“Just a little farther, Tirek.” Cozy Glow mashed her body against the bars of her cage, reaching out for Tirek’s horns as he forced his head through the bars of his own.
“I’m running out of neck.” Tirek growled, arching his head downward.
“Maybe if you didn’t spend so much time on your traps you’d have one.” Chrysalis sniped as she watched from her own glassine prison.
“Forgive me for not being a scrawny, little bug!” Tirek barked.
“Gotcha!” Cozy Glow cheered as she grasped his horns.
“Good, now pull!” Tirek ordered.
Flying backwards, Cozy Glow yanked on Tirek as he pushed against his cell; the cage slowly began to topple and inevitably fell from the ledge on which they sat. Upon impact, the frame warped and the door was sent flying. Tirek crawled from the mangled metal and stood tall. “Finally!” He rolled his shoulder.
“My turn!” Cozy Glow buzzed around her cell like captured moth.
“Alright, alright… keep your wings on.” Tirek scaled the ledge and roughly kicked her cage off the side. Like his own, it clanged to the rocky ground and Cozy Glow flew free once more.
“Yay!” The maniacal filly flew over to Chrysalis’s enchanted cell and knocked on the glass. “How do we get this thing open?”
“The glass is magically charged, keeping me from taking new forms.” Chrysalis explained. “It won’t just shatter like normal.”
“Magic, eh?” Tirek joined them. “Sounds delicious.” With a deep inhale he began to drain the magic from the panes, rendering them no more than windows.
“Perfect.” Chrysalis took the form of a ram and shattered the wall of her cell. With a clean leap she landed before her fellow villains and took her natural form. “I’d hate to admit it, but we’re getting to be professionals at this.”
“Let’s make this the last time.” Tirek grumbled as he began surveying the area. “Come on, we need to find another way out of Tartarus.”
“If there is one.” Chrysalis noted as she and Cozy Glow followed.
“Tartarus is old, older than recorded history.” Tirek folded his arms as he loped along. “If we make our way through we might be able to find some kind of forgotten back door.”
“Worth a shot.” Cozy Glow sighed. “Since they decided to permanently station guards at the entrance, that sure isn’t an option.”
Countless paths led into the deeper reaches of Tartarus and they aimlessly chose one to continue their search. Even the fearsome Chrysalis felt a chill as they walked along the ancient tunnels. “Tirek, you’ve been here longer than anycreature else; do you know what’s back here?”
“Not really.” Tirek shook his head. “To my knowledge, I was of the last prisoners to be brought to Tartarus before the two of you were added to the list.”
“So… there are other prisoners?” Cozy Glow asked, her voice laced with uneasiness.
“I’ve never heard a peep from these old passages… so I can’t believe there would be.” He answered, half trying to convince himself as he too began to feel an unnerving pressure.
“I suppose you’re right.” Chrysalis agreed. “You know those ponies, always working to ‘reform’ those that don’t agree with their ways… more like brainwashing if you ask me.”
“Spoken like one who seeks to stand out yet belong at the same time.” A low voice echoed around them.
“Ahh!” Cozy Glow flew behind Tirek’s head, peeking between his horns into the darkness.
“Who is there?!” Tirek challenged.
The walls of the tunnel began to glow a dull blue, the light taking a right turn at the next junction. The trio were compelled to follow and traced the light through a myriad of chambers and passages until finally reaching the end.
“Golly… no way.” Cozy Glow whispered as they found themselves before an Alicorn.
“A male Alicorn?” Tirek’s unease was replaced by sheer fascination.
“I thought there was no such thing?” Chrysalis quickly looked up to him.
“I was the first.” The creature spoke once more. “I am likely also the last.”
“Who are you?” Cozy Glow asked.
“Aurelian.” He answered.
“Are you a prisoner like us?” Chrysalis inquired.
“Not like you.” The silhouette shook its head.
“Hmph.” Chrysalis turned her nose up. “Already looking down on us? Just like an Alicorn.”
“Whoever you are.” Tirek began. “Don’t take us lightly. We may be in Tartarus now, but each of us have nearly brought the pony world to its knees. So you…”
Aurelian began to laugh, silencing Tirek. “The arrogance of those who ‘almost’ accomplish things never ceases to amuse me.”
“Hey!” Cozy Glow said sourly. “If I were you…”
“You are not.” Aurelian said shortly, cutting her off a well. “Spare me the bravado, child. You are no threat to me. If I wished it, you would have fallen before even reaching this chamber.” He finally stood, spreading his wings and rolling his neck. “I led you here for a different purpose.”
“And what might that be?” Chrysalis asked.
“To tell you that you waste your time.” He stepped from the shadows; his body an elegant swirl of blue and white. His calm, violet eyes were slightly obscured by his mane which had grown quite long during his stay.
“We appreciate the concern.” Tirek scoffed. “But we will find a way out of Tartarus.”
“I refer not to your planned escape.” Aurelian clarified. “I am speaking of your ambitions.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes.
“If you are here then you are considered villains.” Aurelian stepped closer to them. “I trust you have spent the bulk of your lives endeavoring to bend the world to your will in the name of whatever warped cause you call your own. Only to be defeated time and time again by those who value friendship, family and love above all else.”
“Speaking from experience?” Cozy Glow mocked.
“More than you could possibly imagine.” Aurelian sat and ran his eyes across them. “I have been you, been more than you and have seen countless versions of you come and go in similar fashion. I can tell you that no matter what you intend, how devious your plan or how powerful your magic, it always ends the same.” A thoughtful smile crossed him. “Even if by some miracle you were to win, it still ends the same.”
