Spike's Sacrifice

Chapter 7: Cozy's Mental Breakdown/A Surprise For Cozy

MEANWHILE IN THE CANTERLOT DUNGEONS

When Twilight had left the Dungeons in Canterlot, Cozy Glow broke down into a fit of sobs, tearfully saying how she was sorry for causing Spike to die. Two minutes later, it was a different story. Cozy's sobs slowly transitioned into manical laughter, babbling on about how Spike's death would "teach Celestia and Luna a lesson for taking her best friend away from her" and that they now "knew how it felt to lose someone close to them". She kept going back and fourth between crying and laughing manically. It was needless to say that at this point, the last of the severly mentally ill Pegasus' sanity seemed to have finally given out. Chrysalis seemed to enjoy Cozy's mood swings, even chuckling when she was about to shift moods. Tirek, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable by Cozy finally snapping right in front of him.

THE NEXT DAY

Right on schedule, Celestia, Luna, Cobalt, Starlight, and the Element Bearers were at the dungeons and were being lead to Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis' cell. As they got closer, the ten ponies heard sobbing coming from their cell. By the time they got to the front of the cell and were facing the three villains, the sobbing was now slowly transitioning into manical laughter. Chrysalis saw the ten new arrivals, and could not be happier to see them. Even if she loathed them unconditionally. Tirek saw them too, but didn't say a word.

"Oh, thank god you're here," Chrysalis growled. "Shut that brat up, she's been crying and laughing all night. I haven't been able to get a wink of sleep."

24 hours ago, Chrysalis would've found Cozy's insanity funny, but that was before she was kept up all night by Cozy's loud crying and laughing.

The ten heroes looked into a corner and there they saw Cozy Glow curled into a ball facing away from them. She was surrounded by a puddle of tears and her mane and tail were a tangled, soaked mess. Cobalt felt tears brimming in his eyes at the sight of his first friend finally going off the deep end. At Celestia's command, the guards unlocked the prison cell and they all stepped inside.

Cobalt bolted to Cozy and gently tapped on her shoulder. She flipped around and everyone felt a bit uneasy looking at her face. Her face had a twisted smile on her face, her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her pupils were dilated, her cheeks were soaked with tears, and she looked really, really crazy. When she saw Cobalt, however, her crazed expression turned into a shocked one. It seemed the sight of her best friend was slowly bringing her back to reality.

"C-Cobalt?" she spoke softly. "I-Is-Is it really you?"

"Yes, Cozy," Cobalt said, wrapping his friend in a hug. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here now."

Cozy suddenly broke free of Cobalt's grasp and stood protectively in front of him, glaring hatefully and growling at Celestia, Luna, and the Element Bearers.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!" she screamed.

"Whoa, Cozy, chill. What's the matter?" Cobalt asked

"OH, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S THE MATTER!!!" Cozy yelled. "CELESTIA AND LUNA IMPRISONED TIREK IN TARTARUS BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNEW CELESTIA AND LUNA TIPPED OFF THE COPS TO WHERE WE WERE IN CANTERLOT!!!"

"Cozy, we didn't tip off the cops to your location," Luna said calmly.

"YEAH, RIGHT!!!" Cozy snapped back, her voice never lowering. "JUST HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK I AM?!! YOU WERE GONNA KILL ME IF YOU FOUND OUT WHY I WAS THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!! TIREK WARNED ME ABOUT THAT!!! SO I HAD TO MAKE UP A LIE TO PREVENT YOU FROM FINDING OUT MY TRUE MOTIVE!!!"

Celestia turned to Tirek wearing a stern expression, "Tirek, care to explain what Cozy Glow is talking about?"

Tirek sighed. He knew he had nothing to lose and lying wouldn't do him any good. He explained that Cozy came down to Tartarus, assuming whoever had given up the whereabouts of Cobalt and her would be hiding there, assuming she'd never look for them down there. Cozy figured that whoever did tip off the cops would probably figure Tartarus would be the last place the crazed Pegasus would ever look. Tirek overheard her angry, insane rants about what she'd do to the culprit and beckoned her over to his cage. He told her he knew Cobalt and told her the Princesses were the ones who tipped off the cops to their locations. He wanted to tell Cozy Glow immediately, but the Princesses intercepted him and sent him down here to prevent him from ever telling her. Any normal pony would've blown Tirek off, but Cozy's fractured mind coupled with her lust for revenge and her unrestrained rage made her believe him. Tirek also said that Twilight and her friends were also involved in tipping off the police to Cobalt and her hideout. The Centaur advised her to try to start out as their friend because he claimed that was what they were "hellbent on teaching everyone". Before she went, however, Tirek said if she ever got caught, he wanted her to say that friendship was power to cover up the real reason about why she was there. The old Centaur "feared" that she'd be killed by Celestia and Luna if they found out her true intentions.