"They can come back... they did it before and came back. Who's to say they won't come back again?" Luster Dawn said, pacing around the firepit. She was shocked that the villains even thought of leaving again, and honestly, it gave her anxiety.
"They could have gone in their tents... yeah, that's it!" Luster headed over to the black tent and opened it. Chrysalis wasn't in there. She checked Cozy and Tirek's tents too. Neither of them were there either.
"LUSTER DAWN!!!" Hearing her name made Luster stop in her tracks.
The unicorn turned around and saw her mentor, Princess Twilight Sparkle, facing her. Again, the Princess was transparent and sparkly. But the appearance of her mentor was the least of Luster's worries.
"Princess!!! What are you doing here?"
"I've been watching you and the villains," Princess Twilight replied.
"Really? But how? And how did you get here so quietly, anyway?"
"Those are questions for another day. Now then... I bet you're wondering where the villains went."
"Yes. Do you know where they went?"
Princess Twilight suddenly lit up her horn. A projection of the three villains' heads suddenly appeared.
"I guess we could still leave," the projection of Tirek said.
"It isn't the worst idea," the Cozy Glow projection said.
"I place my vote to leave. And if anything tries to scare us, we could just hide. Anything to go anywhere but here," said the Chrysalis projection.
The projections suddenly vanished.
"I don't think the cutie map would send you to take care of three beings that are basically lost causes," Princess Twilight said.
"What do you mean?" Luster said.
"No matter what is offered to them, they always try to get out of it. Even if it means putting themselves in danger. Face it Luster, I pretty much think the cutie map sent you to help somepony else."
"N-no. I saw potential. You saw me say that."
"Yes. I also heard what they said about their dreams. But did that convince them? No. No it didn't."
"B-but..."
"Now listen, Luster. I will give you two choices. One, you go after them and try to stop whatever plan they have in store for you. You can try your hoof at convincing them once more. Or you can come back with me. We could find the REAL friendship problem and not one that we mistakenly thought was the problem. We could stop them and turn them back to stone and maybe even put the statue in Tartarus for good measure."
Luster was in deep thought. Something about the Princess didn't feel right. She couldn't piece it. But she would ask later. She had to choose: help the villains, or go home.
It didn't take long for her to choose.
"The villains may or may not be the main subject of the cutie map..." Luster began. "But I saw potential in them. And I feel like they are conflicted. So I'm sorry, Princess, but I'm gonna stay and try to find the villains. Even if it means searching the forest that's even scarier than the Everfree.
Luster turned to leave.
"Wise choice," said Princess Twilight.
Luster turned around to respond, but saw that the Princess was already gone.
"How did she-" Luster cut herself off. She would ask the Princess later. She ignited her horn to cast a spell to avoid what made the forest scary in the first place. She turned back around and galloped into the forest.
Meanwhile, inside the box that rests in Luster's tent, the red gem shard started to emit a bright red glow.
Luster Dawn searched for the forest for what felt like an hour.
She was beginning to think the villains either escaped or avoided the frights of the forest when she noticed a large piece of clothing on a branch. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Tirek's cloak. Suddenly, Luster heard a familiar noise.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!"
It sounded like the screams of Cozy Glow.
Luster galloped to the direction of the yelling when she saw it: the three villains were all huddled up against the base of a cliff. They had signs of fear on their faces. They were shrieking many things.
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Tirek screamed.
"PLEASE STOP! I'M SORRY! NO MORE INSULTS!!!" Chrysalis shrieked.
"THEY CARE! PONIES CARE! THEY CARE!!!!" Cozy yelped.
Luster immediately lit up her horn and cast three beams at the cowering villains. Immediately when she finished, the three villains opened their eyes.
"What the- you found us? How? And everything we saw..." Tirek began.
"Were illusions. That is what makes this forest even scarier than the Everfree. It shows your fears and everything you're afraid of. Like King Sombra, another villain the Princess told me about. Only... the fears are handled in an even more extreme, frightening manner."
The villains all got on their hooves.
"So... you came back, huh?" Chrysalis asked. "Why?"
"I see potential in you. The story of Mount Everhoof convinced me enough."
Luster stepped forward.
"From what I know, all of you abused friendship, rejected it, or was never offered it. But if somepony comes back for you and saves you from whatever this forest does to you, you would be even crazier to not even come back."
Cozy scoffed.
"The last time we gave friendship a chance, we ran off from you."
"And I came back," Luster said. "And saved you. What the forest was doing to you would eventually drive you mad and cripple your minds to nothing. You would eternally suffer, and you would probably even do things to yourself that ponies would find crazy. Tell me: what was the forest showing you?"
All three villains looked down.
"That nopony would care about us if we changed," Chrysalis said. Her voice started to feel shattered.
"I kept on seeing..." Cozy said. "That ponies would consider me mental. Psycho. They never would want me." a tear rolled down Cozy's cheek
"Everypony would back away from me, afraid I would steal power from them. It felt like it hurt. Even my own brother said to me that he would never accept a traitor like me,” said Tirek.
Luster watched the three villains. Sadness and tears became noticeable on Chrysalis and Cozy's faces. Although Tirek seemed calm, Luster could tell he was crying a river inside.
Luster has to show them how much she cared.
With a little kindness.
"Hey... it's ok. Are you really gonna believe a few lies a forest tells you?"
Luster smiled before she continued.
"You WOULD be wanted. You WOULD be forgiven. The forest may tell you that none of you matter. But you do. It may tell you that you can't change. But you CAN!!! It may say nopony will care about you because of what you did. But I DO! And OTHERS would If you trust me."
The villains looked at each other.
Suddenly, Tirek walked forward to Luster's left. He turned around and faced the others.
It only took one minute for the next villain to give in.
Surprisingly to Luster, it was Chrysalis who gave in next. Although reluctant, she slowly walked to Luster's right and turned around to face Cozy. Tears were still on her face, but there wasn't anymore coming out of her eyes.
Cozy Glow looked at all three of them. Tears were also on her face. But unlike Chrysalis, the tears continued coming out.
Thirty seconds later, it transformed into ultimate bawling.
Luster felt sentiment. She walked forward to the bawling filly. When she was right in front of her, she sat down, bent forward...
... and wrapped her forehooves around Cozy.
The filly writhed around to fight back. But only for a little bit. She soon stopped... and hugged Luster back.
Luster felt Cozy's tears on her fur. Suddenly, she felt more weight on her.
She immediately knew what it was.
Chrysalis and Tirek were hugging her as well.
And she knew why they were hugging her. It wasn't just because they needed comfort.
But it was also the remorse they held in their hearts.