Unpopular opinion time

Discord was strong and Cozy was weak.

Sounds like saying it’s unconscionable that a kid should lose out on the NHL draft when he had abused a schoolmate for years, including tricking him into eating candy that had come in contact with a urinal, calling him a nigger multiple times, and slamming his head into a brick wall, and continued the abuse after a court appearance when he was 14, where he had to deliver a court-mandated apology that the victim may never have actually received.

@Dustcan  
And that makes it okay?

@Dustcan  
So trying to rehabilitate and make friends with villains is based on how strong they are? Fluttershy’s relationship with Discord is based on how usefull he could be? In that case Cozy was right all along: friendship is power.
 
@Vivace  
I’d say thats more based on how long ago that was then anything. At least that kid can grow up and actually try to redeem himself later on in his adult life even if its not through professional basketball. Although, I would have given him a chance to prove that he’s changed before dismissing him permenently.

@Ring Team  
If an episode is enough to make you “go away for days”, then I think you took it too seriously.
 
@Dustcan  
She did

@Vivace  
Is that a reference I’m missing out?

@Vivace  
Unrelated but it’s insane how much kids can get away with when as an adult, a single fight could ruin your life
 
At the same time, as an adult you could get away with killing someone who tries to get physical with you while Schools punish you if you threw a punch back at a bully

@WyrmSpawN
 
No.
 
It makes it natural.

@Background Pony #7CFD  
He continued the abuse after the court appearance, which was all of 4 years ago, so the legal consequences didn’t deter him. I wouldn’t call him redeemed. But there are people saying the draft denial is ruining his life, as if he’s owed the spot on the hockey team.

@Vivace  
Oof, but at least he can still clean his act and find another profession. One can only hope. Maybe being a part of a team like that could help him, but I guess public image also needs to be considered in these cases. He would be a celebrity, after all. Honestly it sounds like he needs mental help at this point if he’s that obsessed with that schoolmate.

@Background Pony #7CFD  
Most teams put him on their “Do not draft” list because of his crimes.

@Spinny  
Just because you say that she was manipulated into being evil doesn’t make it true. She was either an equally willing partner, or the primary perpetrator (in S8), if she’s on a similar intellectual level to them. I doubt they’d manipulate her into say, trying to betray them at the first opportunity, for instance (which she did).  
@Myoozik  

 
Yes.

Just an opinion: I appreciated the show because of the lightheartedness and the positive vibes, but I fell in love because of the songs. ;-)

If an adult decided to associate with a dangerous criminal, forcefully seize power, manipulated a school full of children to her will, threatened the world and showed zero remorse for her actions, we’d call her a psychopath (or sociopath).  
If she then was broken free of her sentence, joined forces with the countries most dangerous criminals and almost brought about the total collapse of civilization as we know it, we’d demand a permanent solution.  
Cozy may be young but that shouldn’t excuse the clear and present danger she immediately presented to the world. Yes, Discord got a pass but he also tried to be better. It may not mean much to some, and that’s fair, but it’s still leagues more than Cozy ever did.  
However, if you want to headcanon Cozy being given a chance to redeem herself, I’d suggest a slightly older Flurry Heart accidentally freeing her then taking responsibility to redeem her. I find it amusing and it’s good fodder for fanfiction.

@Brass Beau  
But in a world where multiple villains are regularely given second chances if possible, why not Cozy? The same argument could also be said for the actions of Starlight (should the public find out about what she did), Discord and Chrysalis (who was at least given an extanded hoof).
 
And yes, Cozy is dangerous but no more so then Discord. Why would it be so difficult to lock her up in a mental instutute or normal prison? Even a house arrest would keep her in line based on her abilities. At least she can’t travel in time or reshape reality.
 
And also yes, Discord tried to be better but that was only after Celestia had him released and plenty of effort from Fluttershy and if you recall, the very first thing he did was dangerously mutate two animals and mock the ponies for wanting to reform him and even after that he regressed multiple times. Cozy meanwhile was immedietly given up on as soon as she was defeated with zero attempt made to reform her. Heck, based on a certain scene in Marks for Effort and Frenemies I’d say she showed more potential to rehabilitate then Discord did prior to Celestia handing him over to Fluttershy.
 
And really, psychopaths aren’t the only ones that are capable of doing bad things and not feeling bad about them and going back to Marks for Effort, Cozy did seem to feel bad about what she did with the CMC considering her expression when they were banned from the school (no one was watching her at that time) and the fact that she had no real reason to confess.
 
It’s not about not acknowladging her crimes its about giving her the same second chance and effort to help her reform that others got.

@Background Pony #7CFD  
We’ll have to graph this out if we want to determine why Cozy didn’t get a second chance. To do that we’ll have to look at the villains that were redeemed and the ones that weren’t, then look for similarities within the two groups.  
For simplicity sake we’ll only look at villains from season premieres and finales.  
Nightmare Moon - Redemption  
Discord - Redemption*  
Chrysalis - Vanquished  
Sombra - Vanquished  
Tirek - Vanquished  
Starlight - Redemption  
Stygian - Redemption*  
Cozy - Vanquished
 
Discord was initially vanquished and only offered redemption by Celestia.  
Stygian was possessed by a dark spirit. The spirit was vanquished but Stygian was redeemed.  
The ones that showed no remorse for their actions were not redeemed and tried to commit atrocities again. Discord, once again, is the odd one out. From this we can determine that Cozy was not offered a second chance because of the precedent set by Celestia’s decision to free Discord and his subsequent betrayal. Discord betrayed the mane six for their rejection of him and Tirek’s manipulation. He then showed remorse and was treated as less of a nuisance by the mane six.  
While this may not excuse the imprisonment of a child, it does show a certain level of internal logic.

I have a theory. The real reason Discord summoned Tirek, Sombra, Chrysalis, and Cozy was to get the ultimate power for himself.

@Gameplay The Pony  
Interesting, but as powerful as he already is, what would he need it for and why would he not want the mane six to know about it?

@Gameplay The Pony  
I don’t really think that theory holds up I mean Discord is already all powerful.

@Sadrai  
I wouldn’t say he’s all powerful. There does appear to be some limitations to his abilities. He’s certainly the most powerful individual we’ve seen in the setting.

@Brass Beau  
True there are time he has been given limitations or nerfs but he still pretty powerful and I don’t think he wanted ultimate power.

@Gameplay The Pony  
It doesn’t make sense why he wouldn’t defeat the Mane Six when they were up against Sombra, as opposed to encouraging them to defeat him, was a good opportunity to get them out of the way via him.
 
@Brass Beau  
Dangerous enough to dwarf at least two alicorns, and humiliate Sombra, easily defeat him if he wanted (if he’s paying full attention at least, not saying he couldn’t hurt him at all). He has the power and skills to back up his ego, even if he’s not invincible.

@Sadrai  

 
Well, maybe not all powerful (since he was affected by the Elements of Harmony, being sneezed on by that worm thing from “Three’s a Crowd”, and Starlight’s magic in “A Matter of Principals”. But certainly powerful enough for what he wants to do with his life - even as a villain, he was never about outright domination, just screwing around with ponies’ lives for his amusement.

@DoctorWTF  
Okay not all powerful but still powerful and your right discord even when he was a villain never came of as down right evil I mean he more liked to mess with reality and troll the ponies.

So, with Discord’s abilities agreed upon, the only thing I can think he’d want with ultimate power is control over death itself.