Cozy Glow was excited for today.
“And remember to do your homework over the weekend! You need to help one friend with something and tell a short story about it on Monday!” Twilight announced to her students, who she gathered in a assembly. The weekend was here, and every creature wanted nothing more than to relax, play with their friends or do whatever else they wanted once they got out of school.
Cozy, however, was more excited because she would be to see Mr. Zurg today. She already took care of the long process he told her about when it came to paperwork, which she needed him to point out a few things that she herself didn’t understand, and then get measures for her uniform.
Being part of The Zurg Empire sounded fun.
“And dismissed! Cozy Glow, can you stay after for a few minutes?” Twilight asked as the other students managed to scramble away and out the door.
Oh, drat.
“What did you want to talk about, Headmare Twilight?” Cozy asked as she was led into her office. She was gestured to have a seat as Twilight took hers. Was she in trouble? She hasn’t done anything wrong! Or at least, nothing she could at least think of off the top of her hoof. “Did I do something bad?”
Twilight shook her head no and giggled. She had a feeling Cozy would ask that, especially since she tried and lied to her about her friendship homework to get the CMC in because she tried to be a good friend. This was a much better conversation they would have. “No, Cozy. I just wanted to tell you how proud of you, and the growth you’ve made in these last few days, I don’t know what it is, but keep it up.”
Oh, it was that. Cozy hadn’t noticed she made a change, so what was she talking about? “I’m a little confused; what did I do to change?” Twilight seemed to shake her head and walk over to her student, laying a comforting hoof on her shoulder as Cozy pouted in mock disagreement.
“Oftentimes, you don’t see it for yourself until some pony points it out for you, but you have changed, Cozy,” Twilight used her magic to show her student a few of the papers from some of the classes she was in to show her grades. “Look at this; B’s or B+, across the board. That’s leagues better than the D average you were pulling.”
Cozy blushed a bit. “It wasn’t all me; I had a few friends help me. . .” then she realized what she said. “They didn’t help me cheat! They just gave me advice, I swear.”
“I know, your teachers have been telling me how much more talkative you are in class; the problems you help to try and solve, and even the examples you set for your peers; if that’s not growth, I don’t know what is.” Twilight said. “I just wanted to let you to keep doing what you’re doing, is all.”
Cozy smiled, feeling the admiration as it provided her with a warm feeling. She really liked it, and liked being a good friend even more.
But now, she had something a little bit more important to tend to. “Headmare? I don’t mean to be rude, but can I go? I promised my friend I would see them right after school.”
Twilight simply backed away, and swept a hoof to the door as Cozy bolted out, a smile a mile wide on her face. Chuckling to herself as her student attempted to be faster than Rainbow Dash on a good day, Twilight looked over her student’s work, as something stood out to her. “Huh; Zurg. I wonder what kinda name is that.”
Emperor Zurg sat in the reformed remains of his captain’s chair as he looked on at the small remainder of his crew that somehow survived the black hole incident. Plenty of resources were lost, but the saving grace was the cloaking system remained perfectly fine, allowing the warlord to at least cloak his damaged vessel for as long as he would need to until he was able to secure better parts.
“What is taking that little monstrosity so long? I told her 4:00 on the dot, and it’s 4:20; being late on her first day as an evil minion is certainly a way to get on my bad side, and not the good kind of bad,”
“I’m sorry to disturb your self-monologue, sir; but we have an update from the engine room.” Zurg spied on his minions bowing with a clipboard in his grasp.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Out with it! Will my beautiful vessel ever see the skies against?” Zurg leaned over, a hopeful look on his face.
The minion hated being the one to tell their master any news that wasn’t good; and for obvious reasons. The ship, with a bit of elbow grease, duct tape and depleted uranium sheets, would run again good as new.
“Quite likely, sir. We just are in need of a few of the items on this list,” Zurg took the list as it was presented to him, skimming his eye over a few of the items. When he stopped to look at one particular item, Zurg slowly put the clipboard on his armrest, and then proceeded to slump backwards in his seat. “Sir?”
Zurg clasped his hands together, resting his elbows in his lap as he rested his chin on top. Zurg took a very lengthy inhale, nearly sucking up all of the air on the deck before he held it, shaking slightly as his body hit capacity. He wanted to so badly to-
“-Hey, Mr. Zurg! Sorry I’m-WAAAH!” Cozy flew through an open window, getting caught in his path of breath.
FWOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHHHH!~
“-Late. . .” Cozy Glow responded as Zurg finished blowing the longest exhale, his breath insanely hot, but not to the point where it burned her. She wondered what other cool things Mr. Zurg could.
“A fitting punishment for being late,” Zurg mused, a humorous tone to his voice as the thick blanket of hot air soon passed by his newest minion, resulting in her mane and tail to suddenly poof up like a clown. “Why were you late?”
