So this place is finally going the way of G4, eh? Well, I'm not gonna let it die without at least one last proper canon analysis thread for the so-called "show discussion" board. One last sendoff to the good old days where the show mattered, if anyone remembers that.
So how many of you actually watched up to Season 8? You may remember Cozy Glow, the little filly who almost ended the world, or at least all the magic in it. As consequence, she was sent by the princesses to an indeterminate sentence in Tartarus, Equestria's very own
oubliette (n. A place prisoners are sent to be
forgotten). Gives new perspective to Twilight's concerns to Fluttershy in season 1 that Celestia might "banish you and then throw you in a dungeon in the place that she banishes you to".
Some viewers thought it was a bit of overkill, concerning that not only is this a literal
child being imprisoned, but the characters know full well she was significantly misguided at the time. Seems like the problem could be resolved more neatly with just some remedial community service, keeping her on a short leash and under supervision. She isn't even a unicorn after all, and this is of course assuming that contacting her parents isn't an option (probably relaxing on some distant beach with Sunset's parents, and Starlight's parents, and Tempest's parents, and Moondancer's parents...)
So why the imprisonment? And why that
specific improsonment? Remember these ponies are all about giving second chances to those who seem not to deserve them. And as season 9 would make clear, this wasn't a public punishment; Cozy didn't become well known for her attempt to overthrow all of the princesses and become empress of friendship. Just how many ponies DID know about her, and why not more? Well that's what I'm here to answer, and to do that we need to look at things from a different perspective.
The Panmagical Outage was felt across all of Equestria and possibly beyond. It was quite sudden and very devastating, almost no one would have the slightest clue what's happening, and it would feel like the world is coming to an end. One can only imagine ponies and buildings in Las Pegasus seeming to suddenly vanish as they fall through clouds never to be seen again. Even after being resolved, everyone in the entire country would want to know
what the hell just happened those past couple days. And from what we see, they really don't seem to b