Several hours had passed since Cozy Glow had tried to take over Equestria and become Empress of Friendship. She had been captured and placed in a random guest room for holding. Various ponies who thought she was their friend were angry, and some were sad to find out how evil she'd turned out to be. How could she have done all of this and for what? Because she wanted friends?
In Cozy Glow's head she thought she had done the right thing, all she wanted was to make ponies be her friends and complement her. Why did the ponies see this as a bad thing? Friendship meant power, the more friends one had the more powerful they became. And the filly had thought that if she played her cards right, she'd be able to make everypony be her friend. So where had it all gone wrong?
"I don't get it. I just wanted some friends, is that so wrong? Making friends is easier when you have power, power means respect." She thought as she looked at Twilight from behind, as the filly was pushed into the guest room. For her own safety, she'd been told. What, did they think anypony would want to hurt a defenseless filly like her?
"I'd hoped they'd send me directly to Tartarus, I really want to pay a visit to my 'pen pal' and tell him how wrong he was," Cozy thought to herself. Everything had been going great until those nosy creatures and the annoying Sandbar got in the way. But on the bright side she had managed to at least prevent anypony from figuring out her true goal. The magic drain was only the first step, once she'd taken because she saw no other way to get attention. "It's weird since I gave them a few hints. Can't they figure anything out? They think a filly like me would reach out to Tirek just 'cause I wanted friends?" She paced around the room and waited. She thought of escaping through the window but that wasn't a good option. Celestia and Luna had put guards all around to prevent her from escaping. She was in fact a prisoner already.
"I guess I have no choice but to wait and see what they do to little ol me." She said to herself and walked over to the bed and lay down while she waited for the Princess of Friendship. She fully expected Twilight Sparkle to walk in and send her straight to Tartarus, the only thing suitable for a filly like her, especially after what she recently did. And when she did, she'd be sure to give Tirek a piece of her mind for ratting her out. Some friend he turned out to be.
Although she sat silently in the room the filly didn't exactly like it, she was surprisingly bored out of her mind. She walked to the wall and tried to see if she could hear anypony from the other side but all she could hear were muffled sounds.
Twilight stood in between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, her thoughts remaining focused on Cozy Glow. The one pony she thought she could trust, the pony no one expected to just betray them. How or why did that filly think it was right? Yet was Tartarus really the best place for Cozy? She had been pen pals with Tirek, after all. And never in Equestria's history had a child been sent to Tartarus. Then again, a child had never done what Cozy had done.
But Twilight couldn't convince herself that Tartarus was a suitable punishment. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," She gulped. "I know what Cozy Glow did was bad, and what she did deserves serious punishment. But... I think it's going a little too far sending her to Tartarus. Give me time to figure out a new punishment for her. Maybe I could even find her parents to get their side on this. She has to have parents or caretakers somewhere." The young alicorn spoke up, awaiting the princess' response.
Princess Celestia wasn't exactly happy about this. Tartarus was a harsh punishment reserved only for the worst offenders, and it was hard for her to stomach the idea of sending a minor there. But Twilight had managed to redeem those that seemed lost before: Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and even Discord were all testaments to her abilities (even if Discord was more Fluttershy's doing than anypony else's). "Twilight, I would gladly let you pick the punishment. But it needs to be one that changes Cozy into a better pony, one that understands friendship," She declared. "If you need to you can go look for her parents, but I highly suspect her file might not have any. Still, as long as Cozy can do no more damage, take as much time as you need to think of an alternative to Tartarus. I'll decide if it's suitable for the crime." Celestia replied and decided it was time to leave.
Princess Luna simply said to Twilight. "I'll just leave the guards here until you figure something out. Choose wisely. If Cozy's punishment is too lenient, ponies will think she's getting off the hook and peace may not be restored." Then Luna followed her sister back to their castle, leaving Twilight to stand there and think about this mess.
A little later, Twilight arrived back at her castle. Spike was already inside, waiting for her. "Hello, Spike," She greeted the dragon. "I suspect you enjoyed today's Power Ponies issue?
