Sunset stared at Rarity with her arms crossed, then slowly raised her right hand to massage her brow. "Why do you want to go to Hell again? Is this about Lucifer?"

"Of course not darling, as much as I enjoy his company— " she gave Sunset an amused glance, "—or should I say, as much as we enjoyed his company, there is more than one Hell in the multiverse. This one's different."

Sunset glared at Rarity while the designer-turned-adventurer simply grinned back at her, the very image of innocence. Except Sunset knew her well enough now to never fall for that one. "One time. It was one time."

Rarity giggled, fanning her face. "Yes. Yes it was. And what a time! In any case, I do have to prepare for our visit to this different hell, so please make sure you are… um, ready for it."

"You like visiting doomed worlds and hellish dimensions with surprising frequency."

"You exaggerate, Sunset." Rarity waved her hand dismissively. "And there's nothing wrong with heading out in search of a thrill."

"The type of thrill that involves ancient gods of evil? Abominations? Soul-sucking cities?"

"It's adventure, dear!" Rarity countered. "If you're only going to visit the most mundane of places for the most part, you might as well try and vary it a little with something… hm." She grinned, giving her a smoldering look and making Sunset blush. "Devilish. Different. Tantalizing. Se—"

"Um, is this a bad time?"

The pair stopped and turned to look at the filly that was standing at the end of the entrance hallway. She was wearing a carefully crafted armor that covered most of her body, midnight-blue in design and with Luna's cutie mark on the shoulders, but it was clearly not Luna, nor one of her usual thestral (or batpony, really, they should make up their multiversal minds on what they want to call themselves) guards. For one, her chanfron was clearly designed to fit a horn, and she had magically-conjured rainbow-patterned wings.

She could be the love-child of Luna and Shining Armor, Sunset thought. It could be one of those universes. She was about to say something but Rarity was already on her knees cooing at the filly.

"Oh my goodness! Aren't you precious! I love the design of your armor! The color matches perfectly! The mail is such high quality! Why, I remember paying good money to get something of that quality for someone who shall not be mentioned to never use her armor because she thinks adventures are not fun! The ingrate has it stored in a box, if you can believe it."

"Hey!" Sunset growled.

The filly just stood there, looking between the two of them for a moment as if trying to process the situation. Then it seemed like her brain rebooted and she stood up straight. Her voice came out in what was probably meant to be an imposing, heroic tone. It was adorable.

“Er, well, thank you… civilian?”

"Eeeeee!"

"So… uh, a superhero?" Sunset ventured. "Well, can't think of many other creatures that might need a drink as badly. I have a non-alcoholic menu for you, if you want to take a look." She blinked. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Since we didn't hear the bell I was completely thrown off. Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my name is Sunset Shimmer, and this is my business partner, Rarity Belle."

The filly’s eyes bulged, and she looked between the two women like she’d watched Cerberus grow a fourth head.

“Wait… seriously? Sunset Shimmer? What happened to you? Why are you both… well, what are you both?”

She gestured at them in a vague ‘what is wrong with literally all of you’ pattern.

Sunset looked down at herself. "Um, nothing?" Her eyes lit up in comprehension. "Oh wait, you mean what species. We're currently human," she explained, "I was born a pony unicorn, which is what you probably know me to be? Rarity was…" she glanced at Rarity. "...I don't think I ever asked."

Rarity huffed. "A lady never reveals her origins. But I did have horns."

The filly seemed fixated on Sunset, walking up to the bar as Rarity responded. She took a seat with a wingbeat, and slowly removed her helmet, revealing a white coat and wavy, blue-white mane. “Umm… I don’t suppose you… remember me, then?”

Sunset smiled. "I'm afraid we haven't met before today." She motioned at the bar. "This is an interdimensional bar… it visits many worlds, times, possibilities…"

"A tantalizing gateway to new experiences," Rarity added, standing up and dusting her legs. "Which reminds me, I do have business to attend to." She looked genuinely disappointed. "You do remind me of one of my assistants back home, but she wasn't a unicorn." She sighed, and looked up at Sunset. "I'm afraid I must head out. Do think about visiting Hell with me?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll think about it."