Cozy lowered herself down to the ground, as she trailed a hoof nervously. “Well, my-“
“-Never mind,” Zurg waved a hand in front of Cozy as she stopped talking, nothing about the borish look on his face doing little to deter her statement; she would just tell him later. “We have evil things to do, and not enough time in one day to do them all. You are late in your first day of Entry Verification and Intensive Leadership training, and I will not have my process humiliated by a pony like you,” Zurg’s eyes glowed a crimson red. “So, I expect results.”
Cozy saluted. “Aye-aye, Mr. Zurg!”
“It is Emperor.”
“Emperor Zurg?” Cozy asked, wondering about something.
“Yes, what is it?” Zurg looked to see his minion chuckle. “And what is so funny? I would like a laugh, as well.”
“Isn’t that just Evil training you spelled out?” Cozy Glow asked, a sheepish look on her face as Zurg stopped what he attempted to say in retaliation before he actually listened to what she said.
. . .
“You’re fired.” Zurg shuffled away as Cozy followed him, chuckling.
“Did nopony else figure that out like I did?” Cozy laughed, flying up to her boss’s level as they descended further into the ship, narrowly ducking and squeezing through certain places that the ship keeled to during the space incident.
“Silence! We need to gauge your skill in order to build your record of service to the Zurg Empire.”
“So what exactly is our mission? We’re going to be helping the world?”
Zurg chuckled, as the pair were led into a spacious room adorned with sensory panels and a kiosk that displayed various hypothetical combat situations. “Something like that; we will be the fist that strikes down; uplifting and paving the way for a just society,” Zurg proclaimed, a hand extended to the heavens. “Under my rule, of course.” Zurg thought the last part to himself.
Cozy looked absolutely thrilled that she would be helping the world. She knew first hoof that things were not the best in some places, but with Mr. Zurg’s help, she was confident they could pull it off.
“So what is this room for?” Cozy observed Mr. Zurg going over to said kiosk and doing something to it, the panels on the floor and ceiling soon beginning to shift and change around, revealing. . .they were in Canterlot?
“Virtual simulation; I took the liberty of having a drone survey a rough sketch of your nation’s capital, so we know what to expect when we help to. . .improve it; yes, improve,” Zurg smiled cheekily when Cozy gave him a questioning glance.
“Okay!” Cozy walked forward a bit, the experience throwing her for a loop; one minute she was in Mr. Zurg’s ship, and the next; Canterlot. Strange.
“And you will also need this,” Zurg pulled her uniform out from behind him, one swift movement and the cloth was put on her as she adjusted the change. Funny; she looked like a little mini Zurg.
“Hey, Mr. Zurg; I’m you! Fear me! Raaaugh! Hahahaha!” Cozy pointed at Zurg as she hovered in the air, pointing her hoof to imaginary minions as Zurg would when he yelled, Cozy imitating Zurg, actually sounded halfway decent to the warlord if he was being honest. He frowned at the mocking action, though the results were better.
“Don’t forget to take a good breath before your big laugh; it will help you get that reverberating tone versus a gargle laugh. If you’re going to be in the School of Evil Knocks, you will do it right or not at all; understand?”
Cozy nodded and began to run through the simulation, as Zurg informed a few of his other minions to come down and keep an eye on her progress as he needed a moment to himself to conduct the first few stage of his plan for world domination. “Eat your heart out, Buzz Lightyear. This time, you won’t be here to stop me.”
“Oh, Mr. Zurg, Mr. Zurg; I forgot something!” Cozy shouted as she came back towards the warlord, his thought stopped in its tracks. He looked her down before she flew up and hugged his face.
“What did I say about huuuuggggs?!”
Star Command. . .
Buzz Lightyear and his crew had just come back from their intended gun run on Planet Z in the hope of luring Zurg to a position to where he could be captured, but that plan long backfired.
Zurg was a thorn in the side of the Galactic Alliance for quite some time, and an even bigger one for Star Command, who worked tirelessly to bring the warlord to justice.
Buzz Lightyear sat in his chair, watching the vast cosmos pass his ship by as Mira took over docking the ship back at HQ. Something. . didn’t feel right to him about what happened to Zurg.
Zurg was never one for accepting situations for what they were unless he had a hand in controlling the outcome. And just like that; he was gone from this galaxy, as far as they were able to discern.
“Sir, are you ok? You look a bit down in the dumps; we took care of Zurg; well hopefully,” Mira commented, noticing the lack of quiet her leader had since Zurg’s ship was plunged into the black hole.
“That’s just the thing, Mira. We actually don’t know that for sure. It would be nice to think that, but I would much rather prefer to bring Zurg in and have him answer for his crime.” Buzz said to himself, attempting to formulate an idea of where the galactic headache could have gone.
And more importantly; the report they would have to give their report to higher.
“Just you wait, Zurg,” Buzz thought to himself. “No matter where you are, I will find you and bring you in, if it takes everything out of me.”