Cozy wasn't too thrilled to be put back into diapers after what she'd just done. She'd proven that she still had the self control necessary to use a bathroom, what point was there in her staying in diapers? Alas, the filly was powerless to change the terms, and once padded up again she clumsily waddled her way to the kitchen where Twilight was waiting.
"Ah, there you are, Cozy Glow," Twilight smiled. "And you're just in time for breakfast too. I figured that since you behaved so nicely yesterday you could have a reward, waffles."
The padded pegasus just frowned. "I still have to eat out of a high chair though, don't I?"
Twilight nodded as she floated the filly over to said highchair. "That's the rules, Cozy. I can't change them just because you've had a few days of good behavior, and that holds true for your whole potty re-training as well," She then cooed. "But if you keep this up, hopefully you'll be able to show enough progress for the princesses to decide not to throw you into Tartarus."
"Better than being stuck in diapers and treated like a stupid foal who doesn't know anything!" Cozy bitterly thought but knew there was no point in saying it out loud. She just stayed quiet as she had that annoying bib tied around her neck in preparation for the morning meal. And unfortunately she wasn't going to be allowed to feed herself either.
As Twilight went about cutting up the waffle on Cozy's plate into small pieces, the alicorn sensed this was as good a time as any to start talking about some troubling issues she had discovered. "I've been looking over your application papers, Cozy. And there's something I've noticed that I can't believe I didn't notice sooner," She told the filly. "You forged your parents' signatures so that you'd be able to attend my school. You weren't actually supposed to be one of my students, were you?"
The diapered filly just spat and rolled her eyes. "Why does it matter? Your school was way better than any old school my parents would've sent me off to."
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Cozy, I don't think you realize just how much of a problem that creates for both of us. If you're not supposed to be here I could be accused of kidnapping or child abduction! And if anything were to happen to you, your parents would be in the dark until I could find out how to contact them! I can't imagine they'd be thrilled to find out all of this happened without their knowledge or consent."
Starlight (who was seated at the table across from Cozy) couldn't help but chime in. "I used to 'copy' my friend's homework all the time, until my teachers found out. And let's just say my dad wasn't very happy when he learned I'd been cheating my way through."
Cozy rolled her eyes. "I don't care. Do you really think I worry about whether or not my parents know where I am? They're a bunch of poopy heads who know nothing! As far as I'm concerned I'm better off without them. I wanted to attend the School of Friendship specifically so I wouldn't have to listen to them tell me what to do all the time."
"So you have parents," Twilight concluded. "I assume their names are as they appear on your application: King's Knight Glow and Queen's Knight Glow?"
The pegasus nodded. "Yeah, and that's all you need to know aside from the fact that they don't really care about me. They just see me as something to control. They tried to tell me how to live my life, so I ran away and haven't looked back since. If they haven't bothered to come looking for me here or anywhere else, then they obviously don't care enough to want me back."
Starlight and Twilight both gasped! Starlight in particular could hardly believe her ears. She could well remember her own experience of having run away from home when she wasn't much older than Cozy was now, and how it had driven her down a path of self-destruction that surely would've landed her behind bars if Twilight hadn't intervened when she did. "Cozy, do you even realize what you're saying? How can you just turn your back on your own family?"
"If you knew them as much as I did you would understand!" Cozy huffed. "And I'm not gonna bother telling you anything else. You're supposed to be these super smart grown-ups, you figure things out on your own." Then she folded her front hooves and turned away, refusing to say another word.
And that was that, Twilight and Starlight couldn't get their charge to say anything further on the subject of her parents (not that they wouldn't continue to try, they both made a silent agreement to keep pressing the issue whenever they could).
Aside from that little "discovery" the days passed relatively uneventfully. And much to the annoyance of Cozy Glow they soon grew into a routine that even she became used to. Every morning she'd be woken up, often by Twilight. And after a quick diaper inspection (and a change if necessary) it was off to the kitchen for breakfast. On some days Cozy would be left in Starlight's care while Twilight worked at the School of Friendship, and on other days the filly would be cared for by the young alicorn herself. Spike rarely appeared, still carrying out his punishment.
