//------------------------------// // Know Your Role; Evil Never Sleeps! // Story: Cozy Zurg's Adventures! // by Ultimus Pendragon //------------------------------// Cozy Glow, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle walked down the dirt road to head to Sweet Apple Acres, wanting to pick up Apple Bloom so they could hang out for the day. Her time training with Emperor Zurg was certainly different than anything she could think of when being part of an organization. The lesson and simulations that were showed certainly helped her to open her mind to want to change to the world of Equestria. ''Are you sure you can't tell us about this new friend of yours? They sound fun!'' Sweetie Belle wondered how Cozy's new friend was. Whoever it was, they certainly seemed to make Cozy happier than when she was being friends with the CMC. Sweetie wanted to help to change the world, too. Scootalooo and Apple Bloom, as well. ''That outfit you got looks pretty snazzy.'' ''Golly, it's not all that,'' Cozy chuckled as they wanted down the road, tugging at her collar a bit as the heat made her sweat a bit. She should have taken it off, but it was so comfortable and it was almost unnoticeable to when she wore it, so the matter was not that large. ''But the things we do are really tough, but I know it can help us with making Equestria better.'' ''When can we meet them? We wanna help too, you know,'' Scootaloo agreed, also wanting to know more about Cozy's friend and more about the mission that she had to do. Apple Bloom would love to be a part of this, and maybe they could gather even more ponies to help spread the word. Cozy hummed to herself and thought about when exactly her friends and the rest of Equestria could meet Mr. Zurg, and help his mission to change the world. Princess Celestia and Luna would surely be open to helping Mr. Zurg tell the world about his mission and offering anything that would be needed to make the name of The Zurg Empire known. ''Hopefully not too long, but you guys will be the first ponies I tell besides Princess Twilight.'' The trio walked over to the CMC's treehouse, scaling the ramp and sighing in relief as a small wave of cold air blew past, carrying scraps of leaves and cooling their bodies down. Sweetie knocked three times, waiting for the door to open as Cozy suddenly felt a buzz in her ear, shaking her head as a low whine sounded in the background of the tranquil quiet. ''Hey, guys!'' Apple Bloom exclaimed, welcoming the group in. ''What's with the new getup, Cozy?'' ''That's what we keep asking her, but she won't say much about it,'' Scootaloo groaned, smiling. ''We just know her plan involves a new friend that helps change the way things happen in Equestria.'' Apple Bloom quirked her head and noting the wording of what her friend said? Changing Equestria? Could that help lead them to more future Crusaders so they could help those ponies find their Cutie Marks? ''What you been doing to help do that?'' Apple Bloom noticed Cozy take a few books out of her saddlebags that showed the history of different lands, diagrams of inventions, varying interpretation of medicine, business tactics, and formulas for. . .root beer? ''We're gathering different things that can help our mission,'' Cozy said, noting that she had plenty of more books that she had to get between now and next week, and she would have to pay another trip to Mr. Zurg. ''He says that proper preparation prevents. . .prevents something like that, I think.'' ''Why root beer?'' Sweetie Belle asked. ''He really likes drinking it.'' Cozy simply replied, putting the items back in her bag, huffing when the weight settled on her back again. ''But he's been really really nice; a little strange sometimes, but he cares. And he can shoot beams from his eyes!'' ''Beams?!'' Scootaloo asked, wondering what else this friend of hers could do. ''Can he fly as fast as Rainbow Dash?!'' Shrugging and not saying much failed to help her, but fueled her curious mind. ''We gotta meet him now!'' ''Sorry, guys. He doesn't want to meet anypony right now, he wants to follow the plan he set out, but I knew it'll be worth it when you see him!'' Cozy Glow apologized that her friends couldn't meet Mr. Zurg right away. ''If he's anything like what you say, then he should be a Crusader!'' Apple Bloom joked. Sitting down and taking the time to think about the idea of Mr. Zurg being a Crusader made her laugh for the moment. ''I don't think he can get a Cutie Mark, though.'' ''Well, let's get started with today's activities!'' Apple Bloom shouted, wanting to get their game of hide and seek started. ''Question: What are you doing, sir?'' Zurg's telemetry bot asked as the warlord shuffled over to his chair, sitting down and posing with his hands in his lap, as he got back up and shuffled back to the top of the railing that sat over the bridge before going back and doing the same again, only posing in different positions. ''Trying to find the best posture for when I crush these tiny ponies under my mighty heel. It all boils down to how they will view their doom; to maximize the ebbing of hope in their eyes as the name of Emperor Zurg is known throughout this ball of dirt and wasted opportunity. Report the status of repairs.'' Emperor Zurg commanded, one of his minions zooming over to his size with a clipboard. ''Yes, your lordship. We have sent scouts into the nearby area and have excavated the necessary materials to help fix the ship, we only are in need of a few of the slabs to help reinforce the hull, and to find an ample enough power source to replace the one we have lost to power the engines; the auxiliary power for any non-engine components are unaffected.'' ''And then my precious vessel will be ready to soar among the clouds so that I may begin my assault on the capital of this. . .Equestria?'' Zurg asked, the name making his skin crawl and his inner warlord flare out even more. ''Where in the name of Zurg is our newest addition? She had better not be slacking,'' Zurg noticed the minion walk over to a console and press a few buttons that resulted in a ping sounding off to Cozy Glow's communicator. A screen displayed her location relative to the location of the nearby town, Ponyville. ''Hmm, she appears to be conversing with those small group of foals she blabbers on about.'' Zurg certainly had to give credit where credit was due. This Cozy Glow. . .had passed the initial tests and simulations, and admit her sickeningly sweet attitude and small stature gave him a smidge of hope that she could grow to quite the effective minion in this small game that he had allowed her to be a temporary player in. ''The chances of her surpassing me is close to none, but I do wonder what is her true goal in following me. Friendship? HA! What has friendship gotten anyone? Advice? Growth? And let us not forget about the 'magic' of it, according to this Twilight Sparkle. Hmm. . .she could be of use for my assault on this nation's capital; being the student of this Equestria's ruler can make my takeover all the sweeter.'' ''Correction: would allowing the organism known as Cozy Glow further into the ranks of your lordship's empire prove to be fatal to the mission?'' the telemetry bot asked, his processors fighting to make sense of what his lordship said, and with the lack of care that he knew should be more possibly worried about. ''Betrayal seems likely based on light observation, as well as noting the species difference.'' Emperor Zurg thought little of that. He knew that should something as that would be tantamount to immediate doom. ''Nonsense; I have more pressing matters to attend to; such as procuring the recipe for this land's root beer recipe, and to see if it holds up to my standard.'' The telemetry bot stopped for a moment, understanding the information told to him as he formulated a response. ''Correction: sir, the worst part about betrayal is. . .that it never comes from your enemies.''