It was small at first. A sliver of light that she only barely noticed. In fact, she just assumed that it was a trick of her mind. Something her fury-induced madness had conjured up. But as the moments sped past it became more and more noticeable. Her prison was cracking, and light was soon pouring in from every direction. Eventually, it all burst off in one go, and Chrysalis, deposed Queen of the Changelings, collapsed onto the green grass below. It was a shock to be sure, and one that caused her no end of panicked panting when she finally realised the freedom she now had. But as her mind raced to make sense of this new development, it very much became aware that she was not alone here in this. Tirek, the infamous devourer of magic, and Cozy Glow, the pony traitor, soon joined her on the ground, looking just as flabbergasted at this turn of events as she was. After pinching themselves to make sure this wasn't a dream, they looked to one another, confused and almost fearful, with Chrysalis herself finally breaking the silence between them. "Is this...is this some hallucination?"
"If it is, then we're sharing one," Cozy answered.
"Bah! As if my fate were not deplorable enough, now my madness is being shared with the two of you too?!" Tirek grumbled.
"Oh, it's not madness. You really are out." The sudden arrival of this fourth and very familiar voice caught the three villains off-guard, and when they turned, it was with a shared sense of utter loathing. For the one who now stood before them was none other than the former Bearer of Kindness, Fluttershy, who happily gave them a little wave. "Good morning to you all."
Instantly, and without even awaiting an explanation for all this, Chrysalis lunged forward, just as she had tried to do during her stone imprisonment. The thinking had, most likely, been that because the alicorns were not present, she would finally have her vengeance on at least one of her enemies. Unfortunately for her, this soon turned out to be a short-lived fantasy on her part. For once she came within an inch of reaching the pegasus mare, she found herself unable to go any further, as if halted by some unseen force. "What...what is the meaning of this?!" she snarled angrily.
"Oh come now, Chryssie. You didn't really think you getting out and being presented with a pony was going to be that easy, did you?"
Though embarrassed at not predicting this, Chrysalis soon relented, rolling her eyes before speaking up in an utterly tied manner. "Discord."
With a sudden poof, the ancient trickster appeared right beside Fluttershy, giving a sweeping bow to his insectoid enemy as though he were a stage magician. "You are correct, Ma'am. And I must say it is a pleasure to see you all again."
"I don't believe that for a second," Chrysalis seethed.
"Smart bug," Discord replied with a frown. But, after feeling the pat of Fluttershy on his side, he sighed, snapping his fingers and releasing the fallen Queen. After giving her a moment to let her get up, and also for her fellow baddies to join her, the draconequus clasped his hands behind his back before addressing them all. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why we brought you here today."
Cozy arched an eyebrow. "You're going to try and reform us?"
"We are going to try and..." Discord began. But as soon as his brain registered what the filly had just said, he stopped, looking to her with narrowed eyes. "Yes...that."
Cozy smirked fiercely at Fluttershy. "Well, what do you expect? After everything you and your friends have done with others, how could we not have had this coming? You're gonna let us out, try to have us talk out our feelings, then follow the tune of friendship like your boyfriend here," she accused, pointing at Discord.
Now, naturally, Discord would have wanted nothing better than to take this little filly and show her just how bad an idea it is to speak in that tone of voice to Fluttershy. However, to Cozy's relief, Discord never got the chance, as Fluttershy immediately intervened, stepping between the two of them and speaking up in that calm way of hers. "Yes, that is our plan. And I'm confident that, given the right opportunities, you three can become productive members of society."
Tirek scoffed. "You waste your time, pegasus. I have lived for thousands of years, feeling nothing but hate for you and your kind. If you honestly believe, that after all the battling we have done, that I would simply accept you and wish to live among you, then you are deluding yourself."
But Fluttershy simply smiled to him. "I convinced Discord that friendship is the better way, didn't I?"
Discord puffed out his chest with pride. "And a fine conversion I was too, if I do say so myself."
Chrysalis stared daggers at him. "You were once among the greatest threats to ponykind. Now look at you, a cowed and domesticated pet!"
But Discord waved her off. "Perhaps, but I'm not the one obsessed with revenge. I'm not the one whose had to live as an outcast instead of accepting change. I'm not the one who..." But his rant was interrupted again by a look from Fluttershy, who calmed his increasingly snarky mood and caused him to take a breath before continuing. "Right, right, this is not productive conversation. You wanted them helped. So helped they shall be." With a snap of his fingers, he conjured five chairs, all arranged into a vague circle, which all of them now found themselves sitting in. "There you go, my friend."
Fluttershy smiled in appreciation to him, then looked to her three defeated foes. "This, as I'm sure you can guess, is a friendship circle."
"Ugh, I feel the need to retch just hearing that abomination of a name!" Chrysalis mumbled immediately.
Ignoring her, Fluttershy looked to each individually before speaking. "Here, we will work on each of your various problems, and in turn you will help each other."
Chrysalis laughed, but it was a dry one devoid of any real humour. "For your information, the three of us only worked together to try and bring down Equestria. Once that had been accomplished, we planned to go our separate ways and, with luck, never see one another ever again."
