Knight, Rook and Princess

by Communist_Egor

Cold heart

While Flash was playing chess with Cozy, Twilight was receiving important visitors. As much as the Friendship Princess wanted to meet Cozy, apologize to her, and talk about everything, she had to wait until evening.

"Come in!" Twilight invited the next visitor. The gates opened, and there stood... Chancellor Neighsay! Seeing his stern expression, Twilight immediately understood: the meeting would be difficult.

"Princess! I'm sure you already have an idea of why I've come," the unicorn immediately got down to business.

The princess sighed heavily.

"You're here about releasing Cozy Glow?"

"Yes, Princess! As you know, I am not only the head of the Equestrian Education Association but also the leader of the Council of Magical Safety of the country. And we are all outraged that you did not heed our advice and released one of the three most dangerous villains in Equestria's history!" the chancellor exclaimed.

"Chancellor Neighsay! Before making such an important decision, I discussed it with my friends, as well as with the rulers of other countries and former princesses. Everyone, like you, was greatly surprised. Almost no one believes that Cozy can be taught friendship, as she sees it only as a means to gain power. But despite some risk, my friends trusted me. Trust me as well!" Twilight extended her hoof to Neighsay, but he refused to take it.

"For nothing! The council believes that your decision is unacceptable, and Cozy Glow should become a statue again! She's not just a disobedient filly. Miss Glow is an evil genius with excellent knowledge of psychology, ready to commit any crime for power. The council is sure that she is the brains behind the Legion of Doom. Cozy earned the respect of the other two villains to the point that they even shared Grogar's power with her. She almost killed you and your friends! And after all that, you want this monster to be free?!"

"No one in my presence dares to insult my students!" The angered princess thundered with her royal voice. "Yes, Cozy decided to use friendship to gain power. Yes, she doesn't think about others. Even a difficult childhood in the orphanage doesn't justify her actions. But I cannot call myself the Princess of Friendship if I do not exert all my efforts to help my former student and friend. My friends and I will do everything to teach her true friendship! And I believe we will succeed! She will never be a stone statue again! Furthermore, after her final rehabilitation, she will have full freedom! This is my final decision!" declared Twilight.

"Then, I am forced to take radical measures! There is an old law that allows overturning your decree. The Council of Magical Safety considers your decision dangerous for Equestria. Therefore, as its representative, I have the right to challenge you to a duel – any competition testing your abilities to defend the country. In the event of my victory, you will be obligated to fulfill the council's decision – to return Cozy Glow to stone," the unicorn pulled out a thick volume of Equestrian laws from his saddlebag and showed the article "On the reasonable limitation of princess power."

Reading the law, the Friendship Princess realized that the unicorn was right.

"And what if I refuse both the duel and the execution of your decision?" Twilight clarified.

"A princess afraid to stand up for her decisions cannot rule the country!" The unicorn pointed to the article on the "Forced deprivation of princess power."

"'Unjustified refusal of the princess to execute the decisions of the Council of Magical Safety of Equestria in case of defeat in the duel or refusal of it gives the council the legal right to limit the princess's power or relieve her of her duties. An attempt to disband the council and/or oppose its decision deprives the princess of all legal rights to power and will be considered treason,'" the princess read with horror.

"Chancellor Neighsay, if Cozy Glow is so dangerous to you, why did you allow Princess Celestia to give Discord a second chance?" Twilight protested angrily.

"Firstly, Princess Celestia has ruled Equestria for over a thousand years. She has earned our respect and trust. Secondly, your predecessor explained why we should try to teach Discord friendship: if the spirit of chaos escapes from the stone in a thousand years, he will no longer play with us, destroy the Elements of Harmony, and plunge Equestria into chaos. The risk was justified then, and not in the case of Cozy."

"So, the life of a filly means nothing to you?" the princess asked in anger.

" Cozy is not just a mare, but a cruel, ingenious villain, threatening all of Equestria twice. You defended against her deception with a truth spell. But what if Cozy finds a way to bypass it? Can you survive her new betrayal? Aren't you afraid of another stab in the back? "

" No! I believe that everyone deserves a second chance! I have devised a plan that will allow my student to learn true friendship. And I am ready to face you! " the alicorn's horn gleamed.

" Oh, princess, did you think I would challenge you to a magical duel? " the unicorn smiled cunningly.

" Didn't you? Do you really want to challenge me in a sports discipline? " the princess was surprised.

" Almost! We will play chess! "

" What?! " Twilight asked in shock.

" Chess is a strategic game. In war and in peace, a princess must make decisions several moves ahead, considering all risks and situations. Like me, you have the title of chess master, so our battle will be on equal terms! " declared the unicorn.

Chess was Twilight's favorite game. Recently, she even managed to defeat her idol, Star Swirl the Bearded. Twilight hoped her skills would be enough to defeat Chancellor Neighsay. "Otherwise, I'd rather relinquish power than reject Cozy again," the princess decided.

The unicorn took out a clock, a chessboard, and set up the pieces from his saddlebag.

" We will play four games: two as white, two as black. Each of us has ten minutes. If, after all the games, it's a draw, we play a fifth game. Since I issued the challenge, I start the first game as white, " the chancellor explained the conditions. And the first game began.

[First game: https://www.chess.com/games/view/11349]

" I surrender! " Twilight saw that she couldn't stop the chancellor's pawn.

