This is it . . . the Canterlot Gardens. I finally made it. It's right in front of me.

But I hesitate to enter, for I am very afraid.

It feels apropos that, while I stand in front of the entrance to the garden, a storm is gathering above me. All along, while I made my way to this destination, I actually saw a bunch of pegasi, my species, pushing dark clouds to this area. Apparently they intend to create a storm here on purpose, most likely to water the gardens.

Well, I suppose that is one way to solve this problem. It must be nice to live in a world that can control the weather like that, but their methods seem on the tedious side. Pushing each cloud one by one is necessary? What would happen if ponies no longer did it? Would this world cease to function?

I close my eyes slowly as I recall the journey it took to get me up here, perhaps as a way to delay the inevitable just a little longer.

The train ride up here was interesting. I sat alone on my bench but there were plenty of other ponies, and a few other types of creatures, sitting on other benches. I found the way they sat on them made them look oddly human. Back then I could not help but wonder if it was a sign that, deep down, they all actually had human souls. There is just too much expression on their faces and human-like quality to their movements to reject that possibility. They are alien but a touch too relatable. It is fascinating and disturbing at the same time.

Then I looked out the window as I contemplated how there was literally a whole new world out there. At that moment there was a part of me that felt tempted to explore this new world as a permanent resident. My mind spun with possibilities how I could weave a believable story and fit right in as if I had always been there. Exploring a magical world with this much high fantasy and fairy-tale like quality to it has more than a little appeal.

But no . . . I could never abandon my mother like that, nor shall I forget or forgive Little Miss Prissy! She must pay for what she has done to me! It is harder to do that while sitting in another world entirely.

Feeling resolved, I realized that I had to be content with what I had at that moment. Looking out the window that seemed so familiar and yet so different. Wondering how much more there is out there to explore. The answers beacon me. They call to my soul. It's so painful to look upon that and reject it.

Interesting. I guess life can find some small ways to challenge me once in awhile. I've got to admit, I asked for it.

As the train I rode on ascended a mountain, it occasionally passed into several long and dark tunnels. When that happened, the inside of the train suddenly became brighter than the outside. As a result, I couldn't see anything beyond the window other than blackness. Instead, it was my own reflection that drew my attention.

I touched the chill window with a hoof as I softly traced the edges of the reflection of my new, ponyfied face. This is what Cozy Glow of this world would like like at this age, but I heard earlier that she is frozen in time as a stone statue.

A chill sinks deep into my soul at the reminder of that announcement. I am afraid. I am so very afraid. If it's true, if that is what this world has done to my pony self then I . . .

I . . .

I don't know what I'd do, but I do know my feelings about this world would change dramatically. All that joy and sunshine and pretty rainbows and happy faces take on a whole new dark dimension when painted by this horrifying fact.

Fact . . . I'm not ready to give this story that label yet, and the truth is I don't want to. This world has such charm to it. It calls to the innocent child that I still have deeply buried within my soul. That part of me longs to remain in a world like this so badly.

Happy clouds! Shinny rainbows! Adorable ponies!

In short, Heaven.

Please don't be true! Please don't show me that Skeedaddle was right! Show me that he was wrong! Show me that he was a dirty, rotten liar, I beg you! I don't want to hate this world! I really don't.

I'll march towards the truth regardless, but I am so afraid. There is a fragile sense of innocence within me that hangs in the balance, terrified that she will soon shatter.

It wouldn't be the first time my mind has shattered, but doing so before does not make it easier, it makes it harder. It makes me more sensitive to the repeat. It's like intensifying an allergic reaction.

What if I don't survive this? What if I break?

The alternative is to leave this world and always wonder what I would have found if I continued. Wouldn't that have just as much chance of ruining my life?

I open my eyes again, my mind returns to the present.

Here goes nothing.

I break into a canter towards Canterlot Gardens.

“Whoa! Wait, Miss!” an old brown pony with a droopy straw hat says in objection as I pass him. His voice noticeably whistles on occasion due to some missing teeth. “Don't go in there, Miss. A rainstorm is about to hit it. Can't you see the dark clouds above?”

I do. I don't care.

I venture on without a word or look back at him.

“Miss! Wait! Miss! You'll get wet in there! You'll catch a cold! It's dangerous! Miss! Hey, Miss! I'm talking to you! Miss! Miiiiiiiisssssss!”

His voice grows more distance as I canter on. I don't care. I am driven. I have a mission to complete.

The gardens are kind of beautiful, even in the gray shade of the dark clouds above. It is something of a hedge maze. I wish I could fly and scout out this whole area from above.

