private Manipulation and Reformation (1x1 with PawelS)

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

@PawelS 

The cool humid air could be felt as Flurry Heart flew down into the Canterlot Castle Dungeon. There weren't that many cells so she quickly found what she was looking for and flew over. There it was: the statue of the three villains that tried to take over Equestria. It was a lot taller and more menacing in the dark than it seemed. Flurry Heart always found this statue very intriguing.

Examining the statue revealed something interesting about the characters. While Chrysalis looked furious and Tierk looked in pain, Cozy Glow looked terrified. Could psychopaths be terrified? It seemed like everypony thought she was a psychopath, but Flurry Heart wasn't sure. Plus, Aunt Twilight talked a lot about how no pony could be inherently evil, so they all deserved a second chance, but Twilight never gave Cozy Glow one. Whenever Flurry Heart tried to ask, she never got a straight answer, so she decided that she would be Cozy Glow's second chance.

"Well, if this fails, I can always turn her to stone again and nopony would have to find out..." Flurry Heart said, laughing to herself nervously. She felt awful about doing this behind her parents' backs, but not trying giving Cozy Glow a second chance seemed to go against Twilight's ideas of friendship. Plus, she had a pretty good grasp on Twilight's friendship lessons, so she felt pretty confident about what she was doing. She charged up her horn and blasted a spell at Cozy Glow.

[Silly Druid 6,138]

So the plan didn't work. Well, that wasn't the first time for Cozy Glow, nor for Chrysalis or Tirek. There was something in this world that made all their plans, while quite successful at the beginning, always fail in the end. Is it the Magic of Friendship that always prevails for some reason? But what Cozy Glow was doing was the same thing, she was collecting friends and using them to help her take over Equestria. Was it any different from what Twilight did? She wasn't sure about that, and that knowledge wouldn't be very useful in her current state anyway. Along with her two villainous friends she was turned to stone, which seemed like a really harsh treatment for a child like her, not to mention her imprisonment earlier. Are Twilight and the others really as good and caring as most ponies think, if they did something like this?

Suddenly, Cozy felt something. She didn't really feel anything in her stone form, so this was unexpected. She felt... freedom! Her muscles hurt after all that period of inactivity, but for her it was like the best feeling ever: she could move again!

But who did it? This question was answered quickly, as Cozy saw a pony near her. What was really strange is that the pony was an alicorn!

"Who are you?" She asked, but then she realized something. "Golly, I remember you! You're that little alicorn baby, heiress to the Crystal Empire! If you're my age now, then I must have been here for quite a while..." While in her stone form, Cozy was vaguely aware of her surroundings, but she totally lost her sense of time. But seeing Flurry Heart's age changed that: it must have been several years. The alicorn's motivation remained a mystery though, and Cozy hoped to find it out soon.

Edited September 14, 2022 by PawelS

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

Flurry Heart watched as the spell worked it's magic and Cozy Glow freed herself from the statue while the other tow villains remained as stone. However, she was surprised when Cozy Glow almost immediately recognized her. She assumed that being turned to stone would mean the brain would need a bit of time to 'warm up', but she never experienced being turned to stone, so she couldn't be sure. Plus, Cozy Glow had always been described as 'wired differently'.

"Cozy Glow," she replied, lowering her raised eyebrows. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you recognized me so quickly. So I suppose you are wondering why I freed you. You see..." Flurry Heart gestured her hoof in the air, trying to find the right words. "I believe that you should be given the chance to see the magic of friendship, and to be able to be friends with others without trying to take over Equestria. If you agree, we can try to be friends, but you have to promise two things: first, you cannot manipulate me or try to hurt me, and second, you cannot try to overthrow the princesses or get rid of magic in Equestria. I know you think otherwise, but the princesses are really friendly and caring. Do you agree to this? If not, I could just turn you back to stone and we can both forget about this," Flurry Heart proposed. 

[Silly Druid 6,138]

Cozy Glow was happy to hear that, and she could feel all the new possibilities opening before her.