Even though the days ticked by at an agonizingly slow pace for the padded pegasus, her behavior did start to slowly improve. She'd given up any hope of trying to run away or have her diapers removed, it was clear to her that she was stuck like this until at least the end of the month and any attempt to deviate from that course would result in spankings and big x's on her "Good Girl Scroll", setting her path to potty re-training back.
Twilight and Starlight did their best to keep Cozy's punishment secret. They rarely took her out in public and whenever they did it was always through the use of that enchanted stroller so no one would know from afar or up close that it was actually a school aged filly. When not out in public, Cozy would usually be kept occupied from the safety of that sized up foal swing or some other means of limiting or restricting her movements.
At last, even days passed with check marks on the scroll for the padded pegasus to be promoted to potty training. Never did she imagine that she would grow to appreciate that majestic porcelain throne. She was never going to take it or her ability to use it for granted ever again, that was for sure.
It felt so degrading to be watched over though. As if to drive home how little control she still had over her situation, Cozy would always be forced to ask for permission to use the bathroom in the most polite tone possible. And then Twilight, Starlight or sometimes even Spike would take the liberty of escorting her to a bathroom (always within the castle, she wasn't allowed to do it in public for risk of being exposed).
And what always followed was the same embarrassing and degrading routine: She'd have her diapers pulled down to her knees, a step stool would be provided and she would be placed upon the toilet seat with only the bare minimum of privacy. She wasn't even allowed to wipe herself up afterward, to say nothing of flushing or washing her hooves.
Progress on the potty training front was slow, just as it had been when Cozy had actually undergone potty training. She seemed to not make it in time as often as she did, and the times she didn't make it made her feel worse than when she had been left with no choice but to use her diapers.
Still, the padded pegasus always felt proud whenever she could successfully potty like ponies her age were supposed to. It really made her feel like a "big girl" even if everything else about her situation reminded that she really wasn't, or at least wasn't being treated like it.
No amount of pleading or progress could change the minds of the filly's captors either, even though she tried her best. "I've proven I can be a big girl again. I haven't acted up as much as I used to," Cozy said one day after yet another successful trip to the potty, this one under Twilight's care. "So I can please be allowed to get out of these stupid diapers now? What's the point of continuing to treat me like I'm two?"
Twilight only giggled as she helped Cozy to wipe, flush and wash her hooves. "You're making progress, that much is true. But what you did isn't something that can just be forgiven with hugs and rainbow lasers. The whole point of this is to try and get you to change your ways. That's not something that happens overnight, it takes time. Even Starlight is still working to be a better pony."
"Yeah, but you don't treat her the way you treat me!" Cozy hissed. "Why does she get special treatment? Heck, why didn't you punish Spike the same way you're punishing me after what he did to me all those weeks ago?"
"Both of them are old enough to make their own decisions and understand the consequences of their actions. And both were willing to atone for them," Twilight explained. "What you did was basically treason. And for a child like you to do something so serious, it calls for extreme measures. And as I told you before, Cozy, it was either this or a life sentence in Tartarus. I went with what I felt was the lesser of two evils."
The pegasus just pouted as her padding was pulled back up. "But you didn't even ask me what I wanted! You decided to just stick me in diapers and treat me like a foal without even giving a flying feather about how I'd feel! You make me so peeved sometimes!"
A tense and awkward silence fell over the bathroom as Cozy gasped, realizing her mistake!
Twilight only shook her head. "I don't know how a filly like you could learn such foul language, but I won't allow it to continue on my watch," She levitated over a bar of soap to her young charge. "You know what's coming. We're going to clean that dirty mouth of yours one way or another."