Rarity nodded. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name, dear," she said, smiling at the filly.

“Oh. It’s, um…” the filly’s voice hitched for a moment as she seemed to consider what to say. “... it’s Cozy Glow.”

The filly silently grabbed a menu with her telekinesis and practically hid behind it, face downcast.

Rarity nodded. "Oh my, you look a bit different than the ones I know," she said, studying her a little more carefully. "Ah, I see. Well then, my dear, I will leave you in Sunset's capable hands since that's what she currently has. Next time we meet, you must let me design an armor for you!" She waved as she made her way towards the entrance. "Her drink is on me, Sunset."

"Right, right," Sunset said, glancing at the filly with some concern. "Hey, Cozy? You alright there?"

Cozy cleared her throat and clenched her jaw slightly, pushing down some kind of reaction before responding. When she spoke her voice was a little strained. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just, uh, a little confused? I was supposed to be taking the portal home, but I ended up here instead. Probably just Discord messing with me. Don’t worry about it.”

"Hm," Sunset tapped her chin. "I haven't met a Discord yet that can move my bar around. I started this place with the idea that it would come to anycreature that would need an ear and maybe something to drink, you know? It's unlikely he somehow managed that, and more likely that my bar arrived just in time, but either way I'm here to talk with you, if you'd like." She grinned. "From a universe jumper to another?"

Cozy Glow looked up at that, digesting what she’d heard for a moment. “Oh… so that’s what happened. Well, okay. Yeah, that could be… that could be nice. Umm, you said there was a non-alcoholic menu, right? Do you have a virgin pina colada? I didn’t see it anywhere.”

Sunset's face darkened. "I'm afraid virgin piña coladas have been banned from the bar. Maybe I can interest you in something else?"

Cozy stared at Sunset for just a moment like she wanted to ask something, and then turned back to the menu with a shrug. “Umm… ah, buck it. I’ll take a hot buttered rum.” She set the menu down and slouched back in her chair.

"Coming right up," Sunset said, turning around to start gathering ingredients. "So, what's bugging you? I admit I have never had the chance to talk a Cozy Glow before, but I was under the impression you would be a bit more direct, if that makes sense?"

Cozy snorted. “Right, or indirect, like manipulate all of your friends into stabbing you in the back, or get them all lost in the woods or something while I… I dunno, steal all of your drinks? Like that?” She huffed out something like a laugh. “Knowing me it would probably work right up until I realized I hadn’t actually figured out what I’d do with the drinks, and then a dozen things would go catastrophically wrong all at once.”

Sunset chuckled a little. "Oh yeah, I remember what that was like," she said, "back when I was in Canterlot, I did do a lot of manipulation… but if you're here, that's not something you do now, is it?"

“Only to villains. A lot easier to stick the landing; you just lock them up. Or blast them straight into the aether.” Cozy chuckled darkly at that.

"That it is," Sunset agreed. "Unfortunately not all can necessarily be redeemed, even when we give them as many chances as we can. How's the superhero life working out for you? The last few that have stopped by really did have some problems juggling life and daring-do."

Cozy contemplated that, looking her chanfron over with a distant smile. “It was good, actually. It makes ponies happy, it makes me happy, gives me something to do, something to think about, you know?”

Sunset nodded. "I feel a bit of the same way… I don't go out to save ponies all the time, but it makes me feel good when creatures come here and relax, you know? Everyone seems to carry some sort of weight with them and sometimes a familiar face that is still somehow a stranger seems to help?" She slid the drink over to Cozy. "I feel like I could be doing a lot more, sometimes. I've certainly learned a lot from regulars… new spells, new powers… but that's best left to creatures with that inclination. I guess… when we help, we each have our own calling?"

Cozy took a sip of the drink, and hummed her appreciation. That didn’t stop her from frowning, though. “What do you do when you’re forced to move on from that, though? When you can’t do it anymore?”

