I wake up with a gasp!

The shot of insulin in my system helps propel me back to consciousness, but I don't realize that until a moment later.

I examine my new surroundings only to discover that I am in Diamond Tiara's room. I am gazing up at her ceiling. Apparently I am on the floor, looking up.

Probing my surroundings further, I notice that the only ones in the mansion who are probably not in this room right now are the other servants of the mansion. Other than that, everyone else is here. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and Spoiled Rich. The latter is glaring down at me hatefully, but there is a hint of concern on her face as well.

I also finally notice that my body is quaking uncontrollably, but it's starting to calm down.

Oh great! Another seizure attack.

Thanks, Universe! Thanks for taking another opportunity to spit on my face and remind me how pathetic I am! Do you want to kick me too? Go ahead! I'm wide open! Take your best shot!

“Cozy Glow, wake up!” Sweetie Belle calls to me frantically. Her voice does sound a bit distorted for a moment, but it clears quickly. Sound starts to return to normal.

I see tears in Sweetie Belle's eyes. I hear the strain in her voice. She looks at me with desperate concern.

She reaches forward to tap me multiple times on my face.

“Hey! Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up, sleepyhead!” She holds four fingers up in front of my face and asks me, “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Technically, none,” I answer. “Since I'm lying on my back and you're above me, you're holding your fingers sideways, not up. Also, it’s a little hard to tell since you're holding them so close to my face.”

“Oh good!” Sweetie Belle breathes a sigh of relief as she reaches to squeeze one of my hands. I wonder if it's to comfort me or herself.

Maybe both.

“So . . . she's finally awake?” I hear Spoiled ask the group in irritation. “I don't have to call an ambulance after all?”

“You mean you never did?!” Scootaloo asks in astonishment. “Do you realize she could have died in your mansion, you heartless witch?!”

“Hey!” Spoiled snaps at Scootaloo. “Watch your tone with me, missy! Don't forget, you are a guest in my house! That is an oversight which I will soon correct.”

Spoiled looks over at me disdainfully, then asks, “She is not going to throw up all over my expensive, imported rug, is she? If she does, I demand restitution.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Scootaloo asks Spoiled incredulously. “That is what you are worried about right now?”

“But of course, you stupid little child!” came Spoiled’s snide remark. “The carpet in this room alone cost me over four thousand bits! That's probably more money than you'll ever make in your entire miserable lifetime, you pathetic twerp!”

“Why you-!” Scootaloo begins with a roar but Diamond Tiara clasps Scootaloo's shoulder. Looking back up at her, Scootaloo notices Diamond shake her head no. Diamond silently advises Scootaloo to calm back down.

Scootaloo gets back on her knees, albeit reluctantly.

Diamond looks at her mother.

“Mother, did you notify their parents that you are kicking them out?”

Spoiled puts a hand to her chest as she asks in offended surprise, “You're asking if I did it? I don't have their phone numbers, nor do I care to attain them unless it is to complain to them.” Suddenly she looks thoughtful. “Maybe I should.”

“Don't worry! We'll call our parents!” Scootaloo snaps at Spoiled irritably. “Trust me, it would be my pleasure to get out of your stinking house.”

“If my house smells, you are undoubtedly the cause,” Spoiled quipps. “I am also looking forward to your departure so I can set the maids to cleanse your stinking filth out of my home once and for all.”

Diamond squeezes Scootaloo's shoulder once again. I notice, as I look up to her face, Diamond's face gains a firm resolve.

“Very well, Mother. I'll make sure they go home,” Diamond announces. She turns to face her mother as she adds, “and I'm going with them.”

That announcement shocks everyone in the room. I probably expected it the most.

“What are you talking about, Diamond Tiara?” Spoiled asks her daughter with rising fury. “I did not give you permission to leave or speak to me in such a disrespecting tone! As long as you live under my roof, you'll do as I say! Do you understand me?”

“I understand you perfectly,” Diamond calmly replies. “That's why I'm leaving this house!”

Everyone gasps in shock, including me but I'm mainly doing it for pretenses since it's expected of me.