That's another thing that's bound to haunt me when I leave this world. Here I am a pegasus. I can fly here. It would be so nice to learn how to do that. That would have been so fun and liberating.

The maze isn't actually too complicated. I get the sense that it could be if I took the branching paths to the sides. If I stick to the widest path, however, I calculate a sixty-five percent chance that it would lead me to my goal. That just seems to fit with a royal, aesthetic design.

My gamble eventually pays off. I arrive into a wide clearing that has a bunch of other white marble statues about. Most of them seem to be fairly positive themes, like this one mare who wove a flag and had a bold pose.

Then I spot it.

My heart freezes.

My blood chills.

My breathing stops.

My soul turns more gray, like a Heart of Stone.

There she is. Cozy Glow, my pony counterpart.

Despite being the smallest of the three combined figures, she is above them, as if she was flying before she got frozen in stone.

Frozen in time, like a picture, except that is her actual body.

Thunder rolls across the sky.

I did not realize for a while that I am absently strolling a bit closer until I a practically in front of the statue.

There are three figures in front of me, but my mind focus on only one.

Pony Cozy Glow . . . she's still just a little filly! Still just a child! How unbelievable cruel!

Her face is frozen in horror on what happened to her.

And I thought I had it bad!

Come to think of it, I wonder if this happened to her when I lost my parents. My birth parents, that is. If true, then I guess we were both born on the wrong side of the crib. Maybe this is meant to happen to us. Maybe this is why we were born. Maybe we are made to suffer more so than most others.

The rains seems to just turn on like turning on a faucet.

I don't care. I continue to stand there, numb to everything.

I do not know how long I stand there like that, frozen like my pony counterpart. In my heart, I feel like her. I feel like my heart is frozen in stone as well.

My mind is numb, but it slowly starts to stir. Loud thunder in the background help to thaw out my mind.

Fifty-fifty. That is the odds that this could have happened to me. Standing there, helpless. Frozen for all time. Frozen and rejected and unloved. If I was born in this world instead of my own, if fate had been just a hair off, then this would have been me instead.

But in a way it did happen to me. She is me, and I am her.

We are both cursed . . . together.

I close my eyes and bow my head.

The memory of Ponyville comes back to my mind with a haunting vengeance. A quiet and quaint little town that seems so full of life and energy. Even for those trotting about to do their daily business, there is a bubbly energy beneath all of it that only someone from another world could see because it's different enough to tell. The way they trotted about in their daily lives, a smile at least dimly on their lips and deep in their wide, adorable eyes . . . it is like they are happy just to be alive. They are happy to be in this world and to be adorable ponies. No routine, no matter how mundane, could diminish that simple joy just to be here on this world.

Sunshine and happy rainbows all the way. They actually look like they are about readdy to break into a spontaneous song and dance at any moment. It really is a child's fantasy, especially that of a little girl, like I was.

But all of that joy and fulfillment hides one very dark truth beneath it; it came at the expense of another, perhaps even because of it. They are happy . . . because Cozy Glow is miserable. The thought of her suffering every day brings peace, joy, and fulfillment every day of their lives.

A song pops into my head.

“Ding-dong, the witch is dead!

Which old witch?

The wicked witch (of course. Duh!)

“Ding-dong, the wicked witch is deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaad!”

Frozen in time, just a statue. Nobody cares about it except to point at it, laugh at it, and taunt it. Everyday that she is here reminds them that they are safe from her. The monster, Cozy Glow, on display for the entertainment of the masses for all eternity, like a mummified corpse on public display.

My eyes pop open and my pupil shrinks to the size of a pin when another horrifying thought occurs to me.

What if she's not dead? What if she's very much aware of her trapped state? What if she wants to move and speak, but simply can't? Unable to do anything but think and observe her surroundings?

I look back up at her face, and I see something that nearly shatters me.

My counterpart, pony Cozy Glow, looks like she's bawling in the rainstorm. Streams of water cascade from her stone eyes.

“Help me!” I hear a desperate wail of agony in my mind. “Somebody . . . ANYBODY . . .help me! Pleeeeeeeasse.”

Water rises to my own eyes, obstructing my vision. My throat starts to close up. My chest collapses. I heave in strained effort just to breathe.

“I'll be a good girl from now on! I promise! Just get me down. I won't do it again. I'll never do it again! I swear! Just get me down from here!”

I shut my eyes tight and wince in excruciating pain.

“Let me down! Let me down! Let me down! Let me down! Let me down! Let me down!”

My heart sinks in sorrow. In my head, my mind spins ahead in time to how this event will likely unfold.

