Amity turned away from Comforting. "The test is complete."
"It is?"
"It is." She pointed off. "Go. You have a test of your own. Only you can take it."
Comforting frowned with thoughts of what test awaited her. "Let's see what this is." She hopped between places, arriving at a grand meeting of... just about everycreature! It also looked like a pitched battlefield, but the smoke was clearing, and they looked happy overall.
The battle was over, and they had won.
Discord was speaking with Princess Celestia and the others. That felt important, so Comforting zoomed over to pop up among them. "Turn them into statues," was suggesting Discord. "That'll teach them. Why, look how well it worked for me!"
Comforting looked past them to who they were discussing, where a frumpy bunch of sore losers awaited their punishment. "Is that Cozy Glow? Wasn't she sent to Tartarus?"
"Comfie!" Discord grabbed his wayward daughter. "Just in time. You wouldn't beleive it. Some crazed fool let her out."
Twilight coughed into a hoof. "Aren't you that crazed fool?"
"And she helped make all this mess!" Discord waved around at the battlefield around them. "Quite a thing... Thankfully, friendship prevailed!" He took on quite the dynamic pose. "Ah, to be on Team Good this time."
"Dad." Comforting crossed her arms, griffon tail lashing. "Dad! You let her out, now you're telling them to hurl the biggest book they have at her?! She's a little kid! A... troubled one... But a kid! There are steps you try before you go there!"
Celestia smiled gently at Comforting. "Though I had forgotten doing so for quite the time, I feel certain now that it was I that brought you gently into this world, and now you come around to dispense wisdom in kind. Comforting Shade, shadow of my dream, shadow of my perception... What do you think of the others?" She angled her head left. "Queen Chrysalis. She has been offered mercy before, and declined it, thoroughly. She has attempted to hurt, possible murder, before... It is difficult to offer kindness towards that one."
Comforting stopped with her father, giving Chrysalis a proper examination. "I can't stop you from... doing whatever you want with her. She made her bed in this case. If a stoney jail is really what's called for in this situation, then yeah... That other one. Tirek was his name right?"
"That's my name," grunted Tirek, getting to his emaciated legs. "And you are?"
"Comforting Shade." Comforting zipped over to the dreamed centaur. "Can I ask you a question?"
"I am a captive audience." He rolled his eyes. "Go ahead."
Comforting clapped her hands, and they were alone. Tirek was seated on a couch long enough to luxuriously stretch his equine lower half. "Cookie?" She offered a steaming tray. "I'm here to grant a wish! One use only, no asking for extra ones. What would that wish be, and why? Both are important."
Tirek sighed softly. "I... Seriously?"
"I try to be serious." Comforting crossed her arms. "I want to know what you want."
"What I want? Ha. I want power!" He flexed an arm that had no muscles to show off. "I want the world to see it. I want... my father to... know... I'm not a failure."
Comforting could hear the vulnerable pain there. "Oh, I'm sorry... Have you tried talking to him?"
"The last time didn't go well." Tirek scowled at her.
"How long ago was that?"
Tirek pondered it, "Hm... a few tens of hundreds of moons ago? I hadn't returned. I figured there was no point until I could show him, prove... That he was wrong... That I wasn't..." He slumped. "But I did... I failed... He was right..."
"Sorry." She snapped her fingers, and he was back among the three, and she, back with the others that would serve as judges and executioner. "He needs therapy, really badly... He's in such a bad spot. I feel awful for him."
Luna curled one ear back. "He is hardly alone for having suffered barbs in our past. Why should he be--"
Comforting poked the night princess in the nose. "Because even ugly brutes deserve a chance, and not just super cute moon ponies."
Luna colored at that. "Hmmph."
Discord sniffed gently. "My daughter, everypony. I raised her so well." He blew into a handkerchief. "It does me so proud..."
"Dad." She glared anew at him. "And how were you involved in all this, really?" She dragged him away to hear his side of the story, and how the final season of the show had fun, outside the reach of her comforting hands. "Dad! Seriously... Dad... They should be talking about turning you back into a lawn ornament, not the rest of them!"
"Hey now, that's just mean spirited." He folded his arms. "You should know we chaos spirits don't like the idea of being locked up like that."
"I haven't been a statue before." Not that she was aiming to fix that. "Go to your corner."