In truth, I'm reading her too well at this moment. I can foresee where this conversation is going, and why it's on that track.

For once, Spoiled is speechless. She moves her lips but hardly utters a sound.

“Can I stay with one of you?” Diamond asks us pleadingly. “If not, I guess I can bunk up in a hotel somewhere.”

“Diamond, are . . . are you serious?!” Silver Spoon asks her in shock.

Diamond passes her friend a firm look as she says, “More serious than I have ever been!”

“How . . . how dare you!?” Spoiled says with a livid expression which sinks into raw fury. “How DARE YOU! Do you even know what you are saying? Do you know what you are giving up?”

“Yeah, I do!” Diamond snaps at her mother. “I'm making sure I don't become like you! A sad and pathetic woman who doesn't have any FRIENDS!” Diamond screams that last word. “Well I'm sick of it, Mother! You've told me my whole life what to do or say, and what has it ever gotten me? I almost DIED because of you!”

Spoiled closes her eyes and fluffs her hair in an arrogant pose for a moment as she says, “Fine! Go on, then! Live with them. Beg on the streets for all I care! From now on, I disown you!”

“GOOD!” Diamond shouts at her mother. “Then that means you can no longer control or torture me either.”

“Or reward you,” Spoiled begins as she opens her eyes again in order to give her daughter a hard look. “You do realize what this means, right? You are cut off from our family's fortune!” Spoiled cuts a hand sharply through the air.

That announcement did take Diamond aback for a moment, but she recovers an instant later.

“FINE! I don't want your dirty money anyway!” Diamond cries back.

“You never had it to begin with,” Spoiled says with ice in her tone. “Not really. I let you spend your stipend, but that's over now. If you are not going to make any effort to contribute to this family, then we shall not provide for you either.”

Spoiled stabs a pointing finger out the exit of the room as she demands, “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU FILTHY URCHIN! I can't stand the sight of you!

“ALL OF YOU!”

* * *

The five of us are very quiet as Diamond Tiara's former butler, Randolph, escorts us off of the Rich family property.

During the trip, I stole a gaze at Diamond several times. Because of that, I notice her struggling very hard to maintain a brave face, but I see cracks in her mask. Tiny twitches in the corners of her mouth, eyes, and chin wrinkles just a bit.

That totally makes sense. Why would there be any realistic chance that she would be okay at this moment? Sure, she might be free of her mother's crushing tyranny after this day, but Spoiled Rich is still family, and that mother is kicking her onto the streets.

It must be going through Diamond's head how easily that could have happened after all these years. All that effort to struggle to stay on her mother's good side has proven to be unnecessary on this awful night.

Just like me and my former parents. They also shunned me when things got tough. In the end, I was not good enough for them, either.

Randolph opens the front gate leading off the property. We exit to the other side but, once we are there, Randolph lingers as he gazes at Diamond Tiara's back with worry and sympathy.

“Just go, Randolph,” Diamond tries to command, but her voice is unsteady. “Please. I don't want you to see me like this.”

“Mistress, I-” he began in sympathy.

“GO!” Diamond screams out desperately.

Randolph sighs then shuts the gate. He lingers on the other side just a little longer, then sighs again as he turns and shakes his head sadly.

After he walks away only a few paces, he pauses again when he hears Diamond Tiara break down behind him.

Diamond collapses onto her knees and bawls. During this time, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle immediately move to comfort her. Silver and I hesitate, although I am surprised that she hesitates as well. We even look at each other for that.

“Help me!” Diamond whimpers in a tiny voice, then gains strength as she repeats her request more loudly. “Please help me!” she barely manages to say before bawling again.

I can't believe it! I finally got my wish . . . sort of. I didn't cause this, but this is otherwise everything I ever wanted for her. She's lost, broken, afraid, destroyed, desperate, destitute.

The only item left on my checklist is for her to be abandoned by all of her “friends”.

Why the hell am I not happier about this?

Even more surprising, why am I feeling empty and miserable?

Is she not suffering enough? Is that it?