"So you wanna be friends with me? Sweet! But we need to talk about your conditions. What does manipulation even mean? It's normal among friends that they try to influence each other and convince them to do things, and I don't want you to accuse me of manipulation when I do something like that. So you need to define manipulation precisely before I can promise anything in this regard. The thing I can promise is that I won't hurt you, you freed me and for that I'm eternally grateful."

"As for overthrowing the princesses, do you think a cute little filly like me can do such a thing?" Cozy made a cute face to amplify her words. But then her expression changed back to a more serious one. "Who am I kidding, of course you do! After what I've done in the past, you have every right to expect it from me. I suppose I have many other things to do now that I'm free, so I can promise that too. I won't try to overthrow the princesses or get rid of magic."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

Flurry Heart frowned slightly when Cozy Glow pushed back on her, forcing her to elaborate on what she meant by manipulation. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to find the right words to say. "Well, you see, how about not intentionally misleading others by lying to them? Erm, you know what? I think that as long as you don't try to overthrow the princesses or get rid of magic, we will be fine. Anyways, since you agree, let's get out of this dark and miserable dungeon," Flurry Heart said. She cast another spell on the statue, causing a stone replica of Cozy Glow to appear in her place.

"Now we just need a disguise for you..." Flurry Heart said, turning to Cozy Glow. "Any opinions?" Flurry asked, holding up a mirror for her to see.

[Silly Druid 6,138]

Cozy Glow was glad the matter of manipulation got dropped. She didn't promise anything in this regard, which gave her more possibilities for her future actions. She didn't have any specific plan in mind yet, first she needed to see what was happening in the world. It's been several years, so some things could have changed...

"Disguise? Good thinking, I don't suppose I'll get positive reactions if ponies see me again. I heard you have crazy strong magic, so I assume you can give me any appearance you like. Let me think... well, we should get rid of my trademark manestyle, that's for sure. We should also... you now what? I'm sure you have lots of friends, but perhaps sometimes you dream of a perfect one, one that you don't have. That's how I want to look."

Edited September 15, 2022 by PawelS

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

Flurry Heart shifted around uncomfortably when Cozy Glow suggested that she make Cozy Glow look like her idea of a perfect pony. "Well, you see, I'm not old enough to like, like ponies romantically... Plus, I already have the perfect friends. They are the other princesses and Shining Armor. Like, they don't make Twilight the princess of friendship and magic for nothing..." Flurry Heart trailed off when she realized that she probably shouldn't have said that in front of Cozy Glow. "Well, I'll see what I can come up with. I might be powerful in magic, but I'm not good when it comes to creating appearances..."

Flurry Heat fired a spell at Cozy Glow, not quite sure what to expect. When she saw the results, she figured it was close enough to what she wanted. Cozy Glow still looked vaguely like Cozy Glow, but only if you knew she was supposed to look like Cozy Glow. 

"Ok then, let's go..." Flurry Heart said as she lead Cozy Glow up the stairs. Outside, it was dark and the moon was up, reveling that Flurry Heart decided to break Cozy Glow out at night. However, she saw something that made her blood freeze: a royal guard had noticed them.

"Hault! Who goes there!?" the guard demanded.

"It's me, Flurry Heart," Flurry Heart replied, hoping the guard wouldn't notice her fear as he walked over.

"Sorry, I wasn't referring to you, Princess Flurry Heart," the guard replied in a gentle voice. His voice grew more stern as he turned to Cozy Glow however. "I was referring to you. Who are you?" The guard asked Cozy Glow, scanning her up and down.

For a split second, Flurry Heart was relived that the guard didn't question why she was by the dungeon at night. However, the fear flooded back when the royal guard continued pressing Cozy Glow.

"Hmm, you look familiar," the guard said, staring at Cozy Glow's cutie mark intently. "Ah, I think we played chess together at the tea shop. Remind me, what's your name again?" the guard asked.

[Silly Druid 6,138]

"Romantically? Golly, that's not what I meant at all. I meant an imaginary friend or something like that. I wanted to be your dreams come true, but only as a friend, not in a romantic way. Also, all the friends you mentioned are adults, does it mean you don't have any fiends your age? That would be pretty similar to what I did, my accomplices weren't children either..."