Sunset leaned back. "I hadn't thought about that…" She glanced around, sliding her hand on the bar. "In my case… I guess I know enough to move around? I think I'd continue giving magic classes to Lena, but I'd certainly miss this place. But is it just the place? I mean… yeah, it's convenient, but in the end it's me sitting down with someone that allows them to to have a friendly ear to talk to, right?"

Cozy nodded at that, tapping a hoof against her chin in thought. “I guess you could basically bartend and counsel ponies anywhere, yeah. My situation isn’t like that, though… I’m not going to be able to keep doing all of this—” she gestured at her armor “—once I go back. I’m pretty sure I won’t even have my magic any more.”

"Ah." Sunset smiled a bit sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that… but you seem to be doing well. You might not have magic, but that's not what makes you you, right?"

What does make me, me? The only thing I’ve ever been good at is this super hero thing.

Well, I guess you’re also good at stabbing ponies in the back, thievery, sabotage, manipulation—

Cozy shook her head, suppressing a gag. “No… but the things that make me me are horrible. At least with the superhero thing I felt like I could, I dunno, get away from that?” Cozy sipped her drink and blushed somewhat. “Sorry, I shouldn’t whine.”

Sunset reached over and gently patted her head. "You're not whining. You had a bad past and you're doing everything you can to be a better pony. No pony is one hundred percent perfect, we all have doubts about our past, even ponies that never had a bad one. Why don't you tell me what's eating you? Might help clear your mind at least, and I promise you I'm not going to judge you."

Despite herself, Cozy couldn’t help but lean into the touch and smile a bit. The smile faded as she considered her response.

Well, it looks like my time in fairy wonderland is over, my family and friends will forget me completely when I return to the real timeline, I can’t do the one good thing I’ve ever done any more, no more magic, and all of my heroic stuff will get forgotten too, for a start…

Right, and why not ask for another couple of drinks to round out this pity party you want Sunset to throw you? Ooo, make the scared weepy filly eyes at her while you tell her, the waterworks always get a good response!

“W-well, it’s a big change, all at once, y’know? I can’t help but be nervous, that’s all.”

Cozy sipped her drink and tried to look perfectly neutral.

"Yeah," Sunset said, "it is. But you're not really going to be helpless, right? After all, for better or worse, you've befriended the ponies that are best suited to help you move on from doing that, right? In my experience, that helps a lot more than you might think."

Sure, when Luna literally met me doing my superhero stuff and had no idea who I was until we were already friends, and Sunset met me after I had a reputation for superheroics instead of just being ‘history’s craziest filly’, but oh, I’m sure I can just win’em over with my natural charm!

Or more likely you’ll just get frustrated and start trying to manipulate ponies into being your friends again, starting with this Sunset, and then they’ll see how ugly you really are inside and throw you back in Tartarus where you belong. Or, hey, they might just kick you straight into the aether this time!

Cozy’s right eyelid twitched a bit and she put on a strained smile. “You’re probably right; I’m worrying a lot over nothing. I just need to clear my nerves and get back out there. Done it once, riiiight?” This last word was punctuated with a very wide, very uncomfortable smile, and was followed with a very long pull from her drink.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "I find your lack of faith… disturbing." She cleared her throat. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but at the end of the day, the person—or pony—they chose to be friends with was Cozy, not…" she gave her a calculating look. "The Valiant Alicorn? The Moon's Knight?"

Cozy choked on her drink at the superhero names, giggling slightly despite herself. She cleared her throat violently and smirked up at Sunset. “Dashing Savior, actually. I, uh, I didn’t remember who Rainbow Dash was, but I think she miiiight have left an impression on me.”

"Eh, I've met my share of dashing and daring, courageous and caring heroes." Sunset smiled. "I was just going off of your armor, but I guess it makes sense that you'd have a different name if you got it later."

Cozy nodded, at ease with this line of conversation. “Yeah, I started off with just a repurposed bolt of cloth as a disguise, and some simple magic. My given name was ‘Quillon’, just because I had no idea what my real name was. Pretty random, but I was leaning into the whole ‘superhero’ thing.”