"But--" She pointed all the more firmly, sending Discord to stand a short distance away. "If Chrysalis is really that bad, I won't stand in your way. Cozy Glow and Tirek need caring, but firm, psychologists to untangle whatever they have going on. And Cozy Glow I have some skin in this game." She tapped one arm with the opposing hand. "She really messed up the school with me in it... and the world I was in at the time... I'd still rather see her fixed."
Twilight waved Comforting closer, just to grab her in a sudden hug. "I am so proud of you."
Comforting flashed a brilliant smile at that, that unexpected hug she was actually alright with. "Thank you."
"I agree." Twilight nodded. "Chrysalis should be dealt with in the most severe fashion we have available. The others given one more chance." She emphasized each of the last three syllables. "Comforting, you have an interest in this, but... arguably more importantly in this case, you are uniquely posed to make sure those two don't escape before you declare them ready to try entering society anew."
Celestia brought down a wing gently upon Comforting. "Do not feel pressured. You have already been so brave, bringing us this far. How do you feel?"
"I feel." Comforting put her hands at her hips. "Like the doctor is in."
So it was the Professor Twilight Sparkle became Princess Twilight Sparkle, not of friendship, but of all of Equestria. She took Spike as her advisor, but he wasn't alone, for he also had a friendly chaos spirit that came with the softest call, or just when she was bored. Chaos spirits were like that.
"Why am I here?" Discord was rocking one leg impatiently in the small classroom. "They didn't put me in here."
"I put you in here." Comforting slapped the greenboard with a pointer. "You were all naughty, in different ways You all have lessons to learn. You don't want to end up like Chrysalis."
All three of them cringed, remembering how that went. "I thought not. Cozy!"
"Ma'am?" Cozy hopped up onto her seat. "What's up?"
Comforting floated a golden star to press into one of Cozy's wings. "Star for being attentive and ready. But sucking up won't pass the class, so! I want to know more about you. You're such a mystery. A box with who knows what inside. I hear none of them had time for you during all that, but, lucky you, I do." She leaned in closer. "So, today is Cozy day. Let's learn all about her."
Cozy's eyes widened. "R-really? You're not just... messing with me?"
"Go on. Start with your name, your real name, and where you're from. Who was your dad? Your mom? Got any siblings? Tell us!" Comforting gladly waved for Cozy to go on. "Every bit of it."
"Well... Since you asked." Discord and Tirek groaned, but neither had power in that classroom. "It all started..."
It would take quite a while for Cozy to get through her personal story. When she did, she was huffing for breath, but sitting back down. "T-there... All of it, um, except the part where I lost and you were there for that part... Um... Okay?"
Comforting offered a tall glass of water. "You did very good. Thank you for sharing, and extra star for not commenting badly on the others while you did it. I expected that..." She floated a new star to adorn the other wing. "How do you feel?"
"Teach, I have a question." Cozy rubbed at her chin softly. "I hear... you like having friends."
"Love it!"
"Cool! Me too." Cozy batted her lashes. "Golly, but I don't have any... Wherever could I find my first one?"
Comforting poked Cozy on her nose. "You're being manipulative. One star." She plucked off one of the wing stars. "If you want to be friends, just ask, directly."
"Aw..." Cozy watched her star drift away, clearly saddened. "So... wanna be friends?"
"You wouldn't even be the first powerhungry filly friend I've had." Comforting adopted a wry smirk. "Diamond would chew you up and spit you out."
Cozy sat up sharply, ears tucked back. "Golly! She sounds... I kinda want to meet her..."
Comforting hopped away. "I'll tell her, maybe she'll stop by one of these days. Or, you can finish here and then you can meet her almost whenever. Now, next course! Taking 'no' gracefully." She whirled on her dad. "No!"
Discord flopped over his desk. "I didn't even ask anything yet!"
"You were thinking it." She wagged her finger at him, and he remained melted, knowing that he was, in fact, thinking of many things that needed a good 'no' in response to. "As caring members of this society, sometimes we'll get yesses, and sometimes we'll get a no, and we have to accept either answer. It goes both ways. Sometimes you'll say yes, and sometimes you'll say no. Knowing you can, and that others can, and you'll take it, and so will they, is how we all get along, even though we all want different things."
Tirek took a few notes with an uncertain noise.
Comforting lifted up and backwards. "I know! It feels like a big thing, a scary thing... You're not alone. That's the point of all this. You're not alone."
She felt ready to take all the time it'd take to get the job done with those three.
She had forever, in theory. Surely it'd take some amount of time less than that. Right?