Flurry's Annoyed So She Shows The World How OP She Is And Frees A Few Villains
The young Princess Flurry Heart looked up at the statue of the Legion of Doom, and grinned. Look at them. All stuck in stone, because they had tried to take over Equestria, almost won, and then failed on a spectacular level. Cozy Glow looked terrified, Tirek had scowled for so long his face would probably never return for normal, and Chrysalis stuck her tongue out, tasting the drops of rainwater. The three of them were pathetic.
Then again, Auntie Twilight was a bit pathetic too, for letting an alicorn filly explore the Canterlot Castle Garden of Statues completely unsupervised.
Flurry had heard the tales of those three creatures in the Legion of Doom, and always wondered about them. They were close, so very close to embracing the magic of friendship, but of course they had let their differences get in the way. However, Flurry knew there could be a way around that. If those three could work together back when they last tried to take over Equestria, it could be done again. That is, getting them to work together and taking over Equestria.
She concentrated, and a little bit of magic hit Cozy Glow's snout. A flake of stone peeled off, revealing the baby pink fur underneath. Not enough magic. The Royal Sisters and Discord had done their job a bit too well. Flurry took to the air, focused harder, grunted and sent a massive ball of golden magic towards all three of the trapped villains. The stone around them disintegrated, and they fell to the ground in one big heap.
Cozy Glow was the first to speak. Examining her hooves, she said, "We're free?!"
"Obviously," Chrysalis snapped.
"Oh, Queen Chrysalis, lighten up," said Tirek. "None of us ever expected this, so allow us to savour the moment."
"I will do as I please, Lord Tirek. You have no right to give me orders, you-"
"Hello, you three," said Flurry.
All three villains looked up at Flurry. Each of them had different thoughts running through their minds as they took in the sight of this pale pink and purple bundle of innocence. Tirek was anticipating absorbing some magical essence, and the power of an alicorn - even if she was only a filly - would give him enough strength to cause havoc and take on the other princesses. Chrysalis could sense the love that other ponies and creatures had for this little foal, and wondered what would happen if she tried to take the foal's place and steal some of that love for herself. She too saw Flurry as a way of regaining her power and claiming the kingdom for her own.
Cozy Glow saw a beautiful little filly, somepony with a golden heart, somepony whom she could not bear to see corrupted by the darkness that lurked within her own soul. She looked up at that sweet little pony, and saw herself, before she had turned to the ways of evil. As much as she knew how dangerous an alicorn could be, especially since she had only just been freed from her marble prison, she had no intention to cause the foal any harm.
"My name is Princess Flurry Heart. You three get to call me Flurry. I'm usually all sweet and innocent, doing as I'm told and setting an example, but I have plans to cause a lot of chaos. When I was less than two days old, I destroyed the Crystal Heart and nearly turned the Crystal Empire into a frozen wasteland. I don't plan to repeat that, but I don't plan to be nice to the other alicorns, either. You three are the first I've told about my dreams, and I've dreamt big.
"Here's the deal: us four are going to work together and take over Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Maybe the Changeling Kingdom and other places too. Everypony before us has failed, but you know what? There's no Elements of Harmony this time, and Auntie Twilight has taught me a lot of magic. I can help you three and we can take back what is ours. What do you say?"
Chrysalis looked at the still airborne alicorn. "So, let me get this straight. You are the alicorn foal, the one who has been raised to help rule Equestria, and you want us to rule instead?"
Flurry's voice was filled with childish enthusiasm. "Why not? It could be fun! Since I was so young I don't remember any of the chaos you three caused, and it's been really boring lately. So, what do you think?"
"I hate helping ponies," Tirek sighed, "but I suppose we could work something out. As long as I get the biggest bit of land."
"Fine by me, as long as I get the Crystal Empire. It's my home and all."
Cozy said excitedly, "So what's the plan?"
"Chrysalis, you can disguise yourself as anypony else and have some hypnosis skills too, I hear. If you can get some guards under mind control, we're all set. Tirek, you're going to need some magic to help out, so how about taking Auntie Twilight's? That way, she can't attack us and throw us in jail. Cozy, you're like me. You can do some awesome stuff. Now, I can't make you an alicorn like last time around, but I do know some cool tricks, and the two of us can cause a huge amount of trouble if we can work together. How does that sound?"
The three villains stared in shock at how much thought the little princess had put into her plan to be queen.
"Well?"
Three nods followed.
"Brilliant. Now where do we start? The Canterlot Castle throne room?"
"Yuppers," beamed Cozy. "Take us there, Flurry."
Princess Twilight Sparkle was in the middle of a heated debate with a group of aristocrats on the importance of planting trees in the Dragon Lands when Flurry Heart teleported into the throne room, along with Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow.
"Auntie Twilight, I've made some new friends, just like you always wanted. And I think they have something to say to you."
Twilight's eyes grew wide. "Flurry, I-"
Tirek inhaled deeply, and began to absorb Twilight's magic. Chrysalis used hypnosis on the guards. Cozy Glow rounded up the posh ponies and made sure they were unable to alert the world of what had happened. It was all over in ten seconds.
Twilight lay on the floor, and looked up at Flurry. "My little niece, after all this time, you... You just..."
"Freed the Legion of Doom and defeated you before you could even try to tell me off? I know!"
The other three laughed at this comment.
"Hmm, what to do next? Spike is in the Dragon Lands, so that's one less creature to deal with. The Elements of Harmony, Discord and Starlight are going to be a problem. They're all in Ponyville. Then we've got the Pillars of Old Equestria on holiday in Fillydelphia, I think; the Royal Pain in the Flank Sisters have retired to Silver Shoals, and oh boy, my parents are going to be so mad at me. Any ideas, you three?"
"I can take on Starlight," suggested Chrysalis, grinning menacingly.
"You do that. Who wants to go with her?"