Spike only nodded, he knew Twilight doesn't really care much for Power Ponies. Plus he could see Twilight was quite stressed out simply by the look in her eyes. "What's wrong, Twilight?" He asked as he got her a seat.
Twilight sighed as she sank into the chair in the castle library. "It's this mess with Cozy Glow, it makes me sad for her. I know it's probably wrong to feel that way but I can't help it. That her of all ponies would betray us like she did, using us to get what she wanted. We were going to send her to Tartarus, Spike! Tartarus!" She exclaimed in horror! "But... I thought it was a little extreme for such a young filly, even considering what she did. I need to figure out a better punishment before tomorrow. If I don't," She gulped and finished by saying "She'll have to go to Tartarus! Oh, I am such a failure! Not only did I not notice the warning signs with Cozy, but I also couldn't give her a punishment that would help her learn about friendship!"
"You're not a failure, Twilight! You just need to fix this," Spike encouraged. "You've been able to redeem ponies no one else thought redeemable. Even Tempest, and she was working for the Storm King. I know you'll find a solution that works for everypony. If you ask me, I think Cozy needs a little bit of discipline in her life to straighten her out. Maybe if you let her know what fate awaits her if she doesn't change her ways, you can scare her into going straight." He suggested and walked back upstairs to his room, deciding to let Twilight work this out by herself (Starlight was still recovering from regaining her magic after being imprisoned inside that bubble).
Twilight reluctantly walked to her own bedroom a short time later and looked through some of Cozy Glow's files. She had to find her parents, maybe get their point of view on this. Surely they would know why Cozy had gone so wrong.
Yet as she looked, the princess couldn't find anything on her parents. In fact it seemed as if Cozy Glow had written everything herself when she signed up to go to the school. Even the signatures looked way too similar to her class writings. "But in order to come to my school you need a parent to help sign these! Please tell me she didn't sign it on her own!" She mentally pleaded and just re-read everything over and over again. Yet there it all was, plain as day.
"Huh, this is most definitely her hoof writing. It seems she either isn't in contact with her parents or doesn't have them," Twilight thought. "And since I have no idea who her parents even are, I guess as School Headmare, I have to give her a suitable punishment, one that she deserves. But what?" She closed the files and walked around the room for a while, thinking about a decent punishment. She first thought of maybe putting Cozy in a cage without having to send her to Tartarus. Let her be locked up as an example, and she would earn her freedom when she was ready to be reformed. But even that felt like too much to Twilight, if she was going to put Cozy in a cage then why not just send her to Tartarus? The punishment needed to be more suitable than that, something that could ensure Cozy learned her lesson.
Then, out of the blue, an unconventional idea came to Twilight. "Hm. She's going to hate this but I think this might help Cozy Glow learn to accept friendship in the long run. If she wants to act like a foal then that's exactly how she'll be treated. And Spike also had a good idea, she will probably need a fair deal of discipline after what she's done. I just hope she won't be too much of a hoofful." The princess said aloud and galloped outside, giggling all the way to the foal store. She smiled, confident of her solution. "I'm sure Celestia and Luna will approve of this rather unconventional method. Foal years are the best time to get them educated." She thought.
A day had passed since Cozy Glow commited the crime, and Twilight and her friends (who had all been filled in on the plan) were preparing a special room in Twilight's castle for Cozy Glow, a nursery of sorts. "If that filly tries to escape you better have a plan, Twilight," Rainbow Dash commented in worry. "And what if she tries removing her… you know what?"
"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, I've got both covered," Twilight reassured her friend. "Though I'd like to leave the spanking to you, Rainbow Dash. You're a lot tougher when it comes to that type of punishment."
"For a pony like Cozy, she kind of deserves it. Nothing personal." Rainbow admitted.
Twilight just finished putting the toys in the crib and a few stacks of diapers in the closet. "Now then, girls, I need one of you to bring the foal here to begin the punishment. Pinkie, would you mind doing that? You have the most experience with foals out of any of us." Twilight asked her party planning friend.
