The Days She Spent

by Frazzle2Dazzle

The Day She Starts Again

Over the day, Cozy tried to talk herself up for leaving. Tried to ignore the grey halls, the opulence of the castle, to forget about the life of luxury and lavishness that should be waiting for her there, to let go of the broken city and streets and all the ponies that should be living in it.

Cozy found it all so... Empty. She couldn't think of anything keeping her here, anything that would keep her from leaving.

Aside from the magic that is.

She was still torn by it, by the power she would have to leave behind. She'd be a normal pegasus again, a normal pony, and she'd have nothing to make her special.

But she wasn't special here. There wasn't anything to compare to, nopony normal or otherwise left. So it didn't really matter... Did it?

Chrysalis and Tirek... Would they care that she left? They had already conquered everypony. She didn't think they wanted anything more than that... So maybe they wouldn't even notice if she was gone, wherever they were.

She'd have liked to say goodbye at least.

She'd leave a note, she decided. Maybe someday they would come back to read it, a stone slab she carved words into with her magic, a private message only they could know. At least they wouldn't wonder where she had gone.

She supposed she'd never know for sure what happened to them.

The last thing she had to deal with was the slice of cake.

It was meant to be for her victory against the windigoes, victory against the unending cold.

But it wasn't really a victory was it... She didn't really win. She was leaving.

She felt her stomach twist a bit at it. She wanted to eat it...

But...

...

Cozy left the cake where it sat.

---

Cozy and Armin stood back in the treehouse. It was the same time as the previous day, when Cozy had barged in on the crystal dragon talking with the Tree of Harmony.

She fidgeted with her hooves, nervous enough for Armin to notice and lay a claw on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly.

All of a sudden, a light appeared in the middle of the room, purple and bright, and Cozy flinched from it. It's glow dimmed as it slowly formed into the image of Twilight again.

"I see that she's here. And I see that you look confident. I take it she accepted the terms?"

"Yes. I think she's worthy to come back."

Twilight stared closely at Cozy, seeming to peak through the skin into her soul.

"Very well... Let's see what we can do."

There was a flash and Cozy felt herself moved.

Not the normal sense of physically moving from one place to another. It felt woozy, dizzying... Magical. An unmistakeable feeling of being teleported.

The first thing she saw was the crystal castle, back in Ponyville. And the first thing she noticed was the lack of the horn she had become so familiar with, and the lack of the usual earth pony strength she’d grown to rely on.

The bigger surprise were the ponies that were there.

Surrounded by the Elements of Harmony, or rather the ponies who represented them, Cozy found herself greeted by smiling faces all around, welcoming her, giving her hugs.

Everything felt almost dreamlike, hazy. It left her reeling a bit, and she didn’t know how to react. Did those two actually send her here?

Without a proper grasp of the situation, Cozy shrunk back into herself with the presence of the ponies surrounding her, the ponies she had helped kill back in her Equestria, perhaps expecting some retort from them.

But none ever came.

Not a single one did anything of the sort to her as Pinkie partied around the room, Fluttershy smiled gently as she introduced her animal friends to her, Applejack grinning as she gave her food, Rainbow Dash showing off a few tricks, Rarity dazzling her with dresses, and Twilight staying at her side all the while with a cup of punch in her magical grip.

It was a party, full and true, full of cake, drinks, cookies, party hats, and more. Everything you’d expect from Pinkie greeting somepony to Ponyville.

Cozy was dragged into every part of it. And she felt herself enjoying the sweets after months of naught but scant slices, the warmth after nights of cold stone halls, and companionship when she thought she’d never again have it.

And it was all so… Exhausting. Tiring some would say. Cozy wasn’t the biggest filly, even with the time being an alicorn and having months and months to grow with the magic it gave her, and she didn’t have the most energy anyway after the day she had just had.

She was a bit reluctant to leave. She probably wouldn’t leave if she stayed any longer, falling asleep on a chair and having to be carried to a bed, having somepony to care for her.

But Cozy didn’t want that. She knew what her goal was.

So with her tiredness, she thanked them all, pleading her need for some sleep, and was shown to a nice room by Spike, one with a nice big comfy bed. And as the dragon left… The bed didn’t get usage that night.

