The Terrible Titillated Trio

20 years had passed, the three were now more comfortable around each other and had gotten to know each other a bit, but they were all still very much in agreement that none of them wanted to work together to conquer Equestria and they wouldn't bow down to Grogar in order to do it. If that doomed them to eternal imprisonment in his home then so be it, at least they tolerated each others company.

Tirek looked at Cozy Glow, who hadn't aged a day and still looked very much like the child she used to be, he realized that he had never actually asked her about that odd circumstance. He felt that now was as good a time as any and said "Cozy Glow, why is it that your body hasn't aged? Come to think of it... why haven't any of us aged?" It was true, 20 years and they all looked exactly the same as they always had, as if they existed outside of or beyond time in some way.

Cozy Glow said "Golly, I'm not sure! My mind has aged but my body sure hasn't, kinda spooky isn't it?" Cozy Glow giggled. Tirek wasn't entirely sure that her mind had matured as much as she claimed, either that or she was just extremely weird, which was a very real possibility.

Chrysalis was still as grumpy as usual "Silence you simpletons! I'm going to explore the catacombs again and see if I can find some sort of exit"

Tirek groaned and said "Face it Chrysalis, your search for a way out is going to fail, again!"

Chrysalis glared at Tirek and said "At least I am attempting to free us from this prison! I can't stand the thought of sitting idly by and listening to your inane ramblings for another decade!" Then Chrysalis focused her attention on Cozy Glow and said "Also, the way you chew? It's disgusting!" With that, she strutted off into the nearest cave and disappeared into the dark.

Tirek and Cozy Glow were left to sit there together, an awkward silence pervaded their cavernous abode, the tiny interruptions of water dripping from the stalactites above now becoming the loudest noise in their existence apart from a couple of awkward coughs as they both desperately tried to think of something to talk about. Yes they had spent the past 20 years in each others presence, but they lacked conversational skills and didn't exactly have an over abundance of common ground or mutual understanding.

"So..." Cozy Glow began "You read any good books lately?" What a ridiculous question.

Tirek answered her by saying "You know I haven't, neither have you. The enchantment Grogar placed on this place does not provide us with entertainment, it provides us with the bare minimum we need in order to survive, I'd hardly call Harry Trotter and the Chamber of Seaquestria an essential item"

Cozy Glow pouted and said "You could at least talk about times before we got trapped here by some stupid old goat, we could get to know each other more"

Tirek scoffed and said "What's to know? You were an abandoned child who became obsessed with making friends, then realized that if you used friendship as a power tool you might be able to conquer Equestria and make your parents pay for throwing you away like you were nothing, make them regret giving up a child who had so much potential"

Cozy Glow didn't like that Tirek had brought up that particular traumatic event in her life and decided to fight back as she said "Well you can talk! You arrived in Equestria with your brother Scorpan to conquer it in order to just absorb the power of every pony and not much else, then you got sent to Tartarus when your brother changed his mind about the whole thing. Nice going there, you dumb centaur". Cozy Glow turned away from him and sniffled as she tried to hold back her tears, the origin of her megalomania was a touchy subject that she still felt very deeply about.

Normally when this kind of thing happened, Tirek was heartless enough to ignore it and get on with what he was doing in the full knowledge that he had just reopened a wound and seasoned it with salt, but then he did something he had never done before, he cared. Then he said something he had never said before, he felt slightly odd as he said "I'm... I'm sorry".

Cozy Glows ears perked up, she must have heard that wrong, she turned back to Tirek before saying "What did you say?"

Tirek repeated his statement more confidently this time "I'm sorry Cozy Glow, I know that your parents deciding that they didn't want you is a subject I shouldn't touch upon in common conversation. To tell you the truth, it hits a little close to home really". Cozy Glow was mystified, Tirek had never actually explained the details of why he wanted to conquer Equestria, could it be they had similar reasons for their malicious and hateful personalities?

Tirek sighed as he recalled a time before his attempts to take over Equestria, when he was little more than a child.

"As a child, I was not abandoned, not physically you understand, but metaphorically. My parents always favored my brother Scorpan, praised him, cared for him, loved him. As for me, I was not met with the same kind of treatment, my parents cared for me certainly, but they never believed I was as capable at anything as Scorpan was. So naturally, he was the favorite. After my childhood passed me by with only my precious brother and my nepotistic parents, I decided I would venture out into the world and conquer a country, appointing myself as ruler, to prove to my parents that I could do anything my dear brother could..."

Tirek paused as his face turned sour, the next part of his story was where things went from bad to worse. "Though, in a surprising twist, my dear brother said he would help me in my quest. Apparently, it had not gone unnoticed by him that parents seemed to care less about me than him. So, we both agreed that he would help me conquer Equestria, allow me to rule it and my parents would finally see that I could be just as valuable a son as Scorpan. However, as you're no doubt aware of, Scorpan warned the princesses of my ambition, betraying my trust. They locked me away in Tartarus and if anything my parents became even prouder of Scorpan and even less proud of me."

Tirek became saddened at the re-telling of his own backstory, Cozy Glow was on the brink of sobbing, she related very much to Tirek in that moment. A childhood spent in a void of despair after being cast out by an unloving family, essentially they had both been on the receiving end of a much crueler evil than anything they had ever attempted, the evil of having no sympathy from those closest to them in their time of need. They were both just tortured souls seeking acceptance.

Cozy Glow finally cracked and said "Oh Tirek, I'm so sorry" then threw herself at his shoulder, only big enough to hug his neck. Tirek was taken aback, unsure how to react to this sudden display of affection, after a couple of seconds he loosened up and just patted her on the back, accepting her hug. As she pulled away with a caring smile, she and Tirek were no face to face and staring to each others eyes, almost uncomfortably close. Cozy Glow felt an odd rush of feelings in her chest that she didn't understand, but she felt her body moving of it's own accord and she leaned in closer to Tirek and kissed him directly on the lips. Tirek's eyes widened and he could barely move, of all the possibilities they he had considered in what seemed to be an eternity of talking to nobody other than Cozy Glow and Chrysalis, romance was something he had never expected, especially not with Cozy Glow!

As they both heard the sound of hoof steps echoing from a nearby cave and a very familiar shadow, Cozy Glow quickly broke away from Tirek and sat down as if nothing had happened. Tirek also attempted to adopt a casual look as Chrysalis re-entered the room, ironically as a changeling, when she saw Tirek and Cozy Glow she didn't spot anything out of the ordinary about their postures or body language. Tirek decided to break the silence and addressed Chrysalis when he said "So, I take it you adventure through the labyrinth of caves proved unsuccessful in providing us with a means of escape?"

Chrysalis, annoyed and unable to think of an appropriate response just hissed at him before sitting down and resigning herself to silence. Cozy Glow however, always the chatty one of the trio, decided to ask Chrysalis a question "Hey Chryssie! What's your origin story?"

Chrysalis looked at her with disdain and said "Do not call me by that ridiculous shortening of my name, if you must talk to me call me Chrysalis. What do you mean by origin story?"

Cozy Glow said "Oh you know! The thing that drove you to want to conquer Equestria"

Chrysalis frowned and said "Pah, you will find that my reasons are rather shallow and selfish, I don't wish to give you more ammunition to use in your teases and insults about me"

That's when Tirek butted in "Oh come on, just tell us, I promise we won't make fun of you. We are stuck here for eternity after all, we might as well get used to it and try to be... ugh... friendly".