Oh, golly! So, six months ago, I became the Supreme Empress of Friendship in all of Equestria, right? Yeah, I dethroned the existing princesses and imprisoned the Mane Six in Tartarus... But later, I found this Guardian Amethyst thingy and that transformed me into an alicorn! And then, for four long months, I was the only pony with magick... I saw how they all looked at me... I just knew they weren't happy and well, I can't really explain it, but something inside me kinda just broke?
And then three months ago, I decided that I needed a new assistant! Now, I needed somepony knowledgeable on what the other ponies want and need... And so, after talking with her about parole and freedoms, I released and employed Twilight Sparkle! Her friends must remain locked up for the time being as there's simply too many of them...
And then there was yesterday, when I decided to open the vortex again and allow magick to stream back into Equestria... I saw how happy that seemed to make everypony. I went to bed shortly thereafter and later woke up. I just had breakfast and was meeting with my assistant later that morning...
Ok, that's an interesting start. Seeing what it may have been like if Cozy had won.
Not entirely sure what the angle is with Twilight though. She seems oddly ok as Cozy Glow's servant. Though I can guess she's probably just playing it cool for now and do what good she can under the circumstances. Maybe even trying to reform Cozy?
Speaking of, Cozy herself seems... interesting here. Though that's largely because there's clearly been a considerable amount of time between her taking over and where were start.
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I'm using Twilight here because I needed somepony intelligent to question Cozy's actions and make observations about it, preferably a Mane Six member, and what pony would be more qualified? I'll probably do what I usually do and fill in the blanks with quips and flashbacks here? That way, my audience gets a clearer picture of what brought us to this point, without the rigmarole of reading through all the unnecessary stuff. It's a little writing strategy I use to keep the story fluid and moving...
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Ah, I guess that works. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
seem like an interesting idea, let's see where you take it.
Very interesting start. It seems that Cozy might just make an oddly good ruler after all. I do think that Twilight is trying to reform her with the way she's acting.
This seems to be an interesting take on Cozy. I have often thought how she. as a character, was never given any fleshing out, but merely meant to be a throw-away sort of antagonist, and that none of the Mane Six even tried to reform her. Cozy therefore represents a weak plot line in the series.
Having Cozy become an alicorn, well, a bit of a stretch, but let us see how you handle that premise. And as far as Twilight being subservient to Cozy, that wouldn't be that much of a wild idea. She has been rather that way in the comic "Moonset", and we saw how that turned...
I like it! This is an interesting take on a redemption!
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It wouldn't be Twilight if she isn't
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Twilight is acting obviously. Cozy isn't mind controlling her, and whatever else she is, Cozy is still a newborn alicorn. Twilight, meanwhile, has years of experience with unicorn magic, on top of her alicorn magic.
Well this should be fun
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Same.
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Exactly.
Well Cozy like it or not, Twilight is now your friend.
Nice to see Cozy's growing number of friends. Starting with a magic rock thingy and now Twilight. If only Twilight was as kind an understanding in the show as she is here...
You know, I was kind of worried about Twilight seemingly being so cozy with Cozy Glow despite the situation. But how excited she was with about the confirmation that Cozy did have good inside her, despite what she claims, and that they have become friends has sold on this relationship. And I look forward to seeing where it goes. Though I wonder how Twilight's friends will react to them being so buddy buddy now.
As for the thing with the stone, that again had me worried for second that it just magically made Cozy good. But then you clarified that it only brought out whatever good Cozy already had inside her. Though I'm not sure I'd say she's always been a good pony deep down, so much as she's always had the potential to be a good pony deep down. Anyway, I look forward to see where this all goes.
Now Cozy's just being stubborn. Perfectly normal for her age though.
... Yeah. Twilight isn't buying any of Cozy's rambling
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It will not be long before she catch herself asking Twilight for a hug
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Same.
Part of me can't help but feel like Twilight's really enjoying Cozy's confusion over all this suddenly being turned good and realizing they're friends now business. Like, she's found herself in a position to both help guid Cozy into being a better pony and help Equestria as a whole, but she can also subtilty rub that fact in her face. I don't know if you intended it like that. But I can't help but feel like Twilight has a smug smile on her face everytime she says they're friends or Cozy's not a bad pony. Which is probably how Cozy sees it too.
Though I'm curious when and if (at least within the story) Twilight's going to ask to bring her friends back. And how that's going to affect things.
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I'm not sure, but I'm betting there's a way?
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It might come as a shock to you, but I'm actually not 100% sure on all the motivations of the characters in my head... They do things and talk and interact and I can only write about it and refine my language later on... Most of what I do is actually editing, believe it or not! However, the more I think about it, the more I'm pretty sure Twilight is just eating this up...
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You know, when I was about halfway done editing the final draft, I actually had the same thought...
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Of course she is. Twilight's playing the long game. And winning 😁.
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That is understandable, for She feels like she really needs one.
THIS IS SO ADORABLE!!!
Sweet Celestia, but I think that the cuteness meter has just popped its top and is now smoking.