"Every good hero needs a secret identity, although one of my recent guests, Ghost Spider, actually had her secret identity exposed on purpose when she went to prison." Sunset sighed. "I don't think I have it in me to be that type of person… it takes a lot of guts, and real conviction to follow through." She grinned. "And here you are, doing just that."

Cozy smirked at Sunset with a quirked eyebrow. “Oh, right, you don’t have guts. Someone should tell Grogar oh wait they can’t because we smoked him together.” She followed that up with a… heroic cackle.

Sunset burst out laughing. "That's your Sunset. I don't mind facing occasional dimension-destroying entities or forgotten gods, but there's a difference between finding yourself in the middle of something where you have to fight or die, and going out of your way for the benefit of others, standing up for your values, and dealing with the consequences of your choices. That, my dear Cozy, is a hero. The former is someone good at surviving."

Cozy smiled at the sound of Sunset laughing, and barked out at a laugh of her own at Sunset calling her a hero. “Honestly, you think way too much of me. I kinda got into the hero thing by accident; I had no idea what I was really doing, I just thought it was what I had already been doing. And after that, it’s kinda habit-forming? So I stuck with it. I’m sure you’d have no trouble.”

And I only really do it because it keeps my mind off of how much I messed everything up before, and it makes ponies like me, and I get to feel like I’m doing something real and meaningful…

You’re less a real hero and more like a violent dog that was whipped into serving a new master, really. How long until you see a new opportunity to bite the hand that feeds you, anyway?

Cozy grimaced and scowled violently, and downed the rest of her drink, setting a few bits on the counter and standing up to leave.

"Cozy?" Sunset called out, "wait. I'm sorry, I know that you're going through very different things than I have and… well, I tend to project a bit. I'm sorry if I said something that offended you."

Cozy whirled around and waved her hooves in a panic. “Wha—nonono! No, you’re fine, I just, I thought I should probably, y’know, get back to it.”

I want to stay.

“... I want to stay.”

So you can play off of her sympathies. Stop looking for sympathy! Think of all the awful shit you did!

Cozy grimaced and rubbed her head, cursing under her breath.

Sunset shrugged and motioned at the seat. "You know. Time here doesn't pass outside. If you want to stay, I'd love to keep talking to you. I really would."

That’s what I’m afraid of…

Cozy fluttered back into her seat and smiled uncomfortably. “If you say so. I’m used to overstaying my welcome a bit, sorry.”

"The magic of bars is that when we want people gone we let them know a few minutes in advance with their last chance to place an order." Sunset stated, nodding firmly. "And don't worry, you're not overstaying your welcome… this is important to me too. Not only am I helping someone to talk about their problems, but I'm also helping a friend of one of my counterparts." She winked. "Who knows, maybe you'll be friends with more than a few Sunsets by the time this is all done."

Cozy smiled at that.

Oh yes, by all means, amass an army of magically-talented loner unicorns who are ripe for emotional manipulation due to their past and current difficulties.

The smile faltered a bit and Cozy covered it with a cough. “Erm, mom said I could have two buttered rums on Hearth’s Warming, but I really don’t think she meant back-to-back. Maybe a ginger ale?”

Already a little tipsy from the first one, actually. Wow, they really serve them watered-down for the kids, huh?

"You know, until a cat asked for it, I had never really tried it. I'll have one too." Sunset took the mug from the buttered rum and stored it behind the counter before pulling up two pints and filling them up with the fountain drink dispenser. "Straw or no straw?"

“No straw. Gotta enjoy the horn while I have it, aheh.”

"No straw it is." Sunset placed one pint in front of her and saluted with her own. "To horns?"

Cozy chewed her lip. “To magic. Including friendship.”

That’s what I’ll be losing when I leave, after all.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. At least you GOT magic and friendship, which was more than you deserved in the first place.

"To magic and friendship," Sunset said taking a swig of her own drink. "The gifts that never stop giving."

Cozy winced, and muttered, “ ‘cept for mine.”

