It's been a long time since the Canterlot Sculpture Gardens had a visitor. It's been even longer since any prisoners got de-petrified. But an eldritch horror from beyond reality has descended, and it wants answers.
Or just one answer, really. And the filly who shares its likeness should be able to provide it.
Cozy always did love the sound of her own voice, didn't she?
This is an entry in the Snippet Series, an anthology of old oneshots that I (and my good buddy Str8aura) wrote based around interesting pics I found. New ones will be posted every other Thursday for the foreseeable future.
Chapters (1)
It's fitting that this Cozy Glow is a tentacled extradimensional horror, but ironically that's not the most interesting thing about her.
Of all the garnishing I love putting on stories when I write them, the opening line may be my favorite. Reading a good one in another person's story is even better.
I used to toy a lot with changes in text to reflect reality breaking down. In one of my old snippets, I wrote a scene of the universe being sucked into a black hole, wherein the paragraph describing it started out tightly packed before the letters began to grow further and further apart. I don't bother with it much anymore; I can never be sure how it'll look on someone else's device, and some people tend to find it rather annoying. Still, I'll be damned if I don't ocassionally get a thrill out of seeing someone else do it well.
Tentacles, wonderful tentacles! You're never fully dressed without them. Some people think they're a tad overused these days as shorthands for 'eldritch', especially considering they were codified by one especially nervous man's fear of ocean things, but I've got a soft spot for them. A squishy, umami, invertebrate soft spot.
A ha, a ha ha ha. [Bizarre Woody laugh]. I'm picking up what you're putting down. A successful Cozy Glow having absorbed chaos magic, and now become an Observer to other timelines, is this? I hope so- an abomination spawned from an elementary school girl is an idea with a lot of merit. I only hope it shines through more in her personality than simply defaulting to standard sci fi 'superior life form' speak.
I do hope that's a nod to Smolder's story about the tiny pink dragon who seized power. That was always one of my favorite pieces of foreshadowing in the show.
I head canon that these are trophies from previously defeated 'corns. Or maybe I'm assuming too much malice in the past of this Cozy.
'Squelch' and 'Rabbit in the fence' are both evocative in their own ways; One, continuing the squishy cephalopod feel, and one likening her to a quick, nimble animal. Both go nicely together and you should feel nice for picking them.
The thing that interests me the most about this story (Other than the mildly curious note that Tentacle!Cozy is never described, nor is their position in space, although it's possibly they simply spend their time hovering above the rest of the cast) is that note about every Cozy demanding to be returned to the status quo. There's an air of pessimism there that undercuts the monster's search; Every version of a pony once power hungry and despotic now wants nothing more than to be left alone. Nobody has tried to fight the Entity, nobody has tried to ally with it, nobody has tried to capture it. There may be worlds left to conquer, but Alexander doesn't care anymore. The doctor is out. And that view of the future is the perfect portent of doom to show a Cozy.
There was a time where I was very excited by fictional multiverses; in this current pop culture landscape, that spark has died a little bit, which is why I never quite returned to Sunbirth. Even as I was writing it, I felt my authorial tone laced with sardonicism towards the concept, and none of my ideas seemed capable of justifying their own existence. And yet, I still write and read multiverses- not grand, mass scale epics as often, but more frequently quiet musings and observations like this one.
You said it best yourself- Massive stakes will never be able to stand on their own without tight, personal character driven stories to tell them with. That, I imagine, is why so many well known Multiverse stories come down to 'a normal person's interpersonal struggles jeopardize reality'. Wanda Maximoff wants a chance at children, Rick Sanchez is trying to flee his humanity, Joy Wang feels disconnected from her mother. Cue the end of everything we can comprehend. And when you don't use the multiverse for that, the second best way to use it is a sad acceptance of the fact that no matter how far you zoom out, we are unlikely to ever find meaning more than a hundred feet away from our noses.
The optimist believes this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears the same. You wrote a good story.
It’s the use of Golly that amused me most.
'Happiness' is such an ego-derived concept. Good written story though, as always
I know that's Cozy. But my mind still record scratches for a moment at it saying 'golly'.
The master of AUs returns with another wildly unique banger of a short story.
Thank you.
Oh I love this! Hopeful optimism from Cozy of all ponies! Can't help but imagine an epilogue where we see what her happiness is in the form of eldritch cozy coming back for the answer but that would defeat the purpose of the fic if we're given the answer to the open ended question that Cozy leaves Cozy, are you happy?
Good story, and glad to see you back. If those two always make the wrong choice, what odds that they will cooperate with Cozy Glow when she finally tries to make a right one?
(I imagined a different story when I saw the picture: Cozy Glow's mom finally shows up, and she has Questions about her daughter and why she was turned to stone.
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There isn't much that makes me happier than seeing an interesting-looking Cozy Glow story under "recent stories," and this one did not disappoint! The writing was top-notch, the premise intriguing, and the ending perfect. Thanks for writing!
12080847
Lol
. That could've had potential, too 
.
I'm still so disappointed that the show didn't do smth more interesting with these three. But at least that lead to great fics like this one!
Wow, that was crazy in a good way!
Hmm, sounds like Cozy's are more about the pursuit than they are the destination, and instead only ever achieve fleeting happiness, but that's the norm. Happiness comes from a perceived accomplishment- it's a biological reward of sorts to drive animals forward- it's not meant to last forever because that would mean an end to motivation.
Cozy Glow was quite obviously happy when she first became an alicorn, for instance. She was happy when her magic-draining spell was on track to succeed. Just because those moments of joy were fleeting, does that mean that they did not matter? From a certain point of view, all moments in time are endless thus each Cozy in those moments have achieved what Eldritch Cozy seeks-the marching of time merely transformed them into an infinite number of future version- some of which weren't happy.
If eldritch Cozy Glow wants to be happy, then immortality is the antithesis of it. Eventually, one will achieve all that is possible to achieve, and so, with no goals left to strive for, no accomplishment and resulting joy is available. Eldritch Cozy's current goal is to find a happy Glow, and as we saw with her excitement at the prospect, such a discovery will bring her joy.
How long will it last, however? Perhaps it would be best if, upon finding what she seeks, she uses her vast powers to erase herself- end things on a high note, as it were- instead of letting time replace Happy Eldritch Glow with yet another listless one.
As a magic twink once said: "There is no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit."
Eldritch Horror Cozy is currently the wisest Cozy, and in the true tradition of the wise, she has inspired another who will surpass her so that when the time comes, she can finally learn that which she has been seeking from a once-student now-master.
how nice to see Cozy Glow, Chysalis and Lord Tirek in a fanfaction! I liked this fanfiction!
Heh. The one person who Cozy might actually listen to when they warn her of the perils of boundless ambition. Brilliant approach to the concept, and to the inspiring image. Glad to have you back; thank you for a fantastic way to herald your return.