" Don't be upset, princess. You played excellently too! But victory is mine! " Chancellor Neighsay smiled menacingly. " Now it's your turn as white! "

[Second game: https://www.chess.com/games/view/15765769]

Twilight remained silent. The chancellor sacrificed mage and delivered a beautiful checkmate with a knight and a bishop.

" You might as well surrender, princess. You lack practice. And you have to defeat me twice in a row to reach the fifth game! " the chancellor was already anticipating his victory.

" Never! " Twilight replied sharply but then caught herself.

'I have to keep myself in check. Neighsay is trying to intimidate me. I lost the first two games. But I can't worry; I have to concentrate and play very cautiously. The fate of my student depends on our battle. If I don't win the next two games, I will disappoint everyone: Cozy, friends, Celestia, myself. I'll have to relinquish power because I won't be able to turn Cozy Glow back into stone. But the chancellor and his council will do that. I cannot allow it!' The Princess of Friendship decided to fight to the end, recalling all possible chess strategies.

[Third game: https://www.chess.com/games/view/14684]

" It seems I got carried away, " the chancellor saw that his position was tough. Although checkmate was far away, Twilight had an extra pawn. Neighsay thought about how to draw the game, but in a couple of minutes, the timer rang again.

" Your time is up, chancellor! You lost! " declared the princess.

" I admit, this game is yours. But the next game, I just need to force a draw to win! " replied the chancellor, preparing to play a positional game.

Twilight decided not to respond and started the fourth game.

[Fourth game: https://www.chess.com/games/view/15751411]

" Check! And your time is up! " Twilight announced when the chancellor's timer rang again.

" Well, princess. So, everything will be decided in the fifth game! " Neighsay replied, giving Twilight a menacing look.

After the draw, Twilight ended up with the white pieces. ' For Cozy, for Celestia, for friends who believe in me - I must win! ' the alicorn decided. And the final game began.

[Fifth game: https://www.chess.com/games/view/127494]

" No! I lost again! " Neighsay admitted his defeat. However, no matter how he defended, checkmate was inevitable.

Twilight sighed with relief and said to the chancellor:

" That concludes our dispute! I passed your test, Chancellor Neighsay. And now the Council of Magical Safety must obey my command and leave Cozy Glow alone! Now leave the throne room: you've already taken up enough of my time! " ordered the princess to the unicorn.

" Yes, your highness! " bowed the unicorn, restraining his contempt. " But mark my words: you won the battle, not the war. You'll see, princess, freeing Cozy Glow will ruin all of Equestria! " confidently declared the chancellor, turned, and proudly walked away.

'Oh! I didn't expect Neighsay to turn out to be such a jerk. How can someone fear and hate a securely locked little pegasus so much? Perhaps he still remembers how she tied him up in school. Just to imprison the filly in stone, he was even willing to overthrow me! For Cozy's safety, I must figure out a way to get him out of office!' Twilight decided, returning to other matters.

Comments

[Sudrian Engineer]

'Oh! I didn't expect Neighsay to turn out to be such a jerk. How can someone fear and hate a securely locked little pegasus so much? Perhaps he still remembers how she tied him up in school. Just to imprison the filly in stone, he was even willing to overthrow me! For Cozy's safety, I must figure out a way to get him out of office!' Twilight decided, returning to other matters.

Hmm... that siounds almost like a mother wanting to protect their child...

[Bluecatcinema]

11796429
Cozy made her own choices. She chose to try and kill Twilight and her friends. And Twilight had no qualms about fighting back.

And you forget that Cozy responded to Twilight's show of regret by throwing it back in her face.

[Communist_Egor]

11796767
This is the story of Cozy Glow's reformation. We don't know why Cozy Glow acted the way she did, whether she had a rough childhood or not. But the idea that she was thrown into Tartarus without even understanding the child's motives or finding an alternative way to teach her about friendship outrages me.

[Bluecatcinema]

11797120
She already made her motives clear with her "friendship is power" rant.

And if a literal school of friendship (with the added friendship tutelage of the CMC) couldn't teach her, what else could?

[Communist_Egor]

11797156
Cozy requires a different approach than the school of friendship. The heroes should also carefully show the filly the true purpose of her cutie mark. Flash Sentry's approach to re-educating the filly will be an alternative to the standard Mane 6 and CMC methods. If you don't like the idea of reforming Cozy Glow, then my story is not for you.

[nautica]

11797605 I love your story so far about Cozy. I think that Cozy can be reformed. And yeah she wanted power, but why? Because she wanted to be Empress of Friendship? Who knows, maybe Equestria would be better with Cozy than with Twilight. And maybe it would’ve lasted longer. Yeah Cozy wanted to destroy Twilight and her friend. She's playing chess, while Tirek and Chrysalis are playing checkers. If they destroyed them, they would have won. Bluecatcinema is saying that that makes her irredeemable, and she should not be given a chance, even if she later on wants one. I guess then every hero who's ever fought in a war is just evil. Yes, Cozy did do things wrong, but we don't know what her backstory is. Maybe she has good reasons to want power. My Cozy (Cozetta Glasgow) does. She hates Equestria because it took everything from her. But the FiM Cozy we don't know, and before anyone says it, I don't hate Cozy, I actually love her as a character, and want her to be reformed, and I love stories that have her be reformed. I hope you have a good day, friend.

[Tidal Wave2]

I hate neighsay