"I will," Cozy volunteered. "Of the three of us, Chrysalis, I think I'm the least annoying."
Chrysalis pondered this. "You might be right, Cozy Glow. Tirek needs to stop trying to absorb my essence-"
Tirek spat out a ball of orange gunk. "You were saying, Chrysalis?"
"And Flurry Heart, how in Equestria did you even free us?"
"Sorry, I have some strange magic. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's overpowererd, because look at some of the other alicorns, but I can do things that a lot of unicorns can't. I'll try and keep a handle on it." She turned to Tirek. "Where do you want to go first? Those two are off to Ponyville."
"Silver Shoals. Once we have three of four alicorns, we-"
"Only four alicorns? I nearly forgot to tell you, Daddy and Blueblood are both alicorns too now. Or is the right term stallicorns? Anyways, we'll have to speak to Blueblood eventually too. He's somewhere down south."
"That complicates things a bit."
There was a huge POP, and Discord materialised in the room. "Ah, you three... and Flurry?! What in Equestria are you up to?"
"Taking over Equestria, with the help of these three creatures. Why?"
"You don't really think that's going to work, do you?" A carnivorous pineapple with a carved face appeared, and growled. Flurry blew it up almost as soon as it appeared.
"Discord, I hope you realise you've been out of the villainy business for too long to know what we're up to. We're about a mile ahead of you. Of course, you could always help us out, and get the Elements of Harmony under our control. I mean, Tirek already got Twilight, but the others might need a bit of work." She pulled a very cute sad face. Her puppy eyes face was more powerful than anything Cozy could do. The latter opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. What could you say to somepony with the power and the guts to challenge the Lord of Chaos himself?
Discord looked at Twilight for the first time. "Twilight! You know, I expected better of you. I thought you could have dealt with this lot single-hoofed if they ever came back."
"I'm trying to think of a plan, Discord."
Flurry clicked her teeth. "Tick tock, Lord of Chaos. Who's side are you on?"
"I am going to help my friends. Meet you in Ponyville. Toodleoo."
Flurry launched herself at his long, thin, grey face before he could POP out of the room. "I don't think so. If you go to warn anypony, you'll have to take me with you. Teleport us to Ponyville if you like. Watch us take the place down. You know, back when you were still a villain, Fluttershy was the only one who gave you a chance, and now I'm the only one giving these three a chance. Sure, we're taking over Equestria, but it's all in good fun. It's like a massive game of Monopoly, and we're buying all the streets so we can bump the price up. And the price we're asking for is freedom and respect."
"Oh, playing games, are we?" He glanced at the three villains, only to have his yellow eyes covered by Flurry's oversized wings. "If Princess Flurry Heart's playing games, I bet you ten bits to one she's going to stick you all in Tartarus once she has what she wants."
"That isn't true," Flurry argued.
"I don't know what you're up to, but I don't like it." He used his tail to pull her off of his face. "Go to Abyssinia or something. Lay a hoof on my Fluttershy, and you'll be sent to the hospital in several pieces."
"That's a bit too violent for my tastes. Change of plan, we're not going to Ponyville. Goodbye, Discord!"
Flurry teleported.
The Legion of Doom found themselves in a cave on Foal Mountain. "I almost forgot how ridiculously overpowered Discord is," Flurry moaned to herself. She started pacing. "What to do, what to do? Auntie Twilight hid Grogar's Bewitching Bell and she didn't tell anypony where it is. We'll never get hold of it, so we need something else."
"A distraction. A pegasus filly fluttering around causing trouble, for example," said Cozy, who suddenly found herself wrapped in a hug.
Flurry stopped pacing and trapped Cozy in a huge winged hug. "You're a genuis, Cozy!"
"Uh, thanks. You can stop with the hugging now. Gee, you've got some death grip."
Flurry released her and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
Chrysalis licked her lips and raised her eyebrows. "Forgive me for asking, but why exactly are you so keen to help us? I would be disappointed if it was purely for the purpose of entertainment."
"There is that, but also ponies don't really see me as a princess, and I'd like to show them a little bit of what I can do just to get them to listen to me. Plus, as terrifying as they try to make the stories about you, they miss the bit where you work together. You're still technically using the magic of friendship, just for something else that you want."
"The magic of friendship is like a disease. Sickening."
"Eh, not really. Some ponies and creatures think it makes you weak. I disagree. It makes you stronger, but it also means that when you do something dangerous you're making a bigger gamble."
"I never really thought of it that way, Flurry Heart. Perhaps you have taught me something new."
Cozy said, "Finally, somepony teaches them about the magic of friendship and what it can really do. I'm not sure how big a gamble I'd be willing to make, but friendship is magic and magic is power, so friendship is power and can be used to get you what you want. And you know what they say: the bigger the gamble, the bigger the prize." She grinned with satisfaction.
Flurry nodded. "That's right. The prizes for us include getting to know one another, and taking over Equestria, and once we do that, since we know each other a bit more and we're all friends, we're less likely to fight and have our power taken away from us by somepony else." As Tirek began to drain her magic, she gave him a withering glare of similar intensity to Luna's, and he stopped immediately. "As long as we don't fight amongst ourselves, nopony can get in our way. Isn't that right, Tirek? Friends don't absorb each other's magic. I thought Auntie Twilight's essence would have been enough for you."
"What?" asked Tirek. "I'm not into this whole friends and family thing. My brother Scorpan used to be all sappy, and then he dragged me into trouble here in Equestria and left me here! I've spent a fair amount of time in Tartarus stewing in my anger and making up my mind, so don't try to sway me into this whole ponies-love-friendship thing. Just because Chrysalis is weak enough to buy into it, it doesn't mean I am too."