Cozy waited a few minutes before darting back out of the room, fluttering her way through the halls. Out a nearby opened window, Cozy took her chance and escaped the castle, Armin, whatever she thought it was called. He wouldn’t stop her now.

She knew of other artifacts that lay here near Ponyville. Early weeks of reading Celestia’s diaries, the information unused in her world but all too vital in this one, flooded back to the forefront of her mind.

There was one particular artifact out in the Everfree, well away from Ponyville’s houses, and past Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy’s cottage, hidden away in the deadly forest.

Down a winding road that forked off multiple times, Cozy followed the mental map she had drawn, her heart and mind focused on the end of the path, and her prize at the end, praying against all odds it would be there.

Even if there were a Cozy in this world, even if the bell was already taken, she still had a chance to get power. Power that was now within her grasp as she came upon a pair of trees twisting around each other, as if trying to strangle each other to death. A pair of tree she immediately recognized the description of.

And there at the base sat a small metal box, perfectly smooth and silver.

Cozy smiles at the sight, a toothy smile full of glee, a smile that left her shaking with excitement as she opened the box, revealing the treasure inside.

The Alicorn Amulet… Finally her-

Cozy fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

She wasn’t in the Everfree. She was lying on a crystal floor, surrounded by crystal walls that held up a crystal roof, with one crystalline dragon frowning as he looked away while a semi-translucent image of Twilight looked at her with a stern and cold stare.

“What- What happened?!” Cozy scrambled to her hooves, trying to grab ahold of what exactly was going on.

“You failed,” Harmony said simply, “You didn’t even take long to fail. You rushed to the first glimpse of power the first chance you got.”

“I thought you were serious… I thought you’d be good this time…” Armin said quietly, almost to himself.

“But how did- Why am I-“ she couldn’t process it, “What is going on?!”

“What’s going on is that you haven’t learned your lesson, Cozy. And now that you know we’re teaching you one… Well, I don’t think you’re going to be as receptive to it.”

“No! I- I can still learn! Please, don’t leave me here! Take me to your Equestria, please!”

“No,” Harmony glared down at her, making her step back a pace, “I don’t think we will. You still aren’t ready to take back to your Equestria.”

“My… Equestria…?” that was out of left field for her, “But we’re in Equestria now!”

“No.” Armin said with finality, “We’re not.”

“But- What?!” Cozy couldn’t pull the thoughts together in her head, everything the two creatures in front of her were saying sounding ridiculous and rudiclous enough to unbalance her.

“I’m sorry Cozy Glow…” the crystal dragon looked up, staring back to her eyes, “This is goodbye.”

“Goodbye…? Wait, Armin, no- !”

---

Cozy walked into the bedroom, eager to get some nice sleep after the victory feast she had just eaten. Whatever the windigoes were doing? Whatever the ponies left in Equestria were doing? Those were a problem for tomorrow, one she’d happily face with Tirek and Chrysalis by her side.

But her reverie was interrupted, a voice ringing out from some unknown spot in the bedroom.

“Hello, Cozy Glow.”

Comments

[Ciphers]

Vaas : Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact... same fucking thing... over and over again expecting... shit to change... That. Is. Crazy. The first time somebody told me that, I dunno, I thought they were bullshitting me, so, I shot him. The thing is... He was right. And then I started seeing, everywhere I looked, everywhere I looked all these fucking pricks, everywhere I looked, doing the exact same fucking thing... over and over and over and over again thinking 'this time is gonna be different' no, no, no please... This time is gonna be different, I'm sorry, I don't like... The way...

That is what wrong with the so call “Harmony” . They keep teaching her over and over, but the funny part is they keep erasing her mind everytime. we human learn from mistakes and gain experience from it. The poor filly can not learn if she get wrong one time and they reset everything

Cozy was dragged into every part of it. And she felt herself enjoying the sweets after months of naught but scant slices, the warmth after nights of cold stone halls, and companionship when she thought she’d never again have it.

And it was all so… Exhausting. Tiring some would say. Cozy wasn’t the biggest filly, even with the time being an alicorn and having months and months to grow with the magic it gave her, and she didn’t have the most energy anyway after the day she had just had

They just “shoved” the friendship into her and bombard her with a fuck-ton of ponies? It didn’t work like that

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

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Glad you liked it! Even if it's not a masterclass like other stories on the site, I'm glad people enjoyed it.