The three villains sat silent for a moment. Tirek eventually cocked his head and retorted. “Who are you to say such things are set in stone?”
“Not stone, a natural pattern that governs all things.” Aurelian stated. “They say that light cannot exist without dark, but that is utter nonsense. Darkness always exists… if you strip the world of life, time and space you are left with only dark. Light is a creation that stems the dark and makes way for itself to grow; and darkness has no innate power to quell light. As long as those exist who can create light, darkness will ever be relegated to the cracks and corners of the world.” He shrugged. “It may seep out time and again, but it will always be sent scurrying back in the end.”
Chrysalis contemplated his words. “You suggest that we have no place in the world? That we should just cease to be?”
“What you are is your own choice, girl.” Aurelian responded. “You choose to be of the dark and hence condemn yourself to the misery of that pattern.
“And what are you?” Tirek asked in response. “Alicorns are supposed to be the embodiment of magic and good.”
“What am I?” Aurelian repeated the question. “Tired.” He laughed. “I am over ten thousand years old.”
“Ten… thousand?” Cozy Glow tried to comprehend the number.
“How long have you been here?” Tirek asked in shock.
“I forget.” Aurelian admitted. “Time is meaningless in this place… even more so to an immortal.” He looked up at the ceiling in contemplation. “I have been good and evil. I have seen species come to life and go extinct. I’ve watched nations rise and fall.” He looked back to his three guests. “I have conquered the known world on three separate occasions only to watch it always return to a natural peace that is beyond anycreature’s power to interfere with. Which is the point I am trying to instill in you.” His horn lit and images of ponies, dragon, griffons and wild animals began to appear on the walls. “I have seen the end of your ambition more than once, with my own eyes. There is no meaning to it, no end other than failure and emptiness. The light that exists in the hearts of creatures will always shine when they need it to in order to stay whatever shadow you attempt to cast over them.” He looked about at his magical creations. “Even in victory, I found no peace or fulfillment in what I had done; for in those moments of dark victory I was alone. Invariably, a group of those filled with light stood to defy me each time and always clutched a victory of their own from the jaws of defeat. It was a different group each time, with different stories and different magic, but the pattern never swayed from repeating itself.”
“So they finally managed to put you in Tartarus?” Cozy Glow asked.
“At the time, yes.” He nodded. “I was the first creature to be labeled so great a threat that a special prison was required. What you have come to know as Tartarus, was constructed to contain me.”
“Okay, that’s pretty impressive.” Chrysalis admitted.
“It did not hold me forever.” Aurelian noted. “No prison is perfect. But eventually, I chose to return here of my own accord.”
“What?” Tirek looked at him in disbelief. “Why?”
“As I said, there is no point to the ambition we share.” Aurelian slowly closed his eyes. “In darkness, I found nothing but isolation and emptiness… in both victory and defeat. Even the light, which always reclaims that which is taken by the dark, is trapped within the pattern that guides this endless war.” He sighed with an exhaustion known only to a creature so long lived. “Hence I sit here, waiting for the end of time which is the only thing that can end my long life.” His eyes opened and he gave them a knowing smile. “But it isn’t endless for you; you three are not immortal which is why I am telling you to abandon this meaningless crusade for control and power. Unlike me, you can live a life that is long enough to find enjoyment in but not so long that you see it all and become so cynical that life and death no longer hold meaning to you.” He opened his wing and laid it to his chest. “Take it from one who has walked both sides of the line. Light and dark will ever be in flux, but you don’t have to make yourself a part of that endless battle.” His horn lit and space itself warped around the room, before they realized it the four of them were standing in the lush grass of an Equestrian field.
“Whoa!’ Cozy Glow flew around, breathing in the fresh air.
“Wait, you could have done that the whole time?” Chrysalis looked sharply to Aurelian.
“As I said, I remain there by choice.” Aurelian turned back to his portal. “Live a good life… or don’t, it’s your choice.” He looked back to them. “If you choose not to, then… till we meet again.” With that, the ancient creature stepped back into Tartarus and vanished.
Chrysalis stared at the spot where he stood. “Bah, we should have drained his magic and love.”
“He would have wiped the floor with us.” Tirek laughed to himself. “I can sense magical energy by smell alone and his… just the smell of it overwhelmed my senses. I didn’t think a creature that powerful could exist.”
“Are you serious?” Cozy Glow landed on his shoulder and looked into the distance.
“You just watched him bend space and time like it was nothing.” Tirek’s eyes shifted to her. “I don’t fully understand who or what he is, but to think that a power like that is just sitting in Tartarus for no other reason than choice is frightening. If he wanted to, he could bring this world down single hoofed.”
“Apparently he already has.” Chrysalis stepped up beside them. “Is there anyway to verify his claims?”
“If he’s as old as he says, there is no creature left to ask.” Tirek took a long breath.
Cozy Glow saw the look on his face and laughed. “Don’t tell me you buy all that endless pattern talk.”
“I may not be ten thousand years old, but I’m old enough to hear the truth in his words.” Tirek finally responded.
“So what?” Chrysalis growled. “We just give up everything and play nice with the world?”
“Let’s argue about philosophy later.” Cozy Glow huffed. “Right now, we need to find a place to hole up and regroup.”
“Some crack or corner?” Tirek asked distantly.
“What?” Chrysalis walked in front of him.
“Nothing… Cozy Glow is right.” He turned and headed for the mountains. “Let’s find someplace safe.”
With a contemplative glance between them, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis slowly began to follow after the clearly shaken Tirek. Although, for all their talk, they could not claim they were any less so.”