"Okie dokie loki, one naughty foal coming up," Pinkie replied and hopped out of the room, surprisingly eager to bring Cozy Glow to her new room. "This is going to be super duper fun. Just when the Cake Twins are starting to graduate from diapers, we get a brand new foal to take care of. And if she acts naughty… well, Rainbow Dash will give her something to think about for sure."
Pinkie was fast at bringing Cozy Glow in. She'd been told they were getting her punishment ready and the filly thought for sure that meant they were going to send her to Tartarus. But she had no idea how wrong she was going to be. Something even worse awaited her.
Cozy saw that it was a pink colored room. Pink down to the walls and carpeted floor. Foal toys were stacked all around, some unused pacifiers lay scattered on the floor and worst of all she saw different colored diapers in the closet. "I uh, I don't understand. What is all this?" She asked, really confused. "I don't wet the bed if that's what you're wondering, and I'm pretty sure they have bathrooms in Tartarus."
"It's your punishment, baby," Twilight cooed." You sure love to act like a foal, a foal who still needs diapers I might add.
"But… I… don't understand. Why would you do that? I thought I was going to Tartarus." Cozy protested.
"You were, but Twilight thought this would be a perfect punishment for a misbehaved foal like yourself," Rainbow instructed. "You don't know how lucky you are to avoid that. But before we get into the nitty gritty of being a foal, come to my lap and bend over. You will receive a few swats to your behind!"
Cozy Glow's jaw dropped upon hearing this. She thought she was going to meet her pen pal Tirek in Tartarus. But now they wanted to put her back into diapers and spank her like she was a foal that had done something dangerous. Naturally, she protested and stuck out her tongue. "I refuse to listen to your words! If you need me, I'm leaving and going somewhere where a filly like me won't be a bother to anyone! I hear the Everfree Forest is lovely this time of year." She began to walk towards the back door, but to her surprise Pinkie and Rarity stopped her by blocking the way! Then she went towards the right and to the window, hoping to get out that way. But Twilight used her magic to close and lock it.
Cozy Glow looked around the room for any sort of way that she could escape! She saw one thing that she could hopefully fit into. Next to the wall she saw a vent, she flapped her wings as fast as she could and flew towards it!
But she didn't reach it in time, Rainbow Dash flew over and caught her before she could even get a chance to escape. "Let me go you big bully!" Cozy complained and squirmed in the cyan coated mare's hooves, trying hard to escape from her captor but to no avail.
"You know, I'm getting real tired of this. Enough is enough! It's time for you to get what you deserve!" Rainbow Dash declared and put Cozy Glow on her stomach as she gave her some small swats on her rump. The filly squirmed and tried to escape as Rainbow Dash spanked her, but she couldn't get away from this. For the first time in her life somepony actually punished her. She'd always gotten away with things before but this was too much.
Cozy Glow gasped as Dash laid her hooves on top of her flank, "Let go of your empress this instance! I demand it!" She cried out, only to be ignored.
"My mother used to give me spankings when I acted badly, which wasn't often but it still hurt. What makes you think you should be treated any differently?" Rainbow asked and continued her spanking attack.
"Okay, OKAY! I'm sorry! Please, just stop, ow, spanking me!" Cozy yelled as a few tears flowed off her cheeks. She wasn't expecting it to be as painful as it was. She rubbed her reddened bottom when Dash released her.
"Okay, Dash, I think that's enough for now. But if she does misbehave like that again you can punish her," Twilight advised. "But for now, let's get the foal into her diapers so her cheeks can cool down. Now come on, Cozy Glow, we wouldn't want you to make a mess on my floor now would we?" She asked and motioned for the foal to come forward.
Cozy sighed, she was in no position to fight back. "Whatever, just because she's putting me back in diapers doesn't mean I have to listen. She wants me to wear those stupid things? Well I'll make sure to give her a very hard time with her new foal." She thought and reluctantly laid down on the changing mat.
Twilight smiled and cooed at the foal "Okay then, shall we get started?" She asked and gathered the supplies.
Cozy knew this was going to be real tough. But what's the worst that could happen? Being a foal couldn't be that hard could it? She'd just need to do it until they got tired of her attitude and sent her to Tartarus.