But this pain in her voice . . . it's so utterly real and all too familiar. I cried like this too when my parents abandoned me.

“Of course we'll help you!” Sweetie Belle agrees while struggling with her own tears. “We're all your friends now, just like you said in the video.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo concurs. Her voice sounds much more steady, but I can hear a little bit of struggle within it. “It's just like Rainbow Dash taught me. Never ever abandon your friends! Well, I'm certainly not going to do that! I'll never do something like that!”

Scootaloo pats Diamond's back reassuringly as she says, “Stick with us. You're one of us now, a Cutie Mark Crusader.”

“She never agreed to that!” Silver Spoon objects.

“She doesn't have to!” Scootaloo snaps at Silver. “All of our friends automatically qualify for membership.”

In a moment, Scootaloo calms down. Her expression is replaced from fury to uncertain hope.

“How about you?” Scootaloo offers to Silver Spoon. “Do you wish to join us in the Crusaders too?”

For a moment, Silver Spoon seems uncertain. Instead of answering, she gazes upon each of us to gauge our reaction, so I do the same.

Sweetie Belle is also looking at Silver Spoon with hope in her eyes. Obviously she has no qualms about making more friends, even if they used to be former enemies.

Diamond is too distraught to look at anyone at the moment.

When Silver looks at me, I meet her gaze. To answer her silent question, I nod yes. I have every intention to “join” the Crusaders if it keeps me close to Diamond. I need to keep an eye on her. Her mental state seems very dangerous and fragile right now. I can't have her breaking on me any further before I have a chance to shatter her.

I also decide to reevaluate my motives against her later. For now, I'm defaulting on Diamond being my secret enemy, but I have seen a lot of shit tonight that I desperately need to weigh carefully.

Until then, my calculations about this situation are badly in flux. It wouldn't be a stretch to call it in shambles at the moment.

Yet another development that has thrown a massive wrench into my life.

First it was Princess Twilight, then it's what I did to Sunny, and now this.

No wonder I've been so off my game lately.

After looking across each of us, Silver Spoon looks down and sighs. She almost speaks, but another does so first.

“Please help her!” an old man begs near our position. I look at Randolph gazing at us pleadingly through the gate. “I've watched her grow up from being a baby in my arms,” the old butler says with an unsteady voice. “I watched her grow to a toddler, to a young child, then to a beautiful young lady. I'll be damned if I don't see her grow up into a beautiful woman.

“In all that time, I've also seen how much abuse she suffered and how strong she tried to endure it.

“I . . . I feel like her grandfather, and I want to help in any way I can.

“To whomever agrees to accept her into their home, I humbly request you accept a stipend from me . . . from my own paycheck.”

“Randolph . . .” Silver began then trailed off, looking stunned.

“I can't stand to see her like this!” Randolph says with tears in his own eyes. “I can't offer much but I'll do whatever this old man can.”

“RANDOLPH!” Spoiled Rich's voice screams out of the intercom near the gate which ends up startling all of us. Even me. “GET BACK HERE INTO THE MANSION THIS INSTANT OR YOU'RE FIRED! Leave the filthy peasants to their miserable fate!”

Randolph sighs sadly, then says, “I . . . I have to go, but I'll contact you all later. I don't know how or when, but I promise I will.”

“He really is a good man,” Scootaloo realizes, sounding stunned. “Such loyalty. Such compassion. He kind of makes me wish he was my grandfather.”

Silver Spoon narrows her eyes with angry defiance at the intercom, then looks at us as she says, “Okay, Crusaders. For as long as you make it your mission to help save my friend, you can count me in your little club. If Diamond is joining, then I'm in too!”

“FanTASTIC!” Scootaloo cheers. “You hear that, Sweetie Belle? Two new members to our little club, and it's Diamond and Silver Spoon and . . .” she trails off with a questioning blink, then looks at me. I nod at her. Scootaloo's smile returns. She looks back at Sweetie and adds, “. . . and Cozy Glow. Our former enemies, and one of the greatest geniuses of the world, are now in our club! How cool is that?”

“It's great,” Sweetie says far less enthusiastically, “but we still have to figure out what we should do with Diamond now.”