The filly gulped as the bar of soap was placed on her tongue, shuddering at what was to come next. "I'm surprised Twilight's being this generous. My parents would've spanked me for saying such bad words," She thought to herself. "Heck, they'd spank me for less."
That outburst meant that Cozy's potty training would be on hold for at least five days now, five more days of struggling to and (if the filly was being honest) forcing herself to be nice. Just her luck.
The padded pegasus passed the rest of the day without saying a word to anyone. At least there was some good news though, the month was almost up and that meant she wouldn't have to suffer for much longer in this current state. Wherever she ended up afterward she didn't really care, anything was better than this current situation of embarrassment and humiliation.
Then, that night, as the filly slept she was greeted by a most unusual sight and one that she had never seen before. Before her stood none other than Princess Luna in all her royal glory. "Greetings to you, Cozy Glow." She spoke in a warm yet somber tone.
Cozy blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Golly!" Now there was a phrase she hadn't said in a while.
"Your reaction is expected. You are not the first young one whose dreams I have visited so suddenly and unexpectedly," Princess Luna explained. "It has taken me until now to overcome the mental barriers you erected to safeguard your dreams."
The filly frowned. "Yeah, and for good reason. If you'd have been able to see into my dreams you would've known what I was going to do and would've stopped me by warning other ponies. Why are you even here now?"
The night princess simply explained by lifting a hoof. "My sister and I will be arriving in about a day's time from now to evaluate your progress and determine your fate. I just wish to see if there is really any point to doing so, or if you are truly a lost cause despite what Twilight seems to believe."
"Well go ahead, have a look around!" Cozy snorted in a cold tone of voice. "There's nothing for you to see here! My dreams are my business and my business alone!"
Princess Luna wasn't deterred by Cozy's defiance. "Why do you resist so much? Why do you work so hard to hide who you really are? Your defenses in both the dream realm and the waking world are far beyond those of a child your age. There must be something about you that makes you so hesitant to trust others."
The little pegasus only turned her head. "Why do you care so much? I'm just a filly like so many others. I'm sure there are plenty who'd love to talk to you in their dreams."
The princess only pressed further as she flew towards Cozy. "No other filly has done or attempted to do what you've done. And I suspect that your reaching out to Tirek and your desire to take over Equestria didn't come from nowhere," She began to wonder. "Perhaps it's tied to your past. I know first hoof that wounds we hope will fade to time seldom do, they can slumber deep inside of us until the time is right. And when they awaken they can take hold of us and make us do things we come to regret."
In a low, growling and yet hurt tone of voice, Cozy replied without turning her head around. "You're not gonna go away until you get an answer, are you? You're just gonna probe whether I want you to or not. Well, fine! If you really wanna know so badly, go ahead and look around!"
Luna did so, taking notice of what appeared to be a rather posh looking room for a child to have. And it seemed like the kind of room that only a pegasus living in Cloudsdale could have. Posters of not just the Wonderbolts but also of Flash Magnus and the legion he'd once commanded were proudly displayed everywhere. Instead of the traditional cloud floor there was a tiled one with a princess sized bed tucked neatly into a corner. Yet there were few toys to be found despite the ones that did exist looking as if they'd rarely been touched.
What appeared to be a younger version of Cozy Glow (she didn't even have her cutie mark yet) was in this room while two figures blurred and obscured stood overhead. They seemed to be talking about "Expectations" and "Marks". And the child standing before them seemed to be frightened and ashamed. "I...I'm sorry..." She stuttered as one of the figures picked her up. "I didn't know it was so important. I was bored. I didn't mean for it to break, it just tipped over."
The plea fell on deaf ears as the sound of a hoof striking the child's rump echoed throughout the room. More followed until the child's rump was red all over, all the while the figure that hadn't been conducting the punishment just stood there and appeared to say something indicating support for the punishment. "Good girls get rewards, bad girls get punished." And then just like that, the two figures were gone, leaving the whimpering child alone with her thoughts and sore rump.