For years the stoned filly cries out desperately to anyone that wonders by, but they either don't care or are downright pleased to see her fate.

It does not matter to her how low the odds of success are. It could be zero percent chance of success for all she cares. Her fate is too horrible not to feel overwhelmed by her emotions. She cries out to anyone and everyone desperately, hoping against hope that if she cries out loudly enough in her mind, somehow someone will hear her and take pity upon her.

But decades roll by and she sees the same answer over and over again. The horror deepens in her heart as she faces the serious possibility that she really might be trapped like this for all eternity. Unable to move, unable to speak, unable to blink, unable to breathe. It is like being trapped in cement, except she just won't die!

Over the years, fewer and fewer care for her fate. New foals are born that have never seen her before, so she's just an anomaly to them. They think she's just a normal statue and always was.

Other than that, totally ignored. Just a perch for the birds.

Day and night cycles. Here eyes scans everything in her field of vision, desperate for her hyper developed mind for simulation.

Another pony crosses her path, but she's long past hoping for pity or salvation. She just looks at him or her, thinking, “You're not going to free me either, are you? I bet you don't even realize I'm more than just a statue.”

But that is all she is . . . to everyone.

Centuries roll by, and her thoughts decay. After so long without simulation, she slowly forgets how to think in words. She slowly forgets how to think or feel at all. She abandoned hope of ever being free a long time ago. A statue is all she really is anymore. She accepts it bitterly, but it gets easier as her thoughts leave her and her soul continues to decay.

Until, one day, she really is just a statue. No thoughts anymore. No feelings anymore. Not even the slightest bit of ego.

At that point it really is too late to save her. If any pony does turn her back to flesh, it does not matter. She'd just fall to the ground, totally catatonic. She can't move, think, feel, breath, eat. All of that would have to be done for her. She's just a soulless, empty doll made of flesh.

She'll be put on strings and danced like a marionette for the amusement of the masses, the last remnant of entertainment they can draw from the thing that was once a girl named Cozy Glow. All the while, her eyes pupils ever remain tiny and lifeless, unless she . . .or rather it since she's not really a girl anymore . . . is covered up by makeup or a mask.

Eventually even that withers and decays.

Everything decays, withering into the blackness of infinite emptiness and sorrow.

Panic and agonizing horror well up from within me. I open my mouth just to scream!

“Shimmering Spectacles? Is that you?” someone asks from behind me.

I am really caught off guard by those questions. I had no idea anyone approached nearby me. I look behind me to see who it is, then widen my eyes in shock.

I have never beheld her like this before, but there is no mistaking who this is. Her voice alone should have been a big enough clue for me if I was thinking more straight. That is Princess Twilight Sparkle, the face of my mother in pony form.

I quickly look away to hide my face.

“Uh . . . good evening, Your Majesty,” I say while fighting really damn hard to steady my nerves and voice. “Indeed, my name is Shimmering Spectacles. I guess it's a small world after all. Word gets around here fast in Horse . . . um . . . Equestria.”

“Good evening?” Twilight reflects questioningly. “Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it if you don't mind standing in the rain.”

“I suppose I don't,” I say with a bit of an empty voice. “It helps me cool off.”

“Yeah.” I hear Twilight approach closer behind me. “I heard from reliable sources that Cozy Glow was your sister? Is that true?”

I nod slightly. “We are . . . in a sense. She's my sister born from another mother.”

“Oh.” Twilight honestly did not sound like she knew what to make of that information.

“I didn't know her,” I go on. “We weren't raised together, and yet I feel like I've known her all of my life. We are . . . bonded . . . on levels I doubt you can imagine.”

“I do share a very close connection with my friends,” she pointed out. “Friendship as tight, if not tighter, than family.”

I hear Twilight closing in very close behind me. Her hoof clomps splash in the muddy puddles on the ground.

I can't let her see my face! This pony knows me too well. There is a ninety-percent chance that these stupid glasses won't deceive her.

“It's not the same thing, Your Majesty. Cozy and I . . . we share a bond much deeper than that. I feel like she is me.”

“I'm . . . so sorry. I don't know what to say.”

I let out a breath slowly, then request, “Just . . . tell me how this happened. I want to know why she deserves this fate.”

“It's my fault,” Twilight said sadly.

I almost whip my head back at her in shock but restrain myself. Instead, I ask, “You did this to her?”

“Not personally, no, but in a way we all did this to her,” Twilight says. “The reason I say it's my fault is because she used to work right under me. She worked under my wings, and I didn't see this coming! She is smart and talented. I didn't see the poison that dwelt within her. Not until it was too late.”

“So she got banished to Tartarus,” I finish.

