//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17: Welcome Home 
// Story: The Night Janitor 
// by Knox Locke 
//------------------------------//

As Knox guided Cozy Glow down the small path that led to his house, he was worried by the way Cozy kept looking at him questioningly.

"Is something bothering you, Cozy?"

"Well, golly," replied the little filly sarcastically, "whatever could possibly be bothering me? I've only been a statue for months! And now a pony I betrayed is letting me live with him? What could I possibly have to worry about?"

She then shifted her tone to one of sheer curiosity.

"Why were you so willing to look after me anyways? I betrayed you."

"Correction," Knox replied, "You betrayed Equestria. It wasn't a personal attack against me, and I'd probably feel differently if it had been. Besides, it's good to have ambition. Sure, your goal back then was really bad, but it's never too late to make new goals."

Reading the expression on her face, Knox assessed that Cozy hadn't truly believed he thought she could change.

"Why did Headmare Twilight suddenly decide I deserved a second chance, anyway?" she asked.

"Well, it was anything but sudden, actually, but I guess she eventually saw the situation my way."

"Wait, you convinced Twilight to set me free?"

"Of course I did. You were my best friend!  How could I not help you out of that terrible situation? That's just what friends do: help each other. I mean, we are still friends, right?"

"Are you kidding?" she began in a tone that just dripped of condescension. Then she looked at the door of the house they'd just arrived at. She looked down at her hoof, now free of its stone casing. She looked at the now saddened janitor who had come crashing back into her life like some kind of knight in charcoal-gray armor.

Knox was shocked when Cozy suddenly cracked a small, purely genuine smirk.

"Of course we're friends," she said calmly, without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

The two ponies entered the house they'd be sharing for the foreseeable future.

"Well, you should probably get some sleep," Knox said after he and Cozy finished setting up the guest room for her. "You've got a busy day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" asked the little pegasus.

"Well, tomorrow is you first therapy session," answered Knox. "The princess insisted that you meet with the guidance counselor at the School of Friendship at least once a week."

Cozy gave an exasperated groan.

"Trust me, you'll like her. She's even more narcissistic than you," he jested.

"Yeah, we've really got to go over the rules of my parole. But first, do you have anything to eat?"

"Of course. The kitchen's over this way."

Cozy eagerly followed Knox into the kitchen. She hadn't eaten anything in months!

"You know," Knox said as they prepared some dinner, "we can visit Sugarcube Corner before your therapy session tomorrow! Pinkie Pie will be absolutely ecstatic that we're friends again!"

"Yeah, sure..." she replied with feigned happiness, a worried expression finding its way onto her face. She gulped heavily at the thought of one of Twilight's friends finding out she'd been set free.