The Friendship of Evil Grows

by Zizi Tachyon

Third Chapter - A Friendship Mission

It was about an hour before noon when Dr. Horse was going through the hospital ward, doing the daily checkup on his patients. Next up on his clipboard was Cozy Glow, who was taken in two weeks ago. Tirek had told him what happened: in their battle with Grogar, the little filly had received a cruel blunt hit from the ram. She was swatted out of the sky like a fly and slammed into the ground, immediately losing her consciousness and sustaining internal trauma. By the time she arrived at the hospital, her situation was dire. The doctor had her taken to the intensive care at once, where she was diagnosed with circulatory shock. The operation that followed was long and intensive but thanks to the talent and expertise of the crew it was a success. The next day everyone was relieved to hear Cozy had woken up; and she was moved to a personal room on the third.

When the doctor opened the door he saw that Cozy was already wide awake and playing with one of the brain teasers that Twilight had brought with her on her frequent visits. Cozy was wearing a light green hospital gown and her mane was fuzzy and unkempt because one of the nurses had rinsed it. One could tell from the concentrated look on her face as she tried to assemble the wooden gizmo that her spirits had fully returned, her shabby appearance notwithstanding.

He looked up from his notebook. "Good morning, Miss Cozy Glow. How are we doing today?"

"Morning, mister Dr. Horse. I'm doing great, and it's all thanks to you and the kind nurses!" She smiled with cheeks that had the color and sweetness of soft peaches.

"Don't mention it, it's our duty." The doctor smiled back. He knew that this filly was the mastermind behind the nation-wide loss of magic last year, and he heard that she hid her plot behind an innocent, cutesy persona. Innocent and cutesy, that is exactly how he would describe her during her hospital stay. From the moment she first woke up she was cheerful, almost to an exaggerated degree. Whenever he shared news that was slightly less than positive she would pout, only to switch back to blissful, childish joy when he assured her that there was no reason for concern. He couldn't tell how much of her character was genuine and how much of it was just a persistent and skillfully crafted façade. Cozy Glow brightened up his day, and he had to remind himself to be vigilant on more than one occasion.

He continued, "Your health has very strongly improved, and we think that you are ready to be released from the hospital."

"Golly, that's wonderful news, doctor!"

"I talked to Twilight Sparkle, and she agreed to take custody of you. She will be here in an hour to pick you up."

"I secretly hoped Twilight would care of me. I really don't want to go back to that scary place Tartarus again… It was so dark and cold and lonely, that's something nopony deserves. But Twilight is a very nice pony so of course she would save me! But jeez, in so little time? I need pack my stuff and curl my mane and tail!"

She hopped off the bed and went through her belongings. There wasn't actually a lot to pack: she only had basic necessities and a few gifts she received from Twilight and her friends. She put all of it in her saddle bags. Dr. Horse saw that his helped wasn't needed. He checked Cozy off his list, said goodbye and went on to the next patient, closing the door behind him.

Cozy heard a knocking on the door at the expected time. Her mane and tail she had fashioned into the familiar look: big light blue curls neatly tied together by a white ribbon. She put the saddlebags on her back and walked up to the door.

"Hooray, Twilight is here!" she exclaimed as she opened up. Indeed, before her stood the Princess of Friendship.

"Hello Cozy, are you ready to go?" Twilight asked kindly, as if nothing had ever transpired between the two.

"I certainly am! You know, I am so, so sorry for all of the bad things I've done. I cannot believe that I tried to steal all of Equestria's magic. And then I worked together with those baddies to take over Equestria, how could I?" She looked away, cowering in shame. "Maybe it is because I am just a little filly and I didn't know any better."

"It's okay, Cozy. We all make mistakes, and sometimes we make them several times before we learn from them." Twilight knew that Cozy's crimes were far beyond the pale and could hardly be excused by such a cliché moral truism; her aim was simply to console her. Or, bearing in mind that this may well be another ruse, she was rather presenting herself as gentle and forgiving—though she really did wish to forgive her. In any case, it had a better chance of success than treating her coldly.

"My, headmare Twilight, you are so wise, and I still have a lot to learn.” She puffed up one of her cheeks with her hoof in an act of adorable reverence. “I suppose you will send me back to the School of Friendship. I think I need to start over from the very beginning."

