A Bucket From The Blue.
Shamefully stripped of all their powers, ambitions and pride…the time had finally come… their fate was well and truly sealed… Discord and the Two Sisters were ready to deliver a final magical verdict that would endure throughout all of eternity… with Twilight Sparkle and her friends in the gallery as the sole witnesses who would see it all happen…
In fact, some less serious ponies might even say it was ‘set in stone’ (hint: Cheese Sandwich during one of his ‘hilarious’ stand-up routines that no self-respecting pony would pay to see).
Not quite the illustrious destiny they’d so desperately fought for, clung to, backstabbed each other towards and utilised every wicked resource available to them to achieve, which was the complete annihilation of Friendship and totalitarian rule over all of Equestria. Bwhahaha!
Instead, a trio of flop wannabe villainous ‘conquerors’ had nothing to look forward to, apart from being stared at by curious schoolchildren out on day-trips, the odd bit of unsightly moss growth and being used as a granite toilet by the local avian population.
To sum up, then… having suffered ignominious defeat by those blasted do-gooder ponies for what was surely the last time, the so-called Legion Of Doom (more like, Legion Of Gloom to the impending sense of despair they all currently felt) would be encased in pure granite until… who knows when? A bit later than next Friday, put it that way.
All attempts at redemption had proved futile. All other efforts at punishing them seemed ineffective. And so the only permanent solution to their perpetually evil ways was to petrify them. Together. In probably the most gross multi-creature monolith ever known to creaturekind, like the deranged carving a crazy sculptor might create whilst simultaneously experiencing a nervous breakdown.
Oh wait: I haven’t told you their names yet, have I? As if you didn’t know their infamous identities already. You read the papers, don’t you? What do you mean you cancelled your subscription last week because a certain cross-eyed delivery mare kept leaving it in your fishpond instead of your front porch?!
Fine… I’ll humour you ingrates just this once. We have: Tirek, who betrayed his own brother and tried absorbing all magic from the land. Chrysalis, the usurped Changeling queen who desired to suck each trace of love from every lifeform on the planet. Then of course, we have Cozy Glow, possibly the most diabolically fiendish of the lot, who…
Well… we don’t exactly know where she came from, who her family is or if ‘Cozy Glow’ is even her real name (what a comforting moniker like that has to do with a cold, hard chess piece is anypony’s guess) but we do know she’s bad. Rotten to the core, in fact. You want the X-rays to prove it?
How else do you explain her appalling treachery of those lovable adventurous tykes the Cutie Mark Crusaders (twice), her thankfully failed heist of all power in the world to become Empress of Equestria and her subsequent complete absence of any hint of remorse or regret for her heinous crimes?
I say: despite her relatively tender years and ingratiating personality, this empathy-free zone of a filly has more than earned her place in eternal obelisk slumber alongside her equally guilty but much older fellow cohorts of wickedness.
So it was that the peach-coloured lightly-freckled pegasus watched poor Tirek and Chrysalis get frozen in time nearby with nary a word of contrition from either. The self-proclaimed ‘oasis of self-control’ found herself pulling an expression of abject horror and fear, as she felt the powerful combined sealing spell of Luna, Celestia and that damn deceptive draconequus almost reach her like a grey tide of pure oblivion.
Where did it all go so wrong? Why did my genius plans never reach fruition? She lamented in vain, as the three-part masterwork of masonry was almost complete. Was I not cunning enough? Did I lay on the sickly-sweet charm too much? Maybe I should’ve incapacitated more of those stupid ponies as an all-powerful alicorn, instead of having them turn on each other. Whatever the reason for my humiliating defeat, guess I’ll have plenty of time to think about it where I’m heading. If only they could’ve seen my true supreme vision and embraced me instead of embattling me… if only…
“Hold everything there!!”
A commanding voice echoed throughout the field, one aged yet resplendent with knowledge and dignity, so much so that even the two princesses and Discord suspended their important task to stare around them in confusion. Twilight Sparkle and her crew also wondered who had the absolute cheek to interrupt their big moment of victory, the answer to which came hobbling over on a wooden stick, wearing a broken pail as a helmet and a brown rag of an outfit over his hunched back.
