hope also wanted in some way or is she just anxious around crowds?

“And–you can’t see it–but around there is the Crystal Empire, where Mommy ruled alongside Sombra for an entire month! Of course, he and Hope always vetoed all my big plans like–” Cozy stared at her unicorn daughter’s horn, and cleared her throat. “Nevermind… But it was fun! I built a tram and a metro, and I dragon-mailed Starlight a lifetime pass that I know she still secretly uses! I had friends that followed me around, wrote whatever I said, and agreed with me on everything! And it’s all thanks to Flurry Heart! I might’ve never been motivated to do any of it if it weren’t for her! I accomplished nearly everything she wanted to do–better–and I made sure she knew it!”

So Sombra just let Cozy rule with him? That must have been an interesting reign. I do wonder what crazy plans she had that Sombra always vetoed. I also wonder how much that tram and metro ultimately modernized the Empire. If Cozy's telling the full truth here, she could actually be a good leader. Did Cozy capture Spike and use him to dragonmail that lifetime pass to Starlight? Does Starlight still actually use it?

Weird, was Hope in cahoots with the changelings? The only explanation for why she had a fake Luster with her. Not that fake Luster was fed since Cozy only had bitter feelings inside. With any luck real Luster held off the changeling long enough for Cozy to show. Still, a cliffhanger like this where Luster's life is in danger. Now I will be biting my nails until the next chapter.

Cozy didn't had any anti intruder system in place?

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Luster is her anti-intruder system and personal bodyguard she just needs practice

Yikes. First big fight Cozy has had with her new daughter. It had to happen eventually, but it hurts to watch either way.

At least Luster had her fun with her two new friends.

Looks like Cozy's finally learning that raising a filly isn't all sunshine and rainbows. At least she didn't actually hurt Luster, although she did manage to prove to her why she was considered a scary supervillain. I also find it interesting that Chrysalis just let her essentially co-found a hive. Makes me think that she earned some respect from the queen.

Cozy was pretty scary here. Let's hope she won't keep that up for Luster's sake. I do like that though, it still shows that she's Cozy Glow and not some benevolent OC. No one ever tried reforming her in this universe, after all, so she has no reason to be 100% good.

“I thought Equestria was a safe place to raise a foal, but apparently not! Hmph! I should write a letter to Twilight about this.”

Now I seriously wonder what letter Cozy would write to Twilight.

“Y’know those—ugh —‘Comfy Shine’ toys they sold while I was losing my marbles as a statue?”

Do I even want to know what those toys were like?

“And ponies will even go as far as to imprison a filly of their own kind in Tartarus!”

Sad thing is, that this propaganda is based on truth.

The specifics were unknown, to let the minds of dissatisfied drones fill the void with their worst fears, but their mother and Queen told them to rest assured that the punishment was far crueler than what any of them could imagine—it was designed by Cozy Glow.

I assume it was designed by Cozy at her worst? I shudder to think what she would have come up with at, what I assume, was at the time her at her most vengeful.

“Luster was stunned by a bright light. It beamed not from the windows, not from the doors, but from the hearts of the two drones.

Man, changelings are shockingly easy to reform.

Cozy had to do breathing exercises to control herself, and that made Luster feel guiltier because her mother looked as if she was due for an aneurysm.

Well, at least she's trying.

Can't wait to see the meeting with Chrysalis! I wonder if she became less evil over time.

Why did luster so hellbended on friendship bullshit when she was abandoned by Equestria her whole life? Was their propaganda that potent?

I got the feeling that she was brainwashed, like a stockholm north korean.

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Man, changelings are shockingly easy to reform.

Hey, only took Thorax 2 minutes.

ARGH! This is such a feel-good story I can't take it

You can just tell that Cozy is in a bad mood. Still, she at least apologized, which is quite rare. And Luster will need to look at Chrysalis in the eye and either lie or tell the truth.

Nice description of the hive. Cozy might just be the most knowledgeable pony on changelings at this point. Can't wait to see how the meeting with Chryssie will go! Hopefully we will get a bit more backstory on the founding of this new hive.

Though not transonic, Cozy flew at a speed far greater than her trip back from Kludgetown. About three-hundred kilometers per hour, or around the average speed of a race car.

The feats you describe to Cozy makes me think that she could very well join the Wonderbolts, even in a disguise if she really wanted to. Those Crystal Empire pegasai must have gotten some amazing training.

“Actions have consequences. It’s a lesson I had to learn the hard way. That’s why I always make sure to research everything there is to know about a rule before I break it. For example, if I got caught picking that flower we needed for your teeth earlier, I would’ve had to fight a fine of a hundred bits. I made an informed choice to break it. Sadly, Princesses can just sentence you to whatever they want. Sometimes they have a bad day and take it out on you!”