"I haven't fully decided yet," Twilight replied pensively, "I don't think re-taking classes will be of much help. You have already passed them with flying colors and there isn't much else in the book for you to learn. I'll have to come up with an extra curriculum or something. Come with me to the Castle, we will figure out what to do there."

The two left the room and headed for the exit. "Are you hungry, Cozy?" Twilight asked once they were outside. "Spike is making pancakes."

"By golly I am!" She fluttered into the air with excitement. "I haven't eaten yet today, and I haven't had pancakes since, well, I was sent to Tartarus."

"I'm glad to hear that. If there is anything else you like to eat just say so and I'll see what I can do. We really want you to feel at home, Cozy. Putting you in Tartarus was a mistake, it's not a punishment fit for a filly, even if that filly did terrible things. Can you forgive me?"

Cozy looked up to Twilight with a blank expression. Then she smiled. "Don't mention it anymore, Twilight! Tartarus was a really terrifying place, but at least I was there with a friend."

"You mean Tirek?"

"Yes he! You think he's super scary the first time you see him, but it turns out he's actually very funny, even if he doesn't mean to be funny. And he is smart too: I have read a lot about magic artifacts but he told me things that were in none of the books. But he probably doesn't want to be friends with me so much as I want to be friends with him. He hates cute stuff and he thinks I'm annoying. I tried to make our time in Tartarus more fun but that just made him upset."

"So you really saw him as a friend, and not just as a tool for power?"

"When I first learned about him, I wrote to him because he could help me get more powerful. You know how I was." She looked away in shame again, but now that Twilight had apologized to her and they were on friendlier terms, sh seemed less somber. Instead she was blushing. "But I've changed. Maybe it was the School of Friendship, maybe it were the things you've said to me personally, but after Grogar freed us, we had to work together to get the Bewitching Bell. Perhaps this is when I first felt friendship, although I still don't understand it."

"That's alright, Cozy. You have already made great progress, and you did it without me. It just goes to show that friendship really isn't something that you can learn from a book," she added reluctantly.

Their path went through the Ponyville park, which was crowded with ponies enjoying the autumn weather. The Running of the Leaves would be held in a few days, but for now the trees were dressed with foliage of a rich palette of red, brown, gold and orange. Around them were foals, laughing and cheering while playing a frantic ball game. Their excitement rubbed off on Cozy Glow, who had grown accustomed to the sterile hospital atmosphere but was now finally breathing crisp air again. It had been two weeks since she last went outside and had any exercise, and pegasi of her age are brimming with energy. She had already started prancing. She looked for Twilight's approval to fly, which she granted her, and took to the sky; her youthful display of saltos and zig-zags amused Twilight greatly; she had to restrain herself from flying into the sky like a filly herself. After a few minutes Cozy finally got tired and came down to the ground.

"Are you having fun, Cozy?"

"Yes ma'am!" Cozy said between pants, "I didn't realize I missed flying so much. It's good to be back outside!"

"Pardon me for asking, Cozy, but did you ever go to flying school?" Twilight wanted to see if she could learn anything about the pegasus before she would leave. Her origins were remarkably mysterious. Cozy Glow began attending school a couple of weeks after the official opening, when the year had already started. Twilight wasn't too strict on late enrolment, but at the same time she couldn't remember any of such cases occurring. What's more, unlike other students, she wasn't listed with legal guardians, nor did Twilight know where she came from.

"I've had private lessons back when I lived in Las Pegasus. Oh, I must have never told you that's where I'm from. I lived there with Gramps and Granny. They used to run some businesses there and were very rich. I loved my Gramps and Granny, but there weren't many foals where I lived, so I didn't have any friends. They heard about the school opened by Princess Twilight and thought it would be good for me to attend it. That's how I ended up in Ponyville. Uhm, in case you were wondering about that."

"If you want to, we could visit them."

"I'd love to, I haven’t seen them in so long! But only after I have graduated. I don't want to disappoint them—they probably don't even know that I was in Tartarus. They almost never went outside."

Spurred on by this idea, Cozy fluttered to the Castle at an increased pace, with Twilight trotting closely behind her.