Everything slowly faded away, replaced by an almost inky black darkness. "All that ever mattered to my parents was how much I lived up to their expectations. If I did I was a good girl, and if I wasn't... well, you saw what happened. If I was out of line even the slightest they would punish me," Cozy bitterly explained with her moderate scarlet eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched in anger. "Nothing was ever good enough for them though. I'm convinced they only had me because they wanted to have something they could show off as an achievement."
"Is that why you don't retain a clear image of them in your dreams?" Princess Luna pondered. "For most ponies it is because they can't remember who their parents are."
"My parents might as well have never existed as far as I'm concerned," Cozy hissed. "I couldn't wait to get away from them! And when I learned Princess Twilight was opening her own school in Ponyville, I saw an opportunity. My parents didn't think so, they were convinced I was 'too good' for that school and said they were gonna ship me off to the finest boarding school in all of Equestria. So I fled, and after I fooled Princess Twilight into letting me attend her school of friendship, I thought I had it made."
Princess Luna then questioned. "What changed?"
The filly hissed anew. "It was those creatures! I couldn't understand how they'd all become friends so easily when I could barely make any without pretending to be nice. They even got to be tested by some stupid tree. If anyone should've been given that honor it should've been me. I thought if I impressed Princess Twilight with how smart I was, she'd take me under her wing. Silly me for thinking she'd take the hint!"
If Luna was shocked or concerned by the resentment in Cozy's voice she didn't show it outwardly. She instead just seemed to nod her head. "I see. And it was that jealousy and resentment that drove you to reach out to Tirek and drain all the magic in Equestria."
"Duh!" The pegasus pointed out, growling, hissing and panting quite furiously as she seethed with anger. "Although I wasn't actually going to make all the magic disappear. I was going to keep it all for myself, and then I'd be able to make anyone do whatever I wanted. I could've even made Tirek bow down and kiss my hooves!"
Luna watched as Cozy paused for a moment to catch her breath before continuing. "But oh no, those same creatures who thought they were better than me just had to start asking questions, and so did that no good Chancellor Neighsay who thought he could use me for his own goals. And the worst part of all is, thanks to Princess Twilight I wasn't even allowed to get my revenge on Tirek for ratting me out! Seriously, why couldn't he have just kept his big mouth shut?!"
Only once she was certain that Cozy Glow had finished and had gotten everything off her chest did the princess of the night speak up again. "All this because of how your parents treated you?"
"All I wanted was to be able to make my own decisions, make my own friends on my own terms!" Cozy bitterly remarked. "But even when I tried it felt like something or someone else was getting in my way. I was told friendship was the most powerful magic there ever was."
The night princess shook her head. "Friendship does not literally translate into power and control. Forcing others to befriend you will not grant you the satisfaction you seek."
The pegasus filly replied by struggling to hold back tears and maintain her angry composure. "So just what's wrong with me?! It has to be me then, it can't be anything else! Clearly there must be something about me that makes me unable to have friends, unable to move beyond the trophy that I was for my parents to show off and then ignore."
Yet for several minutes there was no reply, Princess Luna was deep in thought. When she finally spoke the words that left her mouth did so very slowly. "Clearly, there are scars left on you from your childhood. Scars that haven't been treated properly, scars that even you yourself have ignored. What you need most..." She paused for a considerable period of time. "Is something that no amount of padding or discipline can fix. I shall have to speak to my sister to see what she thinks, but I believe that only therapy can truly help you."
"So, does that mean the visit tomorrow is off?" Cozy hopefully asked.
Princess Luna shook her head. "No. We will still show up to evaluate your progress. And if my sister still believes you to be beyond salvation, I will reluctantly second the motion," Then she explained. "I will do my best to vouch for you, and I'm sure Twilight will do the same. Whether it will be enough to convince my sister, I cannot say as that's for her to decide. Still, it would probably help if you were on your best behavior and showed a willingness to atone."