When the guard appeared, Cozy was ready to play her part. "Hello, good sir. I'm Red Rook, the princess is showing me around town." When talking to the guard, Cozy Glow tried to change her voice, so she wouldn't be recognized that way. Compared to her normal way of speaking, she sounded lower and less child-like.

Spoiler

OOC: Sorry for my lack of originality, "Red Rook" is just a description of Cozy Glow's cutie mark, sadly I didn't have any better idea for her alternative name.

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

"Ah yes, Red Rook, we played chess at the tea shop last Thursday. Well, it's nice to see you again," the guard said as he shook Cozy Glow's hoof. He then turned and walked off, the distinctive clank of his horseshoes against the polished palace floor fading as he turned a corner. 

"Wow, I can't believe that actually worked..." Flurry Heart whispered to Cozy Glow after breathing a sigh of relief. "So, what do you want to do here? It's currently still nighttime, so there isn't much going on currently, but if you have any ideas of what to do and it doesn't involve anything illegal, then we might be able to do it. We have about two hours to do things before I'm supposed to wake up."

[Silly Druid 6,138]

"Well, I think we should use the time we have left to come up with a plan." Cozy Glow suggested. "If you want to keep my true identity a secret, which is a good decision, we should create a believable setup: How did you meet me? Where should I live? What about my family?"

"Also, are you sure you can't change my cutie mark? I know it's pretty advanced magic, but I suppose many ponies remember it... Guards are usually not the brightest ones and are easy to deceive, but not all ponies are like that..."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

"Well you see, I had a bit of time to think about this. So here's my setup: you agreed participate in a friendship program with me to see how ponies with vastly different experiences and socioeconomic backgrounds might interact, trying to become friends. And the thing is, we can argue that in a way, it is true. We just need to say that both you and your parents agreed to this," Flurry Heart said as she pulled out a piece of paper and a feather with the agreement written out, levitating the feather over to Cozy Glow to sign.

"Where you live is the easy part. You will just be staying with me. There's always a ton of guest bedrooms at the castles, or you could stay in my bedroom as long as you don't disturb me while I sleep," Flurry Heart replied.

"Speaking of family, I know there's no easy way to ask, but can you tell me about them? I feel like there's something important going on here," Flurry Heart said, glancing around nervously. 

"Change your cutie mark? Uh, I don't know how to do that. In fact, it's banned because it messes with the pony's identity and mind and doing so would give such pony an identity crisis if not done correctly. In addition, a bunch of villains did it so now it's seen as evil to do so and I don't want to be evil!" Flurry Heart said, putting a bit more emphasis on the last sentence than she meant to.

[Silly Druid 6,138]

Cozy Glow signed the agreement as Red Rook, after reading it carefully to make sure there was nothing she wouldn't want to agree to there.

"My family? Well, the thing is... they did nothing wrong, really. They always wanted to raise me as a good filly. It's entirely my fault that I did not fulfill their expectations. Maybe it would be better for me if I had some kind of tragic experiences in the past that I could use to explain my later misdeeds, but that's not true. My parents are good ponies, and I don't want them to take the blame for things I do. If anything, they may be actually too naive and easily deceived..."

"As for the cutie mark, perhaps I should wear some kind of clothes to hide it most of the time... I can still go by the name 'Red Rook' though, I don't think anypony would connect that to my true identity."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

Flurrry Heart mostly just nodded along to Cozy Glow's answer. Almost as soon as she finished asking her question, she realized that Cozy Glow could easily make something up, so she just nodded along. 

"Well, maybe it was different back then, but currently, ponies don't really wear clothes. I mean, sure, I wear my royal regalia frequently, but they don't exactly cover my flanks. In fact, I remember hearing stories of how some blank flanks in school tried wearing dresses to hide their blank flanks, and they just ended up sticking out even more, so yeah..." Flurry Heart rambled.

Flurry Heart found it weird to just stand around while talking to Cozy Glow, so she absent mindedly started walking back towards her bedroom. 

[Silly Druid 6,138]

"So the only option is to have my cutie mark openly exposed? That's risky, but I'll manage. Speaking of school, am I going to go to one when taking part in this program?" Cozy Glow thought about the period when she was going to the School of Friendship. These were good times, and she could put her abilities to full use there.