That is both oddly responsible and irresponsible advice. Shame just how right Cozy is about the princesses.

“But I thought you said I was chubby?”

When did Cozy hear Luster say that? Did Cozy overhear Luster talking with the two changelings last chapter?

Being on her ‘friends list’ was a dream for many. After all, she was older and cooler, a filly so dangerous even Tartarus failed to contain her. Her image was cemented in the Pantheon of Villains, as one of Equestria’s biggest baddies, and the smallest.

The way Cozy's described here, its almost like a very mean, but also kind of cool older sister. It does make me wonder just how old she was when they started the new hive.

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When did Cozy hear Luster say that?

At the table in the Kirin chapter.

She'll never forget it. If there was a Santa equivalent for Harth's Warming it'll go:

Santa: "Have you been listening to Mommy this year?"
Luster: "Ha! I always keep my room tidy. I never say rude words. And I never play toss-the-fireball without asking my Mom first, and never near a forest."
Cozy: "Yeah, but she did call me chubby."

She won't mention anything else.

“Raising a child can be an incredibly gratifying and fulfilling process!” Chrysalis declared and whispered into the other’s ear: “Until they get brainwashed by Twilight and her friends. Then they’ll betray you, denounce you, strip you of your dignity, leaving you with nothing, only so they can come back and smirk once you’ve been defeated. Then, only once you’ve been rendered harmless, will they turn your body into a paralyzed, mute, blind statue, for all to laugh and gawk at. Guards will spit on you, and you know first-hoof they won’t see your tears. Or maybe they’ll think you’ve caused too much trouble, and shatter you like the Storm King or Princess Amore. Say, didn’t you tell me Sombra had no clue whether Amore was still conscious?”

:rainbowlaugh: :rainbowlaugh:
the fun part is no changelings ever call her back, only Starlight reaches out to her, Once. Her children just forget her
I wonder what going on in the "Captured Hive", do they have any method to reproduce? And why Thorax is Big?

Wasn't expecting that play from Chrysalis, to bring out Luster's protective instincts for her Mom. Even managing to Teleport for her young age. Becoming Twilight's next students is looking more than possible. But I'm confident she will stay true to her allegiances and not betray Cozy.

With the way Chrysalis described it, it's almost like Cozy could've just stayed as an alicorn, but chose not to because of the risks.

Another great chapter! Chrysalis was great. I like how she basically became a mom to Cozy while still being menacing. She does seem to genuinely love Cozy, which I guess makes sense given what they must have gone through to get her back on her feat after the petrification. I hope we'll get to see more of grandma Chryssie in the future.

Luster showed great magical talent here, which makes sense considering that she's good enough to become Twilight's student in the future.

And the last one brought her into this mess: his plan, his friends, his fault—but does he of a thousand pardons care?

I am curious though. How many of the general population know about Discord's role in that incident? I wouldn't be surprised if it was covered up.

The day after the conflict’s conclusion, drones that entered the soon-to-be park were introduced to the scent that questioned empathy. The site afflicted them with guilt, not only due to it being the grave of their mother, but also from that filly. She looked scared, and they felt her fear. Her howls were loud, but silent to non-drones. Canterlot assured it to be a simple quirk of Discord’s chaos magic, and that Discord was a peculiar case due to him being the God of Chaos. Cozy was only a filly.

Interesting. Did Twilight and her friends know that they were awake there or did they lie about it to the general populace?

Oh, and Tirek too I guess, Chrysalis shrugged.

Chrysalis seems to care less about Tirek and her own drones and more about Cozy. I wonder if that's her maternal instincts focusing down on Cozy in particular.

to plastic figures of Silver Seraph, the ones native to cereal boxes and Hayburger meals for foals

So Cozy was a bit of a celebrity back when she was a guard?

“Wait.” Cozy flew up to her. The chocolate on her coat was now sufficiently suffused that it wouldn’t rub off, though it shifted her colors a tint. She handed her a cookie, one of those big, soft, and chunky ones that Hope adored, freshly baked from the oven. “Sorry about Chrysalis. We can talk about it later tonight.”

Aww, Cozy is a good friend.

“Until they get brainwashed by Twilight and her friends. Then they’ll betray you, denounce you, strip you of your dignity, leaving you with nothing, only so they can come back and smirk once you’ve been defeated. Then, only once you’ve been rendered harmless, will they turn your body into a paralyzed, mute, blind statue, for all to laugh and gawk at. Guards will spit on you, and you know first-hoof they won’t see your tears. Or maybe they’ll think you’ve caused too much trouble, and shatter you like the Storm King or Princess Amore. Say, didn’t you tell me Sombra had no clue whether Amore was still conscious?”

Ouch. I sure hope this doesn't damper Cozy's confidence.

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