"Oh, please," sneered Chrysalis. "Weak? If I were so weak, my hive wouldn't have survived a year under my reign. As it is, I have kept them alive for years, and though I may not have ruled correctly, those mistakes are mine, because I was strong enough to rule. Lord Tirek, is it? What land do you rule? What do your subjects think of you? Oh, that's right, Scorpan was the eldest and he took the throne. Everypony loved him, and he became strong enough to rule, and they threw you in Tartarus."
"I can quite easily absorb your magic if you're willing to speak to me like that."
"I can do far worse to you if you try."
"Cut it out!" Cozy and Flurry simultaneously yelled. They looked at each other for a moment, blue eyes met red eyes, and then they looked away and blushed, both slightly embarrassed at their outburst.
Once she had recovered from her embarrassment, Cozy stepped towards the quarrelling changeling and centaur. "I know you two creatures have different beliefs, but you know, you have to work with different creatures sometimes. Keep the end goal in mind. We get to rule Equestria and show those loser alicorns - no offence, Flurry - what we think."
"None taken," said Flurry.
She had a different plan in mind, of course. She was confident in the abilities of the Elements of Harmony, Celestia, Luna, Discord and her parents. All of them on their own were powerful enough, but together, and maybe with the help of the Pillars of Old Equestria... Flurry would probably have to endure a friendship laser, but she was chipping away at the Legion of Doom, and maybe, just maybe, she could leave her mark on history.
Discord and Twilight finished explaining to the Element Bearers about the new threat to Equestria, and watched their reactions.
Rarity fainted onto a conveniently placed red velvet couch behind her. "Oh my!"
Pinkie just gave a huge gasp.
Rainbow Dash complained, "Those three jerks are back and Flurry is helping them?! Not. Cool."
"Ah never thought Ah'd see the day those three returned," Applejack deadpanned.
"I'm worried. Why is Princess Flurry Heart helping them?" squeaked Fluttershy.
Discord said, "Now now, Fluttershy. And the rest of you, too. I'm surprised you lot think she's really in this to be evil. Probably she has a perfectly good reason to let them loose."
"But Discord, what are we going to do?!" Twilight moaned. "Tirek took away my magic before I could do anything to stop them, and they work so well together and-"
"Twilight, don't go back to Twilighting, I prefer it when you act all nice and regal. You are the Sovereign of Equestria, for Celestia's sake. Yes, those lot might work well together, but think about it. What reason would Little Princess Flurry have for getting those three to work together?"
"Ooh! I know this one!" Pinkie sprang into the air. "Flurry wants to get the Legion of Doom to work together and become friends and then slowly sap the evilness out of them so they embrace the magic of friendship, become normal citizens of Equestria and then return your magic so everything's back to normal, we don't have to whoop their flanks again and Flurry gets some credit, because she's a really sweet and all-round awesome pony but she gets overlooked because all the other alicorns have done some amazing things and they're all adults and she's a bit jealous! In other words, she's doing a Nightmare Moon, but at the same time she's trying to help us!"
"My thoughts exactly, Pinkie. So you see, Twilight? She's a little monster, and the Legion of Doom are going to end up being reformed without even realising it. Really, she's not doing a Nightmare Moon, she's doing a Fluttershy." He turned to the aforementioned pony. "Oh Fluttershy, I still haven't thanked you enough for that. If you hadn't tricked me into being nice, I would probably have still been in that statue now, and I hate being a statue. It's so boring. Quite the opposite of what I have now."
Fluttershy smiled sweetly. "You're welcome, Discord. And I think you and Pinkie have some good points. I don't agree with the way Flurry Heart is doing things, but if she's helping us, then that's a good thing. We still have the magic of friendship, even if your magic is gone, Twilight. We also have Princesses Celestia and Luna, and the Pillars."
"And Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour need to be told about their rogue daughter," Rainbow added.
"Right," said Twilight. "I have a plan. We continue to let Flurry work her magic, but we're also going to try and use the rainbow laser on the other three before they cause too much trouble. It's a good thing none of them have found Grogar's bell yet. Celestia forbid they go to Foal Mountain."
"Everypony, come quick! Guess what I found!" Cozy said giddily.
The other three sprinted to where Cozy was digging a hole in the dirt. She pulled something out of the hole. It was Grogar's Bewitching Bell. It was in perfect condition.
Chrysalis broke out into a fanged smile. "Well done, Cozy Glow. Remember all the destruction and chaos we caused with this last time? Alright, we'll have to split the magic we steal four ways instead of three, but then again, it was hard to control that magic last time, and we wouldn't be here unless Flurry Heart had helped us."
"Are you sure we have to split the magic four ways? I think Flurry Heart is powerful enough as it is, whereas dear old Tirek over here needs that magic if he is to claim his rightful place on Equestria's throne."
The other three gave Tirek a look that meant Say that one more time, we dare you.
"Alright then. We'll split the magic four ways. I get the most of it, though."
"Ahem, Tirek," Cozy coughed, "we're working together as a team. There is no I in team. We all get the same amount of magic each. Besides, you already got Twilight's."
Tirek folded his arms. "I'm not giving it up."
Flurry took the bell and stole Twilight's magic from him. He shrank quite a lot. She waved it in the air, and four bolts of lightning burst out of the bell, one hitting each of them. Tirek grew a little again. Chrysalis closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, her horn glowing green. Cozy's wings trebled in size and a unicorn horn burst out of her forehead from underneath her blue locks. Flurry just giggled and said, "So this is what it feels like to be a villain."
"The Legion of Doom is back on track, and I think it's safe to say we've got a fourth member. Flurry, brohoof." Cozy held out a hoof, and Flurry returned the gesture. The two fillies bumped hooves and gave each other a warm smile.
"What now?" asked Tirek.
"Next stop on our tour of Equestria: Silver Shoals. More specifically, Sunset Cottage, the current residence of Celestia and Luna."
Flurry's golden beam of magic engulfed the four of them and the Bewitching Bell, and they were gone.
