//------------------------------// // Renew friendships // Story: Knight, Rook and Princess // by Communist_Egor //------------------------------// The princess's arduous day was nearly over. The meeting with the chancellor had drained Twilight of much of her strength. Nevertheless, the Princess of Friendship had decided to have a serious conversation with Cozy Glow today. At the appointed time, the doors of the throne room opened, and in walked Flash. "Good evening, princess!" bowed the guard. "Hello, Lieutenant! Our plan: did it work?" Twilight asked with excitement. "Yes, princess! Cozy got hooked on chess." "Please, just call me Twilight, Flash. We'll have to work on Cozy together for a long time, so let's communicate without unnecessary formalities," the alicorn suggested. "But... I shouldn't address you like that. You're a princess! And I'm just your guard," objected Flash. "Not just a guard! You stood up for a filly even I had lost faith in. If it weren't for you, my former student would still be trapped in stone. The duties of the School of Friendship director and later the princess of all Equestria didn't leave me any free time to think about Cozy Glow. As a result, she became even more wicked with other villains. It's my fault! But thanks to you, I can correct my mistake!" Twilight smiled at the guard. "You're not to blame! Both times, the decision to punish Cozy Glow was made by Princess Celestia and Luna," Flash pointed out. "And yet, I could have defended Cozy and shown her the true purpose of friends. But I didn't. Now she probably hates me," the princess sadly lowered her head. "But it's not too late to fix everything! I know it will be hard to mend things with Cozy, but as you once said, friendship is worth fighting for! And I believe that one day you will reconcile with her, miss!" Flash confidently smiled at Twilight. The princess gazed at the guard with loving eyes. She saw in him not just a guard from the Crystal Empire or even Flash from another world but a real hero and defender. The princess realized that she was falling for Flash the Pegasus. Of course, they weren't meant to be together. 'But we can be friends! ' Twilight decided. "Thank you again for everything, Flash! You can't imagine how much your words mean to me! And... I want to offer you my friendship!" blushing, the princess extended her hoof to the guard. 'This is madness! He won't accept such an honor! ' thought Twilight, feeling anxious. Indeed, the guard was so surprised by the alicorn's offer that he even held his breath. Offering friendship to the Princess of Friendship, the Harmony Element, the hero and ruler of all Equestria – it felt beyond his worth. But the princess's smile, her large purple eyes sparkling with hope, enchanted Flash. Even if death threatened him, he wouldn't dare refuse Twilight's offer now. And Flash accepted her hoof. "Being your friend is a great honor for me, Princess Twilight!" the Pegasus replied, smiling shyly. For a few seconds, the princess and the knight looked into each other's eyes. "Please, when we're alone, feel free to address me informally! Like a friend!" Twilight suggested, blushing even more. "As you wish!" the lieutenant replied, smiling. The princess smiled back at the guard. And then she remembered the purpose of their meeting. "Flash, what thinkest thou: can I talk to Cozy? At least to apologize," inquired Twilight. "I believe thou can. Cozy did vent all her anger on soft toys and pillows yesterday. However, today, after our discourse, she hath devoted the entire day to perusing a chess book and engaging in strategic positions on the board. I opine that even if she doth not fully accept, she will, at the very least, lend an ear to thy apologies. In any case, I rejoice that thou art willing to extend thy apologies to Cozy!" affirmed the guard in support of the princess. "Thank you! Well, I'll go to her. Good night, Flash!" Twilight released the Pegasus to rest and hurried to visit Cozy before bedtime. She knew that her former best student liked to stay up late studying. This time was no exception. *** Cozy was studying the book. She didn't even suspect that there were so many chess strategies. Of course, back in the shelter, Cozy learned a couple of chess openings from the adults. And that was enough to win all the candies from those who considered themselves too smart. In the breaks between physical exercises, Cozy sometimes agreed to play with Lord Tirek. He quickly learned to resist Cozy's attacks and fought honorably, but the filly always emerged victorious. And when Cozy lost to the guard in chess today, whom she always considered dim-witted, the Pegasus decided to seriously take up chess. Not only to get her revenge on him but also to defeat Twilight in this way. Suddenly, a