The quivering Cozy Glow, all ready to be blasted into extinction, moved her hooves away from her tear-filled eyes to stare with intrigue at this unexpected arrival. Wait a second… that wobbling gait… that grey frizzy mane… that unshaven face fuzzle… those appalling fashion choices... do I know him from somewhere?
“Hello, thanks for waiting for me. Those ancient bones ain’t getting any younger!” The elderly earth pony stallion puffed and panted as he approached the nonplussed crowd of ponies around him, coming to a wheezing stop just in front of a bewildered Twilight. “Hi there, Miss Sparkle. Huge fan! I must say, your book about friendship I ordered via long-distance mail got this old-timer through many a long, lonely night on that far-off freezing hill. One can only talk to so many giant venomous spiders and arctic wolves before losing one’s mind. Which ain’t a good thing, let me tell ya!”
“U-Um… thanks, I guess?” Twilight didn’t know what else to say, as she addressed the grateful senior stallion with perplexed gratitude.
“Excuse me, but if that’s all you came to say sir, perhaps you can save the rest until later? We’re kind of in the middle of the ‘punishment’ phase of our regular ‘saving the world’ jamboree, you know?” Celestia took a step forward, unsure about his motives for intruding at such a crucial juncture.
“Celestia! Don’t ya recognise me? You’re the one who posted me all the way out at Mount Everhoof many years ago, to guard that off-the-map snowy monstrosity! When I volunteered for the task, I didn’t realise it would mean I’d have to give up any hopes of ever having a wife ‘n’ kids… I mean, who’d want to live with me in such a heat-deprived monster-infested spot in such inhospitable wilderness? But it was all worth it, right? What I was protecting up there was well worth trading my entire hopes and dreams for, correct?”
A flash of recognition crept across Celestia’s face momentarily, and her whole body shook as if she was atop that freezing peak herself. “H-Hang on just a minute. Y-You’re…”
“Who is it, dear sister?” Luna hadn’t seen her all-powerful sibling reduced to such a stammering shell in a long time, and pressed her for details.
“The name’s Captain Rusty Bucket ma’am, and may I just say how pleased I am to finally make your acquaintanceship! Ya see, while ya were up there catching some z’s on the moon, your sister here in all her infinite wisdom decided to post a singular guard at the base of Mount Everhoof, and being the patriotic sort I jumped at the chance to serve my country. I was told my tenure would be for five years at the most before I was relieved… but then that became eight… then twelve… then twenty… I think that’s when I started to lose count. The biting wind and below-zero temperatures ‘round those parts play havoc with your head after a while…”
“Just a moment. You’re telling me… my sister forgot all about you after you were assigned, in that miserable place in the middle-of-nowhere, for almost your entire life?!” Luna reacted with horror at this shock revelation of her sibling’s inexcusable absent-mindedness, as Celestia herself looked down at the ground with guilt and shame.
“Yes Sirree! Still, ‘you can’t get the time back’ as I always say, and ‘holding a grudge is worse than clinging onto a Tatzlwurms’s tail’ as it tells us in Twilight’s book. Anyway, I’m retired now, and what with there being no need to guard that darn mountain no more, the whole world is my oyster! I’ve just collected my last payment cheque for decades and decades and decades of back-breaking service; a lot more zeros on there than I would’ve guessed. And then, the nice gal at the remittance office who gave it to me told me something… hold on whilst I remember what it is… ‘fraid my memory ain’t what it used to be…”
Whilst Rusty Bucket ummed and arred in the background, Luna took the opportunity to admonish her sister through the gentle art of whispering. “Tia, how could you? Leaving such a kind old gentlecolt to rot for years on end in such an awful location as well. I suppose you have a bit of past history for that sort of thing, but the difference is I’m an everlasting alicorn and can take the odd millenia in solitude, but he can’t! Also, I was being punished for something terribly wrong I did back then, when all he wanted to do was serve his country!”
“I know, I know, okay! I’m sorry!” Celestia to her credit, did not deny any of the incendiary allegations made directly at her door, but maybe was apologising to the wrong pony. “It’s just I was busy with the small task of running Equestria alone, and had plain forgotten all about this eager young soldier straight out of the academy I sent to the other side of the world to guard the Bewitching Bell aeons ago. That’s not an excuse, it’s a fact! But don’t worry, I’ll make things right with him… somehow…”
“Ah, now I recall why I hot-stepped all the way sharpish over here to see you after claiming all my bits!” A dim light bulb seemed to flicker briefly above Rusty Bucket’s wrinkled head, and a toothless grin covered his geriatric features. “...And it has to do with that little filly over there. The one you’re about to turn into a highly decorative garden gnome, by the looks of things.”