Celestia was brushing her mane. Luna was applying pink eye shadow instead of blue for a change. It didn't really suit her. Neither of them were expecting the Legion of Doom to turn up on their doorstep.
"Do we answer the door, or not?" asked Celestia.
"We get out of here, now!" cried Luna.
Both Princesses teleported to Ponyville, only to find the Legion there when they arrived.
"Celestia, Luna, please don't take this too seriously," Flurry giggled. "You aren't in charge of Equestria any more, so I'll go easy on you for that. My allies, however, are less pleased about being sealed in stone."
Cozy flew behind the Two Sisters, and quickly stole their magic with the Bell.
"This is too easy," Flurry laughed. "If only Discord had had the Bewitching Bell when he was still evil."
"Flurry, I told you about why nopony could win in the villainy business. I tried, remember?" said Luna.
"Luna, the difference between you and me is that I - I mean, we," she corrected herself, looking at the other members of the Legion, "are going to succeed. Yes, you tried, and yes, you failed. However, you did everything alone, you didn't have the awesome ability to take other ponies' magic, and you had a rubbish catchphrase. Do villains even need a catchphrase?!"
"I suppose not, but that's a discussion for later. Whilst my sister and I are unable to do anything at the present, they can."
Everypony turned to look at the Mane 6 and Discord as they approached. Flurry said something that Cadance and Shining Armour would not like to have heard their daughter say if they had witnessed the event. The Elements of Harmony shared a look of determination and held hooves in preparation to use their rainbow laser. Cozy teleported behind them and pulled Rarity's mane.
"Ouch! You little scoundrel!"
"Gee, I'm not that bad. Speak to my partner in crime, Flurry. She's just stolen all of your magic."
Flurry grinned. "Sorry, friends, but I can't have you using your little friendship laser or have Discord use his chaos magic to stop us. Now we have all this magic, defeating the Pillars is going to be a piece of cake. Then there's Starlight. Chrysalis, I think I'll let you deal wit her all on your own. And then the only ones in our way are-"
"Flurry! Get. Here. Now!"
The Royal Voice of Canterlot echoed across the countryside as Cadance and Shining Armour descended from the sky.
Flurry immediately pulled her puppy eyes face. "Mum, Dad, it's not what it looks like. I swear to Tartarus. I'll make sure the others don't take your magic if you listen to why I have to do this." She turned to the other members of the Legion. "You all have to promise not to hurt my parents. All of you."
"If they don't get in the way, then yes," said Tirek.
"I can deal with that," agreed Cozy.
"Cadance and I have," Chrysalis paused, "a history, but I'm sure she and Prince Shining Armour won't try to fight me again. So I agree. I won't do anything to them."
"See? They're not unreasonable! Maybe they were before I started helping them, but you show them a little respect and look what happens! Sure, I can't imagine any of them dancing and singing a musical number like what the Elements of Harmony do, but they can be nice."
Cadance spat, "Nice?! I can tell you four have been stealing magic, and I am willing to fight for mine. Flurry, after this, you are so very grounded."
"Meh. Put me in the statue with these three if you like. I can deal with that. They're fine once you get to know them. I'm really upset that you didn't listen to me, so I guess I'll have to show you how good a team we are. NOW!"
The four of them blasted Cadance and Shining Armour with a huge ball of magic. The couple stood their ground, but were knocked off their hooves by the blast. They flew towards the horizon, and disappeared. A small speck glinted in the distance.
Flurry looked at the other members of the Legion. "Later, they are going to be really mad at me. Should we go looking for them now, or find some of the other ponies who might give us a bit of trouble?"
Twilight interrupted, "You are going absolutely nowhere, you-"
"Language, Twilight. There's two foals here. Evil or not, we don't want our ears to start bleeding because the ex Sovereign of Equestria said a bad word."
"But you swore when we arrived!"
"Didn't you hear? Twilight, I tried being all nice and cutesy-wutesy, but nopony listened to me. I am every bit the alicorn you are, and yet nopony thinks of me that way. Being evil is better than being ignored. Right, friends?"
Each member of the Legion of Doom nodded.
"Now, I actually get to do your job and rule Equestria, with help from these three, and even if we fail, I will still go down in the history books and be remembered. Now, everypony, tell us. Do you surrender, or do you want to go to Tartarus for some thinking time? I hear you have to have magic to get in and out."
Twilight raised a hoof. "Fine, we surrender."
The rest of the Mane Six, Discord and the Royal Sisters stared in shock.
"What? We've lost our magic and there's nothing we can do to stop them. I don't like admitting when I have lost, but here we are. We either go along with it, or end up in Tartarus. Which would all of you prefer?"
"Fighting to the bitter end, duh," grumbled Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight," said Celestia, "did I teach you to give up?"
"No, and I'm not going to. Give me some time and I'll think of a plan, but for now, this is the only plan I have. Everypony, as Princess of Equestria I demand that you back me up here, or else when I get back in charge I will be the one sending you to Tartarus."
That stopped the argument immediately.
Cozy grinned. "You know what, Flurry? I think we might be teaching them something about friendship!"
"I agree, Cozy. You and I can take them back to the caves underneath Canterlot, and that allows Chrysalis and Tirek to have some fun. You two, cause a little bit of havoc. Get the Royal Guard under control. Make sure Starlight Glimmer doesn't try to rewrite history. Got it?"
"I'm happy to do that," Tirek answered.
"Oh, finally I get to confront that pesky little unicorn. Who knows, after that I might get my hive back."
Starlight Glimmer teleported next to Tirek and grabbed the Bewitching Bell before teleporting away again.
"Ponyfeathers."
Flurry Heart was hit by a spell, and she lost consciousness.
Now She And The Legion Of Doom Are In A Pickle And Will Probably Have To "Reform"
Flurry awoke in the Canterlot dungeon, in the same cell as Cozy Glow, who had been turned back into a pegasus. Unfortunately, the bars were too close together for either of them to squeeze through, and Flurry was unable to use her magic. There was a shackle on her left hind leg, stopping her from getting too close to Cozy. She had a severe headache, too.