But Fluttershy seemed unconcerned with this revelation. "Oh, I realise that may have been your intent, but if there's one thing I've learned from being with my friends over the years, it's that those you might not have ever planned to be friends with can sometimes be the ones closest to you." She placed her hoof upon her chest. "When I was little, Rainbow Dash and I were about as far apart as any ponies could be. We had virtually nothing in common aside from the fact that we were both pegasi." Her smile grew. "But after we spent enough time together, we grew closer, and those difference became far less important to us, to the point where we didn't even think about how we were essentially opposites when we were around one another."
Tirek buried his face in his hands, mumbling angrily to himself. "Do I really need to sit here and listen to this tripe about overcoming differences and all that nonsense?"
Discord glowered at him. "You don't have to, old chum. You can simply..." He didn't finish, instead grinning wickedly and giving a quick snap of his fingers. Nothing came of it, but it was a silent promise of what he'd definitely do if the three didn't play nice. And while Fluttershy's look to him showed that she disapproved, even she probably knew that she'd be unlikely to stop him from sending them right back into that stone prison of theirs.
Cozy, looking to all four of her elders, cleared her throat to gain their attention. "You know...if it's a choice between going back to being a statue and getting along with our enemies...I can't say I'd miss the statue."
Chrysalis glanced to her, her face one of unmistakable discomfort. "It'd be a small improvement, at best."
Cozy, sighing, turned to face both of her allies. "Look, do we really have a choice here? I lost..." She pointed to Chrysalis. "You lost..." Then she pointed to Tirek. "And you lost!"
Tirek snorted. "Must you rub salt in the wounds, child?"
Cozy fluttered up to him. "The point I'm trying to make here is that these ponies win! No matter what plans or schemes or powers we have on our side to tip the odds, the good guys come out on top. Every. Single. Time. And I may not be a betting filly, but I'd wager that'll be the case for any other poor sap who comes along trying to oust them."
Chrysalis swept some of her ragged mane to one side. "You lack conviction, child. One day, the forces of darkness shall prevail!"
Cozy folded her forehooves and looked to her with another raised eyebrow. "Chrysalis... the forces of darkness have been trying for thousands of years. And look around, does it look like they even made a dent?"
Chrysalis was too proud to admit to her having a point, and so just grumbled under her breath for a while. As for Fluttershy, she clasped her hooves together and looked to them hesitantly. "So...does this mean you're going to give friendship a go?"
Cozy shook her head. "No, it means we know it's our only option if we even want to avoid an absolute rock bottom imprisonment for eternity."
Leaning closer to her, Discord kept his voice to a whisper as he spoke to Fluttershy. "In all seriousness, I think that's the best you can hope for right now with these three."
Though a little disappointed that this was likely the case, Fluttershy didn't let it get her down. After all, a start was a start, and she was sure to make the most of it. "Well then, let's see about what we can do to make sure you can all lead happy...well, happier lives than what you've been leading. And our first step is to get to the root of what's been causing you such trouble in your past." She looked from one to the other before finally settling on Tirek. "Mr Tirek? Sir? Anything you'd like to say?"
The old centaur balled his hand into a fist and shook it at her. "That is Lord Tirek to you, pony! I did not wreak havoc across the land in ancient times to be referred to as Mister!" Folding his arms again, he looked to the side. "And in answer to your insipid question, no, there's no problem I have with my life, other than my defeat of course."
Discord looked to him like that was the funniest thing he'd ever said. "Oh yeah, nothing at all. And certainly not your overwhelming daddy issues or feeling like your parents loved your brother more than you. No, no, you have no personal issues to get over whatsoever."
Had he the strength, Tirek would've tried to throttle Discord right then and there, but with him being in such a powerless state, all he could do was grind his teeth. Fluttershy, casting a frown Discord's way, soon softened as she regarded the insulted party. "I'm sure Discord didn't mean to offend you. But he does have a point. From what I've heard you have a number of family problems that have contributed to your...somewhat antisocial behaviour."
Chrysalis groaned with frustration. "Uuuuuuuuuugh! Is this it? Is this our lives now? Sitting here, talking out our histories, our problems and our, eugh, feelings? Is this what the great Queen Chrysalis has been reduced to?"
"Yes...yes it is," Discord answered with great satisfaction.
Fluttershy, at least trying to keep things on the up and up between them, smiled to her. "Trust me, Chrysalis. Your people lead far happier lives now that friendship has been accepted by them. And given enough time I'm sure you will feel right as rain from it too."
The Changeling looked to her as if she were joking. "You cannot be here with us every moment of the day, pony. What guarantee do you have that we won't simply run off and return to our old ways the moment you let us out of your sight?"
Discord, happy to answer her, snapped his fingers and, in a flash, engulfed them all in cages, not unlike what Tirek and Cozy had to contend with back in Tartarus. "That. That right there seems like a pretty good guarantee to me."
But Chrysalis didn't seem concerned. "Ha! You think a mere cage will hold me?!" She charged up her magic, shooting a blast from her horn, only to discover, to her horror that her spell simply bounced off the bars and echoed all around, forcing her to cower on the floor until lit eventually dissipated.
Seeing all this, Cozy looked to her and, somewhat sheepishly, spoke to her. "I guess it can hold you."
Fluttershy saw the bitterness and frustration all were displaying, not only towards her but to each other. Sighing, she reached behind herself and pulled out a piece of paper, scribbling on it. "Therapy session, day one. Final observations..." Glancing up to the three, her shoulders slumped. "Needs more work."