“M-Me?” Cozy Glow spoke for the first time, the exact second the disparate pieces in her head connected together to form an image of where she’d seen this old stallion last. B-But that’s the senile nincompoop who somehow repeatedly foiled my attempts at grabbing that bell. What could he possibly want…
“C-Cozy Glow??” The other ponies in attendance (not forgetting a dragon and a draconequus) spoke in unison. They were even more confused now, if that was even possible.
“Yes, that’s her name… Cozy Glow. The ‘sweet’ little madam who wandered up my path one lonesome day, pretending to be my friend, when all she wanted to do was get past my checkpoint. She was also the best pony I’ve ever seen at causing major avalanches, but that’s another story.” The elderly stallion stopped briefly to wink at the befuddled pegasus, before turning back to Celestia.
“Anyhoo, the gal I was telling you about at the office… she was a bit of a history buff, and kindly told me about this ancient decree I’d never heard of before contained within something called the Royal Charter. It states that once every hundred years the most loyal and long-standing veteran of the Princess’s armed forces gets to have a wish granted. Now, I was a bit sceptical at first, but the nice gal printed off a copy of the charter before I left, and it’s all true. Here, I brought it along with me now if you want to check.”
Rusty Bucket swiftly unfurled a scroll that an expectant crowd quickly gathered around with curiosity… and there it was in black and white, ink on parchment. ‘Thou most dedicated and steadfast soldier shall be granted…’ I think you can guess the rest, old-timey writing notwithstanding.
“B-But I don’t even remember writing that rule! I’ve never even enforced it before! Wait, was it you?” Celestia cast an accusatory glance at her sheepish younger sibling, who returned her firm stare with a guilty look along the lines of ‘it could’ve been’...
“It doesn’t matter who wrote it, it’s part of the original constitution. And adding up all the hours and days and weeks and months and beyond I spent on constant duty since signing up, I think there’s only one clear winner here by a landslide. Do the calculations if you like with your younger minds, but I guarantee you’ll reach the same conclusion. Which neatly brings me to why I’m here today… for my ‘reward’, I want to adopt… her.”
Rusty Bucket pointed a quivering hoof at the about-to-be-cast-into-eternal-stone demon filly in question, and Cozy Glow’s mouth dropped so far it nearly hit the depths of her former home way down in Tartarus. W-What’s going on? W-What is he saying? This weird old guy wants me to be his… daughter?
Immediately, especially from Twilight and her friends, strong voices of protest could be heard, all merging into one giant chord of disapproval. “You can’t do that! She’s pure evil! She almost destroyed Equestria! Twice! She’s a vile sociopath who can never be reformed! Besides, won’t the statue look strange with only two figures on it? Talk about lopsided.”
Celesia took heed of the angry noise surrounding her, waiting patiently for it to die down, before motioning Rusty Bucket and an utterly perplexed Cozy Glow to step forward. “I have reviewed the charter and listened to your request, as well as taken on board the obvious concerns of my closest friends. Under the circumstances though, I see no reason why I can possibly refuse. Therefore, as one of my last major acts before I officially step down, your petition is therefore… accepted.”
“I thought it might be, considering my unstinting service to the crown and some of the other things written in the charter which I wouldn’t want to draw to the public’s attention. Thanking ya kindly.” Rusty Bucket smiled from one end of his pail to the other at his expectant success, before motioning Cozy Glow to follow him. “Come along little filly, we’ve got a long journey ahead of us if we’re gonna get home by dark. Ya can keep right on flying, or ya can rest on my back all the way. The choice is yours.”
“B-But, why? I barely even know you! And after everything I’ve done… and y’know… I do kinda have a reputation of deceiving others that get close to me you might wanna consider…” Cozy Glow was so dumbstruck over the fast pace of events of the last few minutes she blindly did as she was told for a change.