Sunset sighed, "Look… I won't pretend to really be able to tell you how things work out there. All cases are different. But right now, you're with a friend—”

“Well I don’t deserve friends! All I do—” Cozy gasped and slapped a hoof over her mouth, and cursed slightly as she screwed her eyes closed and turn away.

Damnit, no, no, no! This is exactly what I’m not supposed to do anymore!

Sunset tilted her head and blinked. "Who said that was your choice this time around? I decided I like you, that I'd like to be your friend, and trust me, I chased a Narn through six years of his life before he owned up to a friendship. I have patience."

Cozy groaned, curling in on herself with her back to the bar. “This is exactly what I do, though! I make ponies feel sorry for me and then I hurt them! It’s not fair to you, or anypony.”

Sunset sighed. She's doing worse than I was when I had just been cleansed by the Elements of Harmony, and even during the whole Anon-a-Miss thing. She studied the filly, trying to figure out how to best express what she was feeling. If I try to be too nice about it she might think I'm really just being kind because she got me through her misery, and I don't think that will help. She let her breath out slowly. Only one way to go.

"I hate to break it to you, Cozy, but I don't feel sorry for you," Sunset said. "I didn't feel sorry for G'kar, or Scorpia, or any other former villain either. It's not about pity, it's about friendship, and friendships are not born out of pity, but from respect." She leaned over the counter, just so she could look at her from her side. "And I do respect you. That has nothing to do with emotional manipulation."

Cozy was trying to hide her crying at that point, with little success. The sniffling gave it away, if nothing else. “You wouldn’t respect me if you knew me. I know me better than anypony, and I hate me. The only good things I’ve ever done were by accident; meanwhile the things I did on purpose could have destroyed all of Equestria, or the next best thing. I had to think long and hard about my life, and what I realized was that my string of failures had amounted to just one thing: I’d found ponies who were happy and I had left them scared, miserable, or jaded. That was the only thing I was ever good at until I started this whole ‘hero’ thing, and now that’s over, too.”

Cozy frowned deeply. “The whole multiverse would be better off if there wasn’t a single Cozy Glow in it.”

Sunset hummed. "So… if Cozy Glow hadn't been there… who would have stopped Grogar?"

Cozy sniffed. “I don’t know. Probably Discord, though. He had to be aware of him, and he could manage it. I think he just let us take him on as a lesson, or whatever. You probably know how he is with that stuff.”

"I also know that he has been outsmarted many times," Sunset said. "Or that sometimes things get past him because he's distracted with Flutt—other things." She cleared her throat. "In any case, maybe he could, maybe not… but it was you who did it. The bottom line is, self-deprecation is as bad as manipulating others… except the victim here is not them, but you.”

Cozy opened her mouth to speak, but Sunset followed up quickly. “And before you say, 'I deserve it', think about this… if you don't deserve good things at all and you're so evil, how come you chose to be a hero instead of giving in to darker instincts and trying for villainy again? Why come in here and when you knew neither Rarity nor I would be able to immediately guess your identity come out with the truth? Maybe your failures weigh more on your conscience than your successes, but doing that—all of that—is a change for good. Before you go punishing yourself, ask yourself, would you want me to put myself through that? Or Luna?"

Cozy grimaced, shuddering in place. “N-no, no. I wouldn’t.” She sighed, rubbing her face with a forehoof and turning back around; Sunset spied blood coming from the forehoof she had brought to her mouth earlier. “I-I’m sorry for being such a mess. I knew I’d get like this, that’s why I tried to leave. I just don’t want to hurt you. A-and I guess it was kind of arrogant to think I would, I’m just… used to it.” Cozy took a sip of her drink and stared into it, avoiding eye contact.

Sunset walked around the bar to sit on a stool next to Cozy, wrapping her arm over her shoulders. "It happens. And apology accepted." She said, giving the filly a gentle one-armed hug. Probably best not to mention the blood right now.

Cozy leaned into the touch, burying her muzzle into Sunset’s waistcoat. Her horn lit up, and a bandage fished out of one of the hidden pockets in her armor, wrapping around her hoof. She mumbled some sort of apology about bleeding in the bar and snickered at herself.