"Where are you going? Can I go with you?" Cozy asked when Flurry started to move.

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

“Oh, no, well, I mean, it’s complicated. I get most of my friendship lessons directly from the princesses, but I have teachers for other subjects. Also, I have a few close friends that’s i spend time with. We’ll meet them later today I think,” Flurry Heart explained. 

“Oh I’m just heading back to my bedroom. Unless you have a better idea of what to do,” Flurry Heart replied.

[Silly Druid 6,138]

"So I'll be taking these lessons together with you? That's interesting..." Getting the knowledge on the princesses' views on friendship directly from the source is something that could be exploited, Cozy Glow thought.

"And yes, I want to see what you have in your bedroom. I promise I won't break anything! And while we're going there, perhaps you can fill me in on what's happening in the world. Before I was turned to stone, Twilight was going to become the ruler of Equestria, did it really happen? If so, what are Celestia and Luna doing these times? Any other things I should know about?"

Edited September 19, 2022 by PawelS

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

“I mean, the princesses have a very... unique way of teaching. Hence why I’m able to do stuff like this,” Flurry Heart explained, gesturing to Cozy Glow.

“For my bedroom, well I’ll explain when I get there. It would be easier that way,” Flurry Heart explained.

”As for the princesses, well Twilight is currently the ruling princess. However, at the last minute, she made the argument that just because she was good at solving friendship issues doesn’t mean that she is good at all the skills needed to rule Equestria. In addition, the two royal sisters grew bored of retirement and decided to indulge Twilight by dream surfing and handling all the non-friendship related things for ruling Equestria. This allowed Twilight to do other things, such as continuing her research in magic and indulging her friends, including me!” Flurry Heart replied, gesturing to herself with a smile. She said the last part with particular emphasis.

"Though you will get to know them a bit more when we head to breakfast..." Flurry Heart trailed off when she realized what that meant. "How am I going to explain that I got a new friend overnight, especially considering my other friends won't be there..."

"Well anyways, here's my bedroom," Flurry Heart said, opening the door to her bedroom. It could only be described as a princess themed bedroom with a soft carpeted floor and rather large bed. Everything was either pink, bright white, or light blue, and they were opulent and childish simultaneously. Surprisingly, it wasn't that large for a princess' bedroom. "I know what you are thinking. It's not that large for a reason, and that's because any larger and it won't feel cozy. However it's just large enough for a slumber party with all my friends. As for breaking things, well..." Flurry Heart gave a mischievous smile as she walked around her room, pretending to be clumsy and intentionally knocking over several things with her wings and tail. 

"See? they are all fine. I was, how do I say it? Pretty crazy when I was younger," she said as she levitated the things back to where they were.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Skylight Scintillate

[Silly Druid 6,138]

"So it seems you didn't think through that part of your plan," Cozy Glow noticed. "Well, I can hide somewhere for now if you prefer to introduce me to the princesses later. I have a question though: Why are you in Canterlot anyway? Shouldn't you reside with your parents in the Crystal Empire?"

Flurry's bedroom made a good impression on Cozy. "It looks very nice! I love cozy things, it's a part of my name after all. And that protection makes sense I guess, I heard you destroyed some stuff as a baby, including a powerful magical artifact."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

“I mean, I’ll just say that you wanted to have a slumber party with me. I mean, if you want to meet the princesses right away. Otherwise I could hide you somewhere. So what do you want?” Flurry Heart asked.

“As for why I’m in Canterlot, well he Crystal Empire always has been a bit... isolated from the rest of Equestria, so it would be hard for me to learn there. Plus, it turns out it’s easier for Shining Armor to run the royal guard and Princess Cadence to run the Crystal Empire from here. However the three of us visit the Crystal Empire frequently,” Flurry Heart explained.

”No I didn’t! Ok well I kind of did, but it all worked out in the end,” Flurry Heart said, blushing excessively. She climbed onto her bed and snuggled a large bunny plushie.

Edited September 22, 2022 by Skylight Scintillate

[Silly Druid 6,138]

"I want whatever you think is the most believable way of introducing me. I don't want to take any chances here." Cozy was serious about that. She knew that a good plan was better than acting spontaneously.