“I like ya, that’s why kid. I could tell ya had spunk when I met ya that day, right in the middle of that ungodly wasteland. Loved your winter get-up too, by the way. What I figured is neither of us has any family anymore so we can work things out together. And if ya do step out of line… there’s always the option of joining your two friends over there…!”
“Arrgh!! I’ll be good! I’ll be good!!” Recognising that perhaps any fate was better than being a permanent stone monument to the perils of falling in with the wrong crowd, Cozy Glow saw she had no real choice but to tow the line for now. “B-But what will the papers say? And I don’t want to live in that derelict old hut at the base of Mount Everhoof, please. The chilly weather would play havoc on my delicate complexion.”
“ Huh! Who reads the tabloids these days? Load of stuff and nonsense, if you ask me. Let ‘em print what they like. And didn’t ya hear what I told Celestia, little filly? I said I’d retired now, so ya and me are gonna be living large in a nice little townhouse in Manehattan away from all that intolerably cold climate. There’s lots to see and do there, you’ll be attending a good private school for rambunctious fillies that’ll do wonders for your errant behaviour… and best of all…”
“...What?”
“... I won’t even ask you to change your name to Cozy Bucket. Get it?”
For some reason, Cozy found that rather lame joke absolutely hilarious and as the two new family members left the others far behind them whilst discussing their future plans together, a mob of predictably outraged ponies (with Discord and Spike to hoof) loudly surrounded Celestia, unstinting in their condemnation of her impromptu declaration.
“This… feels wrong.” Fluttershy commented.
“That’s because it is wrong.” Rainbow Dash frowned.
“Are you sure you’ve really thought this through, darling?” Rarity enquired.
“Do you reckon she'll truly reform now?” Applejack asked sceptically.
“Why do I feel this isn’t gonna end well…” Pinkie Pie was oddly pessimistic.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Spike similarly gulped in fear.
“Cellie, my dear… I do realise you’re getting on a bit in years now… but there’s no need to show yourself succumbing to late-stage monarch madness quite this much.” Discord was commonly candid about the white alicorn’s big decision.
“C-Celestia. I… don’t know what to say. I never thought in a million years that you would…” Twilight wanted a convincing explanation… any explanation to stop her world falling apart by losing even a scintilla of the hero worship she’d held towards her former teacher.
“Ponies, ponies. Settle down! If you’ll just give me a moment.” Celestia raised her hoof until the general volume was finally decreased, before she resumed speaking once more. “First of all, no matter how bad her crimes, and they were bad, it always did seem a bit morally dubious to imprison a mere filly in solid rock for all of eternity. Also, I owed it to old Rusty Bucket for all the time I neglected him so far away, and I happen to know that school he’s sending Cozy Glow to… it’s called St Whinnieans. Trust me, it’s no picnic. If anything can straighten her out once and for all, it’s them.”
“D-Dear Tia, about the charter. I apologise profusely for…” Luna was ready to ‘fess up and take responsibility for her action.
“It’s okay, Luna. That special document was inscribed during the early days of our reign together thousands of years ago, when neither of us had a clue what we were doing. I myself might’ve impulsively put something in it about a weekday cake ban, which is another reason why I didn’t want word of it to get out. Plus some rather racially insensitive things about Changelings, a few less-than-complimentary lines about overweight yaks and possible declarations of a war to wipe out all seaponies… yes, some things are best left buried. Especially in this new era of peace and tranquility. Now, who’s going to help me lift this incomplete statue to the palace?”
Funnily enough, there were no volunteers. Still, those few that were still mumbling in dissatisfaction at what had just transpired would eventually accept the verdict and learn that all Cozy needed was a bit of genuine love, a good support network and the non-stop threat of being made a permanent garden fixture to straighten up and fly right, as common pegasi terminology goes. This would surely be the last they’d seen of her. Or was it?
Let’s just say, wiser heads haven’t stopped looking over their shoulders to this day. “Howdy y’all!!”
I just rewatched Frenemies for the umpteeth time (one of the best S9 episodes IMHO) and came up with this premise for a fic. 
Rusty Bucket is a very memorable character in his interactions with Cozy despite his limited screentime (where's his tag... I demand an enquiry 
) and I felt like giving him the attention he so sorely lacked. 
Anyway, hope you had fun. 'Til next time, then. 
