//------------------------------// // Endgame // Story: Cozy Glow: FIENDship is Magic // by RainbowDoubleDash //------------------------------// Today Cozy Glow came out from under the table as soon as Discord left, taking Tirek with him. Thanks to the angle of the bushes that surrounded the tables, nopony who Tirek had just drained would be able to see her. With Tirek finally gone, Cozy allowed her smile to drop, and the tears to return to her eyes. Her Daddy was gone. She was never going to see him again, except in pictures that couldn’t hug her. She was never going to hear his voice again except in her head. Her Daddy was gone, forever. The thought didn’t break her again, send her crashing to the ground again. She cried, but she held herself upright. She’d lied to herself for three years, deluded herself. Some part of her had to know that Daddy was never coming home, that was why she’d refused to move the game. But that delusion had allowed Uncle Fork to get to her, nearly make her love him. It had made her collapse to the ground in front of a magic-eating monster. She had been lucky that Tirek was nice. Some other creature could have taken advantage of her. Would have taken advantage of her. Uncle Fork had, after all. So she repeated the words to herself, in her mind and out loud, over and over again: Daddy is gone. Daddy is gone. Daddy is gone. The first few times the words felt like a knife sliding into her chest. She almost stopped, but then she remembered Uncle Fork using her. She remembered how broken she had been in front of Tirek. So she kept repeating it. Daddy is gone. Daddy is gone. Over and over again. Building up an immunity. Forcing herself to get used to the idea, to accept it, not merely on an intellectual level, but totally. It took her hours. At some point, however, it stopped hurting. Not even a sting. Daddy is gone. That was a fact. When that finally happened, Cozy took to the air, wings beating steadily. She flew away from the ponies that Tirek had drained, then set out to head out of the park. She had expected to find the streets of Fillydelphia completely empty, and wanted to know what that looked like. She had been wrong, however. Fillydelphia’s streets were certainly much, much less full than usual, but she did find ponies out: fillies and colts. Some a little older than her, some the same age, many much younger. They were herding together, talking to each other, looking scared and not sure what to do. Most were crying. Some were arguing. When one group spotted her, the oldest, an earth pony, waved her down. Cozy considered flying on by, but decided against it. She banked down and landed. “Hello,” she said. “What happened to you?” The earth pony colt asked, looking her over, her disheveled mane, her dirty coat, her red-rimmed eyes. “Are…are your parents missing too?” Daddy was gone. The sting returned with that thought. She hadn’t forced herself to get completely used to it yet. But it was a small thing, and she could live with it. “Everypony’s parents just disappeared,” the colt continued. “We don’t know what’s happening…are you from ‘round here? Do you know what happened?” Cozy stared at the colt for a few seconds. These foals were scared and confused and didn’t know what to do. They hadn’t just played chess with Tirek and hadn’t talked to him and didn’t know that they would be safe because they weren’t worth the effort from him. They really needed somepony to take charge. They needed a friend. Cozy spoke the moment she realized that. “Golly, I do know!” The foals – there were a few dozen – all seemed surprised, and gathered around her to hear. She stopped herself from smiling, instead putting on as sad an expression as she could. Not hard at the moment. “Equestria is under attack by a big, mean centaur named Tirek,” Cozy explained, “and he’s working with Discord! They’re draining the magic from all the adult ponies!” The foals all whinnied in fright. Some of them bust out into tears. Cozy pressed on. “Look, we don’t have to worry. Tirek will be defeated, you’ll see! The Princesses already beat Discord before, they can do it again, and no centaur is a match for Princess Twilight Sparkle! “But it might take a little bit. We have to get organized, and make sure that everypony is as safe as can be until then!” Cozy took to the air, hovering in place so the foals could all see her better, and so that, while she was above them, she could see them clearly too. “You should all go and get all the bottles of water you can, and tell all the foals you can find to do that as well! Then meet me at the park, that’s where all the adults are!” The foals all reacted to that as well. “If my mommy’s at the park, I’m not gonna wait!” One colt exclaimed, starting to head off. Cozy flitted in front of him. “Wait! It’s been a few hours, right? Lying in the sun? You’re mommy’s gotta be really thirsty! Please, don’t you think you should bring some water?” The colt considered, before he nodded. “Okay, you’re right.” He looked to the other foals. “Come on, let’s go!” The foals set off. Cozy followed with them, doing what she could to organize the foals’ response. Soon she had managed to convince most of the pegasi to spread out and gather up more foals, spreading word throughout the city about what had happened, where all the adults had gone, and what needed to be done. Soon, she was leading the foals in a great stampede into the park. The vague order that Cozy had imposed for just a little bit broke down as soon as the foals started seeing their loved ones, of course, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that as foals found their loved ones and started helping them, Cozy was sure to move between them, direct them. Tell them what to do, how to best help their loved ones. As the Sun was setting, Cozy needed a break, and returned to the chess tables. The area was untouched since she had last been in it, obviously. She went over to the game she and Tirek had played, setting the pieces that had been knocked over back up and looking at the final board. How the white king had been trapped by Cozy’s rooks, her favorite piece…but finished off by the bishop, because they needed