“Personally, I know we have plenty of room in any one of our multiple mansions,” Silver informs us. “We also have plenty of servants that can watch out for her. The only problem is I don't know how my parents will feel, and something tells me her mother will pressure mine to start rejecting her.

“Rest assured, however, that even if they do, I will not!”

“Actually, you’ve got a point.” I pull out my cellphone. “We should call our parents right now. We need a ride anyway.”

Scootaloo sighs as she pulls out her cellphone from her back pants pocket. While she does, she says, “My parents would be easy to convince to let her stay with us, but the problem is our house is so packed as it is. My foster home has enough kids in it to be a school in its own right.”

“I'm sure I can convince my parents,” Sweetie says pretty confidently. “My parents are very warm and caring. We’ve got plenty of room at our house, and even more room in our hearts.”

I promise nothing until I contact my mother first. There is no reason to give false promises until it's verified.

As it turns out, my mother answers the phone unusually quickly. I doubt it rang more than once on her end.

When she answers, I don't just get an audio call. I also get a video call, but that does not amount to much in this case. Wherever she is, there isn't much lighting there.

“COZYISTHATYOU!” my mom cries out very frantically. “OHTHANKGODIWASSOWORRIED!

“Whoa! Slow down, Mom!” I urge her.

It's hard to tell, but the background behind my mom’s shadowy figure seems to be bouncing a lot. Wherever she is, it's dark but she's in a hurry.

Then I hear a crash sound from her end. When that happens, my heart skips a beat and my blood freezes.

“Mom?!” I ask, startled. “MOM?! MOM?! ARE YOU OKAY? PLEASE ANSWER ME!”

This immediately seizes the attention of every other girl in the vicinity, including the otherwise broken Diamond Tiara.

“Oh my GOSH! Is she okay?” Sweetie asks in worry. “Should we call an ambulance?”

“Ohh!” my mother moans in pain.

“Mom, please answer me!” I call to her frantically, quickly feeling tears rise to my eyes.

“Cozy, I'm okay!” my mother answers me. “I just . . . fell because I was in such a rush.”

A collective sigh escapes all of our lips.

“Oh, darn it!” I hear my mother complain.

“What is it?” I ask in renewed fear.

“I can't believe this! I guess we're both massive klutzes!” my mother says in amusement. “I broke my glasses too. You know, my smart glasses, just like you did so recently.”

“Oh!” I blink. I know this news should irk me, but I am just so relieved nothing more serious broke.

Like my beloved mother.

“I guess I'm going to have to order a replacement for both of our glasses now,” my mother realizes as she scoops up her phone. At last her image comes into view. It's still dark, but she holds the light close enough to her face that her cellphone's own screen illuminates her face a bit. Thanks to that, I can see that her glasses are indeed cracked as well.

“Cozy, are you alright?” my mother asks me with lingering concern. “The watch you are wearing sent me a notification that your heart rate increased dramatically within the past twenty minutes! I wanted to send an ambulance to you right away but I couldn't get a fix on your coordinates. Are you still at the Rich mansion?”

“Um . . . we're right outside of it, actually,” I report to her.

“Cozy . . . something is wrong!” My mother is able to tell, probably based on the sound of my voice, a short description of my situation, and possibly even a mother's instinct. “Tell me what it is, Honey. I want to help!”

I sigh as I look back at her, then say, “It's a long story. I'll gladly explain it to you later after you pick us up.”

“You got it!” my mother agrees immediately. “I'm coming over right away.”

“Will she be okay driving without her glasses?” Sweetie Belle asks in worry.

“I'll manage!” my mother says determinedly. “If my darling girl is in trouble then neither hell nor high water is going to stop me!

“Stay on the line, Honey! I'm coming to get you!”

“Well,” I say as I look up at the other girls. “I guess it's my turn first to take care of Diamond Tiara.”

Ooo! Now there is the conclusion to the epic 6 parter of the story. What's going to happen to Cozy and Diamond now? Stay tuned to find out what happens next to your favorite sociopath.