"Overpowered little monster, that Starlight," Flurry muttered. "How does a unicorn beat an alicorn so easily?"
Cozy rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. There's word that they want to turn all four of us to stone and put the statue of us in Tartarus. Apparently, they might even shatter the statue and spread the pieces around. That's what King Sombra did with the pony who used to rule the Crystal Empire before him."
"But that makes them no better than he was!"
"I said that to the guard who was stationed outside the cell, but he just told me to shut up. Gee, that was annoying."
"Never mind. By the way, Cozy, how long was I unconscious for?"
"Only a day."
"Right. And I have a bit of a weird question."
"Go on."
"What if you and I pretended to be really sorry for all of this, and tricked them into letting us out? Even if we can't cause all that chaos again, it would be better than being turned to stone or going to Tartarus."
"Eh, Tartarus wasn't too bad, because I could fit through the bars of my cage and talk to other creatures, but the statue was a nightmare. So yeah, I'd do that. Do you think they'll believe us?"
"They won't let us go just like that. Maybe we'll be kept here, or maybe we'll be sent to the Crystal Empire. But we won't be turned to stone or sent to Tartarus, and we'll be able to stay together."
"Gee, you really do like the whole friendship thing. Well, as I am the Empress of Friendship, we have a deal."
Chrysalis and Tirek were stuck in cells opposite each other, in different parts of the dungeon. They sat for a while, scowling at each other, not speaking a word. Then Tirek chose to break the unbearable silence.
"What do you think has happened to the other two?"
"They are probably in a similar predicament to us."
"Do you think Flurry Heart was trying to get us to warm up to each other? She could have been told to free us so she could make us accepting of friendship and all that."
"Flurry Heart did not seem like the rule-following type to me. She acted out of what was in her heart. I could tell. There is a possibility her intention was to make us nicer, but she at least allowed us a taste of freedom, and she didn't give in to the Elements of Harmony. That was admirable of her."
"Would you ever change, like the rest of your old hive?"
"I have yet to be given a reason to submit to that. Would you ever choose to become a part of normal society again?"
"Maybe. It depends on the circumstances."
"You're beginning to sound a bit like that idiot Discord."
"And you're beginning to sound like a grumpy old mule."
"I'm not even a pony, let alone a mule. You, on the other hoof, are a cross between an excuse for a pony and an unintelligent ape."
"Ooh, I'm upset. The bug horse is insulting me."
"Sarcasm is not your forte."
"I expected better from you."
"Oh, I can give you better if you want to hear it, you mutt. Are you sure it was Scorpan who was adopted and not you?"
"You are more of a drone than the other mindless insects in your hive are."
"Just looking at your face would make the world's ugliest dragon go blind."
"For some reason you remind me of that Sombra pony."
"Is that supposed to be an insult?"
"Possibly."
"Then it was a larger pile of rubbish than even you are."
They snarled at each other, and then the impossible happened. They realised how utterly pointless their argument was, and they simultaneously burst out into laughter.
"Fine, I'll admit, you have me there," grinned Tirek.
"Oh, have I won then?"
"You may have won the battle, but you will never win the war."
"Enemies forever?"
"Maybe not forever..."
"Aha! All that talk about weakness in that cave, and look what happens! Are you giving in to the magic of friendship, then?"
"Magic is magic."
"And according to Twilight Sparkle, magic is friendship."
"Not necessarily."
Chrysalis stuck her head through the bars and looked down the hall. "We'll go back to arguing later. They have finally brought us some dinner. Bread and water is not the same as sucking the raw emotion out of another creature, but if it sustains me, then it will do."
"Look at Queen Chrysalis, learning to compromise."
"I do what I have to. I hate swallowing my pride, but in a matter of life or death I know what I would rather do."
The servant placed a plate with a slice of bread and a cup of water on the floor in front of each cage.
"I'd rather go back to Tartarus than spend any more time with you," Tirek said.
"Agreed."
"Flurry, so you're telling me you did all of this because you thought ponies didn't like you as much as they did all the other alicorns?" Twilight asked from the other side of the bars.
"Celestia's the Princess of the Sun. Luna's the Princess of the Moon. My mum's the Princess of Love. My dad's the Prince of Protection. You're the Princess of Friendship. Blueblood's the Prince of Navigation. And who am I? The salespony to whip up support for the rest of you? The buy-our-merchandise-type pony? I used to think being an alicorn made me special, but it doesn't. Even that idiot Prince Blueblood is an alicorn now." Flurry closed her eyes. No no no no no. She was not going to cry in front of Cozy. Her new friend was not allowed to see that side of her.
"And Cozy Glow? I know you hate me, but why did you do all the things you did?"
"Gee, I thought you'd never ask," Cozy sighed. "You know, I've been waiting for ages for you to ask. Did you only just get it into that big head of yours that there was a reason for all this?"
"Get to the point, Cozy."
"My parents always said, Strive to be the best you can be. And every filly has that dream of being a princess. So I did what I could, and I realised I couldn't do anything because all of the Princesses had magic and were older. I couldn't do an age spell for obvious reasons. So then I thought, what if I remove that magic from the equation? So I used what you taught me about Tirek's ability to steal magic and the magic that could be stored in different artefacts like the Alicorn Amulet. I did think about stealing that at one point, but that useless earth pony Sandbar told me about the time he ran into a timberwolf and I decided not to go into the Everfree Forest to look for it. So I wrote to Tirek, we became buddies and he taught me how to do some awesome magic stuff so you rubbish alicorns couldn't keep rubbing it in our faces how powerful you are. Except Flurry here. Sure, I've seen first-hoof how much magic she has, but even I was never upset about it because she got me out of the statue, and she shares my viewpoint."