the help. Tirek thought that friendship was weakness. He’d told her that it forced you to become dependent on others. But then…friendship had beaten Nightmare Moon and Discord and Chrysalis and Sombra and the Plundervines. There was a power there, there had to be, or else the Moon would always be up or the world would always be upside-down or everypony in Equestria would be slaves or plant food. Maybe the key, Cozy thought, was not to depend on others. That was what the kings in chess did. They had no power of their own. They depended on all the other pieces…and on the player. All the pieces, in fact, depended upon the one playing them. Maybe that was the secret. Not to depend upon others…but to have others depend upon you. Like Uncle Fork depended on Cozy Glow and her control of Daddy’s money, how without it, he was nothing. Like Tirek was making Discord depend on him emotionally, acting against his own interests in favor of helping Tirek. Like Equestria depended upon the alicorns. Cozy picked up one of her rooks, looking it over, rolling it between her hooves, and scowled. Like Cozy did. Like everypony in Equestria, her role was to sit under her Daddy’s desk and quiver in fear and hope that things would work out. That somepony else would solve the problem. She was doing that even now, hoping that Princess Twilight would defeat Discord and Tirek both. Save her again. But then…this time she had sort of saved herself, hadn’t she? This time she hadn’t been shivering under her Daddy’s desk. Sure, Tirek was still out there, but a combination of quick-thinking and deduction of Tirek’s personality had allowed her to begin her revenge on Uncle Fork, and keep Tirek happy and not decide to just squash her or take her magic, and she even learned that pegasi could do magic without even needing unicorns if they tried hard, and had a whole spell to try and learn, too! She’d devised a strategy and carried it out, just like in chess. Just like she had when facing her Daddy. A strategy that actually let her beat Tirek…and would have let her beat Daddy. She was sure of it. And it had been fun! She’d been face-to-face with a true monster and she’d had fun! Cozy felt a strange tingle on her flanks at that realization – and a flash of light at the edge of her vision. She looked, and saw a glow there, a bright shimmer that after a few moments faded…and left behind the image of a rook. Her favorite chess piece…a piece that grew more powerful as one approached the endgame. The one around which all her best chess strategies rotated. Cozy giggled…and then laughed, though she quickly had her hooves at her mouth and kept it down, lest anypony overhear her. It wouldn’t do to look so happy right now…but she had earned her cutie mark! Earned it for her brilliant strategy, for realizing how brilliant her strategy had been! And already, her next one was forming in her head. She knew just where she had to start. Cozy Glow found Uncle Fork slightly apart from all the other adults, under a tree. He was just as weak and helpless as all the other adults, and was whimpering. Some foal had given him some water, which was nice of them – Cozy would have to make sure to track down who and thank them. But for now, she trotted up to her Uncle Fork an threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. “Uncle Fork!” she exclaimed. “I’m sooo sorry that I lost against Tirek! I tried my hardest, I promise you I really, really did!” Uncle Fork just groaned. “Don’t worry,” Cozy insisted, settling down onto her barrel in front of her uncle, looking him in the eyes. “I’m here now, and I’ll make sure you’re okay! Oh, and it’s not so bad, either. Look!” she turned a little, pointing to her flank. “I earned my cutie mark! It’s for strategy.” Uncle Fork just curled on himself a little. Cozy nodded, and patted Uncle Fork on the withers. “Don’t worry, Uncle, I’m sure that Tirek and Discord will be defeated soon. Everything will be back to normal! Well, except that I have my cutie mark now.” She tapped a hoof to her mouth. “Say, Uncle Fork, even when that happens I’ll bet that Fillydelphia will be in a really bad way. It’s been through so much lately already, there was the parasprites, and the Plundervines, and now this!” She rolled over onto her back, looking up at the sky. Night was coming. She smiled. “I know you hold all Daddy’s businesses in trust until I’m old enough, but I bet that if I tried really hard and hired some really good lawyers that I could gain control of them myself! Ponies used to be considered adults as soon as they got their cutie marks, after all! I mean, that’s not true anymore, but I want to do more with all of Daddy’s money than just make more money.” Uncle Fork’s eyes went wide. “Cozy…” he struggled to say. Cozy looked at him, upside-down though he appeared to be in this position. “I wouldn’t do anything crazy like shut them down or anything. Just sell out Daddy’s shares! So maybe I wouldn’t own them anymore but then I’d have a ton of money. And then I’d invest them into Fillydelphia! I’ll open charities and sponsor public works…” Uncle Fork let out a strangled cry. Cozy rolled back onto her barrel, looking her uncle in the eye. “I bet I’d get recognized by the Princesses, even, if I did that. I don’t know what that would mean. Maybe I’d get a real special medal or something. Or ice cream! I bet I could get free ice cream for life. That’s totally worth selling all of Daddy’s companies and then giving away all the money, right?” Uncle Fork was struggling to move. Cozy’s grin dropped. “Oh, but if I did all that, then I’d probably only be left with enough money to support myself. Just enough to get me into a good school and then I’d have to get a real job when I grew up! And so would you!” Cozy shrugged. “Well, that’s not so bad. I don’t mind working to get what I want. Gotta always plan a few moves ahead!” Cozy stood and stretched, spreading her wings. She looked to the ruffled feathers, her dirty coat, her messed-up mane. “Anyway, I’m gonna go home and take a big long bubble bath. I could use it! You’ll be okay here, right?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. She turned around, and trotted away.