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Haoryu Changer · 53k words · 52 5 · 996 views
- Whinifree · 3.2k words · 28 1 · 693 views
- TenRulle · 12k words · 28 1 · 1.1k views
- Idyll · 20k words · 32 1 · 375 views
- Failwhale34 · 9k words · 45 4 · 1k views
- Golly4Ever · 28k words · 16 1 · 463 views
- Janicethelight · 10k words · 21 1 · 472 views
- Idyll · 96k words · 69 3 · 1.4k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.046 seconds
Total duration
991 users online
1,686,989 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Interesting backstory idea for Rusty. It was odd that only one pony would be guarding such an important artifact, and an elderly one at that, especially since there seemed to be no town or anything he could get supplies from. Either way, one can hope that Cozy managed to find a way to channel her villainous tendencies through more legal ways.
Yes, all zero of them.
No more wrong then letting Discord be free.
Caught the reference of St. Whinneanʼs right away.
Nice little What-If.
These things happen in a monarchy.
Once again Babylon 5 contains the answer to all things.
Hey, look, a succinct summary of the mindset that caused Twilight’s reign to apparently fail after just a couple generations. If even that long.
11851950
Thanks for reading. Safe to say though, your comment has got quite the mixed reaction...
11851979
I knew someone would. More than one person had to have seen the movies, right?
11852084
A ruler's life is not an easy one. I always did kinda respect that Edward VIII bloke (google him to see what I mean).
And not only that she tried to kill Twilight and her friends did anybody keep on forgetting about that am I missing something
Good so we have an understanding
11852094 nice work i for one love a cozy glow Reformation and i love your stories. I hope you keep doing amazing Stories like this and i hope you have a good day
Okay this is actually a pretty interesting story and a very interesting turn of events so when Celestia and Luna and Discord prepares to petrify the villains there was one pony kind of stop them before it got to Cozy and it turns out to be the old pony named Rusty Bucket who been keeping eye on the bell for almost his years which apparently Celestia almost forgot about him what she felt really bad about that but afterwards he doesn't hold grudges against her but he did came here that he deserved an award or something for all his worth protecting the item so he decided to adopt cozy which a lot of people would not too happy about it but he didn't care apparently he wants to try and to help her become a better Pony which good for him all power to him and maybe someday she'll probably be better okay this is a pretty interesting one and nice way to bring this guy again keep up the good work
Lovely story Deadpan! This came at such an apt time for me since Rusty was a subject for consideration in my own story. Characters like him are little morsels of potential for good story telling, and it's a shame we don't see them be utilized more often. And in such wholesome and fun ways. ^^
11852094
What movie? I recognized the schoolʼs name from a previous story of yours, A Motherʼs “Love”. A little confused here.
11852150
m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519GiVgZLlL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg
Both of those were a reference to this franchise. Hope that helps!
11852144
Exactly why I love the G4 Ponyverse so much, because of all the rich and diverse characters we get. Kinda miss that in G5 ngl.
11852157
Ah, I see. Thanks for telling me.
Both versions of the St Trinians Battle Song
11852118
Glad you liked it. Not much backstory on Cozy in canon, but at least it give enterprising authors like me the chance to fill in the gaps with our own theories. Have a great day!
11852451
Now, that's what I call inspiring.
Ah, good ol' Rusty Bucket. Let the record show, He's Okay!
As for Cozy Glow and her complete lack of a backstory, that name being a pseudonym is certainly one theory, and there are a lot of them that come in all sorts of packages. A fair number of people think she isn't actually a filly at all, but a dwarf.
11852497
I think a St Bernard and a barrel of brandy would've been helpful where RB was on duty, alas he only has his wooden stick to unearth himself after the regular snowfalls.
Still, considering how long he must've been on guard there, he must've survived plenty of sliding activity from the peaks, so I dare say he'll be fine.
And I think part of the reason CG wasn't fully fleshed out was due to the writers, they wanted a villain real quick for S8 and the 'cute kid who's secretly a monster' was the best they could come up with at such short notice.
I'm not complaining, though. I love her design, the concept behind her (even if it was pretty easy to figure out she was more than she seemed even after her first ep) and I have to admire the balls of the makers for permanently freezing a CHILD in stone forever in a kid's show. Agree or disagree with their decision, that takes some guts!