Flurry said, "Really, both of us have the same reason for why we got annoyed. We're looked down and ignored because we're foals, and we tried to change that."
Twilight was lost in thought for a moment. Surprisingly, the foals had perfectly good explanations for their actions. "I will speak to the others, and we will make a decision on what to do with you. Don't hold your breath. Regardless of your ages, titles, or intentions, nopony should ever do what you did." She stood up, towering over the two fillies, and left.
"Twilight, do you really think I had a choice when I was in charge of my hive? I did what I could to keep them alive, and then your friend Starlight Glimmer took away what very little I had. You expect me just to let that go?" Chrysalis asked the alicorn stood in front of her cage.
"Any rational creature would," Twilight answered crudely.
"Any creature can be overwhelmed by their emotions, Twilight. Considering that you defeated Nightmare Moon and the Pony of Shadows, I thought you would have known that," said Tirek.
Twilight looked at him as if he had gone mad. "Who are you, and what have you done with the centaur Tirek?"
"I am the centaur Lord Tirek, I'm just defending a fellow rogue."
"I will ignore the fact that you called me a rogue and instead focus on the fact that you are trying to help me," Chrysalis mused. "I think what she is trying to say is, what's in it for you, Tirek?"
"Why am I helping you, Chrysalis? Because you have helped me. Apparently we have learned to put up with each other."
"Fair enough. Oh, and Twilight, Tirek only ended up in Tartarus in the first place because of his brother Scorpan. They both came to Equestria and tried to terrorise its ponies. Tirek was just more stubborn when Celestia stood up for her ponies, and that is not necessarily a bad thing."
Twilight began to smile triumphantly. "I might be wrong, but I think the two of you might be starting to form a friendship."
"No," Chrysalis and Tirek said together. They glared at each other and bared their teeth.
"Right, because I could almost swear that you're working together for something more than your own gain. Creatures like you two wouldn't defend each other even if it meant an increased chance of getting out of jail. I'm not offering you that chance, by the way. I can't trust either of you at the moment, but, I am shocked to see you two getting along so well."
"Tirek, we are in trouble. Now she thinks we're being friends."
"Stop it, Chrysalis. I'll come up with a plan to make her think otherwise."
Twilight shook her head. "If you two can work together for some purpose other than trying to usurp me, then I can let you out on parole. Then, if you prove to me that you are going to behave, I can let you go free. If it makes you feel any better, Cozy and Flurry aren't acting much different to the two of you."
"Do what you like, Princess," Chrysalis spat, "but we will always try to find new ways of overthrowing you. Quite frankly you are no better than Celestia. I see the Royal Guard is just as useless as it was under her reign."
"I'm open to suggestions on how to improve security. Tell me what your ideas are, and I'll consider it."
Chrysalis and Tirek shared a look, and grinned. Finally, the Princess of Friendship was listening to them, and they could use that to their advantage.
The Council of Friendship stood in the throne room above the dungeon. All six Element Bearers, Starlight Glimmer and Twilight's top adviser Spike, had gathered to discuss the situation with the Legion of Doom.
"I'm shocked," Twilight said. "They were being reasonable. I don't know if they want to trick us or if they were telling the truth."
Applejack groaned, "Unfortunately, from what yeh said in that letter, they were bein' truthful. Flurry Heart seems ter have taught 'em how ter be nice, but she ain't done the job completely."
"They might be able to reform, but we know from past experiences that it takes a lot of work," said Rarity. She glanced sidelong at Starlight. "No offence, darling."
"None taken," Starlight replied. "However, you've reminded me of something that might make the process more difficult. Chrysalis doesn't really like me."
"That might be the biggest understatement of the year," Rainbow laughed. Pinkie collapsed on the floor and began to roll around, giggling.
"I know. She hates me, and she isn't going to change her ways until I make up with her. The only way that's going to happen is if the changelings accept her back. I'll have to speak to Ocellus about it."
"Good idea," Twilight mused. "Anything else? Tirek isn't going to be easy to crack."
Pinkie Pie sprang to her hooves, then sighed, "I got nothing."
Fluttershy piped up, "There might be something. From what Discord told me, Tirek first came to Equestria to try and please his parents. Somepony in Ponyville has been through something similar, just on a smaller scale: Diamond Tiara. If the two of them spoke to each other, then maybe it could make Tirek see things differently."
"That's a good start, Fluttershy, but Tirek is never going to change just like that."
A large POP reverberated around the room. Discord said to Twilight, "Right-o. Those two are never going to move on and become one of us after a little conversation. From my perspective, as odd as it may be, the two of them might have to force each other to be more like us. If one of them is constantly telling the other, 'just go along with it and then we'll be able to leave this horrendous place,' it might just work."
"Friendship can't be forced, Discord. If Celestia had told me the only way to make the Elements of Harmony to work was to make friends, I wouldn't have learned the lessons I needed to learn, and Nightmare Moon would have won there and then. Flurry Heart and Cozy Glow have made Chrysalis and Tirek form a friendship without realising it. From there, we have to teach them how to be friends with other ponies."
"Teach. School. Friendship school. Tirek and Chrysalis at the Friendship School."
Everypony looked at Discord. Twilight sighed, "You do know that would never work?"
"Just putting a suggestion out there. But if you don't think it will work, then I accept that, Princess Back To Being Regal And Sensible Twilight."
Pinkie said, "It's not the craziest thing he's suggested. Going to the School? We're never going to allow them near that place, because just look at what Cozy Glow managed to do. But, they can still have friendship lessons, from those who have been through similar stuff. So we could talk to Diamond Tiara, Pharynx, maybe Tempest Shadow, and others. Even Flim and Flam could help."
"Fer the right fee, of course," Applejack added, scrunching her muzzle. "'Cause when did the Flim-Flam Brothers ever do somethin' fer charity, other than ter boost their reputation?!"
They all laughed.