---

A brief while later, Twilight and Cozy arrived at the Castle. Twilight opened the doors and was ready to announce her presence to Spike, but she found the dragon waiting for them in the foyer. He was wearing an apron and a chef's hat.

"What took you so long?" he asked rather impatiently, "We've been waiting for you."

"Apologies. We took a little detour through the park, it is such nice weather."

"Whatever. I hope you don't mind I've snacked on the gems that were supposed to be mixed with the batter."

"Hey Spike!" Cozy quipped. She came up from behind Twilight and greeted the dragon with an eager hoofshake.

"Uh, hey Cozy Glow," Spike replied hesitantly. "Haven't seen you in a while?" Back before Cozy executed her evil plan she often helped out at the School of Friendship. She became Twilight's closest student assistant and often worked together with Spike, and the two grew very close. As a result he was most disillusioned by her sudden turn to evil. Yes, Twilight had told him what had transpired during the battle, and he had even visited her in the hospital once, but now that she wasn't bound to a hospital bed he was unnerved nonetheless. "The pancakes are ready. Are you coming with me?"

They went into the dining room and found Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sitting at a round, wooden dinner table. It was decked with plates and silverware, as well as with fruit and other pancake toppings such as maple syrup, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and sprinkles. The warm, sweet smell of freshly baked goods saturated the room.

"Finally, there you are! Can we eat now?" Rainbow Dash shouted before anypony else could get a word in. She had already filled her plate with fruit and was ready to dig in.

"Now, now, Rainbow Dash, that is no way to greet an old acquaintance," Rarity reacted with an air of impeccable courtesy. "Good afternoon, Cozy Glow, are you doing well? Hm? Please have a seat."

Cozy climbed up on the empty chair to the right of Fluttershy. "Hullo everypony. Look, I'm really really sorry of the bad things I've done."

"It's okay Cozy, we know you didn't mean to do any harm," Fluttershy assured her with puppy eyes. The others nodded in agreement. They too had visited Cozy on multiple occasions in the hospital, but they avoided talking about past incidents lest they upset her in her weakened state.

"T-thanks guys…" Cozy pouted, "Where's Starlight? I suppose I should apologize to her too."

"Starlight couldn't be here today," said Twilight, who had taken the other seat next to her. "She's visiting Sunburst in the Crystal Empire."

Pinkie suddenly jumped up onto the table and scooted towards Cozy. "Hey! I know we're all excited that you're here with us, but I am super excited. You wanna know why?" She stared at Cozy with intense joy beaming from her eyes.

"Why?"

"Why, because now I can finally give you this."

She pulled an object out of her mane and presented it to Cozy. It was a small, hoofcrafted sculpture of a googly-eyed Cozy Glow riding on Tirek's back.

"My best friend rock sculpture!" Cozy picked it up and carefully examined it up close. Aside from a few traces of glue, it looked exactly as she last saw it, before she was summoned by Grogar.

"After you and Tirek came to Ponyville I went to Tartarus." The others stared at her quizzically. "What? That place needed a spring cleaning badly!"

"In autumn?" Applejack's mumbled. "And just how did you get in there in the first pl—"

"Anyways, I found it as a pile of rubble on the ground. But a little super glue can do wonders!"

"I made this to celebrate the friendship between Tirek and me. He didn't really care about it but to me this sculpture really meant a lot. Thank you so much!"

"Meh, it's nothing. Just what friends to for each other, right?" Cozy could only nod in response, for she was at a loss of words of gratitude. Her eyes twinkled like little stars.

Spike entered the dining room with two plates stacked with steaming pancakes. He served everypony a pancake and then joined the table himself. Cozy put as much whipped cream and chocolate on it as was possible. She gobbled it up faster than anypony else and still felt famished, so she took another one, which she ate with some cotton candy that Pinkie Pie had supplied. When she finished her second pancake and the ponies finished their first, Twilight decided it was time to get to business.

"So, Cozy," she spoke to the filly besides her, but loud enough for the rest to hear, "I've been thinking about we could do with you. You want to prove that you've changed right?"

"Yes!"