“At first,” Twilight agrees. “After she tried to destroy all magic on this world, and nearly succeed, Princess Celestia banished her to Tartarus.

“Don't you remember that? Wherever you were, didn't you notice the decline of magic? It happened all over the world.”

“I guess I must have missed it,” I say with a shrug. “Go on.”

She sighs sadly, then says, “Most of us thought that was the end of it. Those who are banished to Tartarus are usually taken care of for all eternity . . . but . . . another 'good' friend of mine by the name of Discord gathered them all up while disguised as the treacherous Grogar. By gather, I mean her, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and one other who is not here, an evil unicorn by the name of King Sombra.

“Unlike the others, Sombra struck it out on his own to conquer Equestria, and he quickly nearly won. He also destroyed . . . something very precious to this world.

“Several moons later, Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis and Lord Tirek drained Discord's powers while they thought he was Grogar. They did this using Grogar's bell. It doesn't just drain magical powers, it can grant powers it drained. Grogar's magic was in there before they started using it, at least according to Discord's testimony. With it, they had nearly enough power to conquer all of Equestria. That was the second time your sister brought this land to it's knees.

“Worse, she and her companions sowed distrust among all the pony races. At first I thought it was just nervousness due to my coronation coming soon, but no . . . these three worked in the shadows to undermine the greatest source of our strength.

“But, thanks to all my friends and those I taught, we all came together in the end and defeated these three. After that, Discord, Celestia and Luna turned all three of them into stone together, just like the fate Discord had suffered for a thousand years.”

“And you all lived happily ever after. The end,” I say bitterly.

“Not exactly,” Twilight disagreed. “In fact, this is one of the issues that bothers me the most.”

I partially look back at her under the edge of Trixie's stupid hat.

“How so?” I ask her.

First Twilight sighed, then says, “This . . . this just bothers me. I can't help but think there could have been a better way to handle this. Cozy especially bothers me. She was under my care. My responsibility. My fault! I should have seen this coming. I should have prevented it!”

“Then . . . what are you going to do about it?” I ask her with trace amounts of hope in my voice.

She signs sadly and shakes her head. “Nothing I can do. If I free Cozy, I'll end up freeing all three of them. I can't risk the security and safety of Equestria again. I just . . . wish there was a better way.”

“So . . . you are sorry,” I say bitterly. “That's all she gets? That's all a little filly on this world gets?”

I turn to her more fully but keep the edge of my hat down in order to continue to hide my face. “She was your responsibility, Twilight! You just said so yourself. She was your student. You were her mentor. You didn't banish her to Tartarus, but did you try to stop Celestia when she did?”

There is a five second pause of silence before Twilight finally admitted, “No.”

“NO! YOU DIDN'T!” I cry out at her angrily. “You abandoned her, Twilight! You abandoned a hurt and lost little filly, just like her parents probably abandoned her!”

I see her legs stiffen. I drive on with my point, determined to hurt her!

“Speaking of which, where the hell were her parents in all of this?” I ask sharply. “Did they raise a hoof in objection? Did anyone even ask them? Do they even know what happened to their daughter at all, or did nobody ever bother to check?”

I am met with silence other then the heaves of my own, nearly hyperventilating breath.

“Didn't ANYBODY TELL YOU THAT THIS IS WRONG?!” I scream at her.

For another five seconds I am met with silence, then she asks me something that deeply startles me.

“Cozy? Is that you?”

I back off a few steps from her, breathing very sharply now. My breath proceeds in dry heaves. I am about to turn away from her when I notice my hat glow with a purple aura. A moment later my hat and glasses are pulled off my head and face. As a last ditch effort to defend myself, I shield my face with my right wing defensively for a moment, but then I realize how futile it is.

She knows. The jig is up.

Well, since we crossed that line, I might as well fully reveal to her how upset I am with her.

I slowly lower my wing from in front of my face. It reveals the cold glare of hatred I have burning towards her. A face that also quickly soaks with rainwater.

“Oh Cozy . . . no!” Twilight says in horror. “No, Cozy! Not this! Anything but this! This is the only place in all of Equestria I didn't want you to see, and you went straight for it, my worst fear for you.”

“Because you did not want me to learn the truth,” I growl at her. “You didn't want me to know what a horrible monster you are! You . . . the face of my own beloved mother . . . who condemned my pony self to this fate!

“Was this your plan for me too, Twilight? Did you want to lock me in stone as well?

“I suppose I would in your place. Why not get rid of your enemies completely? Why not make sure she can't be avenged by anyone? Get rid of your threats! It's what you're best at.”