Cozy and Flurry flew from the back of the cell to the bars and poked their heads through the moment they heard the click-clack of horseshoes approaching. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza towered above them. She looked shattered.
"Flurry," she sighed, "why do you have to get yourself into all this trouble?"
"Mum, I'd rather be hated worldwide than ignored completely. And you don't really think I would have let Chrysalis and Tirek run the place?"
"I have my doubts."
"Mum, come on. This is silly. You and Dad are glory-hoggers."
Cadance cleared her throat. "Let me remind you that I am your mother and one of the co-rulers of the Crystal Empire."
"Let me remind you that I am also one of said co-rulers, despite being a foal. And how much credit to I get for my suggestions? Zilch. I'm nothing more than a figurehead, and it's not fair." Flurry turned to her cellmate. "You can see my point of view, can't you?"
"Yuppers. You have a point. Princess Cadance, you and I have reasons why not to be nice to each other, but putting Flurry Heart in a dungeon? Gee, that's overkill. Tell her off, ground her, but don't do this. She's super bored. We were talking about whether or not to invent rainbow-flavour candyfloss before you came here."
"To be honest, Cozy, that's one of your better ideas, but there's more important stuff to talk about, like when will the other alicorns stop putting foals below the age of criminal responsibility in prison? Cozy's parents should have some of the blame, and you never asked what happened to them, did you, Mum? Your aunt Celestia whisked her straight off to Tartarus. Please listen to us. Please?"
Cadance groaned, "Twilight told me that she has something in mind. That's all I am allowed to tell you."
Cozy Glow and Flurry Heart nearly exploded with joy. "She's actually thinking of letting us out!" Cozy squealed. "Maybe we can both go back to the Crystal Empire and get to be proper friends!"
"Deal." Flurry hugged Cozy.
Cadance rolled her eyes, and trotted away. Now to deal with the other two members of the Legion of Doom.
Chrysalis smiled with amusement as Cadance walked towards her cell. "My sweet princess doppelganger. Cadance, tell me, how is Shining Armour?"
"Better now he doesn't have to live with you. That comment only confirms that you deserve to remain in a statue for eternity. Tell me, how was it in there?"
"Bitter. I spent a lot of time thinking about revenge."
"The feeling is mutual, I'm afraid."
"Even though I have already lost my home and my family, you wish to torment me further? Princess Cadenza, I thought you were a nice pony."
"To most. Give me a reason to be nice to you, and I will be. You kidnapped me a mere three nights before my wedding and tried to steal my one true love from me. I found that hard to swallow, and I'm not sure whether forgiveness is deserved here."
"Oh please, I don't really care about forgiveness. One day, I will try to destroy you again, Cadenza. I will always get back up again and I will always be willing for a rematch. Just because I have taken a few dents, it does not mean my pride is gone. I know you and Twilight Sparkle plan for us to be reformed and all that, but you should know that I have a special place in my heart where I hate you and the unicorn Starlight Glimmer, and shall do so for eternity."
"Charming." She turned her back on Chrysalis and glanced at Tirek. "And what wonderful words do you have for me?"
"I never got a chance to fight you. I fought Twilight when she had your magic, and later I absorbed that magic, but I never really got to see what you can do. Therefore, I am trying to remain impartial, though I am inclined to listen to Chrysalis."
"I guess I should be glad that you aren't trying to insult me. Tirek, there is a lot of potential for you. Twilight has had issues in places like Klugetown, where the threat of having their magic drained might get a few creatures in line."
Tirek paused. "I was considering getting along with you until you said that, but I doubt I am going to make friends with a princess who wants me to become her diplomat. Tell that Blueblood fellow to deal with it."
"Pretend I never said that. I'll pass on the message to Twilight that you're not interested. How does that sound?"
"Better. Now tell me when I get to go free."
"When you prove that you won't steal magic from everypony in Equestria."
"I can do that."
"Twilight will be the judge of that."
She left without another word.
"We're free?!" Flurry reread the letter in front of her.
"Yuppers," answered Cozy. "Twilight thinks the two of us have shown enough remorse and are good enough at being friends that we can go free. Obviously, she has no idea what the two of us can do if we continue working together. How did you break the Crystal Heart again?"
"Sonic scream, as loud as the Royal Canterlot Voice. Apparently, everypony who was there at the time had difficulty hearing each other for a while afterwards, even when they sorted out the storm clouds."
"Fancy that again?"
"I'd rather not. I'm in enough trouble as it is. Mum and Dad are not going to let me forget this."
"Well, if they give you a hard time, you've shown how good you are at long-distance teleportation, so you can always talk to me about it."
"No need," said Twilight as she approached the cell. "Cozy Glow, since you have a bit of a history behind you, you are going to stay at the Crystal Castle where Princess Cadance and my brother can keep an eye on you."
Cozy's eyes lit up, and she glanced at her friend. "Oh, Princess Twilight, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"That's an overreaction, Cozy," Flurry laughed. "Although, I will be pleased to have a friend in the castle. But what about Chrysalis and Tirek?"
"Once they have proven that they aren't going to cause mass destruction the moment I realease them, they will be sent to stay in Ponyville, where my friends can make sure they don't try to cause trouble."
"Can we visit them at some point?" both fillies questioned Twilight.
"Well, I suppose."
As Twilight opened the cage door and allowed the fillies out, she thought, Cadance and Shining are going to have some sleepless nights.
A magenta flash of light took them to the dais at the Crystal Castle. The Crystal Heart was surrounded by guards who kept a watchful eye on Cozy in particular.
Noticing their glares, she pulled a cute face and said, "I hope these guards are going to be nice to me."
"They will," Flurry answered casually, brushing off her friend's concerns. "They've always been nice to me. As long as we keep out of trouble, we're fine."
"That means neither of you are allowed near the Crystal Heart," Twilight warned as she led them inside and up the stairs to the throne room.