"It's okay," Sunset said, "it gives the place more character."

Cozy snorted at that, wiping her nose with the bandaged hoof in the process. “Oh yeah, nothing says well-worn bar like that. Just make up a good story, like some kind of interdimensional bar fight between two Discords. ‘There can be only one!’ and then a huge slap fight. Pretty sure that’s how that would go.”

"There is a race of people that chop each other's heads off with that exact shout, you know?" Sunset said ponderously, her eyes looking away from Cozy to the bar wall, where the posters and pictures were. "It's kind of horrible, and yet they have this lightshow that goes with it." She shook her head. "It's hard to explain. Just… don't be holding a sword when you hear someone shout that."

Cozy looked perplexed for a moment, then looked up at Sunset, as faux villainous and menacing as possible. “Well that’s fine, because I don’t like swords anyway. Too quick.” The effect was ruined by her giggling and burying her face again.

"This is true," Sunset chuckled evilly. "Why do that when all you need is a couple of pictures, scissors and glue to frame a whole bunch of people?"

“That takes all of the fun out of it!” Cozy snickered to herself. “It’s not a real victory unless you beat up the other person in a fistfight. That’s the big lesson I took away from superheroing. Yep. That’s the only one. Oh, and you should always invest some time in learning reflection magic. For some reason nopony ever sees it coming!”

"That might not be a bad idea. I'll cast that in the restroom."

Cozy leaned back, her genuine interest piqued. “Hey, wait. Do you wanna see my combat magic? I can do it, y’know, safely in here, I promise I won’t wreck anything! I’ve got some signature moves. This is the last time I’ll get to use them, so…”

She scuffed a hoof against her seat. “It might be nice to have somepony remember them.”

She twitched like something negative had occurred to her, but otherwise she just stared at Sunset.

Sunset smiled, eyes glinting with interest. "You know, that would be cool, but if we do that, let's do it in the spell room; I set it up in the back to help Lena practice. That place should be able to survive a Megaspell."

Cozy hopped off of her chair and followed Sunset excitedly. As soon as they reached the spell room, Cozy’s horn lit up and she stuck her tongue out in concentration. “Okay, this one is pretty complicated, especially if I make it big.”

Rays of energy emitted from her horn, extending out about fifteen feet, and swirled like a laser-light show until they converged to form a wireframe cone. More rays then emerged to form a mesh-like layer at the outer edge of it, followed by several more meshes of different colors leading all the way back to her horn.

“Okay, it’s ready! Toss some kind of violent energy in. Fire, lightning, whatever!”

"Alright," Sunset said, taking a few steps back. "I'll do a simple lightning spell." Concentrating, she made a fist then opened three fingers, tracing a circle in the air in front of her, leaving a crackling rune. "Here it comes!"

“Ooo, neat method!”

"Since I'm not a unicorn, I had to learn different ways to cast spells… and this helps in teaching my student… she's uh, a duck."

“A wha—”

The bolt struck the cage at that point. The outermost mesh wrapped around it as it pushed in, slowing it down to the point it could be observed in flight. The second mesh phased through the first, and as it wrapped around the bolt, the electricity spread across the mesh and into the outer frame of the cage, diffusing and making the whole cage glow brighter. After a second, the bolt had diffused entirely, and the meshes snapped back into position. Cozy laughed.

“It can handle more than that. Or I could show you how the reflection aspect works, if you’d rather not toss something bigger in.”

Sunset studied the cage and brought a hand to her chin in thought.

That’s definitely different from the defense spells I’ve learned. Not sure how much it can take, but I don’t want to disappoint her—oh, right!

Sunset traced another glyph in the air, this one made of bright orange flames. “Alright, you just let me know if it’s too much.”

Cozy nodded, tongue clenched between her lips, and watched carefully. Sunset carefully placed four fingers against the rune, and a jet of flame shot out from it, pouring continuously into the cage.