11852505
On one hand, it ties right back into what they said about the scream they had Nicole and Tabitha do for Celestia and Luna having their magic drained when the actresses in question asked how far the staff wanted them to go with the pain in the voice. 'What are the gonna do, cancel us?'
On the other hand, I feel like highlighting the fact that she's a child over the sheer scope of her crimes and the fact that she committed them freely and of her own volition is what caused so many people to basically riot over it. Just like her punishment at the end of Season 8.
11852510
People who haven't seen it all the way through might think MLP is a 'mild' show, suitable for any ages, with material not likely to offend audiences. In fact, adults might find it all a bit twee and corny...
But highlight the fact that Cozy Glow (a mere filly) got locked up in hell and then petrified with a horrified look on her face for all of eternity , and they'll probably do more than a double take. Considering her age, in real life (at least in the UK) she'd get placed in a virtual holiday camp of a 'jail' for a few years before being allowed out on supervised release under a new identity. Not saying what is right and what is wrong, just spitting facts.
Still think MLP is entirely made of sunshines, rainbows and kitty tears? This plot development alone should be enough to give most people second thoughts...
11852520
It also kind of sidesteps the problem that Cozy Glow - and Tirek and Chrysalis - was only in a position to even do anything in Season 9 due to Discord, who gets off with no consequences for his actions that nearly see Equestria destroyed. Again. For the third time since “Keep Calm” by my count. He has literally been a greater threat to Equestria since his supposed reformation than he was before it, since he only threatened Equestria twice that we know of before then.
Also as usual I wish to object to the idea that Tirek has rejected reformation time and again. He’s only rejected it once that we know of, over a thousand years ago, and we know nothing about the circumstances since we only have a second-hand account of the conversation between Tirek and Scorpan. Since then, Tirek was put in Tartarus and so thoroughly forgotten over the ensuing millennium that Celestia didn’t even know he’d escaped until most of two seasons after it happened. She cared that little for him, checked up on him that rarely. And in the modern era, no one has ever tried to reach out to him in friendship or even treat him as a person deserving of some basic level of respect or dignity. Not until Chrysalis and Cozy, anyway.
To be frank, him being totally pissed off at Equestria is perfectly understandable under his circumstances. I’d be too. I think anyone in his circumstances would be.
11852454 thanks
11852549
Whatever you might think of the 'Discord was Grogar' twist, no-one saw it coming.
Whether it was because it was so clever that it wasn't spotted, or so stupid that nobody even thought it was a possibility, I'll leave it up to you to decide.
Personally I liked it, but as you said I can see why people might've had problems with the idea, especially considering the chaos Discord inflicted even after he was 'reformed'.
I suppose because he's such a likeable character, people let him get away with his nefarious schemes than they would do for say, Tirek...
11852497
It might've been weird, but if Cozy Glow ended up being Grogar, it would've removed the issue with her being a child and making the kind of plan where she cons all other parties involved feel more realistic(Tirek and the Mane 6 by both being trapped in Tartarus and controlling the students)
Could've also been neat, too, as it'd allow the villains to shine on their own and let Grogar be the biggest threat seen with the finale afterwards and work with the presence set up at the end of "The Beginning of the End Part 2".
11852549
The Discord comment doesn't really feel fair given it's kind of obvious being given freedom would give him more chances to cause chaos than staying as he was. Really the only ones that could be used are the cases with Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis, and Sombra coming back(the second one being a bit better since he had complete control over the scenario)
With his reformation, it was a given he'd cause chaos and the plan was to work around it and have him care about friendship; with Tirek in season 4, it was an issue with him and the Mane 6 that caused the betrayal(also worth pointing out the Plundervines, where while it's technically correct that Discord caused it, it's not really unreasonable that he said nothing on it when the first reaction was to use the Elements on him)
As for Tirek, he might've been more open to redemption than we saw, especially with the comics in consideration, but it leans a bit on being somewhat against it(not nearly as much as Chrysalis)given his use of gratitude and loyalty to get Discord to work with him to later betray him, which even if it makes sense given his relationship with Scorpan, would be a notable point to work on
11852670
Causing chaos is one thing; I’m talking about actually nearly destroying the nation, however, which is kind of a step beyond merely being a mischief-maker. Worse still the end of Season 9 doesn’t leave any impression that he won’t do it again, since the fundamental issue that keeps causing it - that he doesn’t really see people as people, just as things to further his personal goals - isn’t fixed, or even addressed.