Cadance and Shining Armour were there, sat together on the twin crystal thrones. Flurry sighed, wishing she had a place up there too. She wasn't a true princess in the eyes of everypony else, clearly. She looked up at her parents' faces. There was a mixture of pleasant surprise to see Twilight, relief to see their daughter again and worry at the thought of Cozy Glow staying in the Crystal Empire.
"Twilight!" Cadance said in a sing-song voice. "How are you?"
"Fine, thank you," she replied. Cadance flew over to her, and Cozy and Flurry had a hard time containing their giggles as the two alicorns did the "sunshine-sunshine" dance. Shining Armour was also forced to hold a hoof to his mouth to make sure he didn't burst out laughing.
"So, here we have the two mischief makers," Cadance said once the dance was over. "My darling little Flurry Heart, and Miss Cozy Glow." She cocked her head to one side. "The filly who looked up at us and fell into the darkness because of it."
"Princess, you and the other alicorns have magic, wings, super strength, and a kingdom that loves you. Gee, I'm not the only one who's insanely jealous. I thought Chrysalis would have taught you that."
"Jealous," Cadance repeated quietly.
"Well, duh, you have everything a pony could want. Even Flurry went crazy because of it."
Flurry nodded in agreement. "Fine, I'll admit, I've never really felt like a princess."
"Don't think that we don't sympathise with you." The tone of Cadance's voice softened. "I have been there. So have Twilight and Luna. Not feeling respected or cared for is something that many ponies and other creatures have to deal with. We understand that struggle, but we can only give you a second chance to prove yourself to us. Whether or not you take it is up to you."
"We understand," Cozy and Flurry chorused.
"Good. Twilight, I assume Cozy Glow will be staying in the castle too?"
"If that isn't too much of a problem for you."
"No, no, not at all. We'll be fine, Twilight."
"In that case, I will leave and deal with the," she coughed politely, "less cooperative two creatures. Remember, I am only a letter away. If ever I am needed to remind anypony of where they stand, I will return immediately." gave both fillies a cold glare, and teleported away.
A moment later, she stood in the corridor between the cells holding Chrysalis and Tirek.
"Oh, Princess Twilight. What a pleasant surprise. Are we finally going to be freed?" Chrysalis asked.
"I will only release you when I see fit."
Chrysalis grumbled, "I was going to be nice to you before I heard that."
"As I have said hundreds of times before, you can't be horrible just because you aren't being given what you want."
"But we can, Twilight, and I'm sure plenty of your ponies do exactly that," Tirek pointed out. "Maybe if you gave us good reason to be nice to you, then we would be."
Twilight could do nothing to prevent the smug grin from creeping across her face. "Fine, maybe I should be a bit more specific. I will only release you when I see fit, but I think that will be within the week, once I know that the other two aren't going to cause trouble. They were released earlier today."
"And why are we not being released today?" Chrysalis demanded.
"Because I have yet to find a place where you can stay. The Changeling Kingdom might accept you back, Chrysalis, but I have yet to speak to Prince Thor-"
"Thorax is no King, nor Prince. He had power thrust upon his shoulders because the rest of the hive abandoned me and refused to allow his brother Pharynx to take the burden when he was far more suited to ruling."
"Both Thorax and Pharynx now rule the Changeling Kingdom. I could have said that if you hadn't interrupted me."
"Oh. I suppose I should be happy for Pharynx for regaining at least some control of the hive and keeping them from giving in to weakness completely. And what of Ocellus? I had her down as a potential future queen before she went to that silly school of yours."
"Thorax and Pharynx share your opinion, actually. She is one of the top Guardians of the Hive."
"Good to know. I will look forwards to seeing them again." She paused. "That is, if they still respect me like they should."
"You'll be fine, Chrysalis. One good thing about you is your resilience." Twilight turned to Tirek. "You are going to be the hardest to place. I could let you stay in the castle, but I want you to spend time around ponies and you won't get that opportunity if I do that. I could send you to Ponyville to stay in the Castle of Friendship, but I worry a lot about the students and my friends. Starlight especially, since she's got such a lot of magic."
Chrysalis laughed, "Good luck, Lord Tirek. Trust me, that unicorn is nothing but a pain. If I were to give into this excuse for an alicorn's requests to reform and join society once more, I would feel a huge amount of sympathy for you."
This rubbed Tirek the wrong way. "At least you have a family to go back to. Mine is long dead, and even then..."
"Even then, King Vorak was a pain in the backside whom all the magic in Equestria couldn't please because apparently old Scorpan was the angel sent from above the clouds to redeem you," Chrysalis finished. "I honestly cannot comprehend why you still respect him."
"For the same reason that your hive still respects you. That is, if they do. He's my father. He's family. I can't just turn away from him and forget he ever existed."
Chrysalis's eyes grew wide as the realisation dawned on her. Her hive probably felt the same way, which meant there was a chance that she could still be accepted back. Even if they refused to call her their queen, she could still help run the place and stop friendship from erasing changeling culture. There was still something she could do. "I suppose you are correct, Tirek."
"You don't have to," Twilight piped up. She too had been lost in thought. "Tirek, there's somepony who you should meet. Cozy would probably benefit from talking to her too. I'm not as sure about you, Chrysalis, but I don't think there's any harm in it either."
"Who is it?" Tirek questioned her.
"An earth pony mare, Diamond Tiara. You might find you have a lot in common with her if you decide to talk to her."
"What would I have in common with a silly little earth pony?!"
"Family." Twilight left it at that and trotted away from the cells, leaving Tirek and Chrysalis to consider the offer.
Chrysalis broke the silence eventually. "Are you going to speak to that little pony?"
"Is there any harm in doing so?"
"We both know it is an attempt to make us accept the Equestrian way, but we can always speak to her about our logic and why we are nothing like her or any of those other silly little ponies."
"Agreed."