knock on the door distracted the filly. "Cozy, hello! May I come in?" Twilight's voice came from behind the door. Cozy got irritated and was about to be rude to Twilight, making sure she wouldn't even attempt to give her friendship lessons. But then she remembered that she had decided to behave well to gain as much freedom as possible. Gathering herself, she sweetly replied: "Oh, Princess Twilight! I'm glad to see you!" Cozy smiled at her guest, feigning warmth. Twilight wanted to make a remark, telling the filly not to pretend to be kind, but she changed her mind. "Cozy, I know it's not true. And... I came to apologize." "Apologize?" the Pegasus was taken aback. Twilight nodded: "You are my student, Cozy. And I should have stood up for you a year ago when you nearly drained all of Equestria's magic. Yes, you betrayed all your friends, you betrayed Equestria! But you were my student and a friend. I should have stood up for you and shown what real friendship is. Then I trusted Princess Celestia's decision to send you to Tartarus, and I forgot about you. Forgive me!" Twilight silently lowered her head and closed her eyes. Cozy's anger surfaced. "Forgive?! After thou allowed them to send me to Tartarus and then turned me into stone?! Thou forgot about me! And thou wouldn't have remembered if kind ponies hadn't stood up for me! Thou say friendship is not for power, but thou wear the crown of Equestria! Thou art a liar and a hypocrite! Thou..." Here, Cozy suddenly realized she had been rude to the princess. 'Now it's clear: Twilight deliberately angered me with her apologies to later show everyone how evil I am. And I fell for this stupid trick! ' Cozy realized with horror that tomorrow she would join her 'friends' again. "Oh, Twilight, forgive me, I didn't mean to be rude to thee. Just don't turn me into stone again, I'll do anything!" the filly began to plead, almost crying. The Alicorn was surprised by such a reaction. "Oh, Cozy, I swear: thou will never be a statue again!" Twilight decided to reassure the Pegasus and even hugged her. "At least not until thou try to seize power and harm someone again!" the princess warned. "I promise I'll be a good filly!" Cozy smiled again. Then she remembered Twilight's apologies. "Um, Princess? Are you really ashamed that you didn't stand up for me when I stole all of Equestria's magic?" "Yes. I don't know why thou art so eager for power at any cost, but I should have helped thee instead of silently agreeing with the princesses' punishment. Forgive me if thou can!" Twilight asked again. Cozy was pleased. On the one hoof, she was no longer threatened with being turned into stone. On the other hoof, the compassionate Twilight could release her on her own after some time. 'The main thing is not to plan a power takeover before being released, behave well, be friends with Twilight without hidden thoughts so that the truth spell couldn't detect anything. And then I'll quickly regain my freedom! ' the cunning filly planned, and, making a sad face, said: "I don't hold a grudge against you, Twilight! Because of Grogar's magic, I became so evil that I almost killed you. And I'll never become the Empress of Friendship when everypony around either fears or hates me. Besides, I have no chance of revenge. So, I'm ready to try learning true friendship again!" declared Cozy. Twilight had strong doubts about the sincerity of the filly. "Cozy! Considering your past, it's hard for me to believe you." "You can check my intentions with the truth spell!" Cozy herself suggested, deciding to take a risk. "Really? Okay, then I'll ask a few questions," and Twilight applied the spell (it works as a lie detector). "Cozy, do you plan to befriend me to get out of captivity as soon as possible?" Twilight asked directly. Cozy just giggled foolishly. "Well, Twilight, I can't reform so quickly! Besides, nobody likes being locked up. And I'm ready to learn true friendship!" Cozy fired back, deciding to believe her own words for a moment. And, fortunately for the Pegasus, the spell didn't work. "I'm glad that you're truly willing to give real friendship a chance! From now on, Cozy Glow, you are once again my student! To begin with, you'll need to apologize to the friends you betrayed. And then, we'll see! " decided Twilight. " Thank you, Princess, for believing in me! I'll try not to disappoint you! " Cozy honestly replied. " Good! Goodnight, Cozy! " Twilight bid farewell. " Goodnight, Princess! " wished the Pegasus, and the door closed. 'Phew! I'm so glad that if you believe your own lie for a moment, you can also deceive the truth spell. For now, I'll have to play by thy rules, Twilight. But sooner or later, I'll get what's rightfully mine!' lying in bed, Cozy dreamt of revenge against her teacher.