"And what better way is there to evaluate someone's skills than through an exam of some sort? We're going to send you on a friendship mission."

"A friendship mission? Good golly, I thought only the teachers went on those."

"Normally that's true, but this mission is special. This is something that only you can do. At school you have learned the story of Tirek and Scorpan, right?"

"Yes ma'am, about how they came to Equestria."

"Precisely. The brothers never saw each other again after Tirek went to Tartarus. But Tirek is here in Ponyville right now. What I want you to do is join him on a journey to the land of centaurs. Try to learn as much as you can about the centaurs and report back to me. Here's a list of things you can look into." She conjured up a scroll with her magic and pressed it into Cozy's hooves. "If you get a satisfactory grade, we will say you've officially passed the School of Friendship cum laude."

Who were the successors to King Vorak?; Who were the centaurs' closest allies?; Did the centaurs know about Starswirl the Bearded?… Cozy skimmed through the questions; the last bullet point caught her eye. She read it aloud, "Explain the difference between friendship and power."

"That last question is the most important. I remember that's what you once said—that friendship is power. I regret that I've never been able to teach you the answer, and to be honest I don't fully understand it myself. Maybe friendship really is power, in a sense. I think you will find the answer on your journey."

"Sounds like a mighty hard task…" She cowered back into her chair a little, but Twilight reassured her.

"We have full confidence that you will find the answer."

"You can do it, sport!" Rainbow Dash added.

"You were our best student, you'll do great," Fluttershy said.

"Hm-hm," the others hummed in agreement.

Cozy found her confidence coming back. "In that case, sign me up! When will we leave?"

"You can go as soon as tomorrow morning. I've already arranged the essential travelling accessoires for you. I know it's a bit strange to send a small filly on such a long journey, but Tirek will be there with you on the way. I understand that you already went on a mission to Mt. Everhoof together, so this shouldn't be too much to ask, should it?"

"That mission to Mt. Everhoof was a breeze, don't you worry one bit about me! We'll go to the land of centaurs and ace that test!"

After lunch Cozy wished to see Tirek. Twilight took her to the library, which was still Tirek's main place of residence. He had just finished a pile of pancakes that Spike had prepared for him—centaurs have to eat, too—and wasn't doing much in particular when they entered the room.

"Hey Tirek! How is my favourite geezer doing?"

If there was any happiness or relief in Tirek, he was suppressing it. "Well, I suppose this marks the end of my peaceful life in Twilight's Castle", he muttered to himself. But when she clung to his leg, he couldn't help but pat her on the head, which made her squee with delight.

Cozy tried to exchange a few more words with her travelling mate, but Tirek was clearly not fond of casual talk, so after a few minutes they decided to leave him in peace. They spent the rest of the day preparing for tomorrow. Twilight taught her everything that she knew about the land of centaurs and how to get there—which wasn't a lot. It lay somewhere in the Undiscovered West, and depending on its precise location as well as travelling speed, the journey could take anywhere between a week and a month—Tirek would be able to give a better estimate—and that's not counting the time to travel back to Equestria. The farther they ventured, the more they would have to rely on his memory and intuition. In any case, they would be passing through the White Tail Woods and through the valleys of the Lunar Isthmus.

She also thought it were wise to teach Cozy some basic camping skills such as setting up a tent and finding edible berries, which was something Rainbow Dash was happy to help with. This let the remainder of the day pass by rather quickly, and after dinner Cozy went to sleep early.

---

The next morning, at the break of dawn, the pegasus filly and the centaur stood in front of the Castle of Friendship, ready to depart. They were accompanied by Twilight and here friends, who had woken up early to say farewell. The weather was gray and misty, but Rainbow Dash assured them that it would clear up before noon. Tirek was cladded in a green cloak that Rarity had quickly put together for him: it would keep him from getting a cold, she said, and it had the advantage of hiding his menacing appearance from random passers-by. Not to mention, it looked “exquisitely dapper” and “punctually fashionable”. Twilight was going through a checklist to make sure the two ex-villains had everything they could possibly need. Tirek carried most of the load: maps, a tent, clothing, water, bandages, et cetera. As for Cozy, she also wore saddlebags, which contained, among some miscellaneous items, her own winter clothes as well as lunch for the first day.