Yeah, I'm not too sure if I want to be around a cute filly like this version of Cozy. This scares me. I would rather deal with Mean Cozy. At least I can understand that one better...
I like Cozy and Twilight's dynamic here, but I can't help but think Twi should be in a bigger rush to rescue her friends and undo the damage Cozy Glow has caused. I mean, I get that she's happy Cozy's found her good side, even if she's very unsure about it herself. And they're bonding. But Twilight should definitely by in more of a hurry to help her other friends.
Maybe if we could get a chapter from Twilight's perspective, I'd be able to see where she's coming from. But right now, her priorities just seem kind of off.
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I think it was said that it's impossible to get them out of Tartarus now.
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Yeah, but my point was that Twilight didn't seem as concerned about that fact as I felt she should be. Or at least she's not acting like it.
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Keep in mind, Twilight was barely in this chapter though. Also, by this stage, her friends have been trapped for about six months, so it's pretty routine. Don't think for a minute that she doesn't care, but this section was more about Cozy Glow than anything else... Remember, she needs to feel motivated...
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Fair enough. Guess I keep forgetting how long into Cozy's reign this story takes place in.
eeeeeeeeeeeee
Well Billy is moving up in the world, he has become a royal therapist, good on him.
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Well, the truth is, Cozy needed to speak with somepony who wasn't Twilight Sparkle and wasn't involved and he kinda fits the bill perfectly... Since she was there earlier, now she can teleport there...
What do you know. It looks like Cozy's made another friend. Good on her.
I'm a bit conflicted on Cozy outright choking Twilight and Twilight immediately going to comfort her. On one hand, it does seem in character for Cozy to lash out like that. And it's admirable that Twilight chooses to be the bigger pony and shows concern for even those who hurt her. But still, choking her like that is some pretty serious abuse for Twilight to just get over withen a single scene. It makes me worry just how healthy their relationship and Twilight's mental state is at this point.
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Oh I do know, and he is the best choice to ask, for he got no sides in this.
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Twilight and healthy mental state don't really mix. The show showed that Twilight is not fully mentally well multiple times.
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True. But I was more concerned with her being unwell in like the Stockholm Syndrome sense. Not her normal degree of neurotic behavior.
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To be honest with you, I suspect there's at least some level of Stockholm here, but after what I've been writing in the newest chapter, I think it might actually go deeper than that?
For obvious reasons, I can't say much right now...
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... You're not wrong...
Now Cozy's in real trouble. She's in Luna's world now.
Well Cozy, your Book horse problems seem to have multiple to have Moon Horse in it as well.
I've always felt that there had been some traumatic event in Cozy's past to cause her to act the way she does. No child is normally like that unless they've had a bad experience somewhere along the line.
And Twilight is clearly exhibiting her maternal instinct. Now I truly am taken by this fic, to see where it might go.
Of course, Cozy could always get so frustrated that she destroys everything...like a spoiled brat.
God I wanna be Cozy Glow (yes this is nmuniz)
Methinks this is taking too long to get somewhere. Going by this, Cozy isn't an orphan. But doesn't have the best relationship with her mother methinks. Hence why she's latching onto Twilight.
How is she going to deal with Discord and why didn’t she free Tirek?
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Oh, no! Her mother is very much dead! I'm sorry if I was obtuse on that fact... My mother is also deceased and I guess I can add some personal input on this later on? Also, the next chapter is when things start getting interesting. I just needed to set things up in Cozy's mind first...
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Good questions! Discord is another matter entirely, but as I wrote earlier, she couldn't free Tirek... In retrospect, I probably should've provided a good reason for that?
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Because Tirek would stab Cozy in the back the first chance he got. Also explains why Twilight is like she is. No way she doesn't know about Cozy's mother. Most likely from Luna through dreamwalking.
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Very true, and Cozy no doubt knows this... I literally just started penning chapter 8 about 15 minutes ago actually, and I'm way ahead of you...
The second therapist is now in the house. And now Cozy has to deal with the idea, that she might be looking at Twilight like a mother, without having realized it.
Huh, all things considered, Cozy's meeting with Princess Luna went surprisingly well. I thought Luna might be there to genuinely help her and show her some compassion for a second, but I dismissed it. Figuring she'd be much angrier and would at best, be reluctant to help her or at worst, be there to attack her. Though I guess I was thinking about the Princess Luna that actually met Cozy in the show and not the compassionate mentor who helped other child characters work through their issues. I like the latter better.
And Cozy and Twilight's relationship is starting to make more sense to me, now that it's made clear that they've developed a surrogate mother-daughter relationship. Even if Cozy doesn't want to admit it. I was thinking that might be where you were going, but wasn't entirely sure. Still, makes me wonder how her friends are going to react to that when and if they get out of Tartarus.
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They upped the scope of story from small adventure to saving the world and fucked it up badly.
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Sad thing is, they proved in previous season finales/openers that they could do that. They just chose to forget the part where the heroes in this show always show mercy and try offer out a hand in Friendship when they can, even to their worst enemies.