"Maybe you're here because they want to keep you away from that crystal thingy you destroyed?" Cozy suggested jokingly, but then she realized she might hurt Flurry's feelings. "Sorry, bad joke. What I really want to know is what are you going to do with me. Do you have any specific plans for my reformation?" Cozy knew that not only friendship is power, but knowledge is power too. Knowing things in advance could be very useful...

 

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

"Well let's see, we could say... Oh shoot, one of the royal guards saw us by the dungeons. I'll have to say I met you the evening before. Oh I know! I'll say I let you in the back door right by my bedroom for some chess and a slumber party. I always invite my friends over for slumber parties, and they usually use that route. That would explain how you were able to get into the castle in the first place, because the royal guards keep very good track of everypony that comes in and out, except for the secret back door. And at this rate, if we are going with the idea that I let you in for a slumber party, you might as well show up for breakfast because that's how all the other slumber parties go," Flurry Heart explained. "What do you think?"

[Silly Druid 6,138]

"Sounds reasonable," Cozy Glow agreed to Flurry Heart's plan. "So who's going to be on that breakfast? Do I need to prepare for it in some way? Also, I'm really hungry after all these years of petrification, I hope the 'princess food' is good..."

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

"Let's see, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Spike, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and I will be there. Despite all the princesses there, it's a pretty casual thing, so no, I don't think you need to prepare. In fact, Rarity is usually the most formally dressed pony there, which is saying something. As for what the food is, I don;t know, but in my opinion, it's always good. Anyways, let's go. Breakfast will be served soon," Flurry Heart said, gesturing towards Cozy Glow to follow her out. 

They almost immediately ran into Princess Twilight. Despite being more than a decade since Cozy Glow last saw her, Twilight still looked the exact same: an alicorn but with the proportions of a regular pony. In addition, despite just waking up, her mane and tail looked perfectly brushed and combed.

"Oh hey Flurry Heart. You heading to breakfast too? Who is this friend of yours?" Twilight asked with a yawn, still trying to blink the sleepiness out of her eyes. 

[Silly Druid 6,138]

So it seems everypony of any importance in this kingdom is at that breakfast, maybe except Starlight Glimmer. I don't think they should do it like this, for safety reasons. An attack on all that gathering of important figures could be devastating to Equestria. Not that I'm going to do anything like that just now, I'm not ready yet...

That's what Cozy Glow thought, but she didn't have time to say anything to Flurry Heart, as they suddenly ran into Princess Twilight. To avoid being recognized, Cozy decided to act as a typical filly her age, a little shy and overwhelmed by the presence of royalty. She used the same fake voice as when talking to the guard.

"Your Highness... I'm honored... I'm Red Rook... Princess Flurry Heart's new friend..."

Edited September 22, 2022 by PawelS

[Skylight Scintillate 1,850]

"Nice to meet you, Red Rook," Twilight replied. Flurry Heart noticed that she seemed to keep glancing at Cozy Glow when Cozy wasn't looking. She got the feeling that both of them were thinking about something, but she couldn't figure out what. Part of her wondered if Twilight would recognize Cozy Glow, but Twilight didn't act like she recognized her.

Soon enough, the group arrived at the castle banquet hall. While it could be configured for large events, the current setup had sectioned off a small corner to create a more private intimate setting for the group's breakfast. In addition, tall stained glass windows let in plenty of sunlight despite the somewhat early hour. Behind the privacy dividers was an extremely elegant table setup. Twelve thrones with cutie marks were configured around a crystal table covered in a very elegant table cloth. On the table was fine chinaware, crystal glassware, and elegant silverware. Despite this formal setup, none of the attendees were dressed formally (except for Rarity). Each attendee was sitting at the throne with their respective cutie mark and they were chatting among themselves casually. A few of them eyed Cozy Glow as she walked in, but none of them seemed concerned. 

Flurry Heart sat down on her throne near Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadence.

"Oh, let me get you a chair," Flurry Heart said. She levitated over a chair and placed it next next to where she was sitting and gestured to Cozy Glow. She wondered who Cozy Glow would try to make small talk with.