Tirek doesn’t betray Discord until after he learns that Discord has kept something vitally important - the existence of Twilight - from him. Given how the betrayal of Scorpan clearly affected him deeply (and directly lead to 1,000 years of being stuck in a cell that’s maybe two meters on a side), it’s pretty understandable that Discord’s duplicitous nature lead Tirek to the conclusion that he had to betray Discord before Discord would inevitably betray him.
Conversely, though, when Tirek strikes a bargain with Twilight for the power of the alicorns, he keeps his word in giving back Twilight’s friends, and more to the point, proceeds to take no action to harm or threaten them. His rampage post-power up is seemingly deliberately targeted away from Twilight and her friends, whereas some other villain might have gone “and now that I have this power and you have your friends, you can die together!”
Everything about Tirek and how he operates suggests that as long as he doesn’t think you’ll betray him, he’s completely trustworthy. He seems to honor both the letter and the spirit of his word, he just also lives by the idea that you are not bound to a promise that is neither made nor kept in good faith. Which is, again, completely reasonable.
But finally and most importantly, Tirek is one of only three villains in the shows history who, without any outside push towards this end, ever questioned what he was doing and if he should keep doing it. He’s one of only three who expressed any degree or doubt or regret or openness to change.
The other two being Chrysalis and Cozy Glow.
These guys weren’t irredeemable. They were the only ones who ever showed signs that they could be redeemed without being prompted. They just were unlucky enough to not have anyone around but each other to see it when it happened.
This is such a great story....I love the backstory you gave good ol' Rusty Bucket. Thing is, I could actually see him doing something like this in canon. I always like stories where Cozy gets spared being turned to stone, she is just a filly after all! This gets an upvote and a fave.
Cozy: damn
I was HATED...
I wonder why little old me was so terrible back then!
...oh i remember
I wasn't a good filly
11852094
Not really. I quite enjoyed the story overall. Wouldn't have made such a long comment if I didn't.
11853283
I meant your comment has got a 'mixed reaction', not my story, it's got a variable mixture of up and downvotes, if you check the tally. Thanks for being the first to post here, BTW.
11852799
Thought you might feel that way, having read some of your previous works (being a bit of a Cozy aficionado myself) I got the distinct you were against her eventual sentence 100%.
As for my view, I can handle all scenarios involving her fate, including ones where she's reformed, adopted, petrified forever or even becomes 'Empress of Equestria' in the end, provided it's written well. At least the show gave us plenty of scope to develop her further, going by the fact there's a big gaping hole where her past is.
BTW, My favourite fic involving everyone's favourite psychotic filly is Castling Cozy Glow . Idk if you've seen it already (I bet you have, if you're a fan like me) but I thought I'd mention it just in case. Thanks for reading my story to, and good luck with any future Cozy-related endeavours!
11853065
It's hard to move on sometimes... but seeing as you can never go back, you have to try.She's just gonna have to accept who she was, and look to the future.
11853383
Yeah
But im happy to report she's fully moved on and jokes about her past now!
She's become her own filly
11853383
Some people I know think Cozy deserved it and that was that. Thing is, we don't know why she turned out the way she did and that is why I created the headcanon for her that I did in "Saving Cozy." That is one thing that I never was a fan of, her having absolutely no backstory and just suddenly showing up. I have read some Cozy Glow stories and in one Tirek and Chrysalis are married and adopt her....thing is, they wind up becoming a very well adjusted family. I always like to think that they'd be kind of like the Bundys from "Married With Children."
I also like the idea of them and the Crystal Empire ruling family being neighbors. It would be like the Cleavers from "Leave it to Beaver" living next to the Bundys. That would make for quite the comedy....and chances are if I were a pony, I'd likely be more likely to befriend Equestria's Bundys.
11851950
"We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!"
Cute story.
Though I can't help but feel Twilight should have been the one to decide to free Cozy Glow. It would help establish her as a "real" Princess if she actually contradicts and stands against a decision Celestia and Luna made. Maybe that's just my bias from all the Cozy Glow stories, from writers who've clearly not watched the show, acting like Twilight was the one who turned the three of them into stone..
Reading too much into this comedy story I know.