The meshes depressed, as they had with the lightning; this time, the projectile reached several meshes in, diffusing into the cage across all of them. Slowly, the cage began to close at the far end, bulging outwards into a spherical shape as flame poured into it. Just before the end would snap closed, Cozy called out, “Alright! That’s all it can take!”

So about enough fire to evaporate a lake. Good grief, she really has been doing super hero work.

Cozy narrowed her eyes in concentration, and the sphere collapsed and densified, forming a stable, floating ball of electricity. Sunset’s eyes widened considerably when the glow went out of Cozy’s horn.

“Check it out! It’s completely stable! Look, you can even do this!”

Cozy ran up to the sphere and… licked it. It made her hair stand up, and she giggled. “It tastes sour for some reason.”

Sunset approached the construct carefully. Huh. "Huh." She carefully ran her finger down its surface. "You know. I could make amazing drinks with this."

Cozy’s eyes lit up. “Cool idea! I should show you the full formula. I call the move ‘dragon ball’, because… well, it’s a ball, and I used it to absorb a full-size dragon’s breath and beat him with it. Heh, not to brag…”

Cozy flinched slightly, but grinned.

Sunset bowed. "I await your tutelage, oh great Kaio-sennin."

“Kaio-what?”

A little while later, the two were back in the bar, chatting about whatever came to mind. They’d started to lapse into a companionable silence when Cozy leaned into Sunset’s side and piped up again.

“You know… I really, really needed this. Thank you, Sunset.”

Sunset leaned into her too, smiling at Cozy. "It's been fun hanging out with you, so thank you too. Plus," she lifted a tall glass with a tiny decorative sparkling circle of electricity. "I can't wait to see Wrex try and drink this one."

Cozy giggled. “I never thought I’d get to hang out with you again. If I have to move on from the life I had in that timeline, I couldn’t ask for a better way to do that.”

"Well," Sunset said, slipping a hand into her pocket and producing a small, silver business card. "I'm not sure about anyone else, but you can always visit me with this." She handed Cozy the card. "If you ever want to come back it sort-of books a private visit for you."

Cozy smiled broadly at that. “I can come back? I… thank you, Sunset.” Cozy nuzzled into the older girl. She stared off into space for a few moments, thinking, and then she sighed.

“I do wonder what I’ll do about mom, though…”

Sunset blinked, straightening out a little. Uh-oh, this is not something I really know how to handle. Leaving her family behind? "Your mom?"

Cozy leaned away, nodding. “Err, it’s a bit of a long story, but Luna adopted me. I mean, she didn’t know who I was – and neither did I – but it stuck afterwards. I, um. Well… I don’t really think I deserved it, but I don’t want to lose it.”

Cozy finished her sentence somewhat lamely, like she had no idea how to put it, and capped it off with a spectacularly unconvincing laugh.

"Oh boy," Sunset shook her head. "That's… well, wonderful on the one hand, but… I'm so sorry…" She bit her lip, thinking. "Isn't there some way to bring her with you?"

Cozy shook her head. “Discord explained it to me. That was a… uh, I think he called it a ‘failed’ timeline? Or aborted, or cancelled, or something? It was real, but it wasn’t. I don’t really know how to explain it, but what happened there was a possibility, not part of the main timeline. And I’m grateful for the memories, I really am! It was the best time of my life.” Cozy had a genuine, warm smile as she thought back on it, and visibly struggled not to let it drop.

But that can't be all there is to it… come on Sunset, there should be something! "Um, are you going to try to befriend them, or keep in contact with their counterparts when you go back to your original world?"

Cozy hesitated, chewing her lip a bit and thinking on her response. Her voice came out surprisingly raw, given that she seemed to be holding her emotions back. “I have to. I… I love her. I have to.”

Think, Sunset. She dragged a hand down her face. "I just wish you could at least share what you have with her… like pictures or video..." She paused. Eyes widening. Something like using a camera even when magic erases memories… "Have you thought about sharing your memories with Luna?"

“Huh…? You mean, like, through dreams?”