"Alright, it seems you are ready to go," Twilight said as she checked off the final box on her list. "I wish both of you a prosperous journey, and good luck on your mission! Oh, I have one final thing you need to bring with you." A small device appeared out of thin air with a magenta zap and it floated to Tirek. "If you find somepony living in the land of centaurs, like a king or a descendant of yours, give this to them as a sign of goodwill from the ponies," Twilight said to him.

"What's it supposed to be?" asked Tirek as he examined the object in his hand. It consisted of two metallic, dark blue rings arranged in the shape of a sphere, with a golden arrow protruding diametrically through one of them. The other was inscribed with ancient characters that he could not read. It stood atop a wooden standard, that was clearly worn down by time. The entire thing could fit in a pony's hoof.

"It's a magical sun-dial. It originally belonged to Starswirl the Bearded. He infused it with the power of the sun and the moon: if it's day, it can give off sunlight of its own. If it's night, it can draw away light and cast darkness." Tirek put the sun-dial in one of his saddlebags. "Well, that's all. Is there anything else you need or want to ask me before you go?"

"I've got nothing," Cozy replied, "What about you, Tirek?"

"Me neither. Come on, let's go."

Fluttershy flew up to Tirek's shoulder. "Please take good care of little Cozy Glow for me. I know you've got a good heart," she said to him, although she unintentionally spoke so softly that her friends couldn't quite hear it.

"Will you ponies ever stop being so sappy?" He whispered back annoyedly. "Yes, she'll be fine. Now goodbye and farewell!"

"Farewell!" the other ponies chanted back.

"Goodbye everypony!" Cozy cheered while trotting to catch up with Tirek, who had already started walking. "Don't forget to say hi to Starlight Glimmer for me!"

Comments

[the dobermans]

That title is beautiful.

[Bronzedragon]

found these. waiting for update👍
and she was movedto a personal room on the third. [to]
diametrically through on of them. [one]

[Zizi Tachyon]

10013594
Thanks for pointing out the typos, I've fixed them. Glad to read you're enjoying it!

[asdtroi8895]

Makes sense that Cozy would immedietly go into her happy cute filly persona. Her scene with Tirek was pretty cute. I also like the task they give her, it both helps her reform and gives Twilight some important future information.

"I'm glad to hear that. If there is anything else you like to eat just say so and I'll see what I can do. We really want you to feel at home, Cozy. Putting you in Tartarus was a mistake, it's not a punishment fit for a filly, even if that filly did terrible things. Can you forgive me?"

Cozy looked up to Twilight with a blank expression. Then she smiled. "Don't mention it anymore, Twilight! Tartarus was a really terrifying place, but at least I was there with a friend."

I love how she never actually forgives her.

"You mean Tirek?"

"Yes he! You think he's super scary the first time you see him, but it turns out he's actually very funny, even if he doesn't mean to be funny. And he is smart too: I have read a lot about magic artifacts but he told me things that were in none of the books. But he probably doesn't want to be friends with me so much as I want to be friends with him. He hates cute stuff and he thinks I'm annoying. I tried to make our time in Tartarus more fun but that just made him upset."

Yes he! should be Yes him.

[Zizi Tachyon]

10013670

Yes he! should be Yes him.

Well spotted. I went for "Yes he" because it sounded cuter—if it's a grammar error (which it is), it's a verbal one made by a child. But now I'm tempted to correct it after all.

[Zizi Tachyon]

Added a few more lines at the end of this chapter. Tirek is wearing a cloak now. (Not that it has further weight on the story, I just thought it would be nice.)

[Pogmin]

I'm waiting for Cozy to drop the mask once she gets alone with Tirek. If there's one person she can trust it's probably him. I think she's still crazy and has only really reverted back to her previous act so far, using her friendship with Tirek as an excuse to tell them all she's changed completely. I'd like to see some of her actual thoughts on what to do next, how she feels about the mission etc. Because I'm fairly sure she's been lying through her teeth this whole time if she's still in character. Maybe ask Tirek about finding Chrysalis.

[Razzy]

Pfft, I imagine the cloak for Tirek works like the trench coat disguises teenage mutant ninja turtles used.