“That's not true, Cozy! I never wanted this fate for you. I didn't even want it for her.”

“Where is the proof of your claims?” I immediately challenge her. “Where is your evidence? Is it right here?!” I gesture to the frozen statue behind me with my right wing. “Because that is the only evidence I see before me, Twilight. That is the only proof of your character that matters to me right now.”

“You don't understand what she did to us! What she tried to do to this world!”

“No. I DON'T understand, Twilight! All I see her betrayer in front of me.”

Twilight winces and shuts her eyes tight. She reacts like I stabbed her in the heart, but I don't buy it! I she really regretted her actions, she would have fixed this a long time ago. She is the Princess of all of Equestria, and probably has more than a little magic too boot all by herself. She could have changed this fate, but she didn't because she does not want to!

“So . . . here we are. This is where we stand,” I say a little accusingly but mostly I speak in a tone of acceptance. “You won. Congratulations, Twilight. All of your enemies are vanquished, at least the ones that matter the most. Cozy Glow won't bother you anymore, nor these other two.

“Moreover, you have them here in public display as a show of force to anyone. You can always point at her with a hoof and say, 'Look, kids. Look what happened to her. Look at this example I have displayed for all of Equestria to see! Look how powerful I am! Don't you dare try to cross me, or you'll end up like her too. Remember, kids, don't be like Cozy Glow or you'll be doomed to share her fate for all of eternity.”

Every single word seems to make her wince. I see her cry. I wish it is real! I wish I am causing her this much apparent pain, but I know I'm not.

“But why stop here?” I go on. “Why not humiliate her even further? Just take a bunch of crayons . . . you do have crayons, don't you?” I move on without waiting for an answer. “Take a bunch of crayons and encourage other foals to draw silly little doodles all over her face. Then, after that, take this stupid lookingglasses,” I nudge the one I used to wear, “and stick it on her face. Or, ooo! Better yet, stick it on her fail and pretend it's a silly little face! I'm sure your public would love you for this much creative freedom.

“You have her down, Twilight! She's on her knees and begging you for mercy. Begging you for release from her suffering. This is the perfect time to keep kicking her while she's down!”

To demonstrate, I kick a bit of mud at her which end up splashing on her legs and a bit on her chest.

I hyperventilate even further.

“'Look at Cozy Glow,'” I struggle to say through the burden of my breath. I grow dizzy and wobble in place. “'Look at the little monster that no one loves and . . .'”

I collapse to my knees before I fall over completely.

I start a hacking fit. Twilight pretends to grow concern for me.

“Do you want to know why she's a monster?” I struggle to say through the tightness of my throat. That one sentence makes me cough again, then I struggle on. “It's because the world treated her like one. Those who are treated like a monster cannot . . . help . . .

“. . . oh god!”

I finally collapse on my side then roll to my back. My pony body and hair covers in mud. Rain pours down my face.

“Please . . . enough, Cozy. Just stop,” Twilight says in a very sad voice. “Let's get you home to your mother and inhaler.”

Twilight's magical purple aura surrounds my pony body for a brief moment, but it stops when I give a shrill scream.

It may sound like I am panicking, but that scream is out of pure, agonizing pain.

The scream pauses of only brief moments as I fall into another hacking fit, then I resume it because . . . no plan. None at all. Just raw pain exploding from my chest. I scream because I truly cannot stop.

“Cozy, this needs to stop! You're getting sick out here, and you need your inhaler. Maybe more.”

The glow of her aura surrounds me again, provoking another reflexive scream. That does seem to weaken her concentration a bit but she does not relent this time. I could feel tingeing, ticklish sensation cover my body like being swarmed by tiny ice pricks.

“Stop it, Cozy! This is serious! You need help!”

“Just leave me ALONE!” I scream at her then desperately fling mud straight at her face. My aim lands perfectly. Her horn stops glowing as she screeches in pain. Immediately she shakes her head and tries to wipe her eyes with her muddy hooves.

This is my chance!

I desperately struggle to stand then gallop away from her as fast as I can. I nearly stumble more than a few times, but I recover quickly and race on.

“COZY GLOW, STOP!” Twilight cries out to me. “YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I JUST WANT TO HELP YOU! LET ME HELP YOU!”

Like you “helped” my pony counterpart? Thanks but no thanks, Twilight! I can take care of myself.

This is why I know friendship is a myth!

Well. This is where I would have added the "sad" genre tag but it turns out that exceeds the website limit. Just to be clear, I wouldn't have added the tag for this chapter alone, but in my opinion, this is where it starts.

Lots of you added this story to your "favorites" folder. Thanks! I feel really appricated.