Sunset nodded. "Yes. Exactly like that. Look, long story short, one girl in my second world once erased all the memories of me from my friends… but I followed Clover the Clever's hints and recorded what happened… it wasn't perfect, but I knew. Luna's magic is more complicated, more… empathic and powerful than a video camera. If you want to share your memories with her… I think she'll be able to at least see what type of relationship you had." She licked her lips. "I-I'm not suggesting you need to do that, but at least the possibility is there if you wanted."

Cozy’s smile became much broader and more genuine, and her eyes shimmered with tears. “That’s a great idea! I’ll do that! If there’s even a chance, then I’ll do it. I can’t just let her go without even trying.”

"Luna is a good pony, and someone that will listen, I think," Sunset said. "I'm sure you'll be able to talk to her about this. I hope it works."

Cozy smiled, and nodded. She nuzzled into Sunset again, then broke away. “I think I’m ready to go give it a try. Even if it all turns out terrible… at least I can come back here, right? It’s not like I’ll be completely alone.”

"You won't," Sunset said giving her a gentle hug. "Anytime you need me, you can use the card."

Cozy sighed in relief, and smiled again. She fluttered down from the chair and hunted down a trash can; she tossed her bandage into it, her wound already healed. “Then I guess it’s time to go. Until next time, heh.”

"Oh, before you go then," Sunset said, lifting her phone. "How about a picture?"

Cozy seemed surprised, but she agreed happily. She held her chanfron under a hoof and smiled broadly for the picture, pushing into a sitting Sunset so both could be caught in focus.

Grinning at the camera on her phone, Sunset took the picture.

After the picture was snapped, Cozy started for the door, but then suddenly looked around the bar. She seemed to hesitate for a second.

“Say, Sunset? Do you think I could get, ah, another one of those rums to go? It was really good. I’ll bring the glass back next time.”

Sunset gave her a considering look, then nodded, walking behind the bar. "Sure, give me a minute to whip it up." She smiled as she was mixing it. "You know, when you're ready to bring it back, use the card and think about how much you'd like another one. It'll help you focus."

Cozy scuffed a hoof on the floor and nodded sheepishly. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

When the drink was done, she put a silicon cap on it to keep the liquid inside, went around and held it for Cozy to grasp in her telekinesis field. "I don't have many of those glasses, so make sure you bring it back, okay?"

Cozy nodded feverishly, taking the drink carefully and sipping it, humming audibly in exaggerated approval.

"I'll make sure to make another one to go when you bring it in," Sunset whispered, giving her a last hug. "Good luck."

Cozy emerged from the portal, making sure to carefully grasp the handle in her teeth after snapping the lid closed. As she predicted, her horn vanished and her wings shrank on stepping through. She barely had time to register the disappointment before she felt the glass slip from her mouth and set itself aside in a blue field of telekinesis.

Then her world was a tumbling blur of dark-blue. It took her a second to register that she’d just been tackled by somepony very familiar.

“Mom?!”

Luna clutched Cozy tightly. “Oh, sweetie, we thought something had happened to you!”

Cozy looked around in confusion, and spotted Sunset – now a much more familiar equine – standing some distance away in the grass, waving.

“What-but-how-you-timeline-wha—”

Then she saw Discord grinning at her from behind Sunset. He silently mouthed ‘You’re welcome’ and snapped, vanishing.

It took another second of Luna snuggling into her armor for Cozy to get the gist of what must have happened.

Then she just laughed and facehoofed.

Sunset hung Cozy's picture up in the wall with the others, smiling fondly at the little filly that she had on good authority been sent to Tartarus at least once.

"Oddly enough, after all of that, I think I'm okay with visiting Hell with Rarity again," she muttered, shaking her head in bewilderment. "Still—" she made sure the frame was straight "—I really hope she gets her family back in some way."

She smirked as she turned to the bar. "I guess I'll find out when she returns that mug."

Author's Notes:

This story takes place after the trio of stories consisting of: The Hero: Cozy Glow,
A Cozy Hearth's Warming, and The Mirror. Be sure to take a look at those and at